I must start by thanking the Almighty God for you and congratulating you from the bottom of my heart on your victory on the March 18th, 2023 gubernatorial elections in Nigeria. Like most other things in our country, I know it was not easy. For this great feat, I can only say: “Itong uwem osong fi ada idaha ukara nyin.”
Your Excellency, Sir, please do not regard this gesture as another Cross Riverian looking for “food on the table” because it is definitely not. I know I am hungry, but what I have seen done in the governance of our country in the past 8 years can never satisfy my hunger, irrespective of what I am offered by anyone in government as a favor.
I am happy for you because I know your pedigree, and I know you have the character and a chance of success, if you set your goals right, listen to wise counseling, and respect feedback and criticism.
I might not be a “party man” but I want you to know that any intelligent Cross Riverian should give you his or her hundred percent support now, and for the next four years. During this period, your success will be our success, and your failure, our failure. Time for campaigning is over and our collective destiny in Cross River State, is now in your hands.
Your Excellency, you might not be aware, but I must tell you this for free, since you were declared a winner in the gubernatorial election of the 18th March 2023, there is nobody I know, or have spoken to, who was not personally, and exclusively responsible for your success in the election. Knowing this, you can imagine the extent of expectations. I am not saying this to scare you, your Excellency, I am just trying to prepare you to satisfy the expectations.
I can imagine the number of curriculum vitae, and proposals making their way toward you and your table now.
I can imagine all the new friends falling over each other trying to wine and dine with you in the most expensive hotels and restaurants all over the world now.
I can imagine old friends, work colleagues, schoolmates, and acquaintances trying to renew relationships.
I can even imagine enemies/ foes pretending to reconcile.
These are all well and normal so long as you are aware that there are two people who made you Governor, but you are a Governor for everyone in Cross River State.
Another piece of advice I will give you for free, Sir, is, if you want to do individual favors to everyone who is claiming to have been responsible for making you governor, you will not have enough individual favors to go round.
You will not have enough government appointments to go round.
You will not have enough contracts to go round.
You will not have enough money to go round.
I can, however, tell you what you can do to return the favors that can go round to everyone:
Goodwill and Good Governance
Build a governing team of good, competent, qualified, honest, and passionate individuals, of any political persuasions, who happened to be the best hands you can get to carry out government functions.
Goal
Your defined goal of “People First” and “completing the projects of all previous governments” is lofty.
If you can do that, you will be the greatest governor of all time in Cross River State.
Start with the tourism base of Donald’s tenure, roads, and power infrastructure of Imoke, and the industrialization effort of Ayade, all modified to support the tourism architecture of the State in your time.
Hit the ground running on urban sanitation, Tinapa, Obudu Cattle Ranch, and other resort development. Open the State up to tourism again. Remember that hospitality comes naturally to Calabar people.
Others are:
Security
Irrespective of what the National policy on security is, as a chief security officer of your State by the Nigerian constitution 1999, you must devise a way to develop confidence in the general public that Cross River State is safe. The judiciary service in Cross River State must not only be but must also be seen to stay above board in the dispensation of justice. Communities, wards, local government, and the State, must have a legislated policing that is under your control. Everyone must feel safe in their homes, business places, and on the streets in Cross River State.
Power
Having adequate power supply, and encouraging investment in power generation has to be a top priority in your governance. Every other infrastructural development will depend on an adequate power supply. This will encourage and promote tourism and industrialization and will go round to everyone.
Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation
I cannot overemphasize the need to develop a simple, practical, and well-supported water supply and environmental sanitation policy. This will promote good health, support tourism and industrialization, and provide jobs. The domino effect will go round to everyone.
Healthcare
Don’t forget the old adage that says: “Health is wealth.”
We need a coherent healthcare policy that provides and entitles every individual in Cross River State to adequate healthcare, simplified by placing emphasis on prevention, early detection of illness, and immediate accessibility when required, or within walking distance at worst, and free at the point of delivery.
Information and communications technology development has revolutionized healthcare delivery, and we must key into it.
I proposed Integrated Primary Healthcare Solutions with emphasis on telemedicine, to Imoke’s government in 2008, and while the proposal found its way into the State Government’s website, its author and implementations were ignored. And ten years down the line, thanks to Covid 19 pandemic, the whole industrialized world is onto it now. If we are not healthy our wealth means nothing. Adopting a good, simple, and accessible healthcare policy will support tourism, industrialization, and job creation, and the effect will get to everyone.
Education
This is the bedrock of any civilized society. It gives rise to and affects every human development. I can see that we are individually trying to educate ourselves, but the potential is too great for a good government to ignore the chance of stepping in to organize it with a clear, concise, simple, and well-supported policy for maximum capitalization of what we already have.
Education must simply mean the use of knowledge to enhance human development. I would suggest a policy direction of this government to include the entitlement of everyone (children and adults) to have the first contact with a government-controlled educational institution within walking distance.
Education should be lifelong learning for all. A clear policy for primary, secondary, vocational, and adult apprenticeship education, and continuing professional development should be the hallmark of your governance and should stand your administration head and shoulder above the previous administrations. A good educational system will provide the engine room for infrastructural development in the State. This is needed to support tourism, industrial ventures, and job creation, thus also touching the lives of everyone.
Your Excellency, my recommendations might not be exhaustive, but if you find those worthy of your immediate consideration and attention, I know the people will do the rest. There is no doubting the positive effect a clean, touristic, and industrialized “People’s Paradise” would have on the internally generated revenue.
It will be a big mistake for you to try to reward people with appointments, contracts, or money because you feel indebted to them for their contribution to you becoming a governor.
Nobody and everybody must have contributed to you becoming the Governor, including some of your greatest adversaries. Without them, you probably would never know how passionate, how resilient, and how much you really wanted to be who you are today.
I started by saying that despite all the claims, only two people made you Governor, and those are yourself and the almighty God. You should be grateful to both.
For the rest of us claiming to have individually made you governor, please reward us by engaging in those projects that touch the lives of everyone.
Thank you, long live your Excellency, long Iive Cross River State, long live Federal Republic of Nigeria. Dr. Lawrence Bassey Umo-Eto Mkpe; a passionate Calabar Man.
Dr. Lawrence Bassey is a Cross Riverian and writes from the United Kingdom.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Dr. Lawrence Bassey, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.
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