By Austen Akhagbeme

Those who are avowed watchers of Edo politics would agree with me that something unusual is happening, especially at the twilight of the present campaign season.

For the first time in a long while, no political bloc ( outside the usual emotionally partisan claims) can confidently lay claim to full dominance of the stakes, before a gubernatorial election in Edo State. And this is very interesting.

Again, less than 5 weeks to the polls, the politically responsive and enlightened people of Edo state are yet to be generally and overwhelmingly swayed to a particular corner, conquered by a deep-rooted conviction about a particular candidate or political party as was the case in the recent past.

This owes largely to several remote and immediate factors which need to be appreciated and understood, at least, at the level of caution, to help avoid the pitfalls of the past.

One of the key factors responsible for this strange political ambivalence, caused by both centripetal and centrifugal forces vying for space in Osadebey house, is the deep-seated animosity of the people against hegemonic political parties who have lied to them severely and severally, to erode their confidence in anything that looks like a déjà vu, anytime these same people come closer to seek for favour from them, one more time.

Such painstakingness and circumspection, mixed with apathy, are cleverly making people undecided while embracing new options and nuances all the same.

By this time and at this level of preparation and desperation by political parties in the previous governorship elections, chants like “Edo no be Lagos” by the Edo people in readiness to match federal might with local arsenal were in the air. But once beaten, twice shy.

This time around, the people are waiting for a new breed, a new bride and a “newbie” like the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Dr Azemhe Azena, who is the first among the fifteen new voices calling for a change.

Here’s a humble Philanthropist of no mean repute, who has dedicated his life to the emancipation of the downtrodden, especially the youth demographic in Edo state, through his Pastoral calling and advocacy, using his popular youth-centric Foundations.

His youthfulness and vigour coupled with vision and zesty disposition is what Edo people need, to escape the deception and underdevelopment championed by political godfathers and their cronies, as witnessed in the recent past.

The coast is clear, and the people, who have had enough from the same cyclical ruling elite in the past, are ready for a change. We have tried and tested others; let us look beyond these self-proclaimed and widely acclaimed popular political nests that have brought us to our present unenviable condition of privation and want. Dr Azemhe Azena of the NNPP is the change we all deserve.

• Austen Akhagbeme is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online