Edo State Deputy Governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, has lauded Governor Godwin Obaseki for transforming the state in all spheres of developments, describing the state under him as the commercial nerve centre for business activities and the preferred destination for investors in the South South region.
Comrade Shaibu expressed this view in a goodwill message delivered at the 30 years anniversary of Edo State creation.
Comrade Shaibu who also expressed appreciation to the citizens for their continuous support of the Obaseki’s administration, commended their steadfastness, patience and uncommon effort in moving the state to a new level.
The deputy governor in his word stated,”I appreciate you all as we mark the 30th anniversaries of our dear state today, our collective task must be towards uniting the state by seeing one another in terms of value and usefulness and embracing each other in unity of purpose and oneness of spirit. We must therefore purge ourselves of every tendency of sabotaging democratic efforts in the state as spearheaded by our Governor, His Excellency, Mr Godwin Obaseki”, he said.
Shaibu, stated further that,”the administration has confronted the nagging socio-economic challenges that have bedeviled the state and hindered development since its creation, thirty years ago and has set it on the path of continuous progress.
‘’We may not have gotten to our targeted destination, definitely we are not where we used to be in terms of socio-economic and human capital developments. For instance, never again will Edo be associated with being the capital of unemployment and human trafficking in Nigeria.”
He emphasized that, “through conscious effort on the part of government, the challenges of joblessness which heightened human trafficking and prostitution that projected Edo in bad light has become a thing of the past, saying “we no more compete in terms of joblessness and human trafficking but in terms of peace and security, human capital development and infrastructure development.
“Today, through our collective efforts and the enabling environment, the people themselves have made Edo State attractive and our youths are now returning home to invest.
‘’Governor Obaseki’s administration has offered purposeful and selfless leadership in the last four and a half years and has stabilized the economy of the state by building strong institutions rather than powerful individuals.
“We have integrated the rural and urban communities in the state through infrastructure development and extended opportunities to those that were previously cut off from governance.
The deputy governor expressed further the promise of Obaseki’s administration, saying,”As a government, we shall continue to impact more lives and create better opportunities and expand the political space for greater participation of our people”.