By Chidi Onyemaizu
His uncanny appearance on this day of his
inauguration at the U. J. Esuene Stadium, no doubt belied his latest mantra of
‘food on the table, hands to the plough’.
In his first term from 2015 to 2019, he provided
food on the tables of Cross Riverians with the enlargement of his government
with well over 6000 appointments. Now in second term, it is time to
re-strategize for a more productive and focused service delivery.
Decked in a pair of blue jeans trousers on an
ash coloured shirt and a workman hart perching on his back, Cross River State
Governor, Professor Ben Ayade was clearly sending out a message to the effect
that he was not going to be a boardroom governor in his second term.
Many were awestruck, some puzzled, while
others were less so, as they sought for answers.
Question like: why would an otherwise
fashionable, trendy governor appear that way on a day that was supposed to be
his day? perched visibly on the lips of the vast concourse of the august
visitors who thronged the venue to behold the second coronation of the
governor.
Governor Ayade’s sartorial outing was in sharp
contrast to other governors- newly elected and returning ones- who were
resplendent and flamboyant in their dressing for the same event.
Truth is, Professor Ayade was never in short
supply of beautiful dresses. He does not lack them either. He was neither up
for some kind of publicity stunt. He had no need of such outlandish pranks. His
state and nation-wide popularity is rock-solid. So, why the strange and
unsettling dress mode on an epoch making event?
The message: no luxury of time; second term is
not for inanities but for work on the field; round the clock supervision of the
numerous industrial and signature projects of his administration. He said
he was eager to deliver on his Industrialisation drive 100 percent before he
leaves the stage in 2023.
In his second term, the niceties of sitting in
the office and poring over mountain of files would not be his preoccupation.
The governor said he has ceded the
administrative machinery to his Deputy, Professor Ivara Esu while
assuming the position of “Project Manager”.
With over 13 industries and numerous signature
projects which he initiated in his first term scattered across the state- some
completed and others in advanced stages of completion- “Project
Manager ” which the governor said he will be in his second term
finds meaning in his lightening inspection tours of the projects few minutes
after his inauguration. Governor Ayade says he wants to ensure the projects’
completion before the expiration of his second term in 2023.
Telling, minutes after the end of the
inauguration ceremony, Ayade departed the stadium for the industrial park
located at the Goodluck Jonathan bye pass for inspection. Industries located at
the park include the automated Calabar Rice Seedling and seeds
multiplication factory, the first of it’s kind in Africa commissioned
last June by President Muhammadu Buhari.
There are also the Calachika chicken processing
plant which will process six thousand birds per hour both for local consumption
and export; Calavita, a noodles producing factory, Cross River Garment Factory
, with over 3,000 Cross Riverians already in its employ, Calapharm ( a
pharmaceutical factory), Cosmetics and perfumery factory, among others.
A day after his inauguration, Governor Ayade was
again girded for work. Leaving office at 11am, he spent the entire day touring
projects. First, he led a team of foreign investors on an inspection tour
of possible sites for the establishment of an LPG and fertilizer plant.
Professor Ayade later returned to the Rice city
where he spent quality time witnessing the process of incubation and production
of rice seedlings.
A burning passion for an industrialized Cross
River evidently fuels governor Ayade’s energy in the course of project
inspections. For example, after almost four hours of touring the rice factory –
standing, walking non-stop – the State’s number one citizen still braved the
rain and the fast approaching darkness to oversee other industries in the vast
industrial park to evaluate the progress of work.
Again, living up to his new designation of
“Project Manager”, the governor was to endure five hours drive to
Ogoja and Ikom in the northern and central zones of the state respectively,
Friday, 31st June, that is, two days after inauguration, to inspect the ultra
modern plants there- the vitaminised rice mill in Ogoja, corrugated roofing
sheets factory also in Okpoma, in Yala Council Area and the Ikom cocoa
processing plant.
The massive rice mill and the cocoa
processing plants are about 95 percent completed with almost all the
machineries installed.
Ayade’s immediate predecessor, Senator Liyel
Imoke who was conducted round the mill was full of effusive praises for his
successor, describing the facility as huge and phenomenal, expressing optimism
that the industries will no doubt change the lot of the state.
In his inauguration speech, Governor Ayade said
he would dedicate his time and energy to see to the crystallization of his
industrial drive and signature projects.
“I will ensure that Cross River will become
an industrialized state under my watch in spite of the ceding of oil wells,
which was illegal. Cross River will grow into a self actualization state
in my second term… “I will make sure that my entire signature projects
and others will be completed, so that Cross River becomes fully industrialised
as every local government will have at least one industry,” he said.
“In my second tenure, I will no longer be
the governor, my deputy will be the acting governor while I will become the
project manager of Cross River State,” he told his ecstatic
audience.
So his dress mode on this day had all the imagery
of his second term locked in them even long before his winding convoy made a
grand entry into the stadium.