Cross Riverians at home and in the diaspora have been charged to give unconditional support to the administration of Governor Bassey Edet Otu to enable him fully realize his laudable People First vision for the State.
The charge was given by Nigerian-born American Professor of Political Science and Economics, Professor Emeritus Nchor Okorn of Dillard University, Louisiana, United States, on his arrival at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar.
Prof. Okorn, who was Head of Political Science and Speaker of the Parliament of the prestigious Dillard University, is globally renowned for his intellectual depth, scholarly resourcefulness and as a leading public commentator preoccupied with propagating the tenets of good governance across third-world countries in Africa and Asia.
Speaking to Journalists who turned out to welcome him, the erudite scholar said he has been following closely from the United States the tempo of development and the socio-economic imperatives of the Otu administration, and declared that Governor Otu is indeed a great leader of his time whose style of governance deserves the total support of all Cross Riverians.
According to him, Governor Otu has not only restored hope but has delivered visible and verifiable achievements across all critical sectors.
On human capital development and workers’ welfare, he noted that the administration released over N10 billion to clear decades-old gratuity arrears owed retirees since 2009, lifted the 25-year embargo on employment with the recruitment of 2,500 young Cross Riverians, and implemented the new minimum wage, thereby restoring dignity to the civil service.
In the education sector, he said the Governor introduced free tuition in all public primary and secondary schools and paid WAEC fees for over 43,000 students in three years, thus removing financial barriers to education for children of the poor.
In the health sector, he listed the recruitment of over 200 health personnel, upgrading of General Hospitals and Primary Healthcare Centres across the state, upgrading of Schools of Nursing to Colleges of Nursing Sciences, establishment of a Fistula Centre and oxygen plants, and provision of free healthcare for pregnant women, children under five and the elderly.
On agriculture and food security, Prof. Okorn said the administration has empowered farmers and riverine communities with 108 mini-tractors, 50 power tillers and rice threshers, 100 commercial fishing boats and 3.5 million improved oil palm seedlings, thereby returning Cross River to its rightful place as Nigeria’s oil palm capital.
He further highlighted achievements in infrastructure and urban renewal, including several kilometres of roads constructed and rehabilitated, the remodeling of the moribund State Library into a world-class facility, restoration of Calabar with solar-powered streetlights, and reclamation of the Tinapa Resort from AMCON.
On the economy and housing, he cited the initiation of a N500 million MSME loan facility, N800 million seed grants to 400 entrepreneurs, delivery of 200 housing units and the flag-off of a 1,000-unit People First Housing Estate for civil servants, as well as the ambitious $2.27 billion Bakassi Deep Seaport project aimed at restoring Cross River as a littoral state.
Above all, he said Governor Otu has enthroned peace. “Cross River today is stable, secure and socially harmonious, a prerequisite that has made tourism, including the globally celebrated Carnival Calabar, to bounce back,” he said.
Prof. Okorn averred that only a leader with clear vision, compassion and strategic thinking could achieve such holistic development within three years amid national economic challenges.
He called on all Cross Riverians, regardless of political affiliation, senatorial district or ideological leaning, to close ranks and support the Governor to complete his transformation agenda.
“Governor Otu has earned our faith. He has shown that he means well for Cross River. What he needs now is not distraction, but the unconditional support of all well-meaning Cross Riverians at home and abroad to fully realize his agenda and to resist attempts by detractors to derail the progress being made,” he stated.
By Nakanda Iyadim
