#ENDSARS: ‘Now That The Storm Is Calm’ — SSG, Barr. Tina Banku Agbor

Beloved youths of our dear Cross River State, the last one week has witnessed great tumult and a high level of insecurity unprecedented in the history of our country and State. This arose from protests by youths against Police brutality and a call for good governance in Nigeria, under the trending parlance, #ENDSARS#.

As a nation-wide protest, youths of Cross River State were not left out as you joined in the peaceful protest march around the State Capital with demands national interest and peculiar State related demands from the State Government.

While hailing the mature and peaceful nature of the protest in the State, His Excellency, the Governor admitted the failure of governments at both the Federal and State levels to address the numerous problems of youths and assured of the determination of his administration to continue to give youths the needed recognition and empowerment through their involvement in programmes and policy formulation and implementation. In the morning of Friday, 23rd October, 2020, while inaugurating the Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Police Brutality as a direct response of the ENDSARS protest, he also announced his approval for the employment of a whooping 20,000 youths into the Local and State Government payroll in addition to the 2,500 youths that were initially delisted from the payroll and had just been re-admitted into the payroll.

Sadly enough, things took a different turn in the evening of the same day, commencing with the breaking into warehouses storing the recent batch of COVID 19 Relief items that were delivered to the State on the 12th of October, 2020 and were awaiting formal commissioning and distribution to our people in the Southern Senatorial District of the State. This was followed by the wanton breaking into and stealing of both government and private property and an orgy of arson never witnessed in our beloved State perpetuated by hoodlums from mostly out of Cross River State.

As a mother, I fully appreciate and understand the grievances of our youths that led to the peaceful protest in the first instance. I align with you in seeking for a better future for our future generation- our youths. I am however pained by the monumental destruction, arson and stealing of properties exhibited during this unfortunate protest. This incident will rather slow us down as a State desirous of progressive advancement. It is indeed painful, saddening and disheartening and I condemn it in its totality.

In condemning the utter neglect of our youth population by the different levels of government, I wish to appeal to our youths to consider the peculiar nature of our State’s economy, the giant strides of His Excellency, Senator Professor Ben Ayade in rebuilding and upgrading the State’s economy and not to throw  the baby away with the bath water.

Since assumption of office five years ago, His Excellency has left no stone unturned in his desire to ensure youth inclusiveness in governance. Cross River State prides itself today as the State with the youngest Executive Council Members. Again, as a deliberate policy of expanding the socio-economic space through putting food on more tables the State today has the highest number of political appointees on its payroll, comprising predominantly of young men and women. This is a clear departure from the past.

Following the ICJ judgment, the Bakassi Peninsula hitherto a Nigerian territory was ceded to the Republic of Cameroon. This ceding also led to the loss of our State’s position as an Oil Producing State. The import of these decisions was a huge drop in our revenue base as we forfeited our share of the 13% derivation fud to Oil Producing States. Another burden that the State had to bear was the resettlement of the over 3,000 indigenes of Bakassi who became refugees and Internally Displaced Persons with lack of access to housing, feeding, medical care and source of livelihood. A Governor with a humanitarian heart, Senator Prof. Ben Ayade embarked on the construction of an initial 500 housing units in the new settlement for the IDPs. Over 300 units of these houses have been completed and allocated to the IDPs. This is in addition to the provision of relief materials including medical care, fishing nets, canoes and other items to them.

 Again the huge industrial revolution presently on course in the State is another deliberate policy aimed at decoupling the State from the federation account, enhancing our internally generated revenue base and stimulating economic growth through massive employment of our youths. The spread of these industries and projects is meant to promote integrated development of the State as an integral entity.

The Garment Factory in Calabar has since been completed, commissioned and running and is currently a revenue earner for the State. This Factory that has the potential for further expansion, has already engaged over 3,000 youths on a permanent basis while several ad-hoc staff were further engaged to meet the huge demands of nose masks and face shield production during the period of the COVID 19 lockdown.

The Rice Seedlings Multiplication Factory also in Calabar has also been completed and commissioned. That Factory has commenced massive production of vitaminized rice seedlings and distribution of same across several States in the Southern Region of Nigeria. The Factory has also engaged many youths gainfully.

Other industial concerns in Calabar, including the Noodles Factory, Calachika, Calapharm etc are at advanced stages of completion and will definitely contribute immensely to employment generation in the State.

The Piles and Pylons Factory at Awi, Akamkpa Local Government Area is also almost completed. That Factory is meant to produce concrete slabs for the Bakassi Deep Sea Port project as well as produce electric poles for the States rural electrification programme/ commercial purposes. Undoubtedly, this too will absorb a huge chunk of our youths gainfully.

At Biase, there are sprawling structural edifices that accommodate an Advanced Teachers Training Institute conceptualized from scratch and constructed to completion by the present administration. That Institute is the first of its kind in Nigeria, aimed at enhancing professional advancement of the teaching profession. Prior to the establishment of this ambitious project, the only institution for basic training of teachers in the State was the St. Thomas Teacher’s Training College, Ogoja, established by the Missionaries in the 19th Century. It is needful to appreciate the ingenuity and audacity of His Excellency, the Governor to embark on these generational projects.

Yakurr Local Government hosts the Paradise Toothpick Factory. This Factory has commenced test run production of highly durable toothpicks from a locally sourced material, the bamboo. The toothpick is the most commonly used commodity by every household without a budget on it. Even the adversaries of this administration will be shocked to know that Nigeria spends an average of N6.4bn Naira annually importing this product. This realization informed His Excellency, the Governor’s decision to embark on the project with a view to tapping into this huge revenue earner. The Toothpick Factory is ready to commence production on a full scale, shortly and shall definitely offer direct and indirect employment to several youths of Cross River State, within and outside its catchment area.

The ultra-modern Cocoa Processing Factory at Ikom is about 90% completed and awaiting full installation of required equipment and machinery. This is another bold step taken by the administration of Senator Prof. Ben Ayade to re-write the history of Cross River State and shore up our economic base. This Factory will enhance value addition to our Cocoa, enhance our revenues from Cocoa export, generate multiplicity of both direct and indirect employments and place Cross River State on the World Cocoa Producing map. Presently, because of a Cocoa processing facility, our raw Cocoa beans are processed in Lagos State and production quotas accorded to other States. In addition to the Cocoa Processing Factory, this administration has commenced an aggressive Cocoa regeneration programme in Osomba/ Aking Communities of Akamkpa Local Government Area and Ikom and Etung Local Government Areas respectively. The aim is to establish and expand Cocoa farms to build our Cocoa stock and also provide additives to the Cocoa Processing Factory. Already, many of our youths have keyed into these programmes.

Notwithstanding the paucity of funds, His Excellency, the Governor thought out of the box, envisaged, designed and built a world class Rice Milling Plant in Ogoja. That plant is conceived to accelerate the pace of rice farming and processing by the Ogoja people and indeed Northern Cross River State and parts of the Central that are hugely rice farmers. Presently, rice produced in Cross River State is processed in nearby Ebonyi State and branded as Abakaliki Rice, depriving us of our prime rice production status. That factory is ready for commissioning shortly, and will also be a high employer of labour. 

His Excellency’s giant stride in roads construction is quite commendable. In Boki Local Government Area, the two major component units, Boki 1 and Boki 2, which hd hitherto been completely cut off by naturl barriers of a river and forest have been linked together by a virgin road constructed by the present administration. Before now, to access the headquarters in Boje, people from Boki 2 had to traverse through Ikom or Obudu. 

 Of particular interest also is the monumental road construction linking the entire five Local Governments of Northern Senatorial District of the State. Commencing from Mfuma, the road traverses through Yala, Ogoja, Bekwarra, Obudu and terminates at the Obudu Ranch Resort junction at Obanliku. Work on this dual carriage way has reached an advanced stage and there are assurances that it will be commissioned before the end of next year.

At Obudu, the Governor’s hometown, a world class academic institution modeled after the Canadian standards, the Canadian University, Obudu, is already completed with standard infrastructure and adequate facilities. This University will address the States’s manpower needs in Science, Technology, Medicine and other allied fields of study and shall serve as a reference Centre on educational research. The School will on resumption of academic activities, serve as a huge employer of labour as adequately qualified indigenes of the State will be employed as academic and non-academic staff. The Institution will also greatly boost the States’s internally generated revenues.

This write-up is not meant to chronicle all the achievements of His Excellency. No, its scope will not allow for that. I have only brought up a few pertinent ones to affirm His Excellency’s disposition to the issue of youth employment and inclusiveness and to let our youths know that the Governor means well for them.

As a man who has passed through the vicissitudes of life ad attained remarkable feats as a youth, His Excellency fully appreciates the challenges of the Nigerian youths and came to office with one mindset: to address these challenges headlong. The destructions arising from the unfortunate crisis which snowballed into arson and looting by misguided miscreants will certainly place an additional burden on the State as rebuilding of vandalized and destroyed institutions will be at a great cost.

Again, as a mother, I sue for calm. I sue for peace, I sue for understanding and for patience as the administration gets back to the drawing board to address the legitimate demands of the youths. Only through a peaceful and understanding atmosphere can we make any positive headway. Now that the storm is down, I appeal that we let it remain so. 

God bless the Nigerian Youths

God Bless His Excellency, the Governor

God Bless Cross River State

BARRISTER TINA BANKU AGBOR

SECRETARY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT