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Opinion

Obaseki’s New War In Edo.

By Osazua IVBAZE
Today, Oshiomole is still seeing stars, and no matter the weight of his pretensions to the contrary, I don’t think he has recovered from Obaseki’s devastating upper cut that flattened him out in the last gubernatorial polls in Edo— sending him into a seeming political retirement.
That Obaseki is a very strong political force in Edo today is not in doubt. The lions and the tigers are now in their hiding.
This is Obaseki’s time.
Perhaps, carried away by his political conquest, which of course, wouldn’t have been possible without God and Edo people, Obaseki has decided to wage a poorly thought- out war in which he is not expected to win.
On Monday he announced plans to make it compulsory for residents of the state to take the Covid-19 vaccine and present the certificate before accessing areas of large gatherings.
Specifically, large gatherings in churches, mosques, banks, wedding or burial receptions among others would no longer be accessed without presenting the vaccine certificate from the second week of September.
The State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, made this disclosure at the Government House in Benin City while flagging off the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
I don’t know whose script the Governor wants to act out because even in Wuhan, China , United States etc such measures are not in place.
There are a number of factors that would militate against his desire to enforce compliance to the new measures.
Even if all Edo people want to be vaccinated, how many vaccines are available that would cover the entire population of the state in two weeks from today.!??
Almost all the Churches, especially of the Pentecostal variant are opposed to vaccination. The drama that will be playing out at the premises of these churches between enforcers of Obaseki’s law and church members is better imagined than witnessed.
If Obaseki insists and refuses to backdown, I see a situation where Churches will go online and their gates shut.
I don’t know how possible it will be for the government to enforce the new measures in other places like Banks, Mosques, wedding and burial receptions.
Recall that , Mr. Godwin Obaseki was one of the Governors that did not adopt the lockdown measure in their states when the pandemic first hit Nigeria.
The only measure that he enforced though looked tough, was the close down of markets in the state.
The Security officers he deployed to enforce Facemask wearing did their best at the inception.
The new measures , I dare say will be difficult to enforce and if attempts are made to enforce them, there will be confusion in places so earmarked by the Governor. These are volatile places.
While appreciating the concern of the Governor for our health and his desire to stem the spread of covid -19 in the State, may I advise him to relax compulsory vaccination measures and revive compulsory mask wearing.
It is laughable to introduce measures that are unenforceable; even if there were enough vaccines for everybody.
This is a journey to nowhere because introducing measures that cannot command compliance is as good as not introducing them — an exercise in futility.

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