It’s 170 days already in office and remaining 1,290 days to the end of the first tenure of Governor Prince Otu. For me, I will always say my own. I can make mistakes sometimes like I always do, but I honestly will not go out of my way to just bad mouth anyone. One thing I am sure of is that, I love Cross River State and Nigeria, and it is my utmost desire to see them develop and I am prepared to sacrifice for this process.
I was perhaps, one of the loudest voices in the tenure of Governor Ben Ayade, my cousin from Abonkib. My sole and only intention was to dog after his heels to consistently remind him of his promises to Cross Riverians. I have an idea of what bootlicking political followers, beneficiaries, and appointees, can do. They never tell the leader the truth. In our environment, they are timid and frightful. So I took it upon myself that, come rain, come shine, whether in private or public, I will not fail to tell my brother the truth about how I perceived his actions in government.
It is 170 days since he left. It is obvious that regardless of the hue and cry, most of the things we bantered about are still in the cookie jar. We are still not clear where Governor Otu’s policy direction is headed or I am too dumb-headed to see the obvious.
The communication machine of our current government is still very very haphazard. For clarity; twice, Governor Ayade had to warn his appointees to desist from flinging releases to the public unless his Chief Press Secretary or Commissioner for Information does. Two statements were sent to the Press in that regard. These directives were disregarded on both occasions by his numerous appointees. The result was disastrous.
In the same vein, we are still seeing every Tom, Dick and Harry, that has been christened with any official title, designing all manner of letterheads and sending out press releases indiscriminately as if they are in competition with themselves over who to speak the mind of the government. It looks like most of the appointees have no other tasks on their tables other than sending out press releases.
Ironically, the two persons who are supposed to do this work, the CPS and the Information Commissioner, are the most silent in this milieu. Even as large as our federal government is, it is Ajuri Ngelale who is still speaking to us on behalf of the Federal Government. Most people don’t even know the name of the Minister of Information. But in Cross River, everyone with a title including ad hoc committees of two weeks, is a government spokesperson.
The list of appointments is already appearing like it is some form of food on the table again, instead of a call to service. Every week, the names keep coming. But there is not much depth in the lists. It’s only that the names are not yet as many as the previous tenure. By mid-term, clandestine second-term campaign committees will start mushrooming. Distraction will begin in government and all attention will be focused on re-election and that’s how failure begins.
After renovating the 11/11 roundabout, Destination Calabar Roundabout and the State Library are also under renovation. Cleaning of the capital is going on but very slowly. Kidnapping is back in the headlines in the State. Gangsters are still controlling critical sections of the government. In case, you don’t know yet, those eager to see Governor Otu succeed plus those missing on the appointment list, are already calling the Governor, “Solemn Assembly” Governor. And, Your Excellency, my own is just to do amebo for you without pay.
Citizen Agba Jalingo is the Publisher of CrossRiverWatch and a rights activist, a Cross Riverian, and writes from Lagos.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.
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