Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has urged that Nigerian leaders should thread the path of honesty in their stewardship to the people they govern.

He made the call while delivering a paper at the 2007/2008 Productivity and Merit Award organized by the Niger State government in Minna yesterday.

Comrade Oshiomhole lamented a situation where greed has driven so many public holders to amass wealth at the expense of the governed, adding that the situation has placed Nigeria by the World Bank as "a core poor nation".

He also regretted a situation where leaders no longer make themselves accessible to the people who elected them to power. He said only through constant interaction with the people a good leader will know their worries.

"A leader that is alienated from the people cannot connect with the people, we must demystify the office of governor so that the people can connect with the adminis-tration", Governor Oshiomhole said.

The governor also ques-tioned what he called the "high level of waste" in the political arena and added that if such a trend continued there was no way the country would deve-lop.

Describing his governorship as "a continuation of the strug-gle", Oshiomhole also said he was prepared to sacrifice everything to make Edo State one of the best states in the country.

He praised President Umaru Musa Yar,adua for being a "true democrat" and for upholding the rule of law all the time.

In his address, Niger State go-vernor, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, said the award was intro-duced to reward and honor those that had contributed to the econo-mic and political growth of the state.

Aliyu said the government would always do what it felt was in the best interest of the people, adding that if necessary "we will match on toes".