An open letter to Governor Ayade:
Facing the fragile truth
By
Asuquo Otu Ekpenyong Ph.D. (Illinois)
Ada Idagha ke Efik Eburutu
For the Efik Diaspora
Chicago, Illinois, USA
By
Asuquo Otu Ekpenyong Ph.D. (Illinois)
Ada Idagha ke Efik Eburutu
For the Efik Diaspora
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Dear Governor Ayade,
Having read the article from my friend Chief Ugbeche titled: Ayade – Hosea 8:7 http://crossriverwatch.com/…/ayade-and-hosea-87-by-philemo…/ and the response authored by your Mr. Etim, a Senior Special Adviser to you - Re: Ayade Hosea 8:7., http://www.calitown.com/re-ayade-and-hosea-87-a-rejoinder-…/ I am surprised at your unleashing your hack writer on a gentleman, whose only fault was to call your attention to what your dual governorship could do to the northern senatorial zone. More so when your aide could not point out and tangible proof or benefits from your incessant global hunt for MOUs to sign and ratify. So many are now discontent with CRS current reversals of fortune under your watch, and they enviously plot their revenge in the upcoming elections. Which once again throws up the question of your re-electability?
Having read the article from my friend Chief Ugbeche titled: Ayade – Hosea 8:7 http://crossriverwatch.com/…/ayade-and-hosea-87-by-philemo…/ and the response authored by your Mr. Etim, a Senior Special Adviser to you - Re: Ayade Hosea 8:7., http://www.calitown.com/re-ayade-and-hosea-87-a-rejoinder-…/ I am surprised at your unleashing your hack writer on a gentleman, whose only fault was to call your attention to what your dual governorship could do to the northern senatorial zone. More so when your aide could not point out and tangible proof or benefits from your incessant global hunt for MOUs to sign and ratify. So many are now discontent with CRS current reversals of fortune under your watch, and they enviously plot their revenge in the upcoming elections. Which once again throws up the question of your re-electability?
Viewing my dear Cross River State(CRS) from afar, and
with my recent visit to the State, I initially found it hard to know what to
make of your tenure as Governor of Cross River State. While admiration could be
conceivable, bearing in mind your humble and deprived beginnings in Obudu, I am
reminded, that you have abused the trust and disposition of our people and
their tolerance. Right from the Enugu International Airport, everyone I talked
to about CRS, wore this look of emptiness. I became apprehensive. Apprehension
turned into murmurs and sighs from all the people I interacted with. Murmurs
turned into outpourings, and the outpourings have now gathered momentum. I did
not know no peace throughout my stay.
Gunshots from errant youths, poisonous water filled with
algae running out of the taps and when I looked at the eye sore our State
library has become, I shed a tear. Ayade, are you really a Professor? How could
you allow a Library to decay?
It is not therefore surprising that members of your
political class are in open rebellion against your 2019 ambition, mostly
incited by your naivety and abject failure as Governor. Politically, it was
evident that a stable and cohesive CRS, had bought into a comprehensive and
forward-looking vision; never perfect, but for our context it obviously worked
well. This you have jettisoned. To put it bluntly, your one term as a Senator
of the Federal Republic might have offered little to provide any great
reassurance; yet few would have predicted that your tenure as Governor would
leave the state in a lurch, with an induced coma the likely saving grace.
What went wrong? How and where did you err? Are calls for
your being voted out in favor of a new political direction justified? Did you
naively misuse inherited political capital that had been banked through the
sweat and blood of others? Should the state Chapter of the PDP save itself and
credibility by outing you? Finally, what next for the Southern Senatorial who
must not be caught playing opposition politics? Sadly, addressing these issues
remain at the core of your 2nd term aspirations, although the requiem for your
government was written months ago.
Secondly, a Commissioner from the Central Senatorial
informed me that a bullish economy that had broken free from state control,
become well-regulated and planned, and gained hesitant private sector and FDI
confidence, with appreciable dividend including attracting multinationals like
Wilmar, GE, and the Songhai group etc. had overnight become unplanned,
un-managed and un-regulated with a Commissioner of Finance, whose one true
experience was managing a night-club that seats, barely 50 people. I am reminded
of the mess and shambles made of the investment in infrastructure and human
capital, which led to our young people excelling in ICT, sports and education;
in reality, it was never perfect, but it worked well, and evidently, our polity
was stable and our people happy.
Thirdly, I was endlessly reminded of the failure of
several projects and programmes including the State Water Board, and the
upsurge of diarrheal diseases in Calabar. Have you noticed the recent exodus of
over taxed local investors, foreign investors, some federal government
agencies, international donors and counterpart funders from CRS? I have
informed how trust had been won and frittered away on a whim, because of your
failure to abide by previously instituted governance structures, required to
collaborate with the ADB, U.N. agencies, the World Bank, the Gates Foundation
and other multilaterals. Except you count the recent signing, of yet another
MOU, this time on solar power as a worthwhile achievement, considering the fact
that the NIPP power project in Odukpani, has the capacity to generate and
supply more power than can ever be consumed in CRS, what exactly are your solid
achievements in this regard?
Chief Ugbeche points out that all prior achievements by
past governors have been sacrificed for your personal glory and megalomania.
And this sounds like a damning verdict, and there lies our frustration and
resentment. In that context, I stand with Chief Philemon Ugbeche’s earth
shattering article, Ayade and Hosea 8:7, in what very well might have been a
referendum on your tenure, and you are now being viewed as the problem, and not
the solution to CRS. Your greatest qualificiation for the post of Governor was
being the highest ranking political office holder from the northern Senatorial
zone. I am now convinced that you inherited an enviable set up from your
predecessor.
The distinct irony to all of this, is that the Northern
Senatorial or call it old Ogoja, had always produced some of the best
administrators I have ever known, from my days in the Civil Service, of the old
South-Eastern State. And make no mistake about it; the facts on ground in CRS
are particularly damning. And like a PDP stalwart from Odukpani recently said
to me, “…Ayade is stuck in his ways and resistant to received wisdoms, which he
views as an affront.” To which I sarcastically opined that maybe he was yet to
receive several volumes of Senator Imoke’s leadership manual and brochure, even
if he would prove some right by being arrogant enough to not read it.
Finally, I think of the good old days of MILAD Ahmed,
when procedures and processes were not continuously undermined, when I
personally consider the damage to the CRS Civil Service, such as has never been
witnessed by my generation and your now notorious quip of running CRS from your
pockets. You were never ready to be a governor and have failed abysmally
Dear Governor Ayade, from the South Senatorial we wish you good riddance.
Dear Governor Ayade, from the South Senatorial we wish you good riddance.
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