By CrossRiverWatch Admin
The Jedy Agba aura is in the air again in Cross River as elections draw near and it is understandble.
He has always been the King of Boys, a sobriquet he earned by his magnetic and kind nature dating way way back.
Those who know, say Jedy plans to unseat governor Ayade come 2019 and take over Peregrino House.
This will be his second shot at the target, having missed it the first time.
I have never been involved in active politics other than voting, voter sensitization, reporting elections and election monitoring but by nature I love contest, particularly when its healthy.
Which is why the intention of Jedy Agba to contest again is a welcomed development.
My grouse however is that, with the initial moves that we are seeing from what I will love to call the #TeamJedy, we have only been hearing how nice, and concerned about Cross River, Jedy is.
We are also hearing about how he broke the hegemony that wanted to thwart the northern governorship ambition.
But we are not been told the blueprint upon which Jedy will transform the fortunes of Cross River state.
And this is a familiar terrain.
For me as a citizen and a voter, I think the discussion should shift from the politics of the matter to the crux of the matter.
The discussion should begin to articulate concrete and workable steps that will lift people out of poverty in a sustainable way.
How for instance, will Jedy provide full employment and decent work for Cross River citizens amidst prevailing challenges?
We will agree that global economic growth, and liberalized trade alone has failed to provide adequate social protections for the most vulnerable sectors of society, and to equip workers with skills that would help them adapt to sometimes rapidly changing market conditions that encourage job loss.
What are the new proactive and innovative approaches to creating jobs that Jedy is coming with to underpin a possible Jedy macroeconomic policy?
What are his strategies for investments in new jobs in growing sectors like ICT etc?
What are his new and bold measures for accelerating agricultural production and promoting gainful employment?
It is not enough to say Jedy has a farm!
Let #TeamJedy begin to expantiate specific initiatives that will increase agricultural financing and investment and promote access to safe and nutritious foods.
How will Jedy approach the question of social integration, especially among the large informal sector in the state; and provide adequate worker protection?
What are his digestable strategies for creating an enabling environment for enterprise development and pursuing self-help initiatives?
What is Jedy’s policy guideline on Science and Tech, Health and Industrialization?
What will be his policy focus in education?
Will children in primary and secondary schools in the state continue to pay fees or will his government make basic education free?
In a nutshell, what will Jedy do differently?
All these and many more should be elucidated within the context of the stark reality of dwindling allocations.
This for me, should be the answers we expect to get from #TeamJedy as we proceed.
There is everything right with being a nice person. Infact that is God’s nature and should be applauded.
But niceties and good nature are not enough to govern effectively.
We have seen some examples of nice persons whose nice nature in actual sense became their worse ondoing once they got into office.
So #TeamJedy should set the pace for other politicians in the state by making their next take off from a different curve.
Honestly, that will make more sense moving forward.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
Agba Jalingo.