Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, on Saturday joined youths in the state on a state-wide clean up exercise to clear debris that amassed in the wake of the brigandage that greeted the hijack of the #ENDSARS protests in the state.
The exercise was part of activities lined up for the inauguration of the governor and his deputy for a second term in office, which will be held alongside the fourth edition of the Alaghodaro Summit.
The exercise which held simultaneously across the state was coordinated by the chairmen of the 18 local government areas, the Ministry of Youths, Edo State Waste Management Board, the state’s Social Investment Office, Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs) and the Edo Volunteer Voters Assembly (EVVA), among other youth groups.
Other top government officials who participated in the clean up exercise in Benin, the state capital were the Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Marcus Onobun; Commissioner for Youths, Hon. Damian Lawani; Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie; Managing Director, EdoJobs, Ukinebo Dare, and the Executive Chairman, Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA), Isoken Omo, among others.
Governor Obaseki noted: “Cleaning our state is our focus and priority as an administration. Going forward, we want to create a culture where we live in a clean environment. We will strengthen our environmental laws and penalise those whose environments are dirty as well as those who do not take our environmental laws seriously.
“Edo State must look attractive to people and it’s our responsibility as a people to make the state clean; it’s not the responsibility of the government alone as we cannot achieve much without collaborating with Edo people.”
Obaseki continued: “I am glad that the young people have taken the responsibility and initiative of ensuring a cleaner environment. We will work with the youths to police the state and ensure that the state is kept clean.
“We have to separate criminality from the youths and stop this stigmatisation that every youth is a potential criminal and irresponsible. The young people are the ones leading this initiative. The young people are capable of ruling this country better than what we are doing today and we will continue to encourage them.”
On his part, Shaibu said: “I am excited to see the youths in their large numbers making a bold statement that they are responsible and ready to clean up their city and reclaim it from hoodlums. I salute the courage of Edo youths.
“The state government shares in the vision of the youths and those things they protested against. Hoodlums should know Edo has been cleaned up since 2016 and ‘Lions and Tigers’ can’t find their way back into the state as Edo youths are ready to take charge of their state.
“Governor Obaseki is determined to support Edo youths and ensure their development, which is why our administration created EdoJobs as an agency to alleviate poverty,” he added.
