by crossriverwatch admin
His towering political and legal stature notwithstanding, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, SAN, Nigeria’s Senate Leader is one man whose personality is the product of the influences and inspirations of the forests and creeks that populate Cross River State.
Born in Akparabong, a cocoa farming community in Ikom in Central Cross River State, he grew up basically as a “home boy” by helping in the farm while attending the village primary school in Ikom before proceeding to the famous Mary Knoll College in Ogoja.
When it was time to head to the university, he opted for the University of Lagos even when his father, an Appeal Court Judge could easily have sent him to Harvard or Oxford.
Since his climb up the ladder of life, his personality has remained the same: humble, warm, charming and above all kind hearted. His foray into politics in 2003 as Senator representing the Central Senatorial District of the state, has significantly reshaped the political landscape of the area with the lives of thousands of people in the six local government areas that constitute the district positively transformed.
His programs in the last twelve years have transcended education, agriculture, medicare, job placement and welfare for the people. The Senator Victor Ndoma Egba Scholarship Scheme, the flag ship of his political achievement which has been in place since 1980 even before his election into the Senate has extended financial assistance to hundreds of students in tertiary institutions both locally and internationally.
The scholarship scheme which last the entire duration of beneficiary’s educational program has invested over 100 million naira and every year, it is eagerly awaited by students of the senatorial district and serves as a spur and encouragement to the students to work hard in their academics both at the undergraduate and post graduate levels.
During the award sessions, the Senate Leader has always emphasised the fact that the scholarship is to help develop young men and women who are the true resource of the community, state, Nigeria and humanity and should be assisted to acquire education which is currently very expensive particularly the indigent ones who may drop out of school for financial reasons. “People think that mineral resources like oil, gold and others are the real resources of the state but the true resource of a nation are the human beings and in this category, the youths are the real resource of the state”.
Outside the scholarship program, annually, the Senate Leader organizes agricultural outreaches for the teeming farmers in his district. Farm inputs like high yield yam, rice, cocoa and maize seedlings along with inputs are given to the farmers to enable them build capacity to farm more to earn more income. In the 2014 farming season, Senator Ndoma Egba has handed out twelve thousand yam seedlings, three hundred bags of rice, 5000 liters of insecticides and 500 liters of pesticide along with 2000 spray machines for distribution amongst the farmers.
On infrastructure, recently, the people of Akam Community in Ikom Local government area of Cross River state, commended him and his party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for the construction of roads in the community which have become a nightmare following decades of disuse because of its bad state.
The construction of the Abakaliki – Ikom – Cameroon road and the rehabilitation of the Ikom- Calabar highways, the Cross River World Bank assisted water projects are a reality through his untiring commitment to infrastructural development of the state.
His concern for the welfare of students and young people does not end with the scholarship scheme. When in July 2011, the Boko Haram attacks in institutions of learning in Maiduguri became unbearable, he facilitated the speedy evacuation on of students of the state from the University of Maiduguri and other institutions in the north east of the country.
President of the National Association of Cross River State Students, NACRISS, University of Maiduguri branch and a 400 level student of Public Administration, Mr. Sebastine Opue Buturo, who spoke on behalf of the students was full of gratitude to the Senator for his quick response to their plight.
“While other state governments sent buses to convey their students, we from Cross River were abandoned like orphans. That we could venture out of Maiduguri is through the assistance of Senator Victor Ndoma Egba and we are thankful to him because his response has saved our lives.” The NACRISS President said.
When windstorm ravaged the Nsadop Community in Boki and floods swept through Obubra, in 2012, the Senate Leader personally undertook a tour of the affected areas and in his company were truck loads of food items and relief materials worth millions naira for the affected people.
The relief materials which were the personal donations of the senator to cushion the suffering of Nsadop people and their Obubra counterparts as they have become refugees in their ancestral homes following their displacement went a long way in providing succor to the people.
Items donated include 100 bags of cement, bundles of zinc, mattresses, plastic buckets, towels, bags of rice, cartons of seasoning cubes, cartons of vegetable oil, bags of salt and N500,000 cash to the Catholic Church to help cater for the victims of the clash.
Perhaps it is form these outstanding personal features and rare accomplishment in the Senate that groups have been clamouring for him to return to the Senate in 2015. Amongst these groups are Victory Chapter Four, led by a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Jones Tangban, Cross River Legion for Democratic Advancement and even his colleagues at the bar are right behind him.
Comrade Leko Akpama Inah; secretary, Rosemary Egbe, public relations officer and Dominic Bassey Abung, in a statement made available to CrossRiverWatch said the Senate Leader has attained such a height in national affairs that his re-election in 2015 will mean more good things for the state.
The group explained that it was making a case for the Cross River Central Senator because he has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he can deliver effective representation, more so that he has become a ranking senator with all the privileges attached to it.
“Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, representing Cross River Central Senatorial District personifies all that is desirable about having capable personalities continue as legislators as long as they are willing, ready and still able to serve their nation in that capacity’’, the release said.
Speaking in the same vein, Victory Chapter Four led by Jones Tangban said ‘The lowest office Senator Ndoma Egba will occupy is that of Senate Leader which can grant him easy access to the president to get things done for the state but a new senator at the most could become a chairman of a committee – politics is reasoning and this is the time to reason”.
Emmanuel Unah, a journalist wrote from Calabar.
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