Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has attributed the many socioeconomic challenges bewildering the nation to poor planning.
Obaseki spoke during an engagement with stakeholders in Afuze, Owan West Local Governments Area and Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of the state, respectively on the state’s Regional Development Plan and the Benin City Master Plan.
The engagement session rallied together various stakeholders in the LGAs to deliberate, share insights, and seek their input in the development of the 30-year development plans.
Present at the stakeholders meeting were the Local Government Council Chairmen of Owan West, Akoko-Edo, Etsako Central and Etasko West, as well as members of the state’s chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, traders, women unions, civic society groups, youths, traditional and religious leaders, among others.
Obaseki said, “The problem we face as a nation is that of improper planning. We didn’t plan properly and today; we are facing various degrees of challenges hindering our progress.
“Even when we plan, we fail to implement our plans. We should stop complaining about our situation but plan a way out of it.”
“The master plan is for all Edo people and it doesn’t have political affiliations but is aimed to chart a course for the betterment of the entire Edo people.
“The people must collaborate with the government as we can’t do it alone. The plan will help and enable us to create a peaceful and friendly environment for investors to come into the State to invest.
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“If Nigeria is going to survive, we must restructure the security apparatus in this Country. We have started this here in Edo.
“We have trained our vigilante security network to collaborate with other sister agencies to fight insecurity in the State.
“We must have State police and local police that are independent in fighting crime and criminality in the country.
“The time to save ourselves is now as we are already planning for community policing. It will happen. We should secure ourselves not waiting for the Federal Government to secure us.”
In his response, High Chief David George from Ora Kingdom commended the governor for his developmental strides in the State and for his vision for the 30-year development plan which he said will transform the State and set it on growth and development.
A traditional ruler from Uzairue, Momodu Abdulraman, who reiterated the need to prioritize security in the master plans, commended the governor for his visionary leadership.
