Cross River: Deafening Silence of the Opposition

Cross River State… The peoples’ paradise! That is how most Nigerians and indeed visiting non-Nigerians perceive Cross River State. Is this a correct perception? The answer will vary depending on the intentions of the respondent. Yes the small and sleepy city of Calabar, the state capital has recorded tremendous positive change under the erstwhile governor Donald Duke and also under the immediate past Governor Liyel Imoke. No one can contest this fact. The other fact that is rarely discussed is that Calabar constitutes less than one percent of the geographical entity called Cross River State. It is after all, a five-hour journey from Calabar to Obudu or Obanliku- the northern extremes of Cross River State. This journey will take a commuter through Ugep, the once touted largest native village in West Africa on to Ikom- the cocoa zone of Cross River, then through Boki and Ogoja- the headquarters of the then Ogoja province and finally to Obodu and Obanliku LGAs- the last frontiers before you get to Benue State.

Ugep, the headquarters of Yakurr LGA like most other towns or villages removed from Calabar are baskets of human and natural resources waiting to be tapped. The annual Ugep new yam festival otherwise known as the “Leboku” is a cultural extravanza comparable to non in the world. This colourful traditional African festival, untainted with modern day trappings is largely unknown beyond the borders of Cross River State, yet festivals like the Eyo masquerade of Lagos and the Argungu of Kebbi that can be objectively put in the same category as the “Leboku” have over the years received national and international acclaim with the attendant benefits that accrue to such high level prominence. The “Leboku” is a celebration of bounty harvest- the chief crop being yam, the majority of which is cultivated and produced by the Agoi, Mkpani, Idomi and Nko people of Yakurr LGA. Ironically, apart from Nko that lies on the single Ikom-Calabar road that transverses the length of Cross River State, all other serious farming communities have no motorable roads to move their farm produce to the semi-urban market in Ugep! The “Leboku” therefore has no economic advantage to the Yakurr people as the yam that is celebrated does not get to be appropriately marketed and sold in line with prevailing food prices. Is Yakurr LGA the peoples’ paradise?

Obubra, Ikom, Boki, Yala, Ogoja and Obanliku LGAs have the most fertile soils in Nigeria. A friend once joked that “if you drop a piece of roasted corn in Ikom, chances are that it will germinate into a full grown maize plant”! Though an exaggeration, this represents the agricultural potential of a larger proportion of Cross River State. Yams, bananas, plantain and panoply of vegetable crops grow wildly in these areas. Again the farmers, their farms and their produce remain largely in the hinterland bringing nothing to these hard working farmers- a situation that can easily be remedied with an efficient rural road network that will bring buyers and sellers of food commodities together. In Calabar, the Canaan city, Cross River State can boast of a Cement company, a wood processing firm and maybe a flour processing factory. Between Calabar and Obanlinku, there is no other factory or thriving industry! One would have expected that a state so endowed with food should at least boast of one food processing factory! No. Cross Riverians are happy people, suffering and smiling in the drudgery of producing food that they may never sell and if they sell, they receive pittance for their yearly labour. Cross River youth, seemingly un- attracted to farming, lest they suffer the fate of their parents and having no access to jobs, have become reluctant tools that are used and dumped every four years by politicians. The peoples’ paradise of Cross River State is a utopia that exists only on the pages of newspapers, and propagated by unscrupulous journalists who write what they are told by any government occupying the state house.

What is most surprising and a big source of worry is the palpable silence of “opposition” politicians in Cross River State! Since the annulment of Liyel Imoke’s election as Governor of Cross River state by the Appeal Court sitting in Calabar, the opposition has displayed a stupefying silence. The Nigerian Chronicle- one of the oldest newspapers in Nigeria- a newspaper I would rather not identify with, has dedicated more than half of its space to the “canonization” of Liyel Imoke as if he were already dead. This is a newspaper lacking in print quality, bereft of professional journalistic practice and rescinded to the dust bins of sycophancy and praise singing for successive Cross River State Governments right from the time of Mr Clement Ebri. Yet the more ass-licking this paper does of the government in power, the more it gets worse as compared to other newspapers in the country. The same Governors that this paper fetes have never bothered to put in place arrangements to bring Cross River State’s only newspaper up to expected industry standards. So much for the peoples’ paradise! Little wonder then that even paid employees of the state government who are morally constrained to pour encomiums on their master on the pages of newspapers, while they criticize him from the protective confines of their homes do not even bother to use the Nigerian Chronicle.

In his piece titled “Liyel Imoke- A Leader Like no Other” published in Thisday Newspaper of Friday July 25^th, Etowa Okoi one of the Special Assistants within the Liyel administration laboured strenuously to convince readers that Cross Riverians were disappointed with the Appeal courts’ annulment of Imoke’s election. I have no quarrel with his position as it is a matter of personal perception. What I do not agree with is his attempt to distort the shape of events during the gubernatorial campaigns and elections in Cross River State. It is true that Liyel Imoke was the most visible contender during these campaigns- of course he had the human and material resources available to only persons contesting under the platform of the PDP which is the government in power in Cross River State. Against this background, other contenders to the governorship position like Paul Ukpo (ANPP), Eyo Etim Nyong (DPP), Solomon Iheke (PPA) and others were in no position to match Imoke’s visibility. Imoke’s high visibility was not however allowed to naturally transform into victory at the polls as Etowa Okoi would have us belief. Etowa Okoi, was the PPA candidate for the State House of Assembly and he contested in the same elections that brought Imoke to office. Those elections were the worst I have ever witnessed. In Yakurr LGA, there was no voting in any polling booth. Electoral materials were transported by PDP thugs to various pre-determined locations where party faithful were waiting to “deliver Imoke”. Etowa Okoi knows that he lost in that election not because he was the less popular candidate but because his supporters had no chance to vote for him. I applauded Liyel Imoke when he gave Etowa Okoi a position in his government- an action that indicated he was ready to rule the state using the best hands irrespective of their party affiliations. This statesmanlike attitude of Imoke continued through out his brief tenure as Governor with the appointment of persons like Sam Oju, Ann oden and others who cannot be described as PDP members into senior positions in his administration. This does not however justify the lopsided electoral process that brought Imoke to power and it is very instructive to note that Etowa Okoi has conveniently forgotten what transpired during the governorship and house of assembly elections in Cross River State.

Dominic Kidzu’s “Cross River and the Prospect of Continuity” published in Thisday of July 27, 2008 sought to lend credence to Etowa Okoi’s earlier piece, giving one the feeling that both pieces are part of a larger strategy to present Liyel Imoke and the people of Cross River State as victims of an unjust appeal court judgment. For discerning members of the public, both writers have failed in this enterprise. According to Dominic Kidzu “…the PDP won all councillorship seats, all state house of assembly and national assembly seats in the state in the elections of 2007…by what strange concert of circumstances would the PDP fail to produce the governor even if the elections were conducted by a legion of saints in the new-found 10^th planet?” I agree with Kidzu’s submission above to the extent that Liyel Imoke conducted the councillorship elections using the same backhand methods that brought him to power only this time he improved on INEC’s techniques. I contested the Yakurr LGA chairmanship election under the platform of the Action Congress. Like Liyel Imoke, my campaign was un-precedented. Despite the rough terrain of the Yakurr interior, I and my campaign team mobilized across the 13 council wards of the LGA getting the people to understand and buy into our manifesto of change and community revival. I personally visited each of the 13 wards thrice before the elections. But unlike Liyel Imoke, I couldn’t even vote in my own elections! Not to mention my teeming supporters in the LGA. We never saw the electoral materials yet the next day, my opponent was declared winner! His Excellency had decided that there will be no room for the opposition in Cross River State.

While I may choose to vote Liyel Imoke in a re-run election if I like, the fact remains that the appeal court’s nullification of his election is a true reflection of the lopsided electoral process that brought him and most other political office holders in Cross River State to power. A random poll across Cross River will show that the majority of ordinary Cross Riverians are happy with the Appeal Court Judgment not because of any misgivings towards the man Liyel Imoke, but because Cross Riverians like all other Nigerians yearn for the opportunity to see that their votes matter. That the opposition has collectively kept silent while the Nigerian Chronicle, Etowa Okoi, Dominic Kidzu and others try to distort issues is an indication that all is not well with the opposition camp. If Liyel Imoke is convinced that he has connected with the people of Cross River State, let him and his party, right the wrongs in previous elections by avoiding any attempts to disenfranchise the people. Cross Riverians are intelligent enough to know who they want as governor. If that person is Liyel Imoke, so be it.

---Bobtee