By Linus Obogo
In May 29, 2015, he burst forth with a messianic zest, full of gusto and bravura of a leader who knew the way, ready to go the way in order to show the way.
Assuming office literally as an undertaker then, with the state in near economic comatose, Ayade set sail with fidelity in God, courage in his heart, belief in his mission and with an assured victory in his soul to confront the odds stacked against him as then fledgling governor.
For a state that was on a razor edge between renewal and collapse, between life and despair, Ayade would, rather than inter it, begin the process of oxygenating and resuscitating the anaemic state with a view to ultimately getting it out of the ‘intensive care unit’ (ICU).
With an unfaltering determination, the governor knew that to dream lofty dreams, dare mighty things, win glorious triumphs, he must not ensconce himself in complacency and self-pity but be creative and adopt strategies to address the challenges that confronted the state.
It was for this reason that his ascension into the governance architecture of the state was welcomed by many with such messianic hallelujah. Instructively, six years down the line, Ayade has neither veered off the tracks nor cut short the expectations of many who hold him in such redemptive awe.
As a solution architect, the governor sees every challenge, every stricture and obstacle in his way as an opportunity to adroitly prove his resourcefulness and ingenuity in tackling the many socioeconomic miasmas he inherited.
A leader with I-can-do spirit, just when you doubt Ayade’s capacity, he springs forth and astounds you, leaving you captive and speechless.
Like the Biblical Joseph, Ayade saw a vision and dreamed dreams. He dreamed of a state that was decoupled from the begging bowl of the federation account. And like Nostradamus, he had long seen our tomorrow while we slumbered and snored. He envisioned our tomorrow with a determination to create a prosperity agenda.
The fight to claw back the state from its economic doldrums seemed daunting. But for the governor, it was not about the dog in the fight but rather the fight in the dog. And before long, he would show his brains and brawn aplenty in the days and years to come.
With a near zero allocations from the federal purse and a lean internally generated revenue, many in his position would have baulked or thrown […]