Hopes and despair in Cross River State (1)

It is another Friday. And I am thinking about the deformed state of our federalism. It is in such a state of disrepair that efforts are being made by the various components to depend less on the centre. But such efforts often come to naught.

Aspects of this policy futility will be seen in this particular piece. Meanwhile, there is this cynical contention that what we practise in Nigeria is ‘feeding-bottle’ federalism.

Proponents of this perspective contend that in fiscal terms, most states of the federation are helplessly dependent on the centre for sustenance.

What is often ignored is that the centre itself is also dependent on petro-dollars for its existence. In other words, if the feeding-bottle syndrome is to be pursued to its logical conclusion, then the Nigerian state is as culpable as its components.

On this Thursday evening, as I write this piece, much of the foregoing is on my mind. What is equally on the mind is that, truth be told, some sub-units of the Nigerian state are seeking to wean themselves away from this parasitic syndrome. But the results are clearly mixed. Not much is being achieved.

A clear instance here is Cross River State under the leadership of Prof. Godwin Ayade. If the reports coming from this South-South state are anything to go by, it looks as if the state has been shepherded into a long dark tunnel in which there is no light in sight.

According to the rather dismal reports, the state has embarked on around 38 projects and all of them appeared to have floundered on the platform of failure. Evidently, this is bad.

This is because, at the onset, a lot of hopes must have been raised. But as things are, despair appears to be the dominant mood.

On my own part, there is even a personal dimension to the entire scenario. The driver of the seat there is a colleague. And to this extent, I fully and necessarily identify with him.

What I cannot, however, identify with is the scourge that has been visited on that part of the country. In a way, the governor of that state can be deemed to be lucky. If he were to be in a media-saturated environment like Lagos, he would have come under more scrutiny.

But as it is, he appears to be having a free ride, far away from the klieg lights of media attention. This relative obscurity could well be responsible for a dastardly situation in which the governor, in his bid to industrialise the state, established 38 factories within seven years and many of them have since become moribund.

Evidently, when the idea of industrialising the state was initially mooted, a lot of hopes would have been raised. Chances are that a new level of realism has since taken over, and this is best described as despair. Possibly, one reason why the state is contending with this dismal outcome is that it is a one-man show.

According to reports, many of these projects bear the unilateral stamp and as such, the state House of Assembly merely endorses these projects – no scrutiny. As if to worsen matters, members of the cabinet would hardly be in the know about these projects.

There was, for instance, the case of the rice pyramids ceremony in Abuja, which in turn inspired the governor to put on the drawing board two rice mills that were slated for inauguration by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Till date and predictably, these rice mills remain on the drawing board. A cocoa-processing plant was also to be put in place. But again, till date and according to reports, the cocoa plant is yet to churn out a single bar of chocolate since it was purportedly established.

Read also: Cross River not owing salaries, pension – Head of Service

Though much of the foregoing appears to have been contradicted by the revelation from one of the governor’s aides that the cocoa-processing factory has reached an advanced stage and to this extent, and in the fullness of time, Nigeria would have no need to process its raw cocoa into beverages outside the country.

In the light of the immediate foregoing, this writer will still want to invest in some hope here. However, one can only hope that officialdom is not selling us a false line.

Meanwhile, there was also the case of a superhighway that was to stretch from the fringes of Bakassi to the boundaries of Benue State. This strategic road was to serve as an evacuation corridor for another mega project – the Bakassi Deep Seaport.

A deadline of two years was given for the completion of this project but as things stand and particularly in what can be called the twilight of this administration, the extensive forests cleared for the highway are still there.

Predictably, the rather dispiriting situation has been attended by protests and petitions from various communities and non-governmental organisations. In fairness though, the state government, on its part, has attempted to extricate itself by contending that the relevant support from the government was not forthcoming on the project, hence the failure of the same.

Beyond much of the foregoing is another sad narrative that continues to dog the still-born airline of the state. This is Cally Air – presumably and partly coined from Calabar.

On this score, two aircraft were purchased. But the snag was that there was no operating licence. So, another airline was contracted to serve as a surrogate for Cally Air.

But there are also concerns here that the point-man of the enterprise knows next to nothing about the aviation industry. So, running Cally Air virtually amounts to flying in the dark, with no navigational instruments. Little wonder therefore that nothing is seen or heard about Cally Air in the public space.

To be continued on Monday