Gov. Otu and His Deputy, Rt. Hon. Odey Achieving Holistic Development of CRS
The Bible rightly says, “out of the abundance of the heart speaketh the mouth”. The PEOPLE FIRST mantra of His Excellency the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Prince Bassey Otu, which was his inauguration slogan, and has imbued his inner person (the spirit man) is a clear indication of his obsession for human development. This philosophy is in tune with the definition of democracy by the great Philosopher, Aristotle as “Government of the people by the people and for the people”.
His Excellency’s philosophy of people first speaks volumes. It intends to take Cross Riverians to the next level of self-actualization despite the dwindling State economy occasioned by the declining Federal allocations to the State. Undoubtedly His Excellency has proven the realities of his people first philosophy by the ways and manner he is managing the lean resources of the State to achieve this philosophy.
Sincerely and void of over emphasizing, the workers and the teaming population of pensioners which has been in the increase due to large streams of retirees since 2023, are all enjoying regular monthly payments of their entitlements on or before 29th /30th day of every month. This has established His Excellency’s reputation as a leader who is obsessed with the welfare and wellbeing of his subjects. The regular payments of salaries and pensions have also ensured consistent circulation of money across all facets of the State economy, thereby reducing the effects, in Cross River State, of the high inflation in the country by making money always readily available for the people to fund their consumption expenditure.
Arrangement is also on top gear to defray the backlog of unpaid gratuities to retirees some of who had retired since 2014 but were not paid their terminal benefits by the previous administrations. It, therefore, begets all the retirees to continuously pray for His Excellency’s good health and God protection to enable him accomplish His people first agenda. There are also cases where the numbers of school dropouts is reduced because of the Governor’s magnanimity in paying the WAEC/NECO Registration fees of all final year students in secondary schools in the State. This gesture is also extended to non-indigenous students.
Within this short span of twelve months in offi ce, over 70% of the structures that were destroyed by “Endsars” protesters have been renovated; notably among them were the ADP offi ces, the Cross River State Newspaper Corporation offi ces, the Federal Training Centre and other public business establishments to mention but just a few. Waste Evacuations along minor and major streets and markets in the metropolis and in other locations in the Local Government Areas have been persistent.
The construction of new roads and rehabilitation of existing ones in the State capital as well as improving the esthetics of rounds-about which has facilitated exhilarating drives by road users, have preoccupied the Governor. More over, His Excellency, the Governor’s determination to cover all segments of the State with electricity and solar light is palpable.
Most appealing is the already drawn down technical architecture to actualize steady electricity supply in Northern Cross River, Ogoja in particular. For long the reputation of Ogoja, first as a Provincial headquarters in the colonial time and latter as Divisional headquarters and now as a Local Government Area headquarters has been debased with consistent black out. The reason for this neglect could be because Ogoja is linked to the national grid that runs from Abakaliki in Ebonyi State. In fact, outage of light could last as long as 3 months, 5 months and more.
Indeed His Excellency the Governor deserves more than an ordinary applause for reconciling the State external and domestic debts which has created big fi nancial burden on State fi nances under the Irrevocable Payment Standing Order (IPSO). His Excellency has achieved this feat without engaging in debts renegotiation, debts buy back, or borrowing from elsewhere. His Excellency’s financial management dexterity in this regard has been sustained for 11 months.
His Excellency’s Administration has been very careful in not engaging in grandiose projects which would normally end up not completed, a syndrome which has characterized the style of Statecraft adopted by former Administrations. It is gracious to note that this Administration has set committees to assess and re-evaluate all projects and industries built by the erstwhile administrations to ascertain their level of completion and readiness. Technical knowhow and availability of raw materials that are required for the operations of these industries as well as their viability, with a view to putting them back into operation are being assessed. The functionability of these projects will in no small measure, enhance to the revenue base of the State. Federal character.
His Excellency, with the approval of the State House of Assembly and with the zeal to reposition and reinvigorate the glory of the Civil Service, has constituted the Civil Service Commission with a mandate to adhere to the tenets of State character in carrying out its legitimate duties. In fact this article can by no means exhaust the narratives and encomiums that should go to Their Excellencies, Governor Otu and his Deputy Rt. Hon. Odey for the implementation of their people oriented projects and successes in the act of governance in just 11 months.
It is indeed miraculous that in a State with such lean resources as Cross River, a government could attempt to holistically develop the State against this background. Their Excellencies have demonstrated within this short span in office, shrewd management of the State lean resources to accomplish Their Excellencies people first philosophy, which will lift the standard of living of the citizenry. We are, therefore, today 29th May, 2024, bestowing honour on whom honour is due.
Andy Nku (Ogoja)
