Determined to improve on the previous past Esan representatives at the National Assembly, Alex Ehimhantie Aidaghese has offered to serve at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to add value to the people of Esanland.
Without mincing words, Alex Ehimhantie Aidaghese whispered to Page3news.com.ng that Esanland is more than Constituency Projects.
“Federal presence is abysmally lacking in Edo Central Senatorial District. We need Federal Government Projects. Not Constituency Projects. We deserve better. Senator Clifford Odia has done his best, but his best is not good enough for my beloved people of Esanland. If he couldn’t do it in eight years, he cannot do it in four more years”, he said.
Continuing, he stated that it is time a change is made in who goes where at the National Assembly. Therefore, he (Alex Ehimhantie Aidaghese) has to go for a new start to unfold.
“The Esan tribe of Chief Anthony Enahoro, of Great Anenih is not reputed for back-benchers. In the past twenty-four years, we have had Senators who did not rise to the position of relevance at the National Assembly – position of relevance defined by the benefits that accrued to your people. It doesn’t take twelve years to become the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It’s who you are and your ability to rise up to the demands of the legislative process” he said, and emphatically asked “How many Federal Government projects or institutions can we boast of in Edo Central Senatorial District in the past twenty-four years?
“Where are the completed water projects? What about irrigation, the dams? Where are the Military Institutions? Where is the Federal Security apparatus to ensure our safety and security throughout the regions? We have none.
“If they couldn’t do it in twenty-four years, it’s futile to trust them with another four years. They slumber on their rights while a one time flourishing Ewu Flour Mills went under.
“The issue here goes beyond their inability to perform. It is whether they are ever conscious of the enormity of the power and privileges they packed with the mandate to serve at the National Assembly. Ignorance is a disease. The lack of wisdom to discern the existence of your inadequacies and how to deal with it is the worst of an anomaly as a peoples’ rep. And that’s the mother of the culture of low expectations besetting Esan’s development.
“If Mr Clifford Odia and those before him, couldn’t ascend to the “Big Positions” in eight years; and lacked the capacity to influence Federal presence to Edo Central Senatorial District in twenty four years, Esan voters cannot afford to trust them again for another four years.
“In my first two years in the Senate, about half of the entire Esan tribal region will be connected with pipe-borne water. And in four years, the entire Esan region will be enjoying an uninterrupted stream of clean water”, he assured, saying that, “I am not promising miracles; with the right information at the disposal of your members of the National Assembly, coupled with diligent management and oversight in place, there’s nothing the Federal Government cannot do for your community.
“In recent times, there is a void hamstring direct Federal engagement in the development of Esanland. It is about communication and information mismanagement. I want to fill that void. And I have what it takes to break the jinx and fill the void.
“How many times have you seen your Senator driving around your community or conducting a Town Hall Meeting? Not in Edo Central Senatorial District. If disconnect is an evil at the federal level that must be condemned, it is also an evil at the Senatorial level that must be condemned.
“The ability to fathom the existence of a void (disconnect), and how to go about eliminating it is what makes the difference. That ability is what differentiates me from the other candidates as well as those you have been clapping after before now. And that’s what I’m bringing to the table. You are a servant of the people, not the Lord of the Manor.
“How many times have you seen or heard of Esan members at the National Assembly, as a team, seeking an audience with the President or the decision takers at the Budget Office to draw their attention to the lack of Federal presence in Esanland or lobby for opportunities for the region? Nothing on the record. I will do things differently, believing that information is power. And that’s what I bring to the table.
“The Minister of Agriculture or Water Resources, for instance, doesn’t know where the Odu River is in the Esan region. I know. In a similar vein, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not aware of the existence of the Odu River Dam in Ewohimi and its capacity to generate water ceaselessly for more than half of the Esan communities. But I do.
“As your Senator, it is my responsibility to bring this information and similar untapped resources all over Esanland to the attention of the President and his team, as well as the President of the Senate and the appropriate Ministers and Ministries for appropriate action”.
