Pius Edet Ankpo is the commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in Cross River State. He has successfully been supervising the infrastructural development of the Cross River State Governor, Bassey Edet Otu. And before venturing into politics. Ankpo had already made remarkable strides in business, particularly in shipping and haulage industry, creating a triple effect of prosperity in his community. In this interview, Ankpo spoke on the road and overall infrastructural development of the state under Governor Otu spread across all the three senatorial districts of the state. MIKE ABANG brings the excerpts:
Can you give us an overview of the performance of the ministry since you assumed office?
Well, the ministry has performed in what I will call high capacity because His Excellency, the Governor of Cross Rivers State ties infrastructural development in the state and that is borne out of infrastructural deficit that we met when we came into office in 2023. And for power to return to the people, the people must see the value of that power meaning that dividends of democracy must be reaped. How do you measure democracy performance and development is via infrastructural development, human capital development and all that enhance rural communities’ capacity and urban development at the same speed and level of development. But as the commissioner saddled with the responsibility of handling Infrastructural development. I can say that since 2023 when we came in, we have done a whole lot of work. We have done a lot of road networks in Cross River State. The state is made up of three senatorial zones. We have the Southern Senatorial Zone, Northern Senatorial Zone and Central Senatorial Zone. However, you know that the governor is from the Southern Senatorial Zone but he didn’t look at that to domicile all the projects in the Southern Senatorial Zone alone. He also spreads the projects across all the eighteen local government areas of Cross River State. In the Central Senatorial Zone, we have done a lot of road networks in various places, but calculatively, since we came on board we have awarded about 426.72 kilometers of roads. Presently as I speak, we have asphalted and completed about one 126 kilometers of roads that has been completed just in a space of three years in office. Furthermore, these roads in question are just enormous and time will not allow me to mention them because they are too many and we have done both rehabilitation, maintenance and construction.
We have Murtala Mohammed; we have rehabilitation of Parliamentary Extension. We have undertaken rehabilitation and maintenance of traffic lights and rehabilitation and maintenance of roads within Calabar metropolis.
In fact, like I said, we have a lot of activities that span up to that 426.72 kilometers of roads which I have mentioned. We are constructing roads in the central area of Cross River which the people of the Central Zone are pleased with. We have done roads in Ikom, Ugep, Obubra Local Government and also in Boki East/West Road. We are presently working on Ikom/Obudu which is a federal highway. We have created other highways.
Coming back to the South there is a project that was initiated during the military era 34 years ago and there was no successive government or administration that has dim it fit to give a touch to such project but His Excellency, the Governor has taken the bold step to take that project though, it is a federal project, it is a project from the Tinapa section to Odukpani axis which is almost 10 kilometers road that is primed towards a swamp and a river and it is just like what our President Bola Tinubu is doing by constructing the Lagos/Calabar Road within the swamp areas and our own governor has taken the same bold step in ensuring that roads are being constructed no matter the terrain. This is a project no government has attempted to touch because it was assumed that it cannot be possible but this government under the able leadership of Apostle Bassey Edet Otu has made that to be possible. Then, there are two other bridges, one we have finished, the other one is ongoing. Moreso, we have done about 29 kilometers of road in one local government called Akamkpa that is linked to Obansan Road, it’s a project that links to Trans African Border Road. In fact, that project was conceived during the pre-colonial era and from that time through the military era till now no government has dimed fit to work on it but the Governor also took another bold step like we call him “Infrastructure Vasco Dagama” who discovered roads to the forest that never existed. So, the governor has been able to put all of that in place. That road today is where two communities in Akamkpa Local Government have never connected themselves before and that of course have always created disunity among them but with the construction of these roads the two constituency are coming back again.
In Yala Local Government, the Governor is presently constructing the Ukelle Road and I am sure many years ago as a journalist you must have heard how Ukelle people in Yala Local Government in Cross River State have been clamouring to be heard because they came out with a slogan “Ukelle must be heard” and throughout that period Ukelle was not heard but under this government of Senator, Prince Bassey Edet Otu, Ukelle has been heard by the award of contract of construction of Ukelle Road which is presently on going and almost near completion. So, His Excellency, Governor Otu has come to Ogoja and if you go to Ogoja today you will wonder if it is Ogoja with construction of network of roads in Ogoja. The popular Mbu Junction heading to Abakpa area has been constructed and well structured. If you look at the popular Abakpa Bridge you will see that it is looking like modern-day bridges as it is constructed and the whole place lightened up with cameras and it is likened to the roads in 3rd Mainland Bridge where you see cameras everywhere and that is what we have been able to put up in Ogoja. So, for Ogoja indigenes who has never been home for some time now, I am sorry to say that if you are coming these days, you may not able to know access to your homes because the governor has transformed the entire place to a modern place. If you go to Stadium Road and many other streets in Ogoja all roads are constructed. Again, turning to this other section, we have Mbube Road and we are presently constructing 10 kilometers of Mbube Road which is near completion and if you go to Bekwarra Local Government where the governor recently did the flag off of the construction of Afrike Road which is presently ongoing and many other roads. I can go on and on and mention the massive roads infrastructural development that this administration has done.
The government of Senator Bassey Edet Otu is just three years in office has done so credible and with the meager resources of the state he has been able to achieve all these. So, if you want to measure the performance of a man is not the man that has so much but the man that has the little to achieve the results he wants. So, I can boldly say that indeed the government of Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu has high level of managerial capacity to manage the small or cricket allocation to achieve results. With the present issue now on ground, he has been able to introduce concrete pavement in some roads in Cross River State, we did so because we have quarries in Akamkpa Local Government that has been on over the years and a Cement Factory over the years which has in a way given the state a sort of succour and the people are also pleased with we have done and what is happening here.
Moreover, we have done a whole lot in the last three years in office under Governor Bassey Edet Otu.
Then, we have come to look at it, having constructed all these roads and security is not put in place we will lose all the infrastructural development. So, to cater for the welfare of security agencies so we have constructed roads in the internal networks in the Air Force, we have constructed internal road networks in the Police Headquarters and their camps. We have also constricted even the Civil Defense Headquarters office in Calabar. We have fixed it. The MOPOL Elven, we have fixed it. We didn’t look at the security agencies whether it is Federal or State because for them to put up their best you have to look at their welfare and if you go there, they can proudly invite any of their friends from any part of the country to come and see a very serene environment where they are staying now.
All of these are courtesy of this administration within three years in office.
Recently, you were in Boki Local Government Area of the state. You proudly and whole heartedly said that roads constructed by the government are of good standard. But there are complaints that the roads are not in good shape. How true is that?
Well, it depends on who releases the statement and what he means that it is not in good shape but we of the Ministry of Works are saddled with the responsibility of putting up a design of the roads which we are putting so by the designs what we put I can make bold to say that the roads are all in good shape. There is no deformity in any way and in case you see any natural occurrences like accidents in any way, form or manner it has happened. It has nothing to do with our standard because we don’t compromise with our standard because we supervise our jobs that is given. If we say we want a contractor to put 0.50 feet thickness of sizeable pavement and that is what we will do.
In some areas like, if you are going to Ukelle for instance, we are doing the binding course and wearing course, we ensure that both 60/40 layers of asphalt are put in place. In Boki East/West Road where we are now, I just left there. The roads that are ongoing there are all of good standard. When we go to a site and we realised that there is any misunderstanding with the contractor and engineers on site, we refer them back to Bid of Engineering Management and Evaluation. So, for anyone to say that we are not doing standard roads, they are all fabricated stories by the opposition parties to see how they can discredit the government and of course we are not ignorant of that because this is the characteristics of the opposition and if they don’t exhibit that then they truly do not have a characteristic.
Aside roads Infrastructural development, which other areas like the education and healthcare delivery has the ministry supervised infrastructural development in Cross River State?
Well, we have inspected the hospital project in Ikom initiated by this government and it has got to very significant level which is near completion. We had hospital that was initiated by past government that was abandoned in different locations which this administration has revisited. Our Health Centres have been renovated and equipped in different locations which we have gone there for inspections and we do so as the infrastructural cluster is concerned. We are the head of infrastructure that means Ministry of Works and Infrastructure happens to be the father of the infrastructure cluster and so any project executed by any of the infrastructural cluster members it is incumbent on us to ensure that we go there to do supervision. I can be bold to say that all of that has been done.
Even in schools and many other things in State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has built quite number of schools across the 18 local government areas of the state and across the 196 wards of Cross River State are all spread with projects of SUBEB in schools and other things that have been done. I can’t even talk about other projects that have been spread across the entire state within three years in office.
However, beyond roads, there are a lot of other things we have been able to fix across the 196 wards of the state to enhance development in the state.
What actually informed your decision to accept the appointment as the Honourable Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure Development in Cross River State?
Well, I think it is said that success comes when opportunity makes preparation. I have prepared for this office for more than 32 years ago and in my line of construction I have been in construction industry for more than 30 years. Beyond being here too, I have been able to manage series of investments because before coming here I wasn’t a pauper. I have been a chronic businessman who has handled a lot of contracts in different projects in different fields.
I have done a lot of contracts with NNDC and I have done jobs with states government and I have done jobs in different ways. With that I have been able to understand financial prudent and also understands what it takes to things in order and manage public funds. And even before becoming a Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure Development I have served as a party chairman for eight years in office. I have also served as a director in Safety Commission, I have also served as SA to the governor on Agriculture and I was also later promoted in the past administration to be a Commissioner for Science and Technology. And so, this is part of the ladder I am still climbing that has really catapulted me to be the commissioner for Works and Infrastructural Development and like it was said any man that has not created wealth cannot manage wealth because over the years I have created sustainable wealth and so that gives me the ability to manage the office as the commissioner for Works and Infrastructure a Development.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your office since you assumed office as the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure?
Well, the major challenge in my office is the challenge of the state. The challenge of the state is lack of funds because you may have the willingness to do the implementation of the projects across all the communities. Cross River State is made of about twenty thousand and three square meters and all the infrastructural development are planted on the landmarks and it would be our desire to ensure that all of these projects enter all the communities of the state but because of lack of funds we cannot be able to achieve all of that. So, we piriotise the projects and see how we can be able to reach everywhere.
Then, my challenge is when you go for inspection, communities that don’t have roads will be calling because everybody want roads but yet the resources is not enough. So, my major challenge is tied to the challenge of the state paucity of funds you would have implemented a whole lot of projects for the people of the various communities.
Was it a political sacrifice for you to accept the appointment considering your personal relationship with the governor to support the administration?
No, it was not a political sacrifice rather the governor knows those that he can work with to achieve his administration agenda.
With political activities gradually building ahead of 2027 general election, do you believe that the APC in Cross River State remain united focused for the battle ahead?
Let me tell you that All Progressive Congress in Cross River State is united and focused for the 2027 general elections because the governor has performed creditable well to win a landslide victory. I don’t see anybody that can beat the governor in Cross River State. For President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he will receive our full support in this state come next general election.
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