Joseph Odok|9 March 2016|12:14pm
The interest of Ben Ayade in Cross River State timber can no longer be betrayed. The first attempt of Ayade to harvest the Cross River State forest for timber failed when critics punctured his environmental policy that justified the falling of old trees as a way of rejuvenating the forest. Ayade had successfully coated his ingenious plan of harvesting Cross River State timber by an attempt to hypnotize gullible Cross Riverians to key into his surreptitious project through the policy of the debt buy off.
The activities of critics quickly punctured the policy of debt buy off and Ayade could no longer sustain his lie and gave up. Today, instead of an attempt to reduce the debt burden of the state, the Ayade's government has rather gone into more borrowing. This act of engaging in more borrowing is a caricature of his earlier commitment to reduce the debt burden of the state.
Having failed to harvest the Cross River State forest of timber through the policy of debt buy off, Ayade set out to design another strategy of harvesting our forest of timber through his Super High Way initiative. The super high way is conceived in a way to give access to all the major forest reserves to Ayade to harvest timber. The major forest reserves of Cross River State are found in Akamkpa, Etung, Ikom and Boki and the super high way is designed craftily to pass through these forest reserves.
Ayade through the super high way is granted unlimited access to harvest Cross River State forest. No wonder his desperation in creating the green police as a way of building a security team to protect his primitive spirit of wealth acquisition.
For some analyst, besides the political dimension of the division that exist between Senator Owan Enoh and Ayade, there is also an economic dimension. Through the super high way signature project, Owan Enoh seems blocked from harvesting timber from his Etara/Ekuri forest thus his irate stance against Ayade in recent times. It is rumoured that the present protest led by the Old Ekuri people in a protest against the harvesting of their forest may have been masterminded by Sen. Owan Enoh who is positioned to fight Ayade behind the scene.
The speed in bulldozing of the Cross River State forest for the Super High Way even without preliminary financial security for the super high way is enough to expose Ayade's interest in harvesting the Cross River State forest reserves for timber.
What is the financial security for a project like the super high way when the government barely struggles to pay a section of its workers leaving a greater chunk out of payment. The state is financially in red and a governor who is yet to pay all its workers and seen in a fanfare of multiplication of cabinets and political appointees, can not raise monies for high profile and cost effective project like the super high way. Cross Riverians must grow wise to resist this insult on its sensitivity
Joseph Odok
Is a Social Change Agent & Social Critic
