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Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade
By Akpan David, Calabar
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State came to power in May 2015 with the mentality of a businessman, having not been a professional politician.
He set out immediately to let the people know that he has come to run the state as a business enterprise, which reasons during the major part of his first term he visited mostly the Eastern economic giants in Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan etc to sign Memoranda of Understanding for them to partner the state in one industrial concern or another.
He has been much after industrialising the state as a way of decoupling her from the firm attachment to only federal allocations since the state is no longer oil producing.
So far, he is reputed to have established 33 industrial concerns and factories. Do not worry how many of these are actually up and running.
The concerns range from textile factory, cocoa processing plant, rice processing plants, medical and aviation, gas as well as the proposed superhighway and the Bakassi deep sea port.
There is the proposed Calachika (chicken) poultry, drug manufacturing firm, called Calapharm. There is the vegetable oil processing plant in Bekwara LGA.
The list is endless.He has bought two aircrafts already for the proposed CallyAir even as construction work is said to be ongoing at the Obudu cargo and passenger airport for the airline to take off effectively.
But how soon can such a gigantic project be launched? Recently, it was announced that he has further proposed to establish an hydro electric power project which is estimated that it will cost the state over N8.5 Billion, not minding that he had started the Calabar power station which was to supply power to most part of Calabar Municipality and Calabar South.
But like many of the Ayade’s government projects, the Calabar power plant is believed to be still born even though staggering sums of money in hard and local currencies have been expended.
No part of the state enjoys steady power supply from it, according to a resident, Peter Etekamba of Aka Efa axis of the Municipality. “The question on the lips of many is whether the Ayade’s administration will be able to complete these 33 industrial projects to be up and running by the time the Governor will complete his second term in May 2023”, he said.Many have said that by embarking on too many projects simultaneously without clear sources of funding, the governor was biting more than he can chew, knowing the financial situation of the state, especially the huge indebtedness.
A public commentator, Anderson Enang Ikpi urged the people of the state to be fervent in prayer so that all or many of the projects may not become white elephants or abandoned by the time the governor is ready to leave power in two years’ time. “These projects could be draining hard earned resources of the state that would have been ploughed into many other pressing matters.”
Speaking over a local radio, Ikpi said, “I am not a politician but a critical and concerned stakeholder. Our governor should have concentrated his energies on few and realisable projects instead of all these capital consuming giant projects which only richer states and federal governments could handle. I see them as drain pipes. Forgive me if I say that our Governor may not commission one that is fully ready by the time his second term ends.
“On the viability and necessity of the proposed N8.5 Billion hydro electric power project, chairman of the state renewable energy commission, Comrade Ogar Justin Iduku said that it is very viable and can resurrect many local businesses.
The governor himself told a workshop recently that the power project which is to situate at the popular Obudu Ranch Resort will provide alternative electricity source to the state and other surrounding states.
He had lamented inability of federal government to utilise the billions of cubit water available in the country to provide steady power supply as against current epileptic electricity services.
He stated that funding would not be a problem as his famous Intellectual Money will come to play.
The governor told the workshop that Chinese engineers will be consultants to the hydro power project.
According to him, there are four types of alternative sources of electricity: hydro, wind, solar which are available for exploit in the state.
