Cross River superhighway and the unending controversy     

The 260km superhighway is born out of the desire to shorten the man hours from Calabar to Obudu. Currently, it takes six hours to drive from Obudu to Calabar, but the superhighway will take 2 hours drive from Calabar to Obudu when completed and is expected to link the southern part of the state to the northern part. Ayade’s confidence to completing the project has so far appeared to match the wave of critics, who have taken government’s promise on the road with a pinch of salt. The governor had even made a bet with his right eye that he would ensure the road would be completed in his first tenure.

It would be recalled that late last year, President Muhammadu Buhari’s initial trip to flag off the project had to be cancelled because of issues of poor Environmental Impact Assessment and how it would inflict huge damage to the state National Park. The Cross River National Park is a proposed UNESCO and the Biosphere Reserve and a tentative World Heritage Site, the richest site in Nigeria for biodiversity and one of the richest sites in Africa.

When a map was released by the state government showing the proposed route of the superhighway, it showed it passing through the mountainous Oban Division of Cross River National Park. This led to an outcry from the National Park authorities, the Federal Ministry of Environment and many Nigerian and international NGOs.

The issue appeared to have been resolved as President Buhari eventually came to the state on October 20, 2015 to personally flag off the project and expressed the commitment of the Federal Government to it. It was learnt that the governor then directed that the road should pass around the park. Once the road was diverted around the Park, this seemed to have allayed the President’s fears.

After the flag off, the problem still appears to be far from over as communities have raised alarm over the destruction the road is capable of doing to the forests. The Ekuri community in Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state is one of those that have openly protested against the road.
The villages divided into Old Ekuri and New Ekuri are located seven kilometers apart in Cross River State, eastern Nigeria. The villages fall within Akamkpa Local Government Area, and together own 33,600 hectares of community forest situated in the buffer zone of the Oban Hills Division of Cross River National Park. Around 95percent of this land is covered by primary or secondary forest. The Ekuri Community speaks Lokorli. The primary occupations of the 6,000 community residents are farming, producing non-timber forest products and handicrafts, and small-scale trading, hunting and fishing.

They have raised alarm over alleged arbitrary land revocation and massive destruction of their forests.

They feel that while the route around the National Park was a better outcome than the initial route, the road still passed too close to its boundary and right through the Ekuri forests and protected forest reserves. So they feel that even with the new route, it would still cause huge damage and destruction to the National Park and the forest communities it passed through including the 33,600 hectares of Ekuri forest.

They seemed particularly piqued by alleged claims by the government to take up to 10km of the road on either side along the entire stretch of the 260km road. According to them, their entreaties to government have fallen on deaf ears.

A notice of revocation of rights of occupancy for public purpose land use act 1978 published by the Ministry of Lands and Urban Development in the state-owned Chronicle on January 22, 2016 read, “Notice is hereby given that all rights of occupancy existing or deemed to exist on all that piece of parcel of land lying and situate along the Super Highway from Esighi, Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State of Nigeria covering a distance of 260km approximately and having an offset of two hundred metres on either side of the centre line of the road and a further 10km after the span of the Super Highway, excluding government forest reserves and public institutions are hereby revoked for the overriding public purpose absolutely.”

The people of the community, including old and young men and women as well as the children took to the streets of Ekuri to register their displeasure.

They bore placards with inscriptions, “Governor Ayade Superhighway is land-grab in disguise; we are the indigenous people of Ekuri and we say no; our forest is our wealth and legacy; conservation we must for the benefit of posterity; we the people of Ekuri have one question for Governor Ben Ayade: Is forest conservation a sin?; Governor Ayade is insensitive to climate change: In the green carnival, he promised to plant trees…in one fell swoop, he fell millions of trees; Even chimpanzees cry out No. Ayade don’t take our forest.”

Steven Oji, village head of Old Ekuri, said: “The superhighway that is coming to cross in our area, since we have seen that it wants to take away the whole of our land and to leave us homeless, that is why we wrote to the President, governor and others that the way the road is going to pass, is going to destroy our forest; we have refused that road although road is a good thing. All the farms they are going to destroy, they have not answered us, how they are going to compensate the owners. Where they extended the road to is what has brought sadness to us. So for that reason, we say let that road stop.

“We wrote to the government our mind, but since they have not responded, we said if this road is coming to occupy our forest, we don’t want such road. That the whole of our forest is going to be handed over to government. Government is going to control the whole forest for us and not us the indigenes. We don’t have electricity, school, water and other amenities here.”
Abel Egbe, village head of New Ekuri, said: “When we read through the Chronicle of 22 January, it made us to understand that the idea was to construct this road and then take 10 kilometres on both sides, and this 10km they want to take is in Ekuri community forest. Then we said that if Ayade is going to involve all these forests, then where is the position of Ekuri people? So for that reason we are now saying no, not because of the superhighway. The superhighway is good, but to take 10km to the left and right of Ekuri community. So for that reason, we have to protest. You are taking the forest, what do we have now and where are we going to stay?”

Mike Olory, coordinator of Ekuri Initiative, a community-based NGO that has been conserving the forest of the community, said the governor has also revoked all rights of occupancy on ancestral land of thousands more forest dependent villagers for 10 kilometres either side of the six lane 260 kilometre super-highway and it was not acceptable.

“This super highway will obliterate the entire 33, 600 ha Ekuri forests, destroying the way of life of these forest communities forever and leaving them homeless. Initially our people supported the road, but when we got the information and knew what it entails that almost the whole of the forest that has been conserved for decades now will be swept away, my people decided that instead of that, let the highway go.”

Village Head Sepchang in Okokori, Obubra Local Government Area,  Sylvanus Ekuri, also protested, “I heard about the superhighway. It is good to have it. But the extent of taking 10 kilometers away from either side of the road is what is not good to me. And I am saying that government that wants to construct the superhighway should reduce the kilometres, it said it was going to take. The essence of that road is development and I need development. So if the state government would reduce what it said it wants to claim, I would be happy.”

Renowned environmentalist from the state, Odigha Odigha, commenting on the development said: “We want to bring development to our people. But I think development has to have a human face and also reflect the aspirations of the people. The forest dependent communities are entirely dependent on the forest. If there should be development that would take their interest apart, there must be some form of consultation. There must be a participatory approach. From what they are expressing it appears that the project that they have been promised is likely to hurt them more than it would help them.”

Reacting, however, the state Commissioner for environment, Mike Eraye, said: “A lot of care was taken, deploying sophisticated technology to avoid impact on the environment. There was an EIA. You will recall that before the groundbreaking ceremony there was a delay, to take care of all of those which was technically done with the Federal Ministry of Environment. The best decision was taken to avoid impact on the environment.”
Bette Obi, chairman of the State Forestry Commission, said: “For me, they are raising false alarm. It is politically-motivated. As far as I know the superhighway does not affect the people at all. Before they commenced that project, I am sure the governor must have done his best to dialogue with the communities and all stakeholders. For us in Cross River, the forest is our gold. The governor is not joking with the forest.”