Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State was received with ovation by the people over the reconstructed intra-city roads measuring over 8.2 kilometers in Abudu, the headquarters of Orhiomwon Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking at the inspection of the roads some of which have been completed and others at different stages of completion, on Tuesday, Governor Oshiomhole said his government will work in all parts of the state until the last day of the administration.
He said “when I said we will finish strong and finish well, it follows that until the last day, God helping me, we will continue to deliver but we will not give up on those who are refusing to pay tax. We will squeeze them until more communities can witness what we are witnessing in Abudu today.
“So the battle you see we are fighting with those godfathers who don’t want to pay tax, I prefer to continue to fight them so that people like those in Abudu will have things like this and other communities too. When you listen to those prayers by those very elderly people, by young people, by old women, now, you go and put a woman to wear red, but that woman that is in her own house, almost topless, praying, those are the real prayers and people like that keep us going.
“What excites me today is that, the first time the tractors came, the people didn’t quite believe. They were like, these politicians have started again, but as you can’t see, as the job progressed, they are excited. Am touched by the passion, the feelings, those elders who spoke by the road side, you can feel it from their voice and I am touched.
“I appreciate and like I said, this is the easiest country to govern. Our people can appreciate so little and so now, we will go the whole hub. We will not only build the road, we will also put street lights so that at night, Abudu will look like a local government headquarters. I think they deserve that.
“For me, the secret is that, there is a saying that whatever is good that you plan for people, God will give you the enablement to deliver on it. Government and governance is about picking what you can avoid and identifying what you want to get done. For us, we have had to cut many other areas so that we can deliver on these major projects.
“We will keep on trying. Things are tight but I have always said my responsibility is not to lament what has gone bad, poor resources, drop in oil price, no, that is not what governance is about.”
In his response, spokesman of the community, Rev. Godwin Okoh said, “we do not have sufficient words to express our gratitude to your Excellency for the wonderful love which God is using you to show us.
“It is like a dream come true to us that your Excellency has turned the hitherto neglected city of Abudu to ‘London’ within this short space of time. We realize the tremendous amount of technology, financial input and quality of work which you have used to transform Abudu to this enviable condition which we are now enjoying. You have immortalized your name in Abudu forever.”
The roads which have been reconstructed are the Court Road, Maternity Road, Isonorho road and the old Benin-Asaba road with a bridge. [EDSG]
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