2 October 2019
It's no more news that there's ongoing state-wide agitations over the failure of the Cross River State Government CRSG to pay salaries for donkey months to state civil servants and failure to implement the promotion of civil servants in the state since 2016. That some will even be sacked any soonest after their employment have been regularised by the civil service.
For instance, in CRSGIA 17 months of salaries are outstanding. I have received calls of others who've not been paid for 8 months, and the list continues.
Recent Vanguard Newspaper reports has it that His Excellency the Executive Governor of Cross River state is refusing to accept the employment of 34 persons made by His Excellency the Deputy Governor in acting capacity in their first tenure.
This is quite unfortunate, but my problem isn't with the governor, acting governor, deputy governor or whatever. My challenge is with the then state legislature, the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly under the leadership of Rt. Hon. John Gaul Lebo.
This Assembly was truly a rubber-stamped legislature. Whatever woes Cross Riverians are going through today particularly in respect of the looming labour disaster should be attributable to the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly.
The argument now is, did then Deputy Governor Esu take the decision as Acting Governor or as Deputy Governor? If he did it as Acting Governor, how can the office of governor be contradicting itself today to say it can't ratify the decision of the Acting Governor? If it was as Deputy Governor, why decide he refuse his decision until now? This is a lacuna the CRSHA insistently created despite agitations by Cross Riverians to always compel the Executive Governor to transmit power officially to the Deputy Governor while on official assignments even outside the country. Again, I thought the state was recipient of the Paris Club Refund (Bail Out Fund)? What was it used for?
Meanwhile, where all these lot not paid all these while and the Nigerian Labour Congress still celebrated the governor as 'labour friendly governor', 'paymaster', 'alert master' etc ? NLC should hide itself in utter shame!
Finally, given this reality, it is safe to depose that the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly was an enemy of Cross Riverians. Its principal members, ranking members and other members will continue in recorded history as one of the worst public institutions to happen to Nigerians resident and indigenous to Cross River State. But it seems to me that the 9th Assembly is poised to correct this trend. It will be commendable.
Efio-Ita Nyok
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