THE MAN MONEB
My life has had many interesting turns and I have never shied from sharing them. It was on September 29, 1996 I was given a vision by God, a mandate to return to Irrua, Edo state and work to bring the people closer to development.
You may be wondering — who is this man and what are his plans for the state?
My name is Monday O. Eboigbe, Esq. I am a builder, technician, an aluminium fabricator, a photographer, communicator, lawyer, farmer and politician born in 1965, in Uzebu, Usugbenu, Irrua.
Edo State, like I mentioned earlier, has always been home and I have had a lot of my best moments here, growing up among my people and navigating life through several failed governments like everyone else. As my life has progressed, my thoughts have been filled with ways to improve the state and make it as prosperous as it ought to be.
I have shared these thoughts and ideas with friends and family, studied several case studies and began implementing some of these development strategies across several scales in my community and others in the state. My vision for the state and gubernatorial goal is beyond a personal ambition, it is a calling — a mandate.
In 2019, l set up a committee headed by Barr. Isaac Ottah, with Anita Eboigbe as secretary, alongside Dr. Wilson Ovenria, Magdalene Esezobor, Hon. Edeoghon Zuberioise, Eugene Osionwan, E. John and Eramazele Michael as members.
The goal of the committee was to develop a programme for the development of Edo State. They sat for more than a year, researching and building a solid plan that outlines the path to an all-round development for our people.
That program is summed up with the acronym ‘THE ACTS’ – Technology, Health, Education, Agriculture, Commerce, Tourism and Security. Each of these areas are key anchors of our development and I am reaffirming my commitment to raising the quality across.
It is God that has given this MANDATE and today, I am here to present myself to you, to seek your support to be your next governor under the Labour Party.
Edo State is my home, the only place I have ever called home and for as long as I can remember, making this state enviable and transforming it into a solid centre for human capital and economic development has been the forefront of my vision.
I will talk more about my vision for the state in a moment but before then, let me tell you a little about myself.
Today, I present this mandate to you seeking your support to be your next governor, come 2024. I am kept alive till today, for this purpose, and I intend to do my best especially because I recognise the position we are in as a state and the need for us to progress swiftly. More so, I understand life — the good and bad — and I know the pains of an average Edo person having lived in my village since October 2, 1996.
I know what it takes to go to bed without food for days and what it takes to owe school fees. l know what it takes to be in prison for a crime you did not commit and the pains of been kidnapped unsure of your fate, beaten and tortured by criminals; and what it is like to be homeless. All these are a reflection of the poor state of our social welfare, education, justice and security systems.
On the flip side, I also know what development looks and feels like; how it enriches its people and how it provides safety. I know this from my travels, education and exposure to vast information and a varied network of individuals from different walks of life. These nuanced and contextual experiences will be put to use with me as your governor.
You are not new to campaign promises so I won’t make promises. I only intend to share my mandate with you, to let you know that not only do I understand the issues we face in Edo state having experienced them myself; but I have spent decades studying, building and working towards fixing them because we need to move forward as a people.
To build the state we deserve, as governor, I shall lead heavy investments in technology, health, education, agriculture, commerce, tourism and security.
We need a state with developed infrastructure reflective of the needs of the people, where the law will be more powerful than any man, irrespective of his or her status; where quality housing and transportation are accessible and affordable. Our children deserve quality education with value and more scholarship opportunities to afford them varied options for growth. At the base of this, basic education needs to be compulsory and accessible to all.
At the pre-tertiary level, we need to make space for solid vocational education as well as solid university and polytechnic education, which would be supported by funds for groundbreaking research and upscaling the learning experience for the students.
A lot of the governance problems come from failure to uphold the rule of law. It is a big goal of my mandate to institutionalise the rule of law and make everyone answerable to it. For this to happen, we all must be prepared to be actors rather than just observers. It is no longer going to be business as usual, for the government to break the law, instead of enforcing it.
We shall bring integrity into governance in Edo state and reduce all forms of crime and corruption to the barest minimum. It is an utmost priority.
As we begin the journey to a better Edo State, I crave your indulgence to accept my mandate for it is our mandate — a call to building a prosperous and developed state where dreams are made and there is enough progress to go around. Let’s dialogue, mobilise and build this together.
Thank you.
