Solomon Asha
CALABAR – Agenda Setting is part and parcel of a good strategy by a leader and his team at any level of leadership. Agenda setting is the roadmap in which the blueprint fashioned out and is intended to achieve the development vision of it's originator or originators but within the gamut of his leadership or their team aspirations are aptly and succinctly laid out and encapsulated to serve as a guide and reminder to him and the egg heads he put together to get to the destination for which the leadership charted for itself.
It is true that the entire agenda set by any leadership encompasses all that is set out to accomplish. The success or accomplishment of such agenda would be more greatly realized when the leader does not endeavour to push all the items in his/her agenda found in the development blueprint at the same time but wisely, efficiently and ably prioritize the items and push each of them based on the importance he and his team attaches to each of the items till each is exhausted within available resources.
Leaders take over the Mantle of leadership with the altruistic desire to change the overall conditions of their people as well as the socio-economic, cultural and political situations of their people as well as the environment for the good of all those found within the geographical boundaries of the political entity such as Cross River State.
Tracing the political antecedent of the incumbent Governor of Cross River State, Ntufam Senator Prince Bassey Otu and his penchant to satisfy the individual and collective development aspiration of the people, it is succinctly lucid that the Efik born governor of the state and of Odukpani extraction have a lot up his sleeves in terms of development of the state's infrastructure in key focused areas of his blueprint and the individual empowerments and improvements to continue from where his immediate predecessor, Senator Prof Ayade stopped.
It is based on the philosophy of the people first and the desire for the improvement of the Cross River State space and well as the well being of the citizenry that Prince Otu sounded it loud and clear that he will place much emphasis on the agro-industrial revolution by building on the foundation which his predecessor has already laid by ensuring that he covert the extant "food on the table and sells funds in the pocket"to fast track a more workable and productive economy for all to be Happy.
The 3E policy focus of the Otu administration lucidly speaks volume of the mind of the governor when it comes to emancipating the people from the shackles of poverty and other vices,; education to liberate the people's minds and build a sound society that will use the power of education to improve their overall living conditions and to build a Cross River society that the people will be able to compete favourably with their counterparts from the other parts of the country and the world in general. It is also based on this premise that health care is equally given a.prime place among the 3Es besides other areas because healthy people constitute healthy society as health is equally wealth.
The last "E" in the People's Prince focus of development which is empowerment initiatives is to ensure that all category of persons are empowered in one form or the other to be useful citizens to themselves, their families and the society in general.
Prince Otu who emphasized that his administration will not tolerate any form of discrimination as he will ensure that all Cross Riverians, non-Cross Riverians as well as old, young and men and women are given fair space to operate, also that his administration will always place greater premium on developing our economy based on the principle of comparative advantage by emphasizing and developing our natural and agricultural resources based on their locality or where they are predominantly found, nearing in mind that his immediate predecessor has already built a foundation towards achieving this same direction.
To achieve the said objective and development direction, Governor Otu assured that he will implement a vibrant agricultural system that would be ecosystem friendly as palm oil and fisheries economies would be reactivated and bolster to and enviable height, just as the old trade centres for cocoa in Ikom and rice in Ogoja would be consolidated and enhanced with the cocoa processing factory and rice processing factories in Ikom and Ogoja in places, thereby making the Three senatorial districts headquarters hot spots for the above stated commodities in Nigeria, Africa and the global community.
Assuring the people of Cross River State that he has commit to them and his creator to at all times put their interests before any other considerations as they collectively commence a journey towards a prosperous and glorious future for all, the governor equally gave a firm assurance that his administration will surely recalibrate the state's legacy assets which are at various stages of completion, just as the decision on the future state of our respective brownfields assets Will be based on on an interrogated , unbiased public sector value comparative analysis with the economic management team professionally adopting non-traditional, non-recourse hybrid financing products in collaboration with the Private sector.
So desirous to create a sane environment in the State, enabling reforms and and relevant legislations would be employed by the administration to rekindle confidence as well as scale up the morale of international agencies, just as friendly tax policies, fair weather investment atmosphere and realistic state budget and commitment to good governance wil be the administration Hallmark that will constitute the official architecture to attract donor as well as grow the organized private sector in Cross River State. Similarly, one of the outstanding Hallmark of the Prince Bassey Otu leadership would be the building of efficient legal framework that will guarantee due process and commitment to counterpart funding and comprehensive anti-corruption drive to raise the confidence of the outside Business community in carrying out business in Cross River State.
"At the international plane , our administration will place Cross River State firmly within the comity of global players in the development orbit and business community, " and went on to reassure the people of the state on the vexed issue of the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, stressing that his administration will engage the both the Federal Government and the international community to review the obnoxious judgment against the State to ensure relief on the pains on the people due to the loss of Bakassi and the ceding of our 76 oil wells, to streamline the State boundaries to ameliorate communal conflicts. He further assured that on behalf of the people of the State, his administration will commit itself to a rewarding relationship with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whom the State and the People trust fully in his capacity to support our efforts to make the State a paradise and a giant in marine, aviation and defence strategies of the country.
Governor Otu did not abandoned the State civil and Public Service in the dark, but came with promise of healing in his wings with a firm promise to engage with labour union to look out for a way out of the depleting manpower of the State civil service as over 75 percent of the manpower would be retired by December 2024 and that he is so concerned with the backlog of staff promotions with correspondence severance burden in excess of N54 billion. Reward system would equally be given attention under Governor Bassey Otu leadership, just as security of lives and properties, absolute safety for the people would be major pillars of Governor Otu administration even as he has already hit the ground running.
He warned that there will be no hiding place for those who delight in commiting crimes, asserting that those kind of persons should abandoned their ways mow that there is still time or leave the state completely as there will be zero tolerance on criminality in the state,.just as security confidence will be enhanced with wider illumination or lighting of street lights, monitoring crime flashpoints, creating welfare synergies with security operatives as well as community leaders, hidden security watches and cameras to ensure a maximum impact. Critical infrastructure, clearing of waterways, trimming of overgrown trees, repainting and refuse evacuation are all earmarked for maximum and prompt attentions to ensure a thorough facelift of the State.
Senator Prince Bassey Otu has garnered wide experience as a legislator of high repute coupled with his natural qualities and penchant to advance the course of humanity has robustly engineered a perfect development agenda encapsulated in his blueprint to give the best of God-fearing leadership. This indicates that the people's decision to massively voted for him during the elections was not misgivings or a misdirection of their votes in any way.
Indeed, there is no item or anything in Governor Bassey Otu Agenda of good governance as contained in his development blueprint for the State that help in broadening the State development plan for 30 years that indicated any betrayal of confidence or waste of precious votes by the people.
END.