By THOMPSON EFERAKEYA

Perception, they say, is reality. The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State is presently battling a huge burden. It is like an albatross around its neck as it prosecutes the campaigns for the September 21 governorship election.

The general perception within and beyond the state is that its candidate, Monday Okpebholo, is not literate enough and so lacks the competence and capacity needed to govern the state. This is, however, without prejudice to the constitutionally stipulated educational requirements to vie for such political office.

Early in the week, Arise TV host, Charles Aniagolu, stated it unambiguously, and, it was straight before Kassim Afegbua, a chieftain of the APC who doubles as the Media Consultant to the APC Campaign Council in a one on one program. For the record, Afegbua was sitting right across the table before him in the studios. Aniagolu said: “I have to be honest, listening to Okpebholo, he doesn’t sound articulate or even vaguely literate.”

Kassim responded with a throaty laughter that seemed to make it look like he had just heard an unusually hilarious joke.

About two weeks before Aniagolu’s remarks, Rufai Oseni of the same station had challenged Okpebholo to appear before him on The Morning Show program for an interview. But the APC in Edo State took it as an adversarial invitation. It lambasted Rufai and asked the popular TV anchor to pay One Million Dollars for Okpebholo to appear and be interviewed.

And before Rufai, in July, Channels Television’s Sunday Politics anchor, Geoffrey Uzono, had also challenged Adams Oshiomhole regarding the case of Okpebholo.

Uzono interrupted Oshiomhole as he was answering a question and said:

“So, Senator Oshiomhole, please help us beg your candidate to honour the invitation to talk to us about his plans for Edo State and the people,” he stated.

The only set of people who seem to feel comfortable and do not care about the burden are the party chieftains who have positioned themselves to gain immensely from his governorship should he win because it would be a golden opportunity for them to play the puppeteer.

A 17 year old boy, who is preparing for his post UTM, was asked what he understands by “vaguely literate?”

Without hesitation he declared: “just a step away from being illiterate or let’s say someone who is barely educated,” he declared. Edo people must be concerned and guard against the reality of a possible “barely educated” governor presiding over the affairs of the state. It is a shame to the Edo State APC for promoting mediocrity at the expense of excellence. For a party that boasts of first class brains all over the state, it is a sad commentary.

Little wonder, the party’s leadership in the state has been dwelling on inanities instead of issues and plans for Edo State. It has elevated such pedestrian narratives as ‘home boy’ (whatever that means); ability to speak Esan language (as if that’s the language of government business in Osadebey Avenue) and ‘not sleeping in Ewhohimi’, as more deserving topics. Very shameful indeed.

But the people of Edo State are by far wiser, more enlightened and highly sophisticated. They will not allow anybody to fraudulently and deceitfully impose on them a “slowed engine” candidate as Oshiomhole himself confirmed Okpebholo to be.

They will rather vote for Dr Asue Ighodalo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on September 21. He is competent, has capacity, the contact, the vision and compassion to move Edo State to a first world sub-national sovereign in Nigeria.

•Eferakeya writes from Benin City.

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