The Primacy of Truth (Part

By Crusoe Osagie

Back in the 80s, when I just got into Immaculate Conception College (ICC), I found it odd that my classmate, Efosa Igbinovia would not go out when the bell tolled for break time.

Efosa will simply reach into his bag, pull out a book, put it on his lap, place his head on the desk and digest the book. As for the rest of us, we went crazy trying to outpace one another to get to the playground.

Efosa was a booky.

As a ten-year-old boy, I admired his poise and avid interest in seeking knowledge.

I sometimes even tried to copy him but the sight of my other peers having fun playing soccer, ‘telly’ (a game played by striking a lawn tennis ball with your palm from one court to another) and other games often created a temptation that overpowered whatever inspiration I had drawn from watching Efosa consuming his many books.

Efosa was that child that made your parents knock your head and ask you, why can’t you be like your friend? He went on to study medicine at the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

Fast forward to 2019, Efosa who is now a Consultant Family Physician in Canada, calls me up and expresses concern about a parcel of land he had inherited from his father. Like all Diasporans of Edo descent, he was worried that speculators were soon going to hijack the land from him.

He was completely unaware of the transformation that Governor Godwin Obaseki has brought to land administration in Edo State.

So, I told him, “Go online and visit the website of the Edo Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS).”

I explained a bit of the reforms that had taken place in Edo State with respect to land management. The very cerebral Efosa had not changed much from when we were kids, and so he chuckled and retorted, “Crusoe, get serious, as much we love our country, you know things like this don’t work that easy in Nigeria.”

I understood his pessimism. So, I encouraged him to try.

I got a young man, Aisosa Ewere to put him through.

A few weeks later, I got a call from an elated Efosa. His Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) for the parcel of land he inherited from his father was ready, signed by hand by Governor Obaseki. He couldn’t believe it.

Before 2016, when Governor Godwin Obaseki came into office, the ultimate legal title to land, which is the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O), was the exclusive preserve of the rich, the powerful, and the politically connected.

According to available data, all the C-of-Os signed and issued from when Edo State was created in 1991 till 2016 when Obaseki took office was about 2,000.

But since Obaseki intervened, not less than 30,000 certificates have been approved, signed personally by the governor and issued.

Essentially, in less than eight years, Obaseki has issued more C-of-Os than has been issued for the past 50 years from when we were called the Midwest Region till we morphed into Bendel State and now Edo State.

Today, not only Senators or 'money-miss-roads' have C-of-Os for their property in their closets. Vulcanisers, mechanics, teachers, petty traders, drivers and their likes with no access to Government House have their land capital liberated by this essential legal title.

What used to be the food of the gods has been made accessible to mere mortals too!

Our Diaspora population has more confidence in real estate investments at home. C-of-O is now a true dividend of democracy available to anyone, no matter the class, creed, or culture.

Will the thousands of Edo Diasporans, just like my friend Efosa, their children, grandchildren, fathers, mothers and friends sit idly and watch the Lions and Tigers take us back to the era of predatory landgrabbing?

The jury is out and the battleground is the gubernatorial election on September 21, 2024.

Sadly, not many will read this. Our people are inundated by a deluge of tall tales and they can hardly find space to accommodate the Primacy of Truth.

Watch out for Part 9.

Osagie, a journalist, is the Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media Projects