A several weeks ago at the Freedom Park, there was a documentary film shot by Michael Richards on the Drill Monkeys of the Cross River State of Nigeria, in one of the last tropical mountain forests anywhere in the world? It is also where the Drill Monkeys dwell. It is their natural habitat. Two U.S. citizens had spent the last 20 years building a sanctuary for those monkeys which had been threatened with extinction as man destroys the last original tropical rain forest in the Cameroon Mountains where the monkeys lived.

A few weeks earlier CNN had shown a longer film on the same story – basically how necessary it was to keep this environment, especially as forest logging was reducing their chances of survival. Who was doing the logging and why?

B. Cross River had been fortunate to have two careful Governors in Donald Duke and Lyel Imoke. They have tried, with limited resources to bring progress and happiness to the inhabitants. Calabar has enjoyed the reputation of the best organised capital city in Nigeria. It was neat, clean, tarred when its counterparts in Nigeria had not even been to regard intercity cleanliness as that of their functions. The people of Cross River State are infectiously happy, welcoming, the beauty of their ladies and the Cross River Cuisine remain legendary.

C. Donald Duke reinvested the concept of environment tourism: rebuilt the OBUDU Ranch Reserve and built a Sky live trolley to go up to the ranch, rehabilitated the airport in Obudu: he was able to redecorate and make beautiful and functioned the old dilapidated Calabar Airport. Within a short time Calabar had acquired the reputation of a place to go for tourists both within and without Nigeria.

International artists graced the justly famous Christmas Festivities. In addition a first class modern export free zone TINAPA was built in Calabar. These achievements were as a result of clear planning and forward thinking, based on the belief that the rest of Nigeria would continue a similar growth programme and planning. Tourism on the level conceived by Duke and Imoke cannot be consigned to only one state. Moreover, Cross River had revenues from Bakassi estuary and other oil fields then known to be located in Cross Rivers.

But then suddenly the State felt a double whammy, a double jeopardy. The International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) handed over Bakassi and the environs, hitherto administered by Nigeria, to Cameroon – arguably the most unjust verdict. Moreover, the one clear characteristic of the ICT’s decisions in The Hague was the regularity with which its decisions were ignored. Nothing forced Nigeria to abide by that unjust decision and there was nothing anyone could have done about it, had Nigeria ignore the decision.

D. While Cross River was reeling from loss of revenue from Bakassi, several oil wells that used to belong to Cross River were handed over to Akwa Abom by a Boundary Adjustment Commission whose bona fides are, at best, questionable: its decisions were unjust in denuding Cross River of substantial funds which were passed unto Akwa Ibom which was already much too wealthy from its own oil wells.

E. Nevertheless, Donald Duke and Lyel Imoke his successor soldiered on. All who ventured into Calabar were impressed by its security, tranquility, a quality of life unknown anywhere else in Nigeria. At Christmas all enjoyed the conviviality of the festive season, reminiscent of the carnival atmosphere of St Louis in Louisiana USA and Rio, Brazil. All that has seemed to have disappeared with the exit of Lyel Imoke and the arrival of the new Governor, Senator Ayaba.

F. In addition to this, the State was part of a massive National Park which contained wild like that was being threatened. Cross River has one of the last virgin tropical forests in the world. The wood in these forests were to be harvested for timber by many countries especially China and some States in the Middle East. There is no doubt that illegal logging had been taking place but at least not on the industrial rate to which the Chinese and other Arabs countries want to buy land in Cross River.

G. Two hundred and sixty four kilometers (264km) of a six lane highway is the dream of any African country. This is the proposal of the new Governor who wishes to build this road from Calabar to Obudu. He has also proposed to acquire for public purposes only 10 kilometres on either side of the high way. He intends to acquire 5,200 sq km of land for this road i.e. 25% of all the land in Cross River.

H. The State Government gazette acquiring 25% of the land of Cross River for this six lane 264 kilometre road incidentally dispossesses 185 communities in five Local Government Areas of their land and means of livelihood. Most of these people are still unaware that the State Government gazette had actually dispossessed them. I am unclear myself how an area designated by law as a National Park could be acquired by the State, a state whose Governor ought to know better as he was once a Senator and aware of the superiority of Federal Laws. Not only is the Governor disregarding this particular federal law, he is also disregarding another one which calls for an Environmental Impact Assessment on any such (see 1992 Decree on the Environmental Impact Agency) projects.

The Ministry of Environment has issued two stop orders to the State Government. Both fell on deaf ears, so there is no EIA permit. Although, on this issue the effectiveness of the EIA orders is not peculiar. Since the blood cuddling and monumental fight between Dr. Adegoroye and Dr. Aina as to the role, importance and order of precedence in the Environmental Impact Agency, that organisation seems to have gone has comatose as several other regulatory agencies and parastatals of the Federal Government – e.g. the Federal Character Commission, Public Complaints Commission, Legal Aid Commission, National Planning Commission, even the wrong headed and policy deficient Bureau of Public Enterprises.
• To be continued
• Dr. Patrick Cole is a former Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil