Stakeholders of the Southern Senatorial District of Cross River state have insisted that the present zoning arrangement in the state be maintained. Their demand came following an inaugural meeting in Calabar as the state braces up for the 2023 gubernatorial elections.
Under the present zoning arrangement in the state, the Southern Senatorial District took the first shot with Mr. Donald Duke as governor from 1999 to 2007.
This was followed by Senator Liyel Imoke’s tenure, from the Senatorial District, between 2007 and 2015
Imoke was succeeded by the current governor Prof.Ben Ayade, from the Northern Senatorial District. Ayade assumed office in 2015 and is expected to leave in 2023.
While the state braces for the exit of the present administration, stakeholders from another district have begun laying claims to the coveted seat, hence the decision of the south to call for the inaugural meeting.
The meeting which attracted renowned stakeholders from the district was co-convened by Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw and Chief Ogban Ebock.
in a ten-point communique issued at the end of the meeting, the stakeholders maintained that the present zoning arrangement is maintained for the sake of equity and fairness.
They called on other stakeholders in the central and northern zones of the state to work together with the south in this regard. The communique read in part
“The Forum insists that the existing zoning arrangement for the Office of the Governor of Cross River State and all other political offices be maintained; and by that arrangement, the governorship of Cross River State in 2023 should be zoned the Southern Senatorial District.
“The Forum, therefore, calls upon and urges fellow stakeholders from Central and Northern Senatorial Districts of Cross River State to join hands with us in the South to ensure that the above zoning arrangement continues uninterrupted so as to ensure equality and equity in Cross River State.”
The Forum also deplored the present security situation in the country in general and the district in particular, saying the district had been adversely affected.
They called on both the federal and state governments to expedite action in addressing these issues and promised to offer useful advise when necessary to help address the security challenge.
Bishop of the Archdiocese of Abuja, His Grace, Ignatius Kaigama has dismissed calls for a coup and possible return to military rule, warning that such ideologies and thinking were no longer in vogue.
According to hid Lordship, the thoughts and that style of governance was outdated and no longer in a current contemporary vocabulary.
He spoke at a media conference ahead of the World Communications Day, with a theme: ‘’Communication as a Channel of Building Bridges’’ that those calling for a military coup and the return of military administration are old-fashioned.
According to him, no matter the current challenges faced by Nigerians and those agitators calling for such style of government, Nigerians have come to terms and still believe that ‘’a worst civilian administration is still far better than the best military government.’’
The bishop, therefore, cautioned the Federal Government to act fast on national issues by opening discussions about the current worsening state of the nation along party, ethnic, religious lines.
‘’I thought the word -Coup- was old fashioned and no longer in our vocabulary. We have outlived it, no matter the current upheavals in the country,’’ he said.
The cleric noted that insecurity was the greatest challenge facing the country.
‘’Boko Haram has menacingly ravaged the land, the herdsmen/farmer menace has festered and spread and has today developed into banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, and brutal killings.
‘’As many Nigerians cry out, the Presidency and the Congress in the United States have signaled to us to put our house in order. The House of Lords in the United Kingdom had debated the Nigerian security situation. Nigeria is said to be the third country most impacted by terrorism’’
The Archbishop, however, called on the government to do the needful in ensuring that terrorists are checkmated, criminals rounded up, bandits dismantled, and kidnappers put out of business
He stressed that the upsurge and proliferation of many forms of “self-help” security organizations was evidence of security deficiency, following which the government must urgently open discussions, debates, and dialogues about the issues at hand, across political party, religious or ethnic lines.
He warned on the need because the current situation must not deter the youths from being collaborators in nation-building as it was the same group of the Nigerian society that took over the government from the colonialists.
‘’Today, certain challenges have tended to inhibit the active participation of the youth in the economic and political transformation of our country, among which are nepotism, unemployment, and poverty. What is more, corruption among public officials does not set a good example for our youth today’’.
According to the catholic bishop, Nigeria’s energetic, dynamic, and innovative youths must be able to shape the future they will inherit, and that future begins today.
Kaigama assured that with a rapidly expanding youth population, the future of Nigeria belongs to the youth as such the leaders must ensure that young people are given a level playing ground in both economic and political matters.
Boko Haram fighting with more passion than Nigerian military – Bassey
He explained that people were cutting corners in virtually every aspect of the country’s life -business, public and civil service -of governments at all levels.
‘’They do this just to beat laid down rules and procedures, even though each government that declares a vicious war against corruption ‘’only finds itself swallowed up by the same monster.’’
He stated that the country was yet to see where corrupt public officials were prosecuted without delay or debate, or all the loopholes where the commonwealth was siphoned daily, permanently blocked.
Kaigama added that, like corruption which no government has designed any dependable template to defeat, unemployment was another monster that might consume the nation if not tamed.
