By Kingsley Efe Osawaru
There are moments in public life when politics sheds its usual clamor and does something remarkably simple: it soothes a wound. For hundreds of former staff of the defunct College of Education, Ekiadolor, that moment has arrived.
After years of anxious waiting, protest and anguish, Governor Monday Okpebholo has taken the humane, consequential step of approving the payment of long-overdue entitlements — a decision that begins to wipe away tears that have run for far too long.
To understand why this matters so deeply, we must remember the human story behind the headlines. Staff at the College of Education, Ekiadolor and nearby Igueben had been without regular pay since September 2019, an absence that plunged families into hardship, sparked repeated protests, and left pensioners in bitter uncertainty. For many, that long gap in income was not an administrative statistic but the difference between feeding children and going hungry; between dignity and despair.
What followed in the years after 2019 was a complicated and often painful restructuring of tertiary institutions in Edo State: the Ekiadolor campus was handed over to the federal government and the fate of scores of workers was unsettled. Those who had faithfully served in classrooms and offices found themselves categorised as “disengaged” — their service ignored and their pensions postponed. The human cost was enormous.
Into that breach Governor Okpebholo has stepped. His administration has earmarked ₦4.6 billion for the settlement of entitlement benefits for affected staff and has begun disbursing the first tranche — a concrete, legally framed release that sends a message beyond numbers: that the state recognizes its duty to the people it once employed and will correct past injustices. The first tranche alone — more than a billion naira — has already been directed for payment to pensioners and eligible beneficiaries. For those who spent years knocking on closed doors, this is vindication; for a state that values fairness, this is overdue righting of wrongs.
Gratitude here is not mere flattery. It is a civic obligation. Leaders are measured not only by plans announced with fanfare but by the quiet, difficult work of restoring lives. By authorising the settlement and the phased disbursements, Governor Okpebholo has offered relief to people whose livelihoods and peace of mind were eroded. He has chosen the path of compassion and responsibility over indifference. That choice matters enormously in a polity where many have grown accustomed to promises that dissolve into bureaucracy.
To those who endured the long years of silence and to the families who bore the brunt of that silence, let this be a day of modest celebration. This administration’s decision does not erase the pain of the past — the lost years, the stalled careers, the emotional toll — but it does open a route to healing. It affirms that public service includes looking after those who served the public. It also restores a measure of trust between the governed and the governors.
There will, of course, be differing political readings. Some will see this as a necessary redress; others will frame it within election-time narratives and scorecards. I do not write as a partisan cheerleader. I write as a witness. When a leader chooses to repair a breach of justice, that action deserves clear, plain appreciation. Governor Okpebholo’s intervention — decisive, legally grounded and timely — is the kind of governance that transforms rhetoric into real relief.
Finally, a plea from those who have finally been heard: let this be the beginning of a new standard. Let the processes that produced such long delays be examined and reformed so that no group of citizens is allowed to languish unpaid for years. Let the settling of entitlements be done with speed and dignity, and let accountability guide every future restructuring of our institutions.
To Governor Monday Okpebholo — for stepping forward, for listening, and for acting — the staff of the former College of Education, Ekiadolor offer their profound thanks. In restoring what was withheld, you have done more than balance an account: you have renewed hope. May future administrations measure themselves by the same yardstick.