2019: Declaration Speech of Emmanuel Essien Robson —C/River APC guber aspirant… Read details here

25 August 2018 

It is with the highest level of pleasure, gratitude and a deep sense of humility that I welcome you all to this important event in the history of our state. I sincerely appreciate the honour you have done me for accepting my invitation to attend this event, despite your busy schedules.

As you are already aware, the purpose for this ceremony is for me to formally declare my intention to contest for the governorship of Cross River State under the banner of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Dear brothers and sisters, I have not come here for business as usual. I have come to make a difference – to give Cross River a rebirth, not in words, but in actions.

I still have pleasant memories of this great state: Our colourful culture and friendly people. Those little pictures still play up in my head of a Cross River state being rated as the most peaceful state in the country, Calabar being publicised as the cleanest city in the country with very clean streets, and the well-tended side lawns on both sides of the highway, the functional street lamps and traffic lights, then, our globally acknowledged and appreciated green tropical forest across the state; I still remember the excitement associated with the mention of Tinapa; the sheer curiosity and enthusiasm to visit the Obudu Mountain Resort and the breath-taking experience of ultimately spending a night in stupendous tourist destination by reason of its exotic luxury and exclusive world class appeal.

In recent times, the core infrastructure in the state and the conditions of life of the people have degenerated to a pitiable state. Our resources have been poorly managed. The entire state is inundated with heart-breaking signs of systems decay and failure of leadership. Cross River state is no longer the destination of choice for most Nigerians and foreign tourists because of the total breakdown of infrastructure and services for which the state was known. Everything is in a visible state of deterioration. The corollary is that our collective progress has been undermined. There is an urgent need for credible leadership.

I have discovered in my travels across the state, that there is widespread discomfort. I see the frustrations of my people. I see pervasive poverty. I see hunger and discontentment. I see widespread insecurity and hopelessness. I see flourishing mediocrity across the entire state. These are no virtues!

Our dilapidated infrastructure; our roads have become death traps -unsafe; sadly, I have seen a lot of school aged children wandering on the streets of Calabar. We don’t need a sociologist to tell us that this scenario is an indicator of a brewing large scale social disaster waiting to happen. Those children represent the future of Cross River state whether we like it or not. And this is significant to the Emmanuel Essien Robson vision. A vision to give Cross River State a rebirth.

Again, the gruesome activities of cultists and the spate of armed robbery in the state are equally heart-breaking. And what about the frightening incidences of kidnapping? These are all basic signs of systems decay and failure of leadership. Our people must not be kept in this condition anymore. What happened to our social vibrancy? Who took away our cultural verve and splendour? What happened to that bustling tourist destination of choice? What conditions have degraded our dignity and pride as a people? Our glory must return!

We have all been awakened to the rapid devastation of our collective heritage and sense of pride. It is like an encircling contagion. Our economy has been ruined. Our social environment defaced. The Cross-River state people have been short-changed.

It is unfortunate that the entire political system of our state thrives on propaganda, outright falsehood and fake promises. This is even worsened by an unholy level of impunity and high-handedness. Our state is in serious trouble!

This is no time for rhetoric. The youths need jobs, our economy needs revitalization and stability, our people need prosperity, peace and security, the children need education, our infrastructure require revamping, our public service need innervation, our agriculture needs innovation; there is need for intensive human capital development. A government run and controlled by cronies cannot do this job. We must stop ‘Cronyism!’

Every Cross Riverian counts. We have great people with incredible potentials. It is time to explore and utilize every strength of the heart and the head to draw on the abundant resources of our state towards reclaiming our glory and destiny. Our state must thrive again!

In this 21st century, we need a convincingly innovative drive to propel our economy to sustainable prosperity. As a people’s paradise, Cross River State should be a land flowing with milk and honey in every sense of it. To make this happen, we need to elect leaders with the right vision and an unusual commitment to serve selflessly and prudently. We need to elect leaders with substance and character. We need a dynamic, people-minded and purpose driven governor to restore the dignity, pride and glory of Cross River State. 

Each time I reflect on these concerns, I feel a burning desire to step in and give our dear state a rebirth. 

We need to provide jobs to the jobless, food to the hungry, accommodation to the homeless, healthcare to the sick, peace, security and safety to all. Our children of school age must all be in school; We must end maternal and child mortality. We must take care of our women and children. Women need to be meaningfully involved in development and be given a sense of belonging. Every Cross Riverian deserves the basic things of life. And these things are doable! But whether this happens or not depends on the quality of governance and leadership. 

Remember, if we cannot secure jobs for our youths, we have failed to secure our collective future, and have invariably put the security of our state in jeopardy.
I have pondered over the plight of my people and I am driven by empathy to become interested in the politics of governance. Mine is a mission of reawakening and redemption. My vison is to give the Cross-River brand a rebirth. The quest for solutions has been part of my life. It has always been my crusading passion, and an important part of my life to contribute to improving the lives of my people. Let me give you a snapshot of my story: I was born and brought up in this town, Calabar. I did my primary and secondary education here, before I left for my university education in the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State. Thereafter I went to study in New York USA. After working in the US, I returned to Lagos Nigeria for further employment. Subsequently I decided to try entrepreneurship and currently I own a number of companies, including a bank in Lagos where I employ a large number of people.

As an individual, I have been concerned about serving my people. That is why I have dedicated myself to philanthropy. As part of my contributions to raising the standard of education in our secondary schools, I have made donations of books to the Hope Waddell Training Institute in the first phase of that initiative. The same thing will be done across public schools in the 3 senatorial districts. Also, yesterday, Through the Mani Robson Foundation, I gave financial grant to 40 Cross Riverians to enable them start small businesses in the state. In Lagos where I reside, I have set up a Police Welfare Fund, to cater to the needs of the families of officers of the Nigerian Police Force who may have fallen in the line of duty. I have provided financial and material support to orphanages and schools in Lagos, amongst other philanthropic activities. I am prepared to do more to for my people —The people of Cross River State!

Today, I am offering myself as a messenger to make your voice be heard loud and clear in Cross River State. I need an opportunity to work with you, my people, to bring back the halcyon years of our glory. I would like to work with you to build a cohesive Cross River where we act as a people with a common purpose. We need to reinforce our bond of unity and cohesion to help our state to grow and move forward. We need to make Cross River a model state again. This is the rebirth we need.

Please, let me give you an insight into some of the things, we would like to do, details of which are contained in my manifesto.

I am primarily coming into this race because of the following reasons:
To run a government that will focus on catalysing economic growth through innovation. We will drive an economy that will be self-reliant through strengthening of the business environment by attracting private sector investment in our economy and encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation. We will deliberately inject energy and vitality into local enterprises.

To give Cross River State a rebirth by bringing back the beautiful years of her glory when it was reputed as the ultimate tourist destination in Nigeria; restore its brand value as the people’s paradise. We will reposition hospitality and tourism; We will innervate and reposition moribund assets -from TINAPA to Obudu Cattle Ranch. These assets will be great again!

To drive an economy that will focus on innovating agriculture through improvement in the following fronts: promoting agricultural research and development, skills building and capacity strengthening of farmers and improving infrastructure, market access and access to finance and information.

To provide a leadership that will demonstrate utmost respect for the sanctity of human life by prioritizing improvement of security and safety of the Cross-River people and their assets

To run a government that will prioritize the revitalization of social and human capital development. There will be significant focus on Health and Education. I am very concerned about women and children; under my watch, there shall be a significant decline in infant mortality. There will be a deferral and exemption scheme to cover the costs of delivery for our women who cannot afford to pay for skilled delivery in government hospitals. We will be interested in addressing the concerns of gender inequalities and inequities pertaining to access to healthcare, education, social, economic opportunities and poverty reduction.

We would also like to systematically re-organize our public-school systems to respond to the demands of the times in quality and standards. We will make the educational systems more inclusive in terms of accommodating the needs of the vulnerable segments of our population.

I would very humbly, like to use this singular honour and opportunity to urge all of us to be henceforth resilient and selfless; be inspired by the love and good intentions we all have for our dear state, to work together in promoting the common vision of giving Cross River state a rebirth. I call upon all who love Cross River state and the liberation of humanity to stand with us.

We cannot afford to gamble with the auspicious opportunity to step in and reform Cross River state. There is no better time to make that decision than now. I recognize the enormity of the sensitive responsibility of bearing the mantle of governance on behalf of our people; and today, I stand ready to work with you to represent and foster the cherished values and integrity of the Cross-River State people if you give me the chance. I promise you, I will not waste time on what had happened in the past because it will only distract attention from our agenda.

I pray that by the will and grace of the Almighty God, you will all stand with me to change the landscape of our development positively and give the CRS brand a rebirth. 

So, ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to announce to you that I am officially contesting for the office of the governorship of Cross River State under the umbrella of APC in the 2019 General elections, to give Cross River State a rebirth.

With every sense of modesty and sincerity of purpose, I invite you to stand with me, Emmanuel Essien Robson, the next Governor of Cross River State to give our state a new lease of life.
Long Live Cross River State
Long Live Nigeria
Thank you.

Mr Emmanuel Essien Robson

APC Gubernatorial Aspirant 

Cross River State 

Friday 24 August 2018 

Transcorp Hotels, Calabar