By Nosa Omorodion
A TRULY LEARNED MAN
Simply by virtue of his education as a lawyer, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu qualifies to be called a learned man like all lawyers. Yes, he is a trained and certified lawyer. Thus, he is naturally robed in the garb. However, his qualification is not a matter of garb.
Lawyers are referred to as learned because they spend so much time studying the rules that regulate human conduct for the purpose of interpreting actions and reactions in specific situations of a particular society or societies. Fundamentally, therefore, a lawyer is that man or woman that should be able to undertake the study of any discipline to unravel mysteries or establish facts.
Generally speaking, beyond the confines of the legal profession, a learned man could be that person who through study and experience has knowledge of varied human experiences and know-how.
The foregoing in particular and general terms describes the person of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu – the student unionist, lawyer, business man, political tactician, high public official, political party leader and pan Edo leader. Osagie Ize-Iyamu having been virtually involved in all spheres of human endeavour through his engagement with characters of a wide range of human experiences, is undoubtedly a man of transcendent experience.
It is someone with this rare experience that Edo State needs at this time to launch her to the heights of transcendent development.
His cognitive experience acquired in the eight years he served as Chief of Staff to Governor and Secretary to Edo State Government coupled with his innate intelligence puts Ize-Iyamu in proper stead to take charge of the machinery of governance. As a former COS and SSG, it is no gainsaying that here is a man learned in the ways and manner the office Governor. Besides that, these critical roles he played while in government did not only prepare him for the big office he serviced but also revealed his natural aptitude to serve at the highest level of governance in the State.
It is a matter of record that there has been no one before or after Ize-Iyamu that has demonstrated as much capacity as him in the performance of the duties of these two very important offices in Government. As is well known, the COS is the political clearing house of government while the SSG is the engine room of the government. For good eight years respectively, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu held fort even while he learnt the intricacies of running a government and managing people and resources in public service. In those years I would say, was he forged in the furnace of knowledge about the system of which he is now most prepared to administer for the good of all Edo people.
The acknowledgement of Ize-Iyamu’s competence and achievement could be attested to by the number of former and present government officials that still mill around him, thirteen years after he left government.
Ize-Iyamu’s understanding of a broad spectrum of subjects, which is relevant to administering the affairs of state, could be seen when you come closer to him. His home, which is a Mecca of sorts to the high, the mighty and the low, is a cauldron for forging intellectual and policy discussions of which he can hardly be outshone. Remarkably, as evidence of his intellectuality and managerial exceptionality, you find the best of men and women in various professions and callings deferring to this highly cerebral personality for the fact that his demonstration of mental and emotional intelligence commands respect and admiration.
Ize-Iyamu is definitely a man that knows something about virtually everything. This, in my opinion, is sine qua non when concluding on the choice of who should govern Edo State at this critical time.
With what I know of this rare breed of a politician and public servant, I can visualize Ize-Iyamu leading a team of eggheads, technocrats, enthusiasts, the young and the old on a mission to deliver the real deal for a 21st Century development of Edo State that would make her become the envy of other states, reminiscent of the days of the Midwest Wonder.
