By Okonkon Inyang
“Where facts exist and are testable, it becomes a public duty to use them as nails, driven deep to the coffins of liars.”
– Wole Soyinka
Benders of Truth, Fugitive from History
For more than two decades now, Cross River State has enjoyed some form of political stability devoid of a rancorous power sharing and transition that many tagged the state as a one party state. At the dawn of new throes of democracy in 1999, after all the tussles, Donald Duke from the southern senatorial district will set in as the governor. On the verge of seeking a second term, ethnic politics orchestrated by what is today know as Atam Group – old Ogoja Province shored up against Duke’s return. But such opposition was quickly terminated as many citizens of the state rally round to ensure that Duke complete his eight years tenure.
By 2007, it was obvious that power was to shift to the central. And despite the palace coup to impede Sen. Liyel Imoke’s ambition from ascending the thrown, he would triumphantly scaled through after convincing his then boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the urgency of the call to govern Cross River State. At the end, Imoke would become the political avatar and pathfinder of the state, having a firm grip of its politics and governance.
As the governor of Cross River State for good eight years, Imoke towered as a colossus, following Duke’s administration tourism drive, retaining the globally acclaimed Calabar Carnival, and also cutting a piece of democratic dividends for the teeming Cross River locals. In asserting his policy wonk and drive, Imoke took to rural transformation as a state craft and vibe of governance that would later transformed the state to a construction site. From rural roads, electricity, renovation of schools, standardised healthcare service delivery and infrastructure became the norm and Cross River in turn was a toast to the world.
At the twilight of that administration, voices of dissent rose to insist that the governorship should go to the south owing to a phantom theory that Duke, Imoke and Sen. Gershom Bassey would govern Cross River for twenty (24) years. Imoke stood his ground dispelling the inordinate story and that there was never such agreement. Naysayers went to town to adduced that it was a mere political ping-pong game to delay and cause crisis in the state. But at that critical moment, Imoke would not only ensure equity in power sharing among the three senatorial districts, he would later go on to zoned the governorship to the North, where Prof. Ben Ayade emerged as the governor for nearly seven years now.
With Ayade’s tenure coming closer to its finishing line, voices of dissent have evaporated again. This time, attempting to erase the political stability that has become the hallmark of Cross River politics. First, there is a hasty tendency to dispel and deny the existence of the Ogoja-Calabar Accord initiated in the 1980s. Secondly, there have risen political surrogates whose desk of cards is to inject venom and acrimony in the polity of the state, by disparaging zoning and equity in power sharing. Or arguing authoritatively that the governorship should or would not go to the southern senatorial district.
Although, Sen. Prof. Sandy Onor has not come out to clearly declare his ambition to run for the governorship of Cross River State in 2023 elections, his supporters have been beating that drum. Had the move to put an end on zoning been restricted to Sen. Onor’s political camp alone, it would have been understandable. But the cacophony of voices from the central senatorial district working rigorously to put asunder on zoning and equity portend great danger to the state. At the last count, former Minister of Niger-Delta Affairs, Usani Usani; AIG Joseph Mbu (Rtd), Barr Okoi Obono-Obla have regrettably joined the charade of twisting facts and rubbishing zoning.
With regards to Sen. Onor, his entrance into politics was received with great expectations, given his level of scholarship and intellectual achievement. It is somehow appalling that Onor is now the architect of instability and confusion in Cross River State, and even within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). With his stellar performance at the Senate, the thinking of all Cross Riverians is that Onor will assist the state in pushing forward critical legislations that will repositioned Cross River and Nigeria at large.
Rather, his antecedents in recent times have sent discordant tunes across, amidst dire political consequences for the state and the future. While it is the constitutional right of anyone to run for the governor of the state, peaceful atmosphere and political stability should not be altered on the altar of ego and inordinate ambition. The people of Cross River Southern Senatorial District are urging Sen. Onor and other politicians from the central and northern senatorial districts to give consideration to the south in 2023 governorship election for the good of the state. Attempts to change the rolling of the clock of political equity will be detrimental and dangerous to the smooth and cordial politics Cross Eiver is known for.
Most importantly, what Cross River State needs now is not divisions that are a product of power tussle. Within the last eight years, the state has suffered misgovernance, maladministeation and derailment of the real issues of governance, where nepotism, cronyism and incompetence have all taken the state hostage. The best for the state should be a conversation that will redeem her from this present quagmire. Already, there are media reports about disagreement among the three PDP senators from the state over the 2023 governorship poll. A trend never witnessed before in Cross River. Should this unnecessary tussle over the 2023 governorship ticket continue, the conflict will endanger the state with unintended consequences.
As a people, though of different tongues, we owed Cross River State peaceful and smooth transition of power in 2023 that is driven and enabled by sincerity, equity, togetherness and foresight to build for the future. The state is confronting so many challenges that a turbulent transition ensnared by bickering, hate, half-truths, dishonesty would endanger an already polarised state. The deterioration of governance in the last six years and some months have retarded the state and taken her to backwaters. Cross River has lost the vibe that made her shine some years ago, all due to the convoluted and directionless government that has lost all the essence of governance.
Therefore, while we all need to interrogate all the political elite positioning and repositioning themselves to ascend Pellegrino House in 2023, the imperative of political stability is key to ensuring that the state progress from this current nadir to a sane and stable slate in the run up to the governorship polls. The people of the southern senatorial district have been cooperative with the rest of the state, the rest of our brothers and sisters in the central and north should tally and allow the south to go for the governorship shot. Disunity and distortion of facts and truths in our harmonious Cross River society would erode Ll the gains we have garnered these years.
The people of the south would like to work with our brothers in the central; from Imoke, Onor, Sen. John Owan Enoh, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, Obono-Obla, Usani Usani, Amb Soni Abang, Dr Jake Otu Enyia, Obol Godwin Etta, Attach Ochinke, Dan Osim Asu, Speaker Eteng Williams to entrench a peaceful and progressive state. We plead for your understanding to see reason why the governorship should go the south. It will create good political atmosphere for brotherhood. We also urge Sen. Prof. Onor to look himself on the mirror whether he is ready to be the one that would disrupt Cross River State smooth power sharing equation? What gain does he stand to benefit? What would be his legacy?
It need to be stated that even in the south, no one is rooting for a weak political cabal to push lazy candidates on the throat of Cross Riverians. What we are asking for is a fair ground, advanced by equity, honesty, fairness and oneness. The current political dynamics in the state would not be fertile for acrimonious 2023 governorship race. Cross River is already running on an emergency, with dilapidated infrastructure, poor governance, relegation of the state to the background, insecurity, poor economic indicators and elevation of sychophancy to state policy. Between a bitter transition embedded on tissues of lies and denials and political stability, Cross River should embrace the latter. For genuine democracy only thrives in equity, and not dominance.
• Inyang, is a public affairs analyst, he writes from Calabar, Cross River State