On-governor-ayades-rescue-mission-of-bakassi-indigenes-a-worthy-path-other-governors-should-emulate
September 7, 2020 | News
ON GOVERNOR AYADE’S RESCUE MISSION OF BAKASSI INDIGENES – A WORTHY PATH OTHER GOVERNORS SHOULD EMULATE
I have always condemned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment in 2002 that ceded the Bakassi Peninsular, which is the natural birthplace of the indegenous people of Cross River State as part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to Cameroun. Our bone of contention was the way the area was ceded to another country without any consideration whatsoever about the people of the place, which are mainly the Efiks, the people of Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, including the Efut, Efik, Ibibio, Annang people etc., and their right to self-determination. I faulted the ICJ for that fraudulent judgement because the court did not even hear from the natives of the Bakassi land - whether they wanted to remain in Nigeria or not. The political, economic, cultural and historical importance of the ‘displacement’ and ‘neglect’ of the people that make-up Bakassi are immeasurable to describe with words.
Since then, the people of the Bakassi area have been living like destitutes and refugees in their own fatherland. With reported alerts that the residents of Bakassi Peninsula could even face an imminent spectacle of being “declared stateless” was a sad reminder of how not to have a recourse to political correctness when national interest is clearly at stake. We have severally noted with dismay the ‘inhuman’ level of neglect, abandonment and inexplicable maltreatment of the indigenous people of Bakassi after their land had been ceded to Cameroun by the then Nigerian Government under the so called Green Tree Agreement (GTA) signed by the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration on June 12, 2006 in New York. The Bakassi situation in Nigeria was simply a shameless surrender to the shenanigans of imperialism and “western conspiracy,” which is why we have reiterated the need for the UN and the Federal Government to “right this great wrong” done to the people concerned by reviewing/reversing the said ICJ decision on Bakassi.
However, while we hope this would happen one day, it is sad that this topic is hardly ever visited and discussed again in Nigeria’s political space. Nobody seems to concerned of what has been the fate and living conditions of the indigenes of Bakassi. But thanks to the Cross Rivers State Governor, Ben Ayade, we are beginning to see a change of the Bakassi narrative and the welfare of its people.
In a recent launch of the new phase and development of the Bakassi area and its people, Governor Ayade did what surprised many when he opened a residential estate for the people of Bakassi. In his words in a well circulated short video online, Ayade said: “I am shocked that with all the lawyers we have in this country, with all the civil rights movements - they watch as my people, the people of Bakassi, bleed and die where they fetch water, defecate on the same land, feed on the same land, with no hope. Yet, the country watch, yet the country allocates in billions on elitist projects and programmes. I think that there is a moral conscience. Today, if there is anything that I have done that is worth it, is the Ayade Social Honourary Estate in Ifiangayong Bakassi LGA, Calabar. It is my number one project because God has given me the opportunity to put a smile on somebody’s face. I could see a grandma dancing to her new home. I could see the hope, and her grandchild, to feel that truly, an African leader cares. You don’t give because you have enough but because you care enough. We must demonstrate that we have the empathy to care, show love and concern for our brothers…. This is a reverse of what has been their experience. Today, they now have a home of their own. They can get the Certificate of Occupancy. This is the first Social Housing in Africa. In absolute term, where the Ownership is in perpetuity. Where the property is yours. Where there will be no time the occupants will be moved for another to enter. No! it is now yours to keep for ever and ever. We would continue to expand it. It is not enough to provide you housing, because this is not shelter, this is housing.
“It has amenities. It has water, it has power. It has all the utilities you will so need. You have the solar lighting; you have the generator. We have also acquired boats for use in the waterside, to enable you do your fishing for those who care to fish. We have also made provisions for cash. So, you have a take-off grant of N50m to support all of you, who live here and want to start up small businesses.”
This is ecxactly what Nigerians expect to see from their political leaders at all levels of Government – to have a human face that is genuinely concerned, and interested in the wellbeing and welfare of its people. This is not lip service. Or making campaign promises that often times, never sees the light of the day. This is doing what a government was instituted to do for its people in the first place.
I believe such a project being executed by Ayade is one that is divinely orchestrated and provided for the right and appropriate commoners, who could not have afforded such luxury throughout their life time, especially after being displaced from the ancestral land in Bakassi Peninsular without their voice and consent. For coming to the aid of the Bakassi people in Nigeria, we commend Governor Ayade for making this happen, and we urge other State Governors to always think in this light, when it comes to governing for the interest of the masses.
Zik Gbemre.
June 3, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
I have always condemned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment in 2002 that ceded the Bakassi Peninsular, which is the natural birthplace of the indegenous people of Cross River State as part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to Cameroun. Our bone of contention was the way the area was ceded to another country without any consideration whatsoever about the people of the place, which are mainly the Efiks, the people of Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, including the Efut, Efik, Ibibio, Annang people etc., and their right to self-determination. I faulted the ICJ for that fraudulent judgement because the court did not even hear from the natives of the Bakassi land - whether they wanted to remain in Nigeria or not. The political, economic, cultural and historical importance of the ‘displacement’ and ‘neglect’ of the people that make-up Bakassi are immeasurable to describe with words.
Since then, the people of the Bakassi area have been living like destitutes and refugees in their own fatherland. With reported alerts that the residents of Bakassi Peninsula could even face an imminent spectacle of being “declared stateless” was a sad reminder of how not to have a recourse to political correctness when national interest is clearly at stake. We have severally noted with dismay the ‘inhuman’ level of neglect, abandonment and inexplicable maltreatment of the indigenous people of Bakassi after their land had been ceded to Cameroun by the then Nigerian Government under the so called Green Tree Agreement (GTA) signed by the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration on June 12, 2006 in New York. The Bakassi situation in Nigeria was simply a shameless surrender to the shenanigans of imperialism and “western conspiracy,” which is why we have reiterated the need for the UN and the Federal Government to “right this great wrong” done to the people concerned by reviewing/reversing the said ICJ decision on Bakassi.
However, while we hope this would happen one day, it is sad that this topic is hardly ever visited and discussed again in Nigeria’s political space. Nobody seems to concerned of what has been the fate and living conditions of the indigenes of Bakassi. But thanks to the Cross Rivers State Governor, Ben Ayade, we are beginning to see a change of the Bakassi narrative and the welfare of its people.
In a recent launch of the new phase and development of the Bakassi area and its people, Governor Ayade did what surprised many when he opened a residential estate for the people of Bakassi. In his words in a well circulated short video online, Ayade said: “I am shocked that with all the lawyers we have in this country, with all the civil rights movements - they watch as my people, the people of Bakassi, bleed and die where they fetch water, defecate on the same land, feed on the same land, with no hope. Yet, the country watch, yet the country allocates in billions on elitist projects and programmes. I think that there is a moral conscience. Today, if there is anything that I have done that is worth it, is the Ayade Social Honourary Estate in Ifiangayong Bakassi LGA, Calabar. It is my number one project because God has given me the opportunity to put a smile on somebody’s face. I could see a grandma dancing to her new home. I could see the hope, and her grandchild, to feel that truly, an African leader cares. You don’t give because you have enough but because you care enough. We must demonstrate that we have the empathy to care, show love and concern for our brothers…. This is a reverse of what has been their experience. Today, they now have a home of their own. They can get the Certificate of Occupancy. This is the first Social Housing in Africa. In absolute term, where the Ownership is in perpetuity. Where the property is yours. Where there will be no time the occupants will be moved for another to enter. No! it is now yours to keep for ever and ever. We would continue to expand it. It is not enough to provide you housing, because this is not shelter, this is housing.
“It has amenities. It has water, it has power. It has all the utilities you will so need. You have the solar lighting; you have the generator. We have also acquired boats for use in the waterside, to enable you do your fishing for those who care to fish. We have also made provisions for cash. So, you have a take-off grant of N50m to support all of you, who live here and want to start up small businesses.”
This is ecxactly what Nigerians expect to see from their political leaders at all levels of Government – to have a human face that is genuinely concerned, and interested in the wellbeing and welfare of its people. This is not lip service. Or making campaign promises that often times, never sees the light of the day. This is doing what a government was instituted to do for its people in the first place.
I believe such a project being executed by Ayade is one that is divinely orchestrated and provided for the right and appropriate commoners, who could not have afforded such luxury throughout their life time, especially after being displaced from the ancestral land in Bakassi Peninsular without their voice and consent. For coming to the aid of the Bakassi people in Nigeria, we commend Governor Ayade for making this happen, and we urge other State Governors to always think in this light, when it comes to governing for the interest of the masses.
Zik Gbemre.
June 3, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes