28 Aug Cross River Central Honours Ndoma-Egba
The people of the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State took turns in their various homes to celebrate their representative at the Upper House and leader of the Senate. Victor Ndoma Egba, (SAN).
Traditional rulers, opinion leaders, women groups, youths, students and several other groups from the six local government areas comprising Abi, Yakurr, Obubura, Ikom, Etung and Boki that make up the senatorial district, responded with great joy as they honoured the senate leader with various dances.
The senator had visited these communities to inspect projects that were attracted to the areas by him. Some of the projects include the Trans- African Highway, which enters Nigeria from Ajasor in Etung LGA and runs through the state.
The Central Bank intervention project at Government Secondary School, Ikom with multiple buildings, the only one in the South- South region and the dam project in Irruan in Boki Local Government Area, which Ndoma Egba described as a regional project, are just afew of these examples
Other projects include the Victor Ndoma Egba Free Computer Programm at Ikom, with state of the art facilities to replicate the one in Calabar. At virtually every community visited there was either a road, school, health, water, etc project to inspect or commission.
The Edor Army Barracks and Police Barracks both in Ikom were not left out of the senate Leaders magnanimity as a number of their buildings are either being constructed or renovated. It was therefore, not surprising that even the military would give a “bloody civilian” (sorry, the Senate Leader) a red carpet reception as he inspected projects in the barracks.
Celebrations in the entire senatorial district were colourful that a visitor to the area would wonder, why such joyful mood outside new yam festival, Easter or Christmas seasons. One of the songs at the festivities, which NATIONAL ACCORD observed amused even the senator himself, is the one that went thus: ‘Asia o’ if you no like Victor na you be witch’ (literarily interpreted to mean “sorry for those who do not like Victor. Such people are witches.”).
The leader of one of these dance groups told NATIONAL ACCORD that the Senate Leader has reached a level “where the more you try to demean him, the more you would look stupid in the eyes of his constituents.”
At Iymoyong mini water supply scheme at Obubura LGA, one of the placards read; “some are building hotels for themselves, you are building projects and developing manpower.”
Projects such as the Ikom-Etomi-Agbokim road contract, health facilities at Yala Nkum in Ikom and a primary school project at Nfom Osokom in Boki were in the words of the senator, abysmal. He added that he will recommend that such contractors be blacklisted.
In an interaction with media men, the senator said he embarked on the tour to see the projects physically because this “makes more meaning to me than seeing them on papers”
He disclosed that his scholarship scheme has benefited over 5000 students in tertiary institutions and urged the youths to take advantage of the numerous opportunities these projects will attract so as to equip themselves for the future.
On whether the people of the district should expect more projects, Ndoma Egba said his intervention cuts across his senatorial district as he has also touched Biase and Calabar South LGAs.
He disclosed that the Calabar-Urban-Okoroba road is also influenced by him as he keeps striving for the rail way to get to Cross River.
“My ultimate is a tertiary institution for the Central Senatorial District,” he added.
In an interview with NATIONAL ACCORD, Dr. Patrick Nkang Abang, a retired university don said the explanation why the Senate leader is so celebrated is because “his contributions have meant so much to his constituents” adding that the senators roles have marked him out as a political model.”
Obviously, it was a red carpet reception across the entire senatorial district. The celebrations could even be understood better if viewed from the fact that Ndoma Egba is not in the executive but in the legislature, which ordinarily, should limit his ability to attract projects. However, one interesting revelation from this tour as captured by this reporter is that there is now a major crack in the once formidable Cross River Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) family.
Egbe Abeng Egbe who, said he is one of the founding fathers of the party remarked; “PDP in Cross River was a family but now, the family is no longer a family.”
One of the reasons he gave for the alleged crack in the party is that in the last local government election in the Cross River, all the 18 council chairmen and 196 councillors were handpicked and “ this did not go down well with most of us”.
To corroborate what Egbe said, a youth leader, Egbe Jerome from Abi LGA who also identified himself as former National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) President, said the youths are tired of the policy of “anointing candidates” for political offices instead of
allowing for free and fair elections in the state.
A female activist, who did not want her name mentioned also agrees that there is now a crack in the PDP in the state. She alleged that another reason for the crack is that the state governor, Senator Liyel Imoke favours the candidature of Legor Idagor to succeed him come 2015 while the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba is allegedly rooting for Jeddy-Agba.
The senate leader debunked all of these allegations of cracks in the party. He said his tour of the senatorial district was not politically motivated but was to see things for himself.
On either way, the female activists who said she is a key player in PDP said she stands by Ndoma Egba “any time, any day” reiterating that the senate leader is celebrated by the central senatorial district and even beyond because of his “quest for viable projects and his ability to give his constituents a sense of belonging”
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