An address by Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu accepting the Call out by Safe Edo Movement to run for governor of Edo state in September 2020.
Safe Edo Movement are people who have held important positions in our tertiary institutions; they are indigenes of our state; they grew up here, they went to school here. And they fought to ensure that our educational institutions were better than they met it.
They were at the forefront of progressive struggle and every time there was injustice anywhere, whether on campus or in communities, these young men were in the frontline, protesting. They are men and women that nobody could bribe, nobody could intimidate. And some of them were detained in various police stations for their convictions.
Today they are graduates, they see holding responsible positions, and from all over the world they have gathered under the platform of Safe Edo Movement. Some of them had to leave their places overseas. Some of them came from outside Edo. And those within have also mobilized followers to come here and in the course of their speech, they went down memory lane.
Thank God for those who remember history and they mentioned what some of us were able to achieve even as appointees of Government not as elected representatives. But we had the privilege to serve the State. The interaction we had with them, the things we were able to do, they remembered and that formed the basis of the call out today. I have listened to their address and it is one of the best I have heard in recent times.
Some of us got interested in party politics at an early age and what attracted us to politics was the ideas, the manifestos, the campaigns, the eloquence of those who wanted us to support them in office.
Unfortunately today people get elected when they cannot even speak to the public. People get elected into office when they have no manifesto. People become governor when there is no history of political participation. And that is why we are suffering what we are suffering today in Edo.
I want to thank these gentlemen because not only did they address the situation in Edo State today, they also identified the need for change. It is not enough to lament that we are suffering in Edo: there are no jobs, we are stagnating, and people now know us more with violence and crime than with any meaningful and positive development. But they have chosen to go beyond lamentations and they have decided that something must be done. And in identifying somebody that they want to queue behind and support, they were also not sentimental.
I listened to them carefully in choosing Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. These are the reasons:
âWe have the opportunity to interact with him in the past. Even if he was to pretend now, his past would have exposed him. We know him and because we have studied him over time, we can safety stand with himâ.
I want to thank the Safe Edo Movement for the vote of confidence. I want to thank them for identifying with the plight of Edo people. Some people say home is where you are comfortable but there are others who also say home is where you were born. And these ones have chosen to leave their comfort zones. America could have become their new home. Europe could have become their new home. But with their own money, they left the comfort of these places and they have come, mobilized their colleagues and they have come to say Edo people cannot continue like this.
I want to with the humility and all source of responsibility ACCEPT the call out that you have made for me to run for the office of Governor of Edo State in September 2020.
For me, to be fulfilled in life, you must identify why you were born. Many of us live to a ripe old age without understanding the purpose why God created us. I am a lawyer, I could have practiced law; I could have been a SAN, but today am in politics. I have done Business. I made money in business, but I chose to be in politics. I am also a Pastor and itâs a calling that I value and some people ask why would a Pastor be in politics and I tell them Pastors are in politics because Proverb 29:2 says, âwhen the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. It says when the wicked rule, the people groanâ. May God put a stop to our mourning. May God bring us to a season of joy.
I chose to be a politics because I recognize that the only way we can have representation in government is through politics. And Government is the keeper of our wealth. The resources being used by those in government does not belong to them. It belongs to all of us, using an entity called Government. If we want to have a say in the distribution of our resources the only avenue is through politics.
I am concerned about the plight of our people and I have told people that no matter how wealthy you are, no matter how rich you are, if you are surrounded by poor people, you are a poor man. If you want to be rich then do what you can to make those around you rich. But if you have millions and others do not have then what millions do you have?
Why I chose not to be in business. I made millions in Business but that did not give me the satisfaction, I thought I would get. I have also been Pastor and to the glory of God, I remain a farmer. I can say with joy and satisfaction that I am a successful farmer. But farming too has not given me the fulfillment that I want.
The impact I want to make, I have realized I will not be able to make it with farming alone. I will not be able to make it with Business alone.
But in politics I have access to government. And in Government I have the opportunity to make impact all over the State. I would be able to help provide amenities to communities that are in dire need, without having to bribe or beg officials of Government to get them.
It was when we were in Government that the last major employment was done in the teaching service. We employed close to 4000 teachers because education is key to the development of a State or a nation. Today many of those teachers have retired and Government has made no effort to replace them. In many schools across the State you will find only one teacher. How can only one teacher teach all subjects?
Normally you have teachers who are good in some subjects. You have teachers who are good in arts subjects. A teacher might be good in Math and not English and when we went to school, public school, in this state, we had different teachers, we had teachers for Physics, and we had teachers for Biology, for English, for History, for Mathematics: We had different teachers and thatâs why we were able to excel in WAEC, A-levels and in the University. We got the best of education and in public schools.
Today itâs not like that. I am happy that there are so many youths here and I thank you all for answering the call of your brothers. But let me say this, this call is even more important to you than to them. Many of them had to leave this state to get good jobs. Many of them had to leave the country to get good jobs, they are surviving, they are flourishing; they can easily stay away, but not everybody can go abroad. To get abroad, there are road blocks, there are restrictions. Itâs not easy to even say you want to go abroad.
So for those of us who are here, we tried to listen seriously to the cry of the Safe Edo Movement. They are not crying because they are hungry, they are not crying because they have no alternative. They are crying because they believe that they owe a duty to the land that gave birth to them, not to see it die. And by the grace of God, Edo state will not die.
I thank you for this invitation. I also thank you for telling me that I will not be alone. God has always been with me. But God has told me that in a multitude of counsel, there is safety. So your assurance that you are coming in, not just with your group but with more groups you will co-opt, means that the journey will be easy.
We will not be afraid of those who think they can intimidate us. Bombs are being thrown. I understand that my house has been surveyed many times on how bombs will be thrown. The C of O to my home was threatened with revocation if I dare receive people in my house. Guns are being fired into offices and houses of those who dare to dissent with those in government.
An elected governor has declared that his second term is not negotiable: that even God cannot say no; that even Edo People have no say and whether we like it or not he must continue. I ask the Question: are we going to keep quiet about it? Are we cowards? Are we afraid? Can things continue like this?
You know that I too was a student and you know the song we sang those days when we were confronted with challenges(sings: Another challenge o…)
So we are ready to meet with the challenges and by the grace of God we will triumph.
Let us also thank you for the solidarity with our Natural Chairman of APC, a very illustrious son of Edo State, a man who has been elected twice as Governor of this State and today occupies a pride of place in the history of this state – Some of our people are trying to Pull Him Down and itâs unfortunate.
You would have thought the progress of our people is our progress. You would have thought Comrade Adams Oshiomhole being National chairman of APC will be a thing of pride and joy to those in authority but because some people by nature are wicked, they want to be the only ones that will fly in the sky. Every time they see somebody else, they get jealous and they begin to think how they can destroy such a person.
But they are not God and it will not work. We need to say it so that Edo People and those outside will know that majority of us appreciate something that is good.
Many of you know that I and the National chairman of the APC disagreed in the past. But it does not mean that you donât know what is good. Disagreement does not mean you donât appreciate your own. And a man who cannot forgive the misunderstandings of the past cannot be a child of God.
