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Edo 2020: Is Obaseki Getting Governance Right?

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By Osas Igbinoba

Governor Godwin Obaseki won 2016 Edo State Governorship Election convincingly due to pedigree, solid education background, vast experience in business circle and his ability to connect with the people irrespective of their social status.

The election was an endorsement for a man of courage, character, integrity and foresight. Obaseki,  the founding secretary of a US-based Africa Chamber of Commerce and Director of Junior Achievement of Nigeria- the local affiliate of international Not For Profit Organisation designed workable blueprint for development of Edo State.

Governor Obaseki is indeed redefining governance and delivering dividends of democracy to good people of Edo State, irrespective of affiliations and tribe.

He has justified the glowing encomiums poured on him by President Muhammadu Buhari during APC Mega rally for election of the Benin born technocrat turned politician. President  Buhari in presence of thousands of Edo residents described Godwin Obaseki, as a seasoned technocrat capable of governing the state. “Obaseki is a seasoned technocrat and I recommend him to you so that you can continue to grow the state,” he affirmed to a resounding applause.

The governor has not disappointed the people that voted for him by implementing impactful and life changing policies as well as projects to improve citizens wellbeing.

Obaseki administration has created over 107,000 direct and indirect jobs; enthroned good governance and making remarkable progress in terms of development. He has brought his expertise to bear on the development facilitating the siting and mobilisation of funding for the Edo-Azura Power project, which has heavyweights like the World Bank Group, Siemens, Julius Berger, among others, on board.

Governor Obaseki within three years has completed major roads  including St. Saviour Road, Ugbor-Amagba Road, Lucky Way, Ehaekpen-TV Road, Ikiran-Oke-Ikakhumoh Road, Benin-Abraka Road (the longest road project ever constructed by the state government), Agbede-Awain Road, Uzebba-Okpuje-Akagbor Road, Irhirhi-Aruogba-Obazagbon-Obagienevbosa, among others.

Some township roads across the state are receiving attention simultaneously  to ensure every area feel ambient of development and create good roads network to boost business activities and help farmers bring their produce to markets without stress. The rural dwellers are experiencing  good days under Governor Godwin Obaseki government.

The Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo-BEST) programme, an initiative of Godwin Obaseki is renovating schools across the state, to ensure that the schools are conducive for learning.

Over 230 schools are being remodeled as part of the state government’s commitment to providing a conducive learning environment for pupils in the state, a major pillar of the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EDOBEST) programme.

Edo State Government under the purposeful leader’s watch trained 1000 youths at the facility since inception, with not less than a quarter of them being females. Some of the organisations with a presence at the hub include Microsoft, Tech4Dev, LinkedIn, Curators University, Hotels.NG, Siemen’s Impact Hub, Makers Academy, Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Center, among others.

Furthermore, the governor as part of his efforts to strengthen Edo economy introduced reforms in revenue generation chain and this has increase the state Internally Generated Revenue. The deployment of technology and strict implementation of global best practices changed the narrative in Edo.

Governor Godwin Obaseki has touched  Agriculture, Health, Environment, Water, Energy and other sectors just to make life better for every Edo citizen.

It’s therefore apt to conclude that Godwin Obaseki is getting governance right and touching people’s life positively. Giving him four more years would be a win-win deal for good people of Edo State.

Igbinoba is a Benin based engineer and social analyst

   

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Where the Conversion Breaks  The break does not happen at the ends of the process. It happens in the middle, in the unglamorous sequence of work that turns a plausible concept into an instrument a fiduciary can sign. A promising transmission project needs a feasibility study rigorous enough to survive institutional scrutiny rather than optimistic enough to attract early interest. It needs offtake arrangements that hold up under real counterparty and currency risk, not the counterparty risk assumed in a base case. It needs environmental and social documentation calibrated to the standards of the institutions being asked to fund it, not the standards of the jurisdiction hosting it. It needs a legal and commercial structure that allocates risk in ways a commercial lender, not only a development financier, will accept. It needs a sponsor capable of executing what has been proposed, not merely capable of proposing it. 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The Missing Middle  This is the Missing Middle of Infrastructure Finance: the institutional architecture that sits between capital that wants to move and infrastructure that needs building, and whose incompleteness explains far more of the global infrastructure gap than any shortfall in committed funds. It consists of project preparation facilities able to fund feasibility and structuring work before commercial viability has been proven. Transaction advisers capable of building deals that satisfy development mandates and commercial return thresholds at once, rather than treating the two as separate constituencies to be managed sequentially. Risk-sharing and guarantee instruments that convert political, regulatory and currency risk into something a commercial balance sheet can underwrite. Aggregation platforms that bundle smaller, individually sub-scale projects into portfolios large enough to justify institutional transaction costs. Standardised documentation that reduces the bespoke legal cost of every new deal. And coordination across ministries, regulators and financiers robust enough that a technically sound project does not die in bureaucratic sequencing after the money has already been found. None of these are new ideas in isolation. What is missing is their assembly into a coherent system, deliberately funded and institutionally accountable, rather than scattered across donor-funded pilots that end when the grant does. The African Dimension  Africa makes this dynamic unusually visible, and consequently offers an unusually clear opportunity to correct it. The continent’s infrastructure financing need, by any measure, is vast. Less understood is that the shortfall is disproportionately one of preparation rather than capital. Nigerian gas-to-power, off-grid solar and mini-grid developers have each demonstrated that individual projects can clear the bankability bar; what has not emerged is systemic pipeline scale, a steady stream of comparably prepared projects large enough to absorb the capital already circling the sector. The pattern repeats, with local variation, from grid infrastructure in East Africa to transport corridors in West Africa. Interested capital is rarely the scarce input. Investment-ready projects are. 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