Full text of Hon (Pst) John Ewa’s New Year Message to Boki People

EMBRACING A NEW YEAR, 2021

It's been an interesting year in the real sense of the word. The vehemence with which everything was unleashed-good and bad, has been unprecedented. Never has there been a year in the history of the world as this. Yet we have a cause to celebrate. We celebrate not the dreams we saw come true, but our lives and hopes in the face of a million fatal and hopeless experiences. We are thankful for life. 

As a Local Government, we are most thankful because a functional third tier of government after almost five hollow years was born. 

From the very pit of my stomach, I thank the Boki people immensely. But for your collective travail, we would not be born. The change, the peace, the obvious transformation raving everywhere could never be. In one voice you spoke, and our administration came into being.

From my heart, I want to sincerely thank the People Democratic Party (PDP) for the collective trust, for the faith in us, and for offering us such a massive platform to answer this imminent call. This was all you have always wanted-Government of the people and for the people. 

Every stakeholder in Boki, cannot be left out of my in-depth appreciation. Thank you greatly!

Serving Boki in times like this, has never been a very sweet experience to say the least. Our terrain, the five silent years in between, the novel covid-19 pandemic exerted their own toll in Governance. There was so much to sort out, so much that another term in office could not have been enough to mitigate.

 

We took a council whose offices were sitting at the brink of absolute collapse. From the entrance, to both the legislative and executive chambers, up to the lodge on the hill, all laid totally ramshackled and moribund. Both the roofs, ceilings, doors and windows were damaged. The walls were soiled with irritating decay. The floors too were made of ancient cemented plastering, yet broken and battered. The furnitures and the computer pieces in the council were stolen away. Not even a manual typing machine could be noticed in any of the offices. The council 80KVA generator which  was badly vandalized has also been fixed.

 There was no source of water around the council. It has been so from time immemorial. How can Boki work, if the very seat of power, from where every decision meant to affect the destiny of the masses down through history was thrown to such an alarmingly sorry state? 

Broken by this sorry sight, we made it my first point of call as Chairman, despite the lean resources in council. The council needed to be operational again. Staff needed to work in a convenient environment. Visitors needed to have a place to lay their heads whenever they visit the council.

 

Today, everything is wearing a new look. Buildings are roofed, painted, tiled and furnished. New computers have been provided. The Boki lodge is back alive. A borehole has been sank for the council, with two giant overhead tanks sitting over the stands. This is one thing that has never existed since the last thirty years when Boki became as a local government council. The staff quarter is now given a facelift.

The cry of war and the lust for blood was becoming part of us. Year-in-year out, we have lost promising youths to the edges of machetes and to triggers of guns. From Beebo to Okwabang, to Boje, Esoben, to Nsadop, to Okundi, Orimepkang and Ntamante; we have suffered endless clashes. It became a norm-a yearly ritual in our land. 

Anything, no matter how trivial could spark up a crisis. In Okundi for instance, a place considered as the commercial hub of Boki, people could no longer display their goods for sale anymore. People parades with guns so freely. No one could check them. None had the balls to. The land was crisis infested, so much that people died in tens almost on monthly basis.

The Peace and unity of Boki has always been my leadership mantra.  We held peace talks from village to village, and in each village we declared; NO MORE BLOOD!  A peace tour was prosecuted across all the wards in Boki, and before our eyes, we saw Boki sons and daughters vowing solemnly to give peace a chance. The peace tour as a matter of fact has yielded so much.

Investors are gradually begining to find our land once again habitable for businesses. And gradually, they are returning, establishing here and there. We have received assurances from many other investors to return.

There has been a stronger form of unity among individuals and communities in Boki. In a recent visit to Isobendeghe, one of the chiefs testified to me that the kind of relationship they now enjoy with their brothers in Boje has never been for a long time now. The DPO of Boki in his very word admitted that for the first time in a long time, Boki is returning back to those peaceful old days. 

We got another word from the Commanding Officer of the army barracks too who confessed that in the last few months, he had rested from constant distressed calls. Again the head of Civil Defence in Boki told me in Confidence, that his State Commandant is making plans to visit Boki in few weeks due to the positive security reports he has been receiving of late.

We are happy because that sense of unity which greeted my emergence as Chairman is growing even stronger than ever envisaged. 

We didn't stop just at the peace tour/talks. We have also made so much progress with the boundary demarcation between Isobendeghe and Boje. A 17km long bother line has been drawn all the way from Boje to the  Afi River. We are looking forward to extending this boundaries to Boje and Nsadop within the first week of the New Year. We would continue this feat to every other crisis community in Boki in the shortest possible time in the New Year.

In the area of health, we have extended our reach to several international developers and NGOs, and as I write, Fhi 360 has renovated 3 health centers to completion, one in Bashua, Danare and Biajua in Boki Constituency 1. The United Nations too, is in the process of providing three more health centers in Boki, starting from the first quarter of the new year. 

Daily, we have continued to strengthen our ties with so many organisations: the Red Cross, USAID, the European Union, etc all to attract development. We are not stoping until we get even bigger results.

In Education, we have been able to capture a twenty four million naira worth of class room block for Okwa 2 community through the National Boundary Commission. The project is to kick start in 2021.

OUR 2021 IN FOCUS

Despite our meagre resources in council, we are determined to do even more come 2021. 

We intend to do a ring road connecting Boki. We appreciate the State government for helping in the construction of Boki East-West road. This will go down in history as the only Government that could link Boki for the first time. While the state Government constructs the East-West from Kanyang to Onitsha farm, we hope to make the eastern Boki-Irruan road motorable, and also connect other Boki communities that are currently not accessible.

What has happened so far under our watch in council is about the first phase of what we want for our council headquarter. It is our desire to give the council a standard modern status. Our headquarters deserves to wear an urban look, Okundi need to be restored and developed as a commercial town.

Every budding town, and big village in 2021 will begin to wear a modern look. They will be provided streets, parks and standard markets.

We would also check deforestation critically. We would work with the Cross River Forestry Commision, including NGOs to begin a sustainable forest management campaign in Boki local government. We would not let our last surviving forest to continue to suffer this heartless depletion in the name of logging and excessive farming.

We would also galvanize with our youth for entrepreneurship through providing them with the right mentors, financial and intellectual  resources to thrive in agriculture and in other businesses.

Let me finally thank the State Governor, Senator Prof. Benedict Ayade, for his people oriented leadership style and his great support to us as a local government through the years. 

I also thank The Boki Traditional Rulers council, the leadership of Ochibe Boki, Dr. Pius Tawo, Ambassador Soni Abang, Prof. Kevin Etta, Hon. Eddy Ogon, the clan heads and all the leaders of  Boje, Isobendeghe and Nsadop for their support through out the peace making processes. They have been very supportive and are still very supportive hitherto. 

My appreciation also goes to the members of the Boki legislative council, the executives and all the staff of the council for their cooperation. We wouldn't get here without them.

I cannot conclude without thanking our State House members, Cross River State Executive Council members and other appointees for their support.

Let me reiterate here that 2021 holds so great a fortune for us all. We would not give up hope in any circumstances. We trust that through the help of God almighty, we would get it even more right in the New Year. I wish you all the most prosperous year ahead, and may we all find greater cause to celebrate 2021 better than 2020 and other years behind it.

Thank you and God bless you.

Pastor John Ewa

Executive Chairman, 

Boki LGA