....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Edo 2024 : Is  Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi Aspiring For Governor? By Jeffery Igbinigie

Ordinarily, the Edo 2024 governorship ticket ought to be reserve for the best among the best, reminiscent of “Offer Of First Refusal” in asset privatization as in business circle,but in politics it’s never so.

So far, In the Edo political firmament today, it being rumoured that, the charismatic and highly accomplished Petroleum Engineer, former Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC; the former minister of state for works, Engr (Dr.) Chris Ogiemwonyi maybe contesting for the Edo State Government House, Dennis Osadebe Avenue come  2024.

Even though Engr. Ogiemwonyi himself had neither admitted nor denied these reports, friends and some support groups, business associates of the “Home boy”, as the Petroleum Engineer is fondly called, are letting it known that the evasive business man who hardly grants press interviews is more and eminently qualified than most politicians angling for that seat.

They are quick to point out his excellent career success and managerial acumen in the Oil and Gas industry where he retired meritoriously at a top position of Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC; and in his private busines today, his energy and drive, his charisma and generosity for the Edo people,and his political party the APC is a huge qualifying asset for him.

“He connects well with all segments of society. He is in touch with the people and cares for them. Moreover, he has more than enough courage, he is a people’s man ,”stakeholders” are thinking on him, and we all know in Nigeria political firmament, when the stakeholders think on you, you are 50% off the starting block, the remaining 50% is mobilisation, campaign, rallies, media engagement and general optics”. Someone like him, who has made success both in his private and public life, the Edo people should be looking out for by 2024.

Though 2024 election is still some months away, nocturnal meetings and alignment of forces are in full swing and no doubt, Ogiemwonyi’s alleged interest features prominently in the on-going permutations.” says one of his close associate.

But there are some who are saying ,”he, run for governorship before in 2016, 2020, why should he want to be Governor? Such a line of argument are quickly countered by sympathisers to the Ogiemwonyi cause, who argued that the purveyors of such are defiling important issues with parochial sentiments; And they are quick to ask how many times did former president Muhammad Buhari run for the office of the President before becoming president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; How many times did Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state run for governor before he became governor; How many times did Ademola Adeleke of Osun state run for governor before he became governor; How about Alex Otti of Abia state, there is nowhere in the Nigeria constitution, where it’s statted that if you did get it, you cannot run again”.

And more so, the prevailing circumstances of the Edo 2016 and 2020 is different from the circumstances of today.They further argue that there is nowhere in the operating 1999 Constitution where a person who contested for an office and could not get it at that time, can never contest for that office again.

The fact remains that, on merit Engr Chris Ogiemwonyi ,is qualified to contest for any elective position in the land if he so desires. The constitution guarantees him that right. It is reducing the issue to the ridiculous to argue that because he contested before he cannot aspire to be Governor again? said a bosom friend of Ogiemwonyi .

Although Engr Chris Ogiemwonyi is not what one can call a normal everyday politician, those close to him describe him as a strategist to the core, a ruthless planner and a high risk taker.

The phenomenal success he has achieved in life is a stuff of high risk taker, a man with guts to venture with determination to withstand all odds in every thing he sets his mind to do. Though a high risk taker;  they said ;  it’s a know fact, he don’t take risk blindly. Never one to invest his time in anything he is not sure of, and he weighs his options diligently before taking a plunge, declared a business associate.

He had once said this much in an interview: “I take risk because if you don’t, you will never succeed in business or in anything you do. Once i set my mind on anything, I go all out to make sure i succeed. I don’t see failure as an option. I take calculated risk after careful planning, and i see every difficult situation as a challenge.”

That appears to be the driving spirit behind the huge success he has attained with his private business today. I think Engr Chris Ogiemwonyi will need all that calculation and careful planning in the mine-field of politics.There is no straight talk in politics as in business. Everything is built on deception and intrigues that he may find both nauseating and perplexing should he ultimately decide to throw his bet in the ring. From a moderate boy who hailed from Idumwebo village in Orhionmwhon local government area, who bagged a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Hons., in Applied Physics in 1974 from the University of Benin,

two years later, in 1976, obtained a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan.His next stop was the prestigious Harvard Business School, where he attended top management courses to sharpen his managerial and technical skills that would later qualify and attest to his excellent performances when duties and responsibilities beckoned. Who Later in life,  receive the academic awards of the Doctor of Engineering, PhD (Honoris Causa) and the Doctor of Science, PhD (Honoris Causa) in 2007 and 2008 respectively; to become a technocrat who presided over seven NNPC companies and subsidiaries in his capacity as Group Executive Director Exploration and Production.

As a measure of his philantrophy, He has over the years granted scholarship awards to intelligent but indigent students at all levels of education, even as he has equally established a skill acquisition centre for out-of-school youths to acquire marketable skills that would make them more productive to themselves and become employers of labour. He has remained a loyal and dedicated member of his  community. It’s on record he has a personal home in the village, where he has also built and donated a church to the local congregation where he worship.

Despite his affluence and upper social class status, Engr Chris Ogiemwonyi connects well with the ordinary man on the street. Born and bred in Benin. With all his accomplishments, he always insists he is a thoroughbred “Edo boy”.

“I am a typical “Edo boy”, he once confessed. “I still connect with the people. I know people are poor and I know they need help. So i do my best when i can to assist people. And for a person like me whom God has blessed, i know; I need to support people down the ladder.”

Where would the “Edo boy” ship berth? As the race towards Edo 2024 gathers momentum the answer will play itself out.