Joseph Odok|30 October 2015|4:48am
It has become common practice for our governor Prof. Benedict Ayade to visit CRS with one promise or the other. The governor is seen making new promises almost on daily basis. This could be due
to his desire to drive his passion to liberate CRS from imminent economic down turn or a mere
strategy to garner acceptability of the public: a step to leading us to delusion and leaving us in the same
way his predecessor Liyel Imoke did.
Are the many promises of Ayade a mere opium of the masses or a display of commitment to the CRS dream? Only time will tell. It is not foreign that politicians are in the habit of promising, it is a common experience especially in CRS led PDP that we have witnessed so many promises with no concomitant social security.
CRS, so richly endowed with human and natural resources is today ridden with debt, poor
infrastructural projects with no maintenance nor economic benefits, unemployment, poor educational policies, poor road network etc because of failed promises and misuse of opportunities by past PDP administrations.
The sad experience is the motivation behind my avowal to
continually keep the government in check by my constant criticism. To some I am just a hungry Facebook lawyer and a noise maker, but in my conviction, I am doing my bid to correct past mistakes and this I vow never to give up. In a journey of becoming a hero, one goes through life giving up even part of himself; a hope, a belief, a dream, an attraction, a liking, a price of
self-respect, or even his life. In me as in every man, there is something I cannot give up and still remain myself; a core, an identity, a thing that sums up my person is my crave for a better CRS marked by transparency and accountability.
We must appreciate the fact that the governor remains a steward and gets his legitimacy by virtue of our
votes. Any government that stands against its people must be criticized and opposed.
In recent times life is increasingly becoming unbearable for the common man in the street with
prices of commodities becoming increasingly sky rocketed. Common commodities like maggi, salt,
tomatoes etc have additional price tag. To be fair, the increase in commodity price in the present day
Nigeria is partly due to the problem of inflation in the country that is a result of capital flight that
characterised the GEJ administration.
Be that as it may, the recent tax drive of the Ayade occasioned
by the targets given to tax agencies have aided the commodity price hike thereby posing great risk to
the poor man in the street. The biting pain of poverty amongst commoners necessitated my street walk to balance Ayade's pro-poor policies especially the recent tax
exemption law for low income earners with his prophesies of his government as a liberation and
indeed salvation for the poor.
As one of his 100 days achievement, the governor boasted about the
passage of the tax exemption law for low income earners but this appears only a media hype. All that
visits the poor in Calabar is various disconnections by PHCN and Water Board and harrassment of shop
owners by revenue collectors. I am yet to see the implementation of the said law. Even the poor ones
in the village still pay tax in forms of haulage and tickets! Come to think of it, who are the identified poor envisioned by the tax exemption law for low income earners?
We know the celebrations that often visit the many promises of the governor and we wish the governor well. Our governor told us of: *building houses for the poor,
*he talked of repairing our roads,
*giving us a garment factory that is said to be 95% completed.
*We recall the lifting of over 20 years ban on employment: the pains our brothers went through during the screening exercise for green police and garment factory.
*We know our governor has secured a loans from the federal government intervention fund and the state house of Assembly had recently approved 50 billion naira for the running of the state.
*We remember our governor
had secured 500 million Euros, this he told us during his inauguration.
*Our governor promised us a
tractor factory.
When will all these promises translate to actions? Our governor must stop promising and begin doing if he is to be taken
serious.
Nothing brings the integrity of a
government down than failing to keep promises and our governor must face this reality.
Joseph Odok
Is a University Don & Legal Practitioner
