The Spokesperson for Coalition Of Riverine Communities, Comrade Ezekiel Daniel has commended one General Godstime Ogidigba for dragging the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to construct communal roads around the Riverine areas of Edo State. Responding to an exclusive interview with Kadiri Christopher of LEGENDS TV recently, Comrade Ezekiel said the type of General Ogidigba is rare.
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| Comrade Ezekiel Daniel responding to media interview recently |
Excerpt:
LTV: Sir, recently, the Edo State government embarked on massive road construction around the Riverine areas and your community seems to have benefited from the gesture. How will you describe the development?
A: Of course, it is a fact and it is true. Construction of roads is going on. His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki has broken the jinx. I use the word, 'the jinx' because this Nikorowa/Ofunama road is the only link the riverine people have to the upper land and in the riverine part that consist of three wards, namely Ofunama Ward, Nikorowa Ward and Siluko Ward. We have close to 350 communities that this road cut off for almost 20 years now. For many years, we cried and cried, several governments have come and gone, none of them listened to us. It is better to be late than never. Some people are now saying is it now that Obaseki is going that he is now doing it. That is immaterial. The most important thing is that he is doing it. He has listened to us and the road project is ongoing. On behalf of the entire riverine area, I am saying a very big thank you to Governor Godwin Obaseki.
LTV: Some days back, you gave kudos to one General Godstime Ogidigba for attracting the state government to construct the road, some persons are already saying General Ogidigba never attracted the state government to construct the road...
A: (interrupts) in every society, some people are born to be negative minded. What they cannot, when others are achieving it, they tend to discredit the achiever. Giving credit to whom it is due does not make you to be less, neither does it take anything from you. Saluting an achiever will even bring more honour to you and more grace from above because God will empower you for appreciating what is good. Whether they agree or not, they cannot run away from the fact that this project has become a reality today and it is traceable to the effort, sweat and labour of General Godstime Ogidigba who is the Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the Governor on Surveillance, Security and Waterways. Let me reveal this to you that at a stage, General Godstime became a pester to Barr Osarodion Ogie, the Edo State SSG. In a week, he will write more than 10 letters to the government, calling for the construction of the road. How many working days do we have in a week? These letters written were on the same subject, that is the construction of the road. That means there were days he sent two letters. Because of the tenacious state of what he was pursuing, it became a baby project, like a pet project to Barr Osarodion Ogie who joined his voice later to that of General Ogidigba, calling on the governor to please kindly award the road for construction. Now that this young man, General Ogidigba has attracted such development, are we now saying the credit shouldn't be given to him? He alone will write, take it for typing and go and distribute it. Going further, since this project began, General Godstime and his men have been sleeping on the road. As we speak now, he is there with his men. He has a mat which he uses to sleep on the road. What selfless service can be more than this? I want to appeal to our people to please, never rubbish the effort of a good man, instead, appreciate him, he will get more effort to do more. In fact, General Godstime is helping Obaseki to finish well.
LTV: Some quarters are saying the road is substandard while some other quarters are saying it is being constructed because of the forthcoming election. What is your take on this?
A: People will always talk. Especially the naysayers. Precisely on the 31st day of December, 2023, the Governor was at Nikorowa community. I personally wrote the speech which one of our chiefs delivered. He is Chief Pius Pawuru. In that speech, this road was made a subject. Responding, the Governor promised to work on the road. He said he will deliver on the road before leaving office as a governor. When I posted the video, a lot of our people never believed it. I will not blame them though, based on the past experience. Now the project is there and the issue of substandardness will not arise because Governor Obaseki is a man of standard. So, this job is going to be a quality job.im appealing to our people to let their minds be at rest. My appeal is for our people to take good care of those working on the road. Their equipment, materials and other tools should be safeguarded for them. Thank you.
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