By Kelvin Obambon
People of Bakassi local government area have showered encomiums on the Cross River State Governor, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, describing him as a champion of justice.
The commendation follows the governor’s declaration that the state government would no longer accept the idea of the displaced Bakassi people living as refugee in their own land.
Speaking during the official signing and endorsement ceremony for the Bakassi Deep Seaport project by stakeholders in Calabar on Thursday, gov Otu particularly expressed concern about the plight of Bakassi people who over the years have been alienated in their own land and forced to live as refugee, and therefore demanded an end to it.
Applauding the governor for the bold declaration, the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, HRM (Dr) Etim Okon Edet, at a press conference in Calabar on Friday, said that governor Otu has given the Bakassi people a future they had long yearned for. He commended the people of Bakassi for their courage, determination and resilience, which according to him, has paid off.
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“I salute you O Bakassi people. I salute your courage, your resilience. I salute your determined spirit. When all else beareth chains, when part of your home was taken away from you, your heart became your home and only sanctuary in a devastating world. Apart from the children of Israel, you are the next courageous and most determined race on earth.
“The Exodus of the Hebrews from the hands of their cruel task-masters is one of the most triumphant stories in the Old Testament history and the book of Exodus is an amazing book. It is an epic tale of oppression, deliverance and freedom. But Israel’s bondage in Egypt had disciplined Israel, preparing them to go through the wilderness in order to be in the promised land. Your bondage has indeed prepared you for an exciting future. The future started yesterday by no other person than the State Gov Prince Bassey Otu.
“My dear Bakassi people and gentlemen of the press, justice has been a universal longing of human heart since the beginning of time. In the most basic context, the ten commandments for example present the idea that wrong doings and violations of others for one’s own benefit is not only a sin against the Creator of the human race, but it is also unacceptable in a civilized society where respect and protection are essential. In our own case, “JUDGEMENT turned away backward and justice standeth afar off, truth fell on the street and equity could not enter”. We are here today to thank Gov Otu for being the CHAMPION OF JUSTICE AND TRUTH IN THE BAKASSI SITUATION.
“FOR the past 17 years we have faced humanitarian, economic, social, political and security problems. Our welfare and security was no more the primary purpose of government. The devil hates free people. But we have been set free by the blood of the lamb.
“May God bless Prince Otu. May God bless his family. May we specially thank the Press for their support over the years.
“In the words of O.J. Sanders, “the eyes that look are common, the eyes that see are rare”.
“Senator Prince Bassey Otu is the “OTU-EKONG BAKASSI,” he said.
Throwing more light on the import of the governor’s declaration, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Host Communities, Chief Udeme Okon, explained that “Yesterday (Thursday), the governor made it practically clear to everybody, which is also an established fact from the presidency to the National Boundary Commission, and other institutions, including the traditional institutions, that Bakassi Peninsula was a conglomeration of islands.
“Those islands were five. Only two were ceded to Cameroon. The remaining three are: Dayspring 1, Dayspring 2 and Qua Island. That’s why the governor said the people cannot be in camp. The traditional rulers cannot govern in a camp. A camp is not a community. Let the people return to the unceded part of the peninsula that remains in Nigeria.
“That peninsula is going to secure the litoral status of the state because the communities will be litoral and the National Boundary Commission is going to profile and gazette them. Then the 13 percent is paid to the state because the state will now be able to secure the litoral status back. It is not the landlocked environment of Ikang.”