Campaign Years And Distribution Of Okada… BY AGBA JALINGO

Let me begin with a quotable quote from a former Governor of Cross River State: “I have always kicked against some of the politicians who give out Okada as empowerment scheme even as some of my political allies kick against my position. If there is anybody who doesn’t support Okada for empowerment, it’s me, I don’t like it, I pronounce it, I broadcast it, I shout it. I have never seen anybody who was given an Okada and came back to say it has reproduced another Okada or a taxi, rather it caused them agony few months after it was given.” – Former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke.

Since the administration of Donald Duke as Governor of Cross River State, all democratically elected governors of the State, including the current one, have banned the operation of commercial motor bikes (Okada), in the State, specifically the State Capital, Calabar. But the irony is that, even after banning Okada, whether in Calabar Metropolis or in the hinterlands, the politicians never cease to distribute motor bikes to people, particularly during campaign season like this year, 2026.

The top most reasons for these bans have always been the recklessness of the bike riders and insecurity. Security agencies in the State have consistently insisted that many of the bikes are always used to commit crimes. A 2024 study by Research Gate, on commercial motorcyclists in the State found that 68% of riders had been involved in an accident, with 87.5% having an accident in the past year, resulting in 72.8% sustaining injuries.

Apart from these significant safety concerns, it remains a deafening wonder for any progressive politician who claims to want development to continue to think that Okada is a good form of transportation in any part of our State or can be given out to people as a form of empowerment, in the year 2026. There are certainly places in our State that remain inaccessible by cars, but that is not a problem to be solved by distributing Okada. It is a problem to be solved by tarring roads to those places and opening them up for opportunities.

It still amazes me that our people are yet to decipher that any politician who still believes that Okada is a good form of transportation in 2026 or a form of empowerment for citizens, is a burden on society and not a leader. Such politicians do not have the foresight to innovate a profitable future for our communities. Such politicians are actually mocking the citizens. Let them give to us those things that they give to their own children and kindred. Not the things their children cannot use.

I am writing these specifically because former Governor Ayade stocked motor bikes in his Kakum compound since 2025 waiting for campaign year 2026. He brought them out last week and shared 50 to Ward Chairmen of his party and his pocket of loyalists are celebrating it. This tokenism is not different from his food-on-the-table concept which ended and left thousands stranded and cap-in-hand. Ayade is a professor. He should know, better than anyone else that what Cross River North, which he refused to develop during his eight year tenure as governor, needs the most today is not another influx of Okada. It is tangible and sustainable development of infrastructure and human capital.

Ayade does not have the capacity to develop. He has no memorable or lasting imprint of development in Cross River North even after being Governor for eight years. He has the capacity to perpetuate. Cross River North is poor and lacks development. The best he can do is to perpetuate that poverty so he can maintain control, which is his favorite aphrodisiac. His ambition to return to the Senate is not for development. He has been in the Senate before, for four years and he has been governor for eight years, what did he do?

Citizen Agba Jalingo, is a journalist , rights activist and writes in from Lagos State.

NB: Opinions expressed in this sponsored article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch