By Chidi Onyemaizu
Soon after he was sworn in as Cross River governor on May 29, 2015, Professor Ben Ayade quickly assembled a team of visionary young men to help him kick start his administration. This dynamic and result oriented team of young Cross Riverians was also to help the governor realize the goals of his administration. One of the “visioners” is Honourable Martin Orim .Ayade, with eyes set on the best, had plugged Orim from the Obudu local government administration where the University of Calabar graduate held strategic position, and saddled him with the very sensitive task of coordinating the affairs of the Governor and by extension that of government as Chief of Staff.
This was how Orim, then 41, become the youngest Chief of Staff to the Governor ever appointed in the annals of Cross River. Unassuming, urbane and cerebral; three and half years down the lane, Orim has proven his mettle. He did not come to learn on the job for his years as one of the main political actors in Northern Cross River senatorial zone and unassailable experience in Obudu local Government administration had sharpened and molded him for the higher calling. It is not therefore a huge surprise to discerning minds and those who followed his track record that Orim is today clearly the engine room and backbone of the Ayade administration. Orim no doubt acts as a stabilizer when the vagaries politics tend to slow down the wheels of governance.
According to John Mason, the world is divided into people who do things and people who talk about doing things. Orim belongs to the former. He is a doer rather than a talker. And so, make no mistake about it. Beneath his quiet and taciturn mien lies a lion’s heart. Those quiet and taciturn miens do not approximate to lack of will for the man does not brook distraction and inanities; Orim is allergic to mundane approach to getting things done. Any attempt to sway him from the set objectives of assisting his principal re-fashion and remake Cross River gets the instant rebuke of “I have a work to do”. From his first day in office, the Chief of Staff left no one in doubt as to his dedication to the task of helping Ayade pull Cross River out of the doldrums.
In his position as Chief of Staff, and with his style of getting results, Orim’s open door policy is winning hearts and minds for Ayade without compromising the underpinning goal of the administration which is to industrialize Cross River and decouple it from over dependence on monthly federal allocation. This explains why he plays host to an array of Cross Riverians every day, most of who come to ventilate ideas as to some other ways to deepen the gains of the past three years.
As Zig Ziglar said, “the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little “extra”; the “extra” in Orim as regards his exalted position as Chief of Staff to Ayade could be gleaned from the prism of a young man whose daily activities are driven by passion for his job, his State and principal. For example, recently when he flagged off his empowerment programme, Orim took time out to remind Cross Riverians that Ayade was on a mission to banish poverty from the state and put food on their tables through job creation. Orim said at the event: “This gesture is part of my little effort to further the good works His Excellency Professor Ben Ayade has been doing in the last three years.” .The empowerment program has a medical outreach designed to help the less privileged in the society through detection, diagnosis and treatment of many life-threatening diseases including eye problems.
Beneficiaries of the empowerment Programme, including recipients of brand new cars and motor-bikes were emphatic that in Orim, Ayade found a consummate administrator and whose dutiful service to God and humanity are plus for his (Ayade ) life- changing administration.
* Onyemaizu is the Special Assistant on Media to Hon. Martin Orim, Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Cross River State.