By: Chidiebere Onyemaizu
Question: As a Special Adviser, your position ranks almost at par with a Commissioner; given that you are not an indigene of Cross River state and does not have a generational roots or link there nor share a filial or consanquinity nexus with the state, how did you pull this feat of being appointed into His Excellency, Governor Bassey Otu’s cabinet?
Answer: Thank you. Let me say that your question is weighty and deep and seeks to highlight Nigeria’s major faultlines- ethnic and tribal differences- but let me answer you this way. For me Cross River is home, no more no less. I came to Calabar as a teenager freshly out of primary school, I have spent almost 45 years of my life in Calabar, my businesses, material wealth, education- all I acquired in Calabar nay Cross River; I had my all Children here and they all had different layers of education here in Calabar, my businesses and investments are here and I pay my taxes to into the coffers of Cross River state state government. Yes, I’m from Ideato local government area in Imo and I occasionally visit my home town, spend some days or weeks and then return to Calabar where I have lived since 1980. You can now see why I described Cross River as home and I can tell you authoritatively that Cross Riverians are very friendly and hospitable people. Coming to the second leg of your question, that is how I got appointed into the office I currently occupy despite not being an indigene biologically or generationally, it may interest you to know that my principal, my boss, His Excellency, Senator (Prince) Bassey Edet Otu, is not provincial in nature. Here is a Governor who is urbane, cerebral, detribalised and focused.The People’s First Agenda of his administration does not place emphasis on tribe, religion or ethnicity but on how best to give everyone in Cross River a new lease of life, how best to deliver quality governance and gains of democracy to all irrespective of state of origin, tribe or religion.Don’t forget that Cross River is a multi- cultural, multi-lingual and multi- ethnic society, so my boss is a Governor for all. Besides, having been a longstanding loyalist of His Excellency….I have been with him, in his political camp through his House of Reps, Senate, PDP, Labour Party days, in fact whichever party he moved, I moved with him and having remained partisan on the side of his Excellency, having been a ward chairman of political party here, when you talk of Cross River politics,and having also at a time participated in the government of Cross River at the local government level, having campaigned for His Excellency in every nook and cranny of Cross River, I think His Excellency recognised that I have something to offer to his administration and to the state hence his gracious decision to appoint me his Special Adviser on Non-Indigens Affairs.
Question: You said that at a time you participated in local government administration in Cross River, how did this come about? Were you an elected local government chairman or councillor?
Answer: None of the above.I served in Calabar Municipality( local government) in 20….as task force chairman on business and revenue generation and that was during the tenure of the council’s former Chairman…..I can tell you that I discharged my duties creditably well without any blemish while attracting quantum revenue to the local government.
Question: Your position as Special Adviser to the Governor on Non-Indigenes Affairs suggests that you are sort of a representative in the Otu government of Non-Indigenes in Cross River. Is this so and if it is not,what exactly is your job description?
Answer: Well, you may not be far from the truth but it’s broader than the way you perceive it. As I said earlier, Cross River is a multi ethnic and multi cultural state, it’s very diverse with a vast landmass spanning 18 local government areas, all local government areas across the state host inhabitants who are originally not from Cross River but have over the years made the state their home and living peacefully with their hosts, carrying out various legitimate business activities, earning a living and contributing to the economic growth of the the. If you go to Northern and central Cross River- places like Ogoja, Yala, Bekwara, Obudu, Obanliku, Ikom, Ugep among others you will see my brothers and sisters from Northern Nigeria in their numbers who have completely acculturised or if you like Cross Rivernised carrying out different forms of economic activities. The same also goes for our Southeast, south south and southwest brothers. Infact, there is a plethora of Igbo businessmen who are so deeply rooted in Ogoja, Ikom, Calabar, Ugep that many of them did not just built and own houses there- landlords-but are married to the daughters of the soil. In Calabar proper, such markets as Bedwell, Watts and Mariam have a large number of Igbo and Yoruba traders. In the entire stretch of Calabar South local government area, you find many Igbo traders in shops dealing on various articles. Calabar South is also home to Bogobiri, a sprawling Hausa settlement which could be arguably described as a micro economic zone in Calabar in the sense that the settlement is a depot of sort for goods, mostly food, agricultural produce coming from the North.I have taken time to outline all these to show you that my job is clearly cut out: To coordinate the teeming population of Nigerians from other states residing in Cross River and act as a bridge between them and government of His Excellency, Senator Bassey Otu.It is my duty to interface with the government on their behalf and encourage them to contribute their quota to the economic growth of the state, obey the laws of the state and respect the tradition, culture, norms and mores of their host communities and refrain from any act that could bring them into conflict with their hosts.To achieve these objectives, I periodically hold meetings with groups, unions, and associations of non- indigenes to feel their pulse, know their concerns and brainstorm on ways to forge harmonious relationship with their hosts.
Question: You described Cross River as a vast state, so considering the distance between Calabar, the state capital where you are based, and parts of the state, how are you are able to coordinate, relate and interface with Non-Indigenes residing in far flung places of the state? Do you periodically visit them in their various locations or do you summon them to Calabar for interactions?
Answer: When the need arises, I visit various areas of the state where they reside to interact and mingle with my brothers and sisters from other parts of the country and share in their joy or pain and also bring to them the message of the People First mantra of His Excellency.In the same vain, when the need arises for their physical presence in Calabar, their representatives are invited to come.
Question: There is this widely held notion that Cross River is a civil servant state that lacks an economy and that what could be passed for an economy is largely driven by businesses and investments of non-indegenes. How true is this?
Answer: This is not true. Cross River has a sustainable economy.As I said before, there is a strong presence of Nigerians from the other parts of the country in Cross River and like every other Cross Riverians engaged in gainful economic activities, they are contributing to the growth of the economy of the state through their investments and businesses.It is a symbiotic relationship that benefits everybody. While the non- indigene business owners and investors enjoy the conducive and enabling business environment prevailing in the state, especially under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Governor Otu, which they need to thrive, the indigenes benefit from the small scale direct and indirect jobs the presence of such businesses and investments create. Besides, there are a plethora of indigenes of the state with virile, thriving businesses and investments scattered all over the state- businesses and investments that have created jobs and employed thousands of Cross Riverians.There are also a number of multinational companies operating in Cross River, these multinationals equally contribute to the economy of the state handsomely.It is therefore, fallacious to say that Cross River lacks an economy or that its economy is solely driven by none indigenes.
Question: One year down the lane,how would you say your principal, Governor Otu’s People First Agenda has impacted on Cross River and its people?
Answer: As lawyers will say, fact speaks for itself and as the popular cliche goes, seeing is believing, so, go round the state and see for yourself and hear from the people direct, take a stroll across the length and breathe of Calabar and see transformation yourself and hear the people speak. It is self-evident: This Governor has delivered and still delivering within just one year in office; he has reinvented, re-engineered and reshaped Cross River and set it on the path of irreversible economic growth beyond the expectations of many.The Governor is giving the people a new lease of life; his Agricultural policy is centred around job creation through cultivation on industrial scale in different parts of the state of different crops such as cow pea, cocoa, Cassava, palm tree among others.To further deepened Cross River’s economy, Governor Otu is continuing with the key legacy projects of his predecessor, notably the Obudu Cargo and Passenger International Airport and the Bakassi Deep seaport among others. On urban renewal, anyone who visited Calabar two or a year ago will certainly be amassed at the transformation that has taken place in the city under Governor Otu if he or she is to visit Calabar today.Not only have the mountains of refuse disappeared from the streets, dilapidated internal roads have been fixed, steady street lights have returned,the streets are nowkept clean round the clock, traffic lights and road signs are back. Generally, Governor Otu has restore the aesthetics of Calabar- its green scenery and clean and sparkling status for which the city was famous for. He has also extended the urban renewal drive to the urban centres of Ugep, Ikom, Ogoja and Obudu.
Question: Some Nigerians are angry with your party, the APC and the President, Bola Tinubu for the current excruciating economic difficulties.Do you think their anger is justified?
Answer:No one is immuned from the current economic challenges, including members of all the political parties, APC inclusive. Hunger knows no party, tribe or religion, we are all in this together and my appeal to everyone of us is for us to unite and support Mr President as he steers the country out of the current economic challenges. This is not a time for blame games or to exacerbate our faultlines, let’s bind together as one people, one nation wielded together by fate and support our leaders at this critical moment, the same way Americans persevered and rallied around their president during the great economic depression of the 1930s.
Question: You are from Imo state, is your state government aware that Governor Otu graciously appointed one of the sons of the state into his government and that he is occupying an important position?
Answer: Officially, there hasn’t been such notification from me to His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodinma, the Executive Governor of Imo state but plans are underway to officially notified him of His Excellency, Governor Otu’s gracious decision to appoint one of Imo sons as his aide.However, I can assure you that all Igbo associations in Cross River, including the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Cross River state chapter are excited about this appointment and are grateful to His Excellency, Governor Otu.
