On May 29, 2023, when the current Governor Bassey Edet Otu took over office as the fourth democratically elected governor of Cross River State in the current fourth republic, expectations were high and the yearnings of Cross Riverians were almost felt.
Governor Bassey Otu arrived at the rostrum of leadership of the state with a burden of over 4.5 million Cross Riverians who at the time, had lost hope in public governance, it became pertinent for citizens to be reassured to have faith in public governance and importantly,, the need for the self worth and value of Cross Riverians to be raised.
The governor understood the challenges and promptly came up with the now popular “People First” Mantra
The mantra meant that once again, citizens could have confidence in the government, it meant that government was ready to make the welfare and well-being of citizens a priority, it meant that the value and self worth of citizens will be considered in all decisions of government and above all, it meant that the governor was going to put the people first in all his consideration, including his programs and policies.
Little wonder why during his inaugural speech, Governor Bassey Edet Otu had openly committed ” Dear Cross Riverians, I commit to you and my God, to at all times, put you first in all my considerations ”
About a year and six months after his swearing-in, , the governor has proven that he is a man of his words. His programs and policies have so far shown that the people are his priority.
For example, he came in to meet a backlog of unpaid gratuity of pensioners of over 10 years running into several billions of naira. Today, several of our pensioners are smiling to the bank to get their reward after many years of sacrifice and service to the state.
In the area of infrastructure including the provision of basic amenities good roads, access to basic healthcare facilities, security of lives and properties etc, the governor has performed incredibly well.
Only last year, the governor, through the State ministry of education, facilitated the payment of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for over 11,000 secondary school students of Cross River origin amounting to over N400 million . If all these are not putting the People First, I wonder what it is.
Recently, the governor was able to secure about $3.5 billion funding for the Bakassi Deep Seaport. It is important to emphasize that this is about the first funding facility that the African financial giant AFREXIM bank would put out for a sub-national.
What this means is that the integrity, policy and programs, including the obvious financial prudence of governor Bassey Edet Otu has been tested, tried and proven to be genuine by one of the global financial financiers and advisors.
The economic implications of this laudable initiative is that, the state will become a powerful player in the maritime sub-sector of Nigeria with an open market in the southern -south and south east of Nigeria, Including mopping up the financial benefits around the entire maritime business in the Lake Chad basin, and the Gulf of Guinea.
Apart from the main transaction of major key players in the maritime sector, the massive value-chain, such business comes with, cannot be quantified.
The completion and eventual take-off of business activities at the Bakassi Deep Seaport will see the emergence of several other businesses like, fabrication industries, boat maintenance and repair services, supply of all kind of goods and services etc.
Governor Bassey Otu is no doubt, a visionary leader, who is indeed determined to put the people first in all that he does. One can only pray that his visions and policies will be massively supported by the government at the center in order to bring about the much needed prosperity of citizens.
Edem Darlington, is the Deputy Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Cross River state and former chairman of ACROJ.
