Why Edo Needs Investment Opportunities to Thrive — By Eubaldus Enahoro

There is no doubt that every government has one basic obligation and that is to improve the lives of its citizens.

In Nigeria, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has introduced  economic reforms that have given state governments the financial capacity to deliver meaningful development across the country.

The Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo has repeatedly given credit to President Tinubu’s economic decisions, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies and other support which have strengthened the finances of sub national governments, thereby  enabling them to embark on projects that directly improve the lives of the people.

As part of his strategy to develop the state the Governor recently called on Edo professionals, entrepreneurs and investors living abroad  to partner with the government by bringing home their expertise, technology, global network and investors to accelerate development.

The Governor met with the Edo residents in the United Kingdom urging them to come back home because when there are economic activities there would be progress and people would be engaged.

It is however sad to note that there are some people not happy with this move, instead they want to live large without working or investing

It is quite something else when you play and don’t want to work.  According to the scriptures, If you do not work to earn a living, do not expect to eat.

Others regard this nonchalant attitude to work with hostility as they believe that there should be no food for a lazy man. It is this lifestyle that encourages crime and other get  rich quick schemes in our society and that has to stop under the watch of Governor Okpebholo

We all know that in reality, we live in a society where those who struggle hard to make a living, live moderate lifestyles and some below the poverty line,  while those whose source of livelihood cannot be explained, make so much money and live ostentatious lifestyles.

To such groups of people who have constituted themselves into clandestine cliques, and cult groups, they will quickly tell you that “the end justifies the means.”

They are ready to go to any length to take unnecessary risks just to make quick money and before they know it the law catches up with them.

Some of them are involved in ritual means to make money. They join cult groups because they want to belong to a class of rich folks who flaunt wealth with their lifestyles.

They do not believe they have to wait for the  end of the month to earn a salary, nor do they want to make any meaningful investments that will take time to yield profits.

But today, Senator Monday Okpebholo has ensured that workers in the state get paid on or before the 26th of every month and he has continued to attract investors into the state.

Interestingly, some people want  quick money to buy flashy cars, build or buy flamboyant houses with money they get without working hard for them. They spend lavishly on entertaining themselves and a series of their girlfriends.

Such people do not have value for the virtues of hard work and patience and they don’t bother about spending time to acquire any skill or education. Even when some of them acquire vocational skills, they prefer to abandon it and rather belong to cult groups because that is where they can make quick money.

Some of these groups of persons have become land speculators instead of putting their talents and skills to productive use for the benefit of the society. They have refused any other form of work, because what they get is free money through the sale of land and landed properties.

They do not want to hear that there is dignity in labor. They sell one piece of land to several buyers, and at the end cause confusion for those who buy the land or property

That was the experience of Mrs. Eki  Osa-Oni who has lived in the USA for over 21 years. She is from the Ovia North East local government area of Edo State and was eighteen years old when she traveled abroad.

Over the years, she was pressured from her siblings and immediate family at home to build a befitting building in Benin City and she  saved to achieve that goal.

During the last Christmas holiday, Eki came to Nigeria with her two children and  acquired a piece of land measuring 200 by 200 which she bought for five million naira in a sprawling community off the Benin- Sapele by-pass, from the community elders.

After the holidays, Eki traveled back overseas, assuring her relations that she would commence the building project in  six months.

But, by the second month, she got a call from a relation that construction work was going on in the land and the caller inquired if she was the one who commissioned them to build on the land.

This news came as a rude shock to Eki, because she had  contacted an architect who she  mobilized to design a befitting building for the land. With this development, she hurriedly came back home.

When she got to the land, she could not believe what she saw. A massive structure at the foundation level, fenced round with high walls.

She invited the police and made some arrests, but it was later resolved that another piece of land would  be made available to her somewhere in the interior of the community by those who sold the land.

This scenario was so common in Benin City and other parts of the country and the youths who became land speculators no more indulge themselves in any other legitimate source of livelihood rather than waiting for any easy source of money.

Too many persons became victims of such people and their antics in dispossessing people of their hard earned money in the state.

It was good news that the Oba of Benin disbanded the activities of  Community Associations. But it is appalling to note  that they are still operating in some communities.

For instance if you want to develop your own land you are forced to go through stringent conditions. In some communities, people are made to pay money at different stages of the progress of the building.

If you are fencing, if you are installing a bore hole, if you are roofing, and others. You are made to pay money to them.

They have made the cost of completing a building very high by using every opportunity to extort money from the people, which invariably scares away prospective investors.

In this regard, every Edo son and daughter should  encourage those coming back home,   especially those  in Diaspora to come home to develop and invest,  rather than scaring them away with so many levies and conditions that will not encourage growth and positive development.

That is why the slogan of His Royal Majesty,  the Omo N’ Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II,  “Aimamien eson Aimiuwa,” meaning, suffer before pleasure, should be imbibed by everyone in the land.  We should all know that “No pain no gain.  There must be efforts before the reward.”

This was aptly demonstrated during the traditional rites of the coronation of the Oba of Benin before becoming Oba……His Royal Majesty, with all the opulence, passed through some stages of suffering before ascending the exalted throne of his ancestors.

As you step out today, examine yourself, are you really working to earn that pleasurable lifestyle you are living. If not, it is not too late to amend your ways because there is dignity in labour. Let us  encourage Mr Governor to attract investors to the state to create an enabling environment for investment opportunities to thrive.

Eubaldus Enahoro was Former Editor of the Nigerian Observer.