The recent inauguration of the construction of Calabar/Obudu highway and Calabar Deep Seaport simultaneously by Cross River State government says so much about the governor’s hunger to develop his state quickly, writes SAM NWOKORO.
Governor Benedict Bengioushuye Ayade of Cross River State must be a man in a hurry. And for the very best reason: to develop his state and make it an investors’ haven within the next 18 months.
Past governors Liyel Imoke and Donald Duke probably had such ambitious projects in their development template; but the sudden transfer of most of its oil wells to Akwa Ibom, few years back, might have hindered past governments from achieving its plans.
The two projects that put Ayade on the list of visionary leaders are flag-off of the Calabar/Obudu highway of about eight lanes and the deep seaport located around Bakassi waterways and the Atlantic Ocean.
In the eastern axis of the country, Governor Ayade has painted himself as a source of pride and a strategic thinker who looks at the big picture. Of course, had the 11 governors of the South East and South South been thinking like Prof. Ayade, the hue and cry about the second Niger Bridge or River Niger seaport would have become an accomplished task long ago.
Babatunde Fashola did not wait for the federal government before kicking off the 10-lane Marina-Badagry highway. That is good governance which Ayade may be emulating.
Projects of timeless value
The strategic importance of the Calabar highway is huge. Considering the muted politics of development in Nigeria since the end of the civil war, which led to unpretentious incapacitation of the Calabar port dredged by the federal government over 50 years ago, the mere conceptualisation of a deep seaport capable of coping with today’s increasing maritime traffic is a glorious manifestation of pragmatic leadership, intellectual sophistication and business acumen.
Little wonder, the two projects were the first official outside Villa assignment Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari undertook on October 20, 2015. The projects are expected to create over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs for Cross River indigenes as well as other Nigerians living in that state, since the state is generally known as one of the most hospitable places to live in Nigeria.
During the ground-breaking ceremony of the highway at Obung Village in Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state, Ayade noted that the seaport would act as a route to modern vessels.
His words: “In clear terms, that highway and deep seaport will benefit Kogi and Nassarawa states because without a deep seaport, it will be almost impossible to exploit the iron ore export in those states. That is why those who understand what a federal structure looks like would have coastline in the Northern and Southern regions. Having one major seaport in Lagos and another in Calabar will feed the North East, and the North Central from Calabar, and North West and Middle Belt from Lagos.”
Affirming that the Buhari administration is disposed to the highway project which will be completed by August, Ayade said: “The President did give an advice that as far as he has come to give support to the project, I must come to give him quarterly progress report on this project. The project is real and that is part of what I discussed with Mr. President and (he has promised to support) the deep seaport and the evacuation corridor, which is the 260km super-highway.”
Value chains
Just to make sure the projects when completed do not lie idle for one moment, the governor has already got an agricultural credit facility to the tune of about N4.8 billion for an expansive rice production project in the state. Harvests from the project will probably be the first practical demonstration of the use of the super highway and deep seaport in the agric produce/transportation chain. After trips to about 11 countries scouting for foreign technical partners, from Europe to Asia and South America (for the projects are being executed under Private-Public Partnership), the governor has been able to secure a N10 billion worth of investment in the state just within two years. Because of the high profitability of the projects, sources said the foreign investors queued up to be partners.
On February 14 this year, Ayade commissioned a modern mono-rail at the Tinapa Business Resort, the first of its kind in West Africa. He has planned to build three new cities in the state also.
The garment factory located along the Goodluck Jonathan Bypass in Calabar, is another of Ayade’s signature projects.
When completed, the factory will produce fabrics for the production of uniforms of all kinds.
It was earlier scheduled to be commissioned within Ayade’s first 100 days in office, but heavy rains and other natural factors have caused delays in the commissioning.
A statesman
Governor Ayade got the support of the federal government and international partners for the project. This feat is rarely achieved by other governors whose profile hardly impress Abuja. Thanks to the governor’s focus and determination to make impact. As an academic, he has this perceptive insight into the mindset of the President: the former military head of state loathes anything that could lead to waste of public fund or not add value to development.
“It is only obvious that any serious government must take the issue of corruption seriously, and I think that is why, today, Nigeria is beginning to have a national and international image that looks like it is getting prepared for business. That is why investments are flowing into Cross River State. That is a sign that the anti-corruption war is actually working and it is giving Nigeria the international image that we need. Those who know the pains, hardships and frustrations Nigeria has passed through will agree with me on this,” the governor added.
Testimonials
On the governance of Ayade, Project Coordinator of the Canadian International Agency (CIDA), Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, wrote on his blog: “An important distinguishing characteristic which makes a leader stand out among others at any level is the ability of such a leader to dream dreams and being able to transform those dreams to concrete reality.
“Concrete reality will be in form of the policies of such a leader having a positive impact in the lives of those he/she leads as well as the infrastructural and technological transformation of the entity being led by such a leader. Undoubtedly, the quality and direction of a leader are what will in the long run define the place of any nation or state in the comity of nations and how it can be classified as developed, developing or underdeveloped society.
“The leadership qualities of the Governor of Cross River, Senator Benedict Ayade, can be classified in the same mould of leaders such as the late Singaporean President, Harry Lee Kuan Yew who was born on September 16, 1923 and died on March 23, 2015 at the age of 91 of severe pneumonia.
“Like Harry Lee Kuan Yew whose English-educated parents peeped into the future to know the significance role their son was going to play in the development of their country and its transformation from third world to a developed nation, and named him ‘Kuan Yew’, meaning ‘light and brightness’, or ‘bringing great glory to one’s ancestors’, the parents of Governor Ayade were also able to look beyond the challenges of existence which confronted them then and gave him the English name, ‘Benedict’ meaning ‘blessed’ and the native name in Bette dialect ‘Benyaushuye’ meaning nobody knows the future or the future is unknown, and the young Ben went ahead to prove his parents right, the way Lee did.”
Man of vision
Benedict Bengioushuye Ayade, born March 2, 1969, to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Akinsheye Ayade, of Kakum, a village in Obudu Local Government Area, northern Cross River. His parents were devout Catholics. His father worked as a public servant with the water board.
Ayade received his primary education at St. Stephens Primary School, Obudu, and proceeded to Government Secondary School, Obudu.
He got his BSc. honours in Microbiology at Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma (1984 -1988) and proceeded to the University of Ibadan 1990-1994 where he obtained his Ph.D and won the best Doctoral Dissertation award in Environmental Microbiology. Ayade went on to work as a lecturer at Delta State University, Abraka where he was subsequently appointed Professor.
From his work in Groundwater Remediation in Nigeria, Ayade invented a sewage treatment plant which depended on solar energy. His invention is currently being used off-shore by oil producing companies in Nigeria.
Ayade entered the political stage when he ran for the northern senatorial seat beating his closest rival Patrick Agbe of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with over 80,000 votes in the April 9, 2011 elections, with 91,123 votes against 11,056 votes. During his term in the Senate, Prof. Ayade held the position of Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology. He was member of other Senate committees such as Petroleum Downstream, Education, and Drugs/Narcotics/Crime.
He was one of the most active senators of the 7th Senate having sponsored a total of 41 bills to rank the highest. Four years later, the don won the gubernatorial polls under the platform of the PDP in the April 2015 governorship elections in Cross River State having polled 342,016 votes, ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Odey Ochicha, with 53,983 votes.
Ayade was the only African governor listed to speak at the summit by the United Nations Secretariat for Climate Change when he led the African Governors to the Climate change summit in Paris on December 7, 2015.
He is married to Dr. Linda Ayade and has children. His hobbies include reading, playing/watching games and dancing.