I’m part of Oshiomhole’s success story – Obaseki

Godwin Obaseki, a financial expert and head of economic team of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s government spoke to journalists on his gubernatorial ambition and other issues affecting the polity. Titus Akhigbe was there. Excerpts: As the chairman of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s economic team, you’re seen as the brain behind the major successes recorded by the governor. It has never been this good for the state. What is your take on this? I think first, the successes we’ve achieved can be attributed to the grace of God, and also to the quality of leadership which Comrade Oshiomhole has provided. Nothing fundamentally has changed about Edo State. Edo State has been the same the same in the last several decades since it was created. So, it is the same state that Comrade Oshiomhole inherited in 2008.

All he did was provided accountable, transparent and honest leadership. Not afraid to tell the people of the reality on ground and therefore being able to mobilise people and their resources to carry out the economic programme which we laid out in the beginning. So, the reason we have been able to achieve such economic enhancement or growth in Edo State first, is derived from the quality of leadership we have had. Once you have the correct leadership, you’re therefore able to mobilise the resources you need to do the things you have to do. What do I mean? But for the quality of the mind and honesty of purpose of Comrade Oshiomhole, I would not have left what I am doing in Lagos to come and work as chairman of his economic team. Under a previous government, I was part of an economic team and we met thrice.

Nobody told us to disband because that government had no sense of purpose and had no sincerity in terms of what it wanted to do. So, even though they had put together a team of very high caliber Edo professionals in Benin and the diaspora, after three meetings we all disbanded. So, the idea of an economic team is not new. Of course, the difference today is that we have somebody who believed in an Edo project. Who believed that Edo people should have the best and who was prepared to commit himself and take the risks required to organize and mobilise people and resources for the development of the state. How did we do this? Once he decided to get into the gubernatorial race in 2007, some of us, professionals, in Edo, who were concerned about the fortunes of the state; who were very worried about the ridicule to which our state and people had come to; If you recalled one common joke in Nigeria at that time by comedians, they’ll ask, “what is the capital of Edo State?” They’ll say, “Italy.”

In other words, we became the subject of ridicule across the country. And that was particularly painful because when you look at the state that is so rich, so endowed and so blessed, that through the centuries they have been able to hold their own in global geo-politics and economy and that region is being made to look ridiculous. We felt it was an affront on many of us who have gone out and succeeded in our various professions. And for someone like me I just believed that to whom so much has been given so much is expected. Here I was, having been in the capital markets, helped companies, governments’ institutions to raise money to be successful, I turned around and I looked at my own state and it was in a pitiable situation. Sometimes in a raining season you cannot drive into your city. People forget that when it came to the Christmas holidays several years ago people did not want to come to Benin.

The spate of armed robberies; people were being attacked and robbed openly on the streets of Benin and environs. People forget so easily that because of lack of infrastructure, this city was always gridlocked. So, for a lot of us the moment we saw an opportunity to change leadership, clearly we rallied around and encouraged Comrade Oshiomhole, who had just left the labour congress at that time, to go for the race and we supported him with our resources. Some of us who had money put money behind him; those who had ideas put the ideas behind him. Given the kind of person he is he was quite receptive and by the grace of God he won the elections. Even when he was deprived of his victory we still stood by him. God in his infinite mercies decided to prevail and he won and was sworn in on November 12th, 2008. But before he was sworn in some of us went back to him to say, “look, you’re likely to win and if you do you’ll be going from the court house to government house. You’ll not have a time for transition you’ll be sworn in immediately. We then asked, “where is the blueprint? Where is the programme for governing in Edo State? Where are the people you are going to use for governing in Edo State?” Don’t forget that many of us have run successful businesses so we understand what it takes to run organisations.

True to type, because he is a very honest and open person, he said it was something he hadn’t thought about and he needed help on. And so we put together and organised a team in Lagos with the help of some members of the Lagos State Executive Council at that time to draw out a blueprint for the Oshiomhole administration. I was head of that team and that is the blueprint we have run for the last seven and half years. So, to answer your question, what you are seeing in Edo today is not an accident. It is a very well thought out plan, economic plan driven by a very honest and committed leadership on how to get Edo State out of its morass and make it one of the leading economic centres in Nigeria. The governorship election is around the corner. It is believed that you’re the anointed candidate. How do you relate with the other aspirants? I don’t know about being an anointed candidate. I know that I decided when I looked at the horizon and looked at the future. I looked at the challenges that we’re facing and we’re likely to face in the future.

I felt that this is not the time to abandon ship. This is the time people who have something to offer should stand up and I am quite excited that quite a number of aspirants are people who are accomplished; people who have done well in politics, in their professions or in their businesses.

These are very respectable people. In other words, I have lots of respect for most of the other aspirants. Fortunately, because I have had the benefit of interacting, sometimes very closely with some of them, they are people I have respect for and my relationship with them is quite cordial and respectful. I cannot think of one aspirant today who is not good enough to be governor of Edo State.

Who could have been my governor and therefore I just think that it is important to be cordial; it is important to show respect; it is important to share ideas because at the end of the day what is it about? It is about a contestation of ideas as to who can make Edo better than Oshiomhole did. Sir, you are known to be close to business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. His conglomerate is a success in all ramifications. You want to tell us briefly what you have contributed to the growth of the conglomerate that you will want to replicate in Edo? I am quite happy that Dangote group has become one of the most successful businesses in our continent and obviously in the world. I am very happy to be associated with such success. I have worked practically with every large business in Nigeria. And I am very proud of many of them – whether in the telecom business, in manufacturing, in banking, in insurance etc. People forget that the first global depository receipt programme was set up by me in Nigeria which means we are able to set up financial arrangements to get Nigerian businesses floated on foreign exchanges; such that businesses in Nigeria can be listed on foreign exchanges and raise money internationally in a transparent and structured manner. Those knowledge are the things I brought to Edo State to help Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s administration. That is the basis for this success you have seen. When I was in the council of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, I went to Alhaji Dangote to invite him to join the council. I sponsored his application because I know that he would bring. And thank God that after joining the stock exchange you can see that he brought stability to the Nigerian market after the crisis we went through. You are contesting to be the governor of Edo State your brother, movies producer, Don Pedro, is in the same race. Why are you not stepping down for each order? You have to understand the family I come from. We are very blessed and endowed. I have over 300 first cousins and thousands of second cousins. And many of them are very successful and prosperous. There are many more close relatives who don’t answer the name, Obaseki. I am surprised that it is only two of us (that are contesting the 2016 governorship). There is nothing wrong, maybe it is new and thus it seems strange. In Europe you see brothers in the same party contesting. My cousin (Don Pedro) is good, he is prolific and creative from certain aspects. I believe that I also have some things to offer. By the way, it is not a general election. We are still going to go through the political process. The understanding is that whoever emerges as the candidate the others will support. Some people are of the view that you are not a party man and that you are only relying on the backing of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole? First thing I have noticed is that people generally have a narrow definition of politics and certain assumptions about politics. People believe that it is only that person who is in soap box, contesting, running around, mobilising etc during elections that is a politician. I sometimes laugh at people who say, “he just came in.” If I were not a politician how would I have encouraged Adams Oshiomhole to go into the governorship race in Edo State? How would I have been able to mobilise other Edo professionals in and outside the state to raise money and support him? It is unfortunate that someone like the late Chief Tayo Akpata is not around today. He would have told you all I did. He was an obvious politician. Those are the kind of people I am associating with and you say I am not a politician. I am not a politician but I sat with Comrade Oshiomhole to form the first cabinet. Myself, the deputy governor, Pius Odubu, Osarodion Ogie and Pally Iriase we were the first set of people in the administration of Oshiomhole. I recall sitting down to even interview the first set of commissioners we had. Don’t forget, we had a blueprint as to what we thought should happen and which sort of people we wanted to handle certain responsibilities. People say I am not a politician but I was there at the formation of APC. I was one of the first people to be registered in my ward 4. They say I am not a politician, I don’t even have a party card. Even those who came to meet us say I am not a politician. I was chairman of the finance committee in Oshiomhole’s reelection. We raised quite a lot of money to prosecute that election. But I was not a politician. I have been attending exco meetings and involved in every other critical economic decisions that have been made decisions. This is all part of the antics of trying to prevent people from coming to the space. I think the debate today is not about whether I am a politician or not. The debate is isn’t it time to expand the political horizon; to expand the political process; to accommodate a lot more human resources in our polity. Must we continue to constrain our politics to just a few individuals who have played only certain types of roles and certain types of politics?