The cyberspace was set on a serious discombobulation on Tuesday, August 10 with heated debates by the concerned and illusive Cross Riverians when the news that Cross River State government expended N25 Billion to fix federal roads in the state filtered online.
So many non reactionaries came up with question like if the purported intervention that cost about N25 billion was a fictitious write up by Governor Ben Ayade media aides to keep themselves busy as it’s alleged that they lack what to do or it is a reality.
Currently, the three federal roads in the state, Calabar-Ogoja, Calabar-Itu and Calabar-Ikang are completely deteriorated. In fact, to say it’s bad or deteriorated is an understatement considering the fact that the roads should exist first of all before you can say they are bad not this current situation where there’s no road at all.
What we have in the name of major roads linking the state capital with other parts of the state and neighboring states can not be considered roads in a state that pride itself as tourists destination. They are completely impassable.
This has in no small measure affected economic activities in the state as business men/women now consider other neighboring states like Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Benue etc as more viable destinations for their businesses to thrive.
While research has shown that some if not all of these states have fixed their federal roads from their respective state coffers on agreement of reimbursement by the federal government, the story with Cross River has been different and remained unchanged.
Perhaps, some would use the dwindling federal allocation accrue to the state as an excuse but the achievements of the current Ebonyi state government in road infrastructure despite earning relatively lower than Cross River would leave a question mark on the quality of leadership in Cross River.
Apart from Ebonyi, down far north, Adamawa state government celebrated the one year anniversary of the current administration with commissioning of about 44 roads. Again, Adamawa earns slightly lower federal allocation than Cross River. The question of leadership come to bare again.
Also, some people have argued that to fix the deplorable federal roads in the state is a sole responsibility of the federal government alone. While I share in their sentiment, I tend to ask if there’s provision for a federal citizen in Nigeria constitution. If there’s non, then it is rapaciously kleptomaniac for anybody to imagine that if the federal government has failed in providing basic infrastructure in the state, the state government should allow it citizenry die like the current situation.
However, while the previous federal administrations showed little or no interest in addressing the challenge of road infrastructure in the state, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has shown a strong political will to put this challenge to rest. This is evident in the consideration of the Calabar-Itu and Calabar-Mbok among the 31 federal roads that have been earmarked for rehabilitation in the 2016 appropriation bill.
Although, I am yet to get the exact amount budged for the repairs of Calabar-Mbok road, I’m aware that N6 billion was billed for the Calabar-Itu roads.
But the delay in implementation due to the cumbersome procedures adopted by the Buhari administration to ensure transparency as well as the incessant roads accidents suffered by Cross Riverians made the call for the state government’s intervention more serious and necessary.
So when the story that Ayade was intervening after allegedly having to travel himself across six states before getting to his country home in Obudu broke online, Cross Riverians breathed a sigh of relief.
However, few weeks after, another story of the state government expending N25 billion to fix the roads when in essence nothing tangible has been achieved has caused discontent among the people while making the news of the intervention in the first place look as one of the persistent comic shows from the Ayade’s administration.
When the National Vice Chairman (South South) of APC Ntufam Hilliard Etta said that Cross River state have a comedian in place of governor, I thought he was only trying to make jest of the governor because of his love for “shoki” dance and his insatiable desire to excite his audiences with grammar, I didn’t know Ayade was a true comedian in the government house.
If Ayade was not a comedian, how did the state government raised N25 billion within just few weeks that the so called intervention commenced? What is the level of the repairs now that such whopping amount of money has been spent?
Is Ayade and his Commissioner for works working on some invisible roads that Cross Riverians don’t know?
When would Ayade stop his propaganda and face governance? Is the government just making pronouncement without thinking of the implication? How did we get to this level where some government functionaries now see the masses as not being rational enough to know the truth?
Let’s even assume the money was used for the roads repairs as alleged. If six billion was budgeted for Calabar-Itu by the federal government and Ayade has fixed the road from the N25 billion, then we are left with N19 billion for Calabar-Ogoja and Calabar-Ikang. Can anybody, even his media agent say that the Itu road for instance which is one of the roads reported to be under repair by state government in anyway better than it was? Or any of the roads?
From the budget, the Calabar-Itu is to be dualized and Ayade has spent approximately what was budgeted for or even above it from his estimate yet even the tiny existing road is still impassable. What a governor we have in Ayade!
This is hilarious and a dangerous sign that Ayade is out to hoodwink the unsuspecting public into believing that he can use taxpayers money anyhow and tell us anything he likes.
It started when he used 2.7 billion to establish a garment factory that was allegedly awarded to him by the Niger Delta Development Commission when he was a senator for N150 million. Now it’s about spending N25 billion on roads repairs. Who knows what is next inline?
We must collectively demand that Government should explain whether the story of the N25 billion was a fiction or reality because the facts on ground shows the later. If it is real, the state government should give us vivid explanation how the money was spent, the company that handled the contract as well as areas where the roads were repaired.
Anything short of this, will continue to make Ayade very unpopular and cement him as a governor who is in for nothing but to take advantage of every opportunity to loot.
