October 23,2018.
THERE is no doubt that when the political history of Cross river State is being written, the name of the incumbent governor, Senator Benedict Ayade will feature prominently.
There are many reasons for these. In the modern democratic history of Cross river state, Governor Ayade is the first civilian governor to re -awake the spirit of enterprise . But his first tenure goes beyond such feat. Never in the history of the state have there been infrastructural developments that have been witnessed under the watch of this astute administrator.
Indeed, his desire to turn Cross river state into a modern 21st century city has earned him different sobriquets, ’The Builder’, ‘ Game changer’, The pathfinder,The digital, among others . One would not be too far wrong to state that many are unaware of his giant strides in the development of Cross river state or how he is giving Cross river state a new look.
It is also easy to underplay his achievements. But to the discerning and those who have keenly followed happenings in the state, never in the history of modern Cross river state has any governor achieved such feats in infrastructural development within three years.
To understand Senator Ayade, it is important to know what motivates him. His words give a clue as to what drives his passion. “I want to be a noble. A noble is a man who serves God and has integrity. I do not want to be too rich or too poor. A poor man will not sleep because he would always think about how to meet his needs, while a rich man would equally not sleep because he would always worry about his wealth. I want to be remembered as a man who made a difference in the lives of people, in the state”.
He is a governor whose burning desire is to take Cross river state into modernity, a city of the 21st century. He is a governor who is convinced that Cross river state must retain its ‘paradise’ status in the political and developmental history of the South South, Nigeria and Africa.
True to his words, when his administration was sworn in on May 29, 2015, he had a clear vision of what he wanted and where he was taking cross river state- to reposition the state in terms of developments and retain its many firsts in developments. His desire to do this was anchored on three planks of Restoration, Transformation and Repositioning.
To achieve his objectives of restoring the glories of time past and changing the face of the state into a modern one, he knew the appropriate foundation must be established.
He realised that no development would take place without a secure environment. To this end; his first task was to re-launch and reinvigorate the state’s joint security task force, Operation scolombo. He did this by making available over 20 new patrol van through the efforts of the state’s Security Trust Fund.
Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) were also installed in black spots, under the Safe City Project, embarked on by the Governor Ayade-led administration. All these seem to have paid off with absolute peace and security of lives in the state.
Taking off from there, Senator Ayade identified some crucial pillars for developmental purposes and achieving his agenda. For a 21st century state of his dream, education and technology are appropriate and complementary tools that must be properly situated in the development agenda. He realised that the strength of leading, developed and developing countries is in education and technology. “An appropriate, functional education tailor made to fit our environment”, was how he puts it.
He quickly identified three things wrong with the current education, the education was not functional and not suited for the environment, two, and it lacks entrepreneurial mix and proper training which should make it result-oriented and lastly, it lacks character which is the building block that would turn out responsible and respectable citizens. Indeed, he was scandalized at the total lack of respect exhibited by students. He was of the view that character building is also part of the complete education package. Products of such education must be upright citizens, have respect for elders and be the epitome of good and proper behavior.
He sees that as good breeding, complete education and the ‘complete man’. To Governor Ayade, education that is unable to imbue students with good breeding and character is incomplete. To achieve this concept of complete education, the Commissioner for Education and the SUBEB boss swung into action .Apart from the above stated reasons; the idea was also to ensure that parents are fully involved in the education of their children.
Like all changes, this came with its opposition, but the governor was resolute about the way to go. With the Charge given by the Governor, education in Cross river state took a different turn.
A stop was quickly put to the strange idea of promoting students to the next class or on trial, irrespective of performance.
Today, Cross state is reaping the result. In the last West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) result, Cross state recorded the best result in many years.
The state government ensured teachers’ salaries were paid, they were duly promoted and the teachers repaid the gesture with performance.
Special Schools were established, to create manpower in the much needed technical areas. Graduates of the institution are expected to have at least three vocational skills, to ensure their independence and be self-employed after graduation instead of looking for ‘white-collar’ jobs.
Indigent students were offered scholarship by the institution.
Another pillar of development is in the area of agriculture. In the south -South region part of the country, Cross river state has the largest expanse of land suitable for agriculture.
The government has tapped into these advantages. The state has about 260,000 hectares of land, 175,000 hectares is now devoted to agriculture. Presently, Cross river state is leading in rice production a revolution the president called a reference point.
Rice alone has about 15 different value chains which the administration has tapped into. The governor is encouraging farmers to plant and he is creating buyers, even beyond the shores of the country, for the output.
Cocoa is gradually becoming a money spinner again after so many years of neglect and there are several foreigners in the Ikom axis of the state who have equally tapped into this money spinner.
Another pillar is provision of affordable health services. This led to the establishment of the state health insurance scheme,(Ayade care) .
To be continued.....
Egbara Emmanuel Ikaba is the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Cross river State Director general on due process and price intelligence bureau.
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