By Rasheed Olanrewaju
If you are 72, healthy, and fulfilled, then there is every reason to be thankful to the Almighty God, for the gift of life is the greatest of all gifts.
The above explains why, at 72, His Excellency Clement David Ebri, governor of Cross River state between 1991 and 1993, is in a celebratory and thankful mood. His Excellency has just attained 72, a huge milestone in our part of the world, where life expectancy has now been mortgaged by excruciating socio-economic challenges that often result in sudden deaths.
Ebri certainly fits the bill of a special human and a born leader with the requisite willpower and vision to better humanity’s lot.
His meritorious, dedicated, and silent selfless service to humanity has been unmatched and very pleasing not only to the people of Cross River State but also to Nigeria as a country. No wonder he has been saddled with many national assignments over the years.
Today, as he celebrates a fulfilling 72 years, Ebri remains a reference for all who have encountered him closely.
In the over seven decades of his existence, Ebri has shown himself intense as an epitome of simplicity, a man of sublime disposition to life and the daily challenges it poses, a man who has been able to journey thus with the care for humanity at the core of his life.
Ebri is one Tiger that does not display its Tigerish instincts. The former governor is the perfect Tiger in the Noble Laureate, Wole Soyinka’s widely read quote, “A tiger does not proclaim his tigritude.”
Indeed, the lives of very special and great people are akin to the wind, which is only felt when it moves across space, shaking the trees in the verdant, caressing the soul and body of humans, and ultimately reminding mankind of the love and omnipotence of God, creator of the universe.
Such special people lead tranquil lives, announcing their existence only by touching other people’s lives with their humanitarian services.
As Ebri clocks 72, those expecting a talk-of-the-town, lavish, forget-me-not birthday bash from the ex-governor will have to wait for another year because the former governor is not known for vulgar displays of flamboyance, particularly now that citizens are assailed by biting socio-economic crises in the country.
I am sure those who witnessed or followed his style of governance when he was governor of Cross River State can attest to this.
A few years back, a United States (US) study by Scott Sanders, a sociology Professor at Brigham University, showed that the most productive age in human life is between 60 and 70, and the second most productive age is between 70 and 80.
At 72, the cerebral, urbane, detribalised, and celebrated politician and elder statesman Ebri has attained the first epoch and is now marching on to the second.
If you talk about “godfatherism” in Cross River politics, that appellation rightly fits Ebri, yet he does not rob it of anyone’s face or wear it like a garment; Ebri remains his humble, unassuming self.
Rudyard Kipling, the renowned English writer and poet who lived between 1865 and 1936, told humanity in 1910 that “if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat both equally; if you can talk with the crowd and keep your virtue or walk with kings without losing the common touch; yours is the earth and everything that is in it.”
As governor of Cross River State, he was instrumental in the rise of many past political leaders in the state and ensured that he fixed them in various plum political offices.
Ebri, as governor of Cross River State, identified a youthful Donald Duke and made him Commissioner for Finance. Donald would later become a two-term governor of Cross River.
Similarly, Ebri, as governor, spurned naysayers’ opposition and stuck with his decision to support the young Liyel Imoke to the Senate; Imoke would turn out to become the youngest Senator of that epoch, and in later years, the same Liyel would become a presidential Adviser, Minister for Power and then a two-term governor of the state.
In the same fashion, Ebri, as governor, gave Senator Gershom Bassey the desired political lift by appointing him to the Board of Cross River Estates Ltd. Gershom would later rise elegantly in Cross River’s political space to represent Cross River South Senatorial district in the Senate back to back.
The former governor also brought Prof Ivara Esu to the political limelight when he appointed him Cross River State Commissioner for Agriculture. Prof Esu would later become the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Minister of State Tourism, Culture, and National Orientation, and the immediate-past deputy governor of Cross River State.
Equally, the former Minister for the Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, was also Ebri’s creation. The then-young Usani was Governor Ebri’s Personal Assistant. Even the current governor of Cross River State, Senator Prince Bassey Otu, received Ebri’s touch. The list is endless.
It would appear that mentoring young people and grooming them to greatness comes naturally to Ebri. For example, as a young youth corps member serving at Aiyepe High School, Aiyepe, Odogbolu local government area, Ogun state, between 1977 and 1978, Ebri immensely contributed to the youth and human capital development in that part of Ogun state.
An Economist who started his career as a journalist and rose to become an Editor with the Cross River State Newspaper Corporation, publishers of the iconic Nigerian Chronicle, between 1978 and 1981, former Governor Ebri is one politician who is not given to ostentation or easily swayed or distracted by the pecks and allure of position or influence.
In a tribute to Clement Ebri when he turned 70, a former Nigerian Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), described the governor thus: “Clem has always been comfortable but more importantly contented. Clem is deep. He is subtle. He is neither loud nor flamboyant but has an unmistakable presence.”
Going down memory lane, Senator Ndoma-Egba recounts Ebri’s days as governor: “He had no airs. He did not have the pomposity, arrogance, or needless flamboyance of today’s men of power.”
The former Senate leader recalled how, as a sitting Governor, Ebri often drove himself to his Calabar residence unannounced and was harassed and refused entry by his security man at the gate during one such visit. The gateman, of course, didn’t know or had forgotten that the visitor was the governor of the state!
“The few times he came to my house as governor, he drove himself. I don’t remember if he ever had a convoy. In fact, one day, my drunken security man would not let him into my compound. He first calmly introduced himself as Clement Ebri,” Senator Egba recalled.
As a foremost journalist myself, Ebri is also my mentor, father, and guardian, always calling my attention to issues of state and national interest.
Our relationship increased when he took me to his mother and introduced the siblings to me (his son) at his country home in Mkapni, Central Cross River state.
He also taught me about those living in the United States of America, which has given me unfettered access to him wherever he is worldwide because I know who to call and when.
A renowned Economist with a Second Class Upper Degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, apart from superintending the affairs of Cross River as Governor between 1991 and 1993, Ebri had served the state and Nigeria in different other capacities. For instance, Ebri was elected into the 1989 Constituent Assembly. He once led the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to conduct the party’s primary, where the current Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, emerged in competitive polls in October 2018.
The former Governor of Cross River State was appointed as the Chairman of the Advisory Council, All Progressives Congress (APC), and Women Progressive Campaign Team in 2022.
He was also a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the nation’s constitution (1988 1989), Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution (2000-2001), Presidential Committee Chairman of the National Biotechnology Development Agency of Nigeria (2021-2023), member, Cross River State Think Tank (1980), Chairman, Cross River State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation ( 1985-1988),
Also, at a young age, Ebri was Director of Savannah Bank of Nigeria Plc (1989-1991) and Chairman of the board of Governors of Community Secondary School, Mkpani (1982-1991).
A tremendous grassroots mobilizer and political strategist, Ebri was the national Chairman (2008-2009) of the Progressive People’s Party (PPA), which gained control of Imo and Abia states.
As an experienced technocrat, the former governor has continued to lead a successful private firm that focuses on economic consultancy and development, contributing to Nigeria’s economic landscape.
During his public service career, Clement Ebri received a plethora of honours and awards in recognition of his outstanding service to the country and humanity, salutary virtues, and sterling performances.
These honours and awards include the Federal Republic of Nigeria National honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) – 2011, Doctor of Political Science (Honoris Causa), University of Calabar – 2019, Leadership Award for Contributions to Nation Building by Michael Okpara, Leadership Foundation, 2024 to mention but few.
Numerous communities within and outside Cross River State have also recognized him for his contributions to regional and national development.
It is indeed exhilarating that 72 years ago, the world saw, for the first time, the awesome individual that Governor Ebri would become. As he savours the grace of attaining 72, there is no doubt that every December 11 is Ebri’s special day of gratitude to God for the gift of life.
The birthday boy (Sorry, elder statesman), given his immense achievements during these 72 years of salutary, exemplary earthly journey, and the grace and blessings God has graciously bestowed on him, will surely count his age by friends and not by years.
The elder statesman counts his life trajectory by smiles, not tears, and is assuredly grateful to the Almighty as he starts another year.
On this auspicious occasion of Governor Ebri’s 72nd birthday, I celebrate him for the enviable feats he has accomplished as a mentor, journalist, Economist, humanist, political leader, and one of the pathfinders of the modern Cross River.
It is my prayer, and I dare say the prayers of all those enamoured by Governor Ebri’s sense of patriotism, his elegant public service track record, and genuine love for Cross River and Nigeria, that his later years be full of vitality and vigour, and that he continues to make available, in whatever form, his wealth of experience for the good of Cross River and Nigeria. Happy birthday, Your Excellency, Sir!
*Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair (ANIPR) writes from Abuja
