The eight years of former governor Ben Ayade is seen by many as years of colossal waste, drift, no governance, despondency and misadventure through so many phantom projects and wrong policies.

It is believed that the era would have taken the state to an Eldorado if most of the promises and projects were translated into reality. For instance, the Obudu Passengers and Cargo International Airport that was scheduled for commissioning last year, the Cally Air, the Superhighway and Deep Seaport, Calvegas, the unproductive industries were just avenues to milk billions of Naira from the state coffers and the local governments.

With the inauguration of Governor Bassey Otu on May 29, residents, in a bid to ensure the governor gives them a better deal, have set a 10-point agenda for him. These include restoring transparency and due process in governance, making civil service work again, not running state accounts from private pocket, making the red ink work again, restoring the middle class, and ensuring contracts go to genuine bidders. Others include not engaging in undue interference in World Bank and other international projects; following due process; addressing the issue of thuggery and brutality in the name of parking agents or fake tax collectors; and making Cross River attractive to investors and ordinary business people.

They urged Governor Out to prioritise Ayade’s industries and make them work and economically viable, while also ensuring he does not bite more than he can chew nor touch phantom projects. This was as they stressed the need to stop the brazen and illegal logging and deforestation in the state, as well as create employment for the youths.

One of the respondents, Madam Nkese Etim, a trader in Watt market, pleaded with the governor to find a way of putting a stop to multiple taxation of low-income earners like her, inspite of the low sales traders have been recording at her location.

A businessman and contractor in Obudu, who pleaded anonymity, described the eight-year tenure of Ayade as a disaster. “As a contractor, I have not done any contract in the state, yet I kept on renewing my documents, hoping that a contract will come. Whichever available contract was given to their family members and cronies. Sometimes, they advertised for bids and after bidding and paying the fees, no contract was given to anybody but themselves.

“I urge Senator Otu not to follow the pattern and style of his predecessor. Contracts and jobs should be thrown open to qualified bidders or contractors so that money will circulate and the economy will work,” he said.

A community leader in Ekuri and Programme Coordinator of Worthy Association for Tackling Environmental Ruins (WATER), Edwin Ogar decried the massive logging in Ekuri and the state government forest reserves under the former government of governor Ayade. “We expect a drastic deviation from the new government of Senator Otu,” he said.

Ekuri community, according to him, has gone ahead to establish indigenous community conserved area, which has equal status with the national parks, in order to protect the forest.

Ogar, however, expressed shock that inspite of a logging moratorium in the state, meaning that there should be no cutting of timber neither in the community forest nor forest reserve, the outgone government still approved logging.

“The moratorium put in place since 2008 has not been cancelled, yet loggers are having a field day, logging indiscriminately,” he said.

Ogar called on the international community, federal and state governments to step in and stop the reckless logging in Ekuri and other forests in the state. “We expect so much from the Senator Otu’s government as the forest, which man relies on for survival must be consciously protected.”

On his part, the former Chairman of the State Forestry Commission, Tony Undiandeye said, the commission was equally alarmed at the rate of deforestation. He noted that it was not easy for the commission to enforce the law without security agencies, especially when they connive with loggers.

“Government should take responsibility and give impetus to the commission to carry out its responsibilities, and security agencies need to have government approval. Some military men are used by loggers but feign ignorance when we seek their help.

“We need more proactive consciousness of government to direct the affairs because you do not just give mandate with no power, no vehicle, no imprest, and others,” he lamented, saying, “When you cannot give money to your staff for investigation, the matter remains in a file. People can say all sorts of things against the commission but we are not in position to do all things. If government gives priority to the law against logging, we will check it.

“Government may not have the resources to manage the forest because globally, issues of forest are not funded by government alone. Equally, the global economic recession has been affecting funding of the forest. It is very expensive. Forest bearing communities on their own depend on it for survival but merchants are the ones benefiting, not the community or government.”

On his part, former leader of the 7th Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, said the outgone government of Senator Ben Ayade “was experimental throughout its eight years. The outgone governor experimented with the concept of governance and governance itself. We are yet to get the outcomes of those experiments not to talk of their validation. Many believe that it was government by brain waves of the chief executive. Governance became capricious and unpredictable. The challenges were self-imposed or self-inflicted.”

On what governor Otu should do differently to move the state forward, the APC stalwart declared: “The starting point for Senator Bassey Otu is to return governance to its traditional or classic notions in which government’s actions or activities can be evaluated using known indices for measuring outcomes and performance.”

He also has to coldly take stock of all he is inheriting, including systems, or the lack of them, finances, debts, projects, moveable and immovable assets, personnel, etc.”

On the industries governor Ayade built, many of which were not completed or functional, Ndoma-Egba said, “you first of all establish their feasibility and viability, their status. Where there are feasibility studies, did they have the requisite approvals, and most importantly, what were their sources of funding and ownership? What Senator Otu does with them will depend on his philosophy of government. Does he believe in big government in which everyone is in government and in which government is directly involved in business and industries, or a small government in which government’s concern is creating the conducive environment for business to thrive and business is left for the private sector?”

He also expressed concerns as to whether the current government could continue with the superhighway and deep seaport projects, saying, “I doubt if, given the current state of our financial health, we will ever be able to fund them. Our richer younger brother, Akwa Ibom State, has been on a deep seaport since the days of Obong Victor Attah, what happened? The island country just behind us, São Tomé and Principe, has been on a deep seaport for ages.

I attended its roadshow in London, chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo many years ago. What has happened in spite of the country’s natural advantages? Senator Otu must objectively interrogate the viability of the superhighway and deep sea port projects. This should be done without any emotions. If there were feasibility studies, they should be revisited. For me, and this is my personal opinion, these projects will remain phantom.”

Probably responding to the yearnings of the people of the state, governor Otu, in his inaugural speech, reassured Cross Riverians, saying, “this is the government of Cross Riverians by Cross Riverians for all Cross Riverians and non-Cross Riverians in our land. This government will bear no insignia of discrimination in belief, origin or gender. Women and men, young and old, educated and non-educated will be carried along and treated as equal before the law. I reiterate that I joined politics to provide service to humanity and nothing more.

“I have spent my gifting opportunities in the legislature and my creative convictions in advancing the course of humanity, and I intend to leverage on those templates in providing the best governance to the people of Cross River State.”

He said: “It is not lost on us the enormous work that must be done and the weight of built-up expectations. Therefore, we shall manage time effectively in rewriting the trajectory of our corporate aspirations in line with our collective dreams in divine destiny. We are ready to hit the ground running from today. Already, we have designed and reviewed our strategic roadmap to guide our actions as we kick-off.

“However, owing to the premium we attach to planning and fiscal discipline, we have collaborated with credible international development institutions in formulating a medium-term sustainable development plan in line with the Cross River state 30-year development strategy, in order to set the path for desired outcomes for our State. We are excited to be here at a time like this; for champions are made in trying moments. We are confident and determined to restructure our huge debt stock while strengthening our fiscal pasture.”

He said, “We will engage with the Labour Union dispassionately on the feasible and sustainable paths for dealing with our depleting civil service, given that over 75 per cent of our manpower will be retiring before December, 2024. The same worrisome narrative applies to the backlog of staff promotion with corresponding severance burden in excess of N4 billion.

“Within our People-First agenda, safety, peaceful co-existence and security of lives and properties are major pillars for my administration. For the few who take pride in criminality, there shall be no hiding place and only two options are on the table: turn a new leaf within our upcoming amnesty window or vacate Cross River state without delay. Our administration shall have zero tolerance for criminality in whatever form or shade.

“We shall expand our footprint on total healthcare and education spending per capita. We will curb gender-based violence and institutionalise Cross River as the cleanest, greenest and safest in our country.”

Out, who has sacked the state and local councils Auditor-Generals as part of his strategies to monitor funds, said: “The state will be given an immediate facelift through critical infrastructural repairs, clearing of waterways, trimming of overgrown trees, repainting and refuse evacuation.

“Security confidence will be strengthened by greater illumination of the streets, monitoring crime flashpoints and creating welfare synergies with security operatives, community leaders and hidden security watches for maximum impact. Immediate attention will be given to the reward and operational systems in our civil/public services and local council to ensure that morale is sufficiently boosted.”
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