Edo Governor Appoints 4,800 Special Assistants, Promises to Bring Governance Directly to Everybody's WhatsApp

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has approved the appointment of 4,800 Special Assistants across the state's 192 wards, saying the move will bring governance closer to the grassroots and deepen participation in government.

The announcement has been welcomed by Nigerians who have long complained that government is too far away from them and are now wondering whether it was perhaps too far away to justify requiring 4,800 people to bring it back.

According to the governor, the appointments are intended to ensure that what comes from the top reaches the grassroots.

"This is excellent," said one Edo resident. "For the first time, governance may soon have enough representatives to reach me personally, my compound, my street and possibly the person selling roasted corn beside my street."

Political analysts immediately began calculating what 4,800 Special Assistants means in practical terms. With 192 wards involved, the mathematics suggests an average of 25 assistants per ward, raising hopes that no Edo resident will ever again complain about not knowing someone in government.

In fact, residents may soon have enough government contacts to create dedicated WhatsApp groups.

"Edo Ward 17 Government Matters" could soon have more administrators than members.

The appointments have also reopened Nigeria's favourite debate about the cost of governance, although supporters insist the real question is not how many people have been appointed but how effectively government can reach ordinary citizens.

Critics, meanwhile, have reportedly asked whether governance could not reach the grassroots through slightly fewer people, perhaps using the remaining funds to help the grassroots climb out of the economic hole it has been standing in.

Meanwhile, unemployed Edo youths have reportedly begun updating their CVs, while seasoned political operators have started asking the most important question in any Nigerian appointment exercise:

"Who knows who?"

At press time, the 4,800 appointees were reportedly preparing to take governance to every corner of Edo, while residents were preparing for the possibility that their next-door neighbour might soon become Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Assistance to the Special Assistant.