Senator Adam Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo State and ex-president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, has detailed his approach to governance during his tenure, emphasizing targeted development in underserved communities.
Speaking on News Central TV on Monday, March 9, 2026, Oshiomhole explained that his administration prioritized projects that would benefit the largest number of residents, particularly those in high-density areas of Benin City.
“So I started by rebuilding public schools, rebuilding roads, building healthcare centers, equipping them and so on and so forth. And so even by choice of project in Benin City, I concentrated on what is really referred to as high density area where the poorest of the poor live. Because I said, if I had to become a governor, this is where I would typically live,” he said.
Oshiomhole contrasted these communities with the city’s low-density Government Residential Areas (GRA), where households are sparsely populated and often already well-serviced.
“Typically in every one square kilometer or what square meter or what building, you have about 20-25 people living there. In the GRA, so-called high low density area, in a compartment of 200 by 200, you will find a man, his wife and maybe two, three children. If they are young, if they are old, they would have gone to school and he is there only with his cooks. So in terms of delivering the greatest good to the greatest number, I targeted the deprived part of Benin City and the rest of the state,” he explained.
He also highlighted comprehensive infrastructure and flood management initiatives undertaken during his administration.
“There is a thing we used to call teachers house that was abandoned and the previous government said it was due to some spiritual, they call Mamee water, that is what you do about the flood erosion. We did a holistic, what we call a Benin City water store master plan to deflood all of those areas to enable us to construct six lane roads in different parts of Benin City, where they didn’t have one carriageway before I got there,” Oshiomhole stated.
He recounted the public reaction to his projects, noting that the introduction of street lighting and improved roads transformed perceptions of the city.
“The day we switched on street light in Benin, people say Oshiomhole has turned Benin to London. So governance for me is simple. Nigerians are easy to govern. Regardless of what anybody says, the real Nigerians, they are easy to govern. What they need is the element of consistency,” he added.See_More…