The following piece is the maiden publication of Akoko Edo Community Newspapers on Chairmanship hopefuls for the coveted position of Chairman of Akoko Edo Local Government Area. In this series we shall be publishing profiles of Akoko Edo sons and daughters who are aspiring to compete in the forthcoming local Government elections. Our series is not a campaign for any candidate. Rather we want to showcase the aspirants and their trajectory in community development. We also want to publicize how they desire to lift the fortunes of the local Government Area should they win the election. The write up of each candidate shall be personally written by the candidate and or his assigned writer. Akoko Edo Community Newspaper shall take no responsibility for the quality or otherwise of each write up. The political party’s platform to which the candidates are seeking election will also be kept off the series because for the much we are concerned about the success or failure of any politician is a product of his own competence. We therefore look forward to holding them personally accountable.
We wish to therefore invite all Chairmanship aspirants for the forthcoming Local Government position to send us write-ups about themselves and along the line we have mentioned above.
The Holy Book supports the idea that when a people lack men with ideas who can run with vision, they perish. This is not a prophecy of doom, but simply a statement of fact because, for a lack of vision and ideas, development and growth often elude a people. And in such a situation, poverty and lack becomes the order of the day.
Hon. Robert Akande perfectly fits the above view of men of vision as can be attested to by a visit to his community of Ogugu. Everyday people of the town also speak about him in this light. Testimonies of Key political players in Akoko-Edo LGA, about the Honorable Akande also showcases a man with integrity and the desire to serve. For example, former Chief of Staff of the Edo State Government who himself has brought a lot of development to his own community of Igarra, Hon. Taiwo Akerele said the following about Hon. Akande:
“Hon. Robert Akande is a man with passion for his community. I remember when I was managing the World Bank Assisted Project in Benin between 2011 and 2016, he visited me a couple of times. Whenever he visits me, his focus is always on how to bring development to his people. He continued this drive and pressure when I became Chief of Staff. When the opportunity came, we had no choice than to cave in to his pressure, and today, the rest is history as far as Ogugu community is concerned. If every community has selfless and passionate individuals like Hon. Akande, the story of Akoko-Edo would have changed for the better. He has etched his name in the everlasting history of Ogugu community. I wish him well.’’
Hon. Akande’s personal slogan is, “Ideas make great men and great men make great nations”. And at any place or opportunity he gets to voice this line, he would often cite nations like Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Malaysia as examples of the axiomatic truth of the above line. He insists that in these countries, men with ideas and vision have been able to turn around the economic and social fortunes and conditions of their people, not because they possess a magic wand, but because they run with ideas and vision which their people bought into.
Akoko-Edo as a land that is blessed with all the necessary ingredients for growth and development, must understand that the time has come for the people of the area to engage the services of pragmatic and selfless men in matters of governance in the area. And to show that he is prepared for the work ahead, the man Akande has promised that he would apply modern solutions to the problems besetting the LGA. He begs that if the people of the area are looking for a capable and ready servant leader, he is the man they should support.
He has not only promised to team up with like-minded people, he has also promised to use their help for the total eradication of poverty, ignorance, and illiteracy in Akoko-Edo LGA if given the chance. He has promised the arrest of the precarious state of political decay, economic dislocation, deprivation, social degradation, cultural subjugation and the moral bankruptcy that has taken over the LGA. He has vowed not to rest until the afore mentioned social contracts which he willingly marshalled out on behalf of the people, is reached and signed with the people of the area.
Although this opportunity is open to every other aspirant in the coming election, Hon. Akande’s antecedents stand him out. In his primary constituency Ogugu, there exist visible tell-tale signs of the projects he has brought to his people. And that is not just for his community, but his works are visible in the entire Akoko-Edo LGA.
As a veteran Politician with three decades’ on-the-job experience, he says his philosophy is the creation of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of the people in his constituency. He insists that he has all the qualities of a great leader which are, reliability, consistency, dependability and that he is a detribalized politician with friends across the LGA, who is always ready to work with people of like mind. He has also promised that the people can rest assure that he will run a people friendly and people centric government, where the people themselves will be stakeholders in the way their affairs is run; they will be given a chance, through their representatives, to come up with ideas and suggestions for their own governance.
