THE oracle spoke and Edo people voted in a manner that comprehensively defeated the rivals of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in his race for the second term as governor of Edo State.
In the course of the campaign, the rivals put their reasons why Oshiomhole should not be returned and the articles of John Ainofenohkai - The tragedy of governance in Edo and Callistus Omoregie - Why must Edo people be impoverished" in the Nigerian Tribune of Tuesday, 26 June, 2012, gave the impression that Oshiomhole was a non-performer who should be rejected at the polls.
Of course, the supporters of Oshiomhole also had their stints at claiming that the Edo people have never had it so good.
In the propaganda battle, it was even portrayed as if the Oba of Benin, Omo N'Oba Erediauwa, snubbed the President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) delegation that paid a courtesy call on him.
We were later made to understand that the President was received in private because the gods prevented the Oba from receiving the delegation.
When the President later addressed the PDP rally, he alluded to an event when the Oba refused to see a former Minister of State for Works who was on an official visit to Edo State on the grounds that government had done nothing about the poor state of roads in the state.
Even at that point in time (June 30, 2012) getting to Benin by road took about seven hours because of the bad stretch between Ore and the Edo State border. So bad was the situation that there were announcements that those travelling to Benin and beyond should avoid that area and instead travel via Akure.
Oshiomhole's opponents saw his efforts at improving the roads in Benin area as cosmetic but people saw them as improvements hence they could not be convinced otherwise.
The campaigns also featured the pictorial advertisements of the Edo Agenda Movement which tried to debunk the claim by Oshiomhole's government that Edo is working. Add to this is the publication of Fast Track that opinion polls put PDP ahead of ACN and ANPP in the guber race (Tribune, Tuesday, 10 July, 2012).
Now that the race is over and the postmortem is what follows, it is certain that the Edo people all along had confidence in their Governor though he too was shaken by the PDP propaganda. But what excited me most was the stance of the Oba's Palace that stated that the oracle had spoken in favour of Oshiomhole.
I eagerly awaited the results to see if the oracle might have got it wrong, but, alas, the accuracy of the prediction was such that the PDP as a party easily conceded defeat.
What happened is now clear to all: the people of Edo State did not fall for the PDP propaganda and they viewed Oshiomhole as an action governor that is transforming the state.
The likes of Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, Rev. Peter Obadan, Admiral Mike Akhigbe were practical enough to appreciate what Oshiomhole had achieved during his first term. But party loyalty forced them to plod along with the Chieftains when in their heart of hearts they sympathised with Oshiomhole.
Standing by one's conscience is not an act of treachery and this is where I disagree with the submission of Uchechukwu Olisah in his article "How Edo governor election was won and lost". Charles Airhiavbere as the PDP candidate forced the sidelining of people like Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, Kenneth Imansmangbon and Julius Ihonvbere.
Airhiavbere's godfathers might not have calculated the risks of having a retired general as their gubernatorial candidate in a society that is attempting to be as much civilian as it can possibly be. The PDP heavyweights will have to get to the drawing board if they hope to do better in future elections in Edo State and elsewhere as the ACN will capitalise on this victory.
There is no doubt that Oshiomhole has won a landslide having captured the 18 local government areas but he has to look into allegations of reckless spending on projects. Some have accused his administration of construction of roads at an average of one billion naira a kilometre. This should be disproved with facts. In doing so, Oshiomhole will be demonstrating that he is transparent and accountable to the people who have resoundingly expressed a vote of absolute confidence in him.
•Professor Odunuga, former member, Editorial Board, Nigerian Tribune, sent this piece from Ijebu Ode.
