Re-thinking governance in Cross River
Thus, as the gubernatorial elections slated for next year draws closer in Cross River State, there is need to pause and reflect on whether the terms of contract agreement between the state government and the people has been tenable this past four years. That should be the preoccupation of political gladiators in Cross River rather […]
Thus, as the gubernatorial elections slated for next year draws closer in Cross River State, there is need to pause and reflect on whether the terms of contract agreement between the state government and the people has been tenable this past four years. That should be the preoccupation of political gladiators in Cross River rather than engaging in political deception of all sorts.
Notwithstanding the prospects of the state among its thriving South-South sister states, Cross River is blessed with natural resources more than any other state in the South. For when we put together all stats, bringing into account comparative advantage and the multiplier effects, the state stands atop among most of the states. Beside the availability of crude oil, the state is abundantly blessed with cocoa, palm tree, plantain, banana, pineapple, forest reserves, world class tourist sites, citrus crops, rubber, limestone, rice and tuber crops. It can be said that most of her neighbouring states are able to survive in their commercial activities somehow from the abundant resources from Cross River State.
So, why has the state failed to transform itself to a giant? That is the question we should be asking. Like Chinua Achebe has often asserted, the problem with Nigeria cum Cross River is squarely that of leadership-the abysmal failure of leaders to engage in the re-thinking of governance. That re-thinking more or less should compel the leadership of the state mostly in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ponder on the quantum gap existing between abundance and deprivation to attract development to the state. Cross River State economy is with deplorable condition of roads. Take the Gboko-Ogoja-Ikom-Ugep-Calabar Road, the road is so deplorable that it is hardly motorable. Starting from Nde, in Ikom Local Government Area, the path has become unmotorable so much that commuters now use the Mbok Juction-Abakaliki route through Abomage to Itigidi before going to Calabar.
How come the fortunes of the state in the area of tourism have dwindled astronomically? What inform the sluggish attention to infrastructural development which has a corresponding effect on the growth of tourism? But now, there is a problem in town. With the elections fast approaching, nocturnal and paid supporters are springing up everywhere, everyday, doing everything and whatever to sing songs of praise to the governor for bringing ‘development’ to the state, for feeding our stomach and ‘putting our roads in good shops.’
We all can make Cross River a prosperous state where our roads are motorable and do receive the best attention from both federal and state governments. We await the time when our agricultural and natural resources will attract blue chip companies and industrialists from home and abroad. We want back the vibrancy that followed our tourism sector during the Donald Duke era. If anything, democracy has given us a choice to make in terms of leadership. And the very essence of that freewill to chose lies in the competitive nature of democracy. Thence, nobody should tilt Cross River to a one-way-traffic democracy, instead, let our arsenals be assembled and directed towards nothing but the act of re-thinking the disproportionate level of governance vis-à-vis halting the fast digression witnessed in recent times.
Barnabas Okom, 25, Ekorinim Layout, Calabar, Cross River State