Elempe Dele, Benin.

As the concluding part of the previous ‘what-to-do’ write-up, I present to you part of what is expected of Dr Mike Onolememen CON when he gets to the the Senate;

He Won’t Burn Bridges: As a quintessential gentleman well known to many, Dr Mike Onolememen won’t burn bridges for any reason. He is a man of the people and a leader in his constituency. His ultimate goal will be to unite as much people as possible in Edo Central Senatorial District so that politics of bitterness, acrimony and character assassination will become a thing of the past. Yes, even there in the senate, just like in his constituency, he will have reasons to disagree with people but he won’t go the unnecessary length of being disagreeable.

He won’t be reacting emotionally in anger because his ideas were not bought into. He won’t create unnecessary enemies, he would rather make more friends and try to unite people. He will play upright politics devoid of rancour. He has the capacity to become the unifer in Esanland.

He Will Keep to His Words: Dr Mike has always been a honest individual because he believes honesty is the best public policy in life. His words are his bonds and he keeps them and holds them dear to his heart. He has a reputation he has built over the years that cannot be tainted. If he makes a promise, he keeps it. He has developed good working relationship with a lot of people to the extent he can be trusted. He is a credible person and hundreds of his compatriots can attest to that. Trust is his integrity coin, and he does not joke with this hard earned reputation.

He Will Be Careful What To Agree To: At the Senate, Dr Mike will be rigorous on what he agrees to. He won’t be casual in sponsoring or co-sponsoring bills without thoroughly considering every parts of it as they will affect his senatorial district or the generality of the people. He will be selective and scrutinize bills before he gets involved in them on the floor of the Senate. He will understand bills and take time to decide if he will be in or not.

He Will Be Thorough: Dr Mike will be thorough and prepared in advance in any endeavour at the Senate. Even as an expert in construction, he won’t be caught talking about just everything in construction. He will be very professional, and talks from this angle, not the angle of “I know it all.”

He Will Stay in Touch With His Senatorial District: Dr Mike knows that to stay and communicate with his constituents is a huge task, but very critical one because he has been doing so for over 20 years now as a public servant. He will increase his abilities to call and return calls in spite of his busy schedule, organize regular townhall meetings. The people will need to know who he is, that he is approachable and would be responsible to their plight as much as he has assured. It will not be a burden on Dr Mike, rather, it will make his job a lot easier and interesting knowing his people in personal ways. These will help build lasting bonds with members of his constituency.

Dr Mike Will be a Problem Solver: It will be difficult for political and community issues not to rise in Edo Central Senatorial District, however, Dr Mike will use his skills and his office to help find solutions to these challenges, that are mostly minor if early interventions are applied.

These challenges come in form of who should be the next delegate, the woman leader, where the new school should be sited, which community should have what.

He will work with the various local authorities to find the best solutions. No doubt, he will be calling for leadership meetings of members of the senatorial district so that collective approach to problem solving can be developed effectively. He will be focused on positive developments in each community in Edo Central Senatorial District through local public engagements.

He Will Work With the Media: Dr Mike will be willing to work with the Fourth Estate, which is the media, for effective dissemination of information. The Fourth Estate or fourth power refers to the press and news media both in explicit capacity of advocacy and implicit ability to frame political issues. Dr Mike will explore this channel to its fullest.

He won’t see the media as adversary even if they write unfavourable articles about him. It will be part of his responsibility to better inform the public. He will be proactive, he will be press friendly as he has al always been. He will focus his attention on policy processes and issues he will be working on from time to time.

He believes presenting information to the public in an easy to understand format is key to transparency. He will always acknowledge the good deeds of the media and also won’t hesitate to set distorted records straight if there are errors in them.