Paying Heed To Ize-Iyamu’s Wife Campaign Messages -By Isaac Asabor

There is no denying the fact that since Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s wife, Prof. Idia Ize-Iyamu began to rally round her husband in his gubernatorial campaign ahead of the upcoming September 19 election, particularly as she has in the past few weeks been interpreting the aspects of the SIMPLE AGENDA to women in the state as it concerns them, not few people has been asking, “What is it she is telling us that we’ve not heard from the husband?” To those that share the foregoing line of thinking or mentality, they may miss a lot from her campaign messages as she is the one that stands on a better plinth than anyone else in the State to assure Edolites about her husband’s personal qualities and capabilities.
More so, her speeches to women in the state about her husband will no doubt be more authentic than campaign ads and she is in a position to humanize him more than anyone would do, particularly in his promises that concern Edo women.

Particularly to be mentioned in this context as regard her support around her husband’s candidacy is that she has “maintained that her husband, Pastor Osage Ize-Iyamu, has sound plans to fix the healthcare woes of Edo state, including lack of primary health centers which she says has denied the poorest of the poor in most rural communities access to healthcare and contributed to maternal mortality in the state.

Prof. Idia, who is also a Consultant Orthodontist at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital with decades of professional experience in the health sector, was speaking in an interview with ARISE Television on Monday.

She says the incumbent administration led by Governor Godwin Obaseki has left the state’s health sector in complete disrepair and has failed in its promise to build primary health centers in all the 192 wards of the State.

She accused the Governor of further bridging the gap of doctor-patient ratio and effectively overseeing an administration that failed to train health personnel for years with his closure of the state’s school of nursing and midwifery.

Prof. Idia who has been campaigning for her husband across markets and communities in Edo State says her interactions with women in the state have revealed the cruelty of the Governor’s harsh fine and tax policies which she claims have led to the imprisonment of women who are trying to earn an income against difficult odds.

She said: “Edo women are angry. They have lost their goods and space to incessant fire outbreaks in major markets in the state and the Governor has failed to fulfill his compensation promises. Instead, the women are being rounded up and thrown into Oko prison for trading on walkways despite the fact that the state government has done nothing to provide space for them.

“Markets in the state are decrepit, some without toilets. The health system is in shambles. The Governor promised health centers in all 192 wards of the state but after four years, he has been unable to build only 20. Even the 20, they are under lock and key and inaccessible to the vulnerable, the poorest of the poor.”

In contrast, she says her husband, if supported to emerge as the Governor of the State, will implement all programs and policies in his SIMPLE agenda manifesto to fix the state’s healthcare by investing in the equipping of public hospitals, training of doctors, and the quality healthcare delivery to the vulnerable in rural communities.

Describing Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as a man of God, loving husband and father who is in touch with the people, Prof. Idia says her husband will lead a listening government that will prioritize the empowerment of women and the education of children to protect the future of the State and place it on a path of sustainable development.

She also expressed confidence that Ize-Iyamu will record an 18/18 victory in all LGAs of the State because the people have bought his manifesto and are convinced of his plans to move the state forward.

To further deepen this view, permit me to reminisce at this juncture to opine that there was a time when first ladies and first lady hopefuls merely stood smiling beside their well-suited husbands, waving to cheering crowds. Their “press” then was limited to an article in a women’s magazine, with perhaps a few recipes. Without any scintilla of hyperbole, Prof. Idia is not in any way that kind of First Lady hopeful. Her enviable cerebral disposition has taken her beyond that level of being a “Sit-down-look” kind of partner.

In the same vein, she has also taken the campaign and the Simple Agenda message, which is invariably the Manifesto of Hope to the Ologbo Community in Ikopba-Okha Local Government Area.

She said, “What I saw was total neglect. The women lamented that they have been forgotten by Governor Obaseki’s administration with no benefit, and development in the area. They said the Ologbo community has not had electricity supply for the past four years. The women said the last time they had power supply in the community was during the former Gov. Adams Oshiomole’s administration.

She added, “On my part, I told the women that I feel their pain and that is why my husband, Pastor Osagie Ize-iyamu sent me to inform them that the years of people in the riverine area being forgotten will be over when he becomes the governor of Edo State.

I reassured the women that the Simple Agenda will take care of their suffering, bring back the Garri industry that Ologbo was known for, build schools, healthcare and make funds available for women to invest in their businesses.

She further explained that “As part of the Simple Agenda to empower our women, I gave out empowerment funds to some women to invest in their businesses as a start of what they should expect when they vote for my husband Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the next governor of Edo State.

To my view, her message is worth listening to as she has been delivering it from the perspective of the SIMPLE Agenda.