‘We Want 5000 Jobs In Cross River State, Not 5000 Labourers’ — Wanbuneh Boss Engr. Asu Abang

President of a socio-political group, Wanbuneh Support Organization, Engr. Emmanuel Asu Abang has canvassed support for Senator Gershom Bassey to occupy the Cross River Governorship position in 2023.

This is following Senator Bassey’s declaration in November, 2021 showing his intentions to join the Cross River State Governorship race come 2023.

As contained in a press release on the group's vanguard, the full release titled ‘A Letter to the incoming Messiah and the Electorate’ reads as follows; “Dear in coming Messiah and to you my dear electorates,

1. Amidst the euphoria of who becomes the next King of Kings or Queen of Queens in Cross River State come 2023, It is imperative that I humbly draw your attention to the challenges militating our progress and economic growth as a state, but first let me quickly tell you this shot story;

2. My father told me that when he was young, rice was cooked only on Sundays as it was an expensive commodity, I also remember that before 1999, chicken in my house was cooked only on Christmas days and or maybe Easter.  Things where so hard towards 1998 until the PDP came into power to salvage the situation in 1999. Today, as I write these words, we have a “Calachika chicken industry” where chicken is sold for N1500, “very affordable”, but we have to wait till December or maybe Easter to buy chicken as there are no chicken for sales. For me, I think we are back to 1998, or maybe back to 1954 when my fathers prepared rice only on Sundays.

3. Need I remind us, that we are in defining moments and the decisions or the choices we make today will either mar or make us.

4. As a leader of a support Organisation for PDP and a youth based Political organization advocating for credible leadership for the youths/women inclusiveness in governance, I have toured the length and breath of this state (Cross River State) from the shores of mariner in Calabar South & the mangrove of Bakassi, through the virgin forest of Boki LGA to the hills of Obanliku to ascertain our readiness for the 2023 gubernatorial elections.

5. My observation is that our economy, peace and security haven’t been so in disarray, the voice of the common man in the street calls for peace, security, equity, and credible leadership, we have never been so divided as a people and its scares the hell out of me when I see some aspirant so overly excited and overzealously desperate at just “wanting to be Governor” without knowing what the hell they are about to inherit or if they have any recovery or reconciliatory plan.

6. I’m baffled to see some people declaring to run for the gubernatorial seat without showing their economic development plans while their supporters scream to roof tops CAPACITY! CAPACITY! I wonder what capacity is without records to show.

7. Considering where we are today as a people, I expect at this time, we should have our aspirant’s scorecards and economic development plans with layout strategies to show how we can recover our economy and move from this low state, except for the Distinguish senator Gershom Bassey who says he has the economic blueprints of the state and has shown his scorecard.

8. Having read through the scorecard of the senator representing the southern senatorial district of Cross River State, I am tempted to ask, who actually is the “ONE WITH THE CAPACITY”? CAPACITY NO BE TO THE SPEAK GRAMMER O.. TO BE LEADER/GOVERNOR NO BE AREA BOY WORK O, THIS THING NO BE GRAGRA.

9. “The shape of our economy precisely that of Cross River State is a reflection of the political choices we’ve made overtime, for us to move forward as a state, we need a leader with a sound economic, and managerial acumen, prudent with spending and is administratively balance, otherwise, we will continually gratify failure, and blame one another, whereas, failure is birthed from our collective ignorance and somewhat greed.”-Wanbuneh Bisong Joshua Akunjom. 

10. I am strongly of the opinion that the reason why most administration fail is accredited to lack of understanding and knowledge of leadership to build on the achievements of its predecessors and where the leadership of a government does not understand or fails to know the peculiarities/needs of its people, that administration is bound to fail.

11. I give it to His Excellency Governor Ben Ayade of the APC for the vision of industrializing Cross River state, but the way to industrializing Cross River State in view of our peculiarities today, is beyond building beautiful monuments.

12. “Industrialization is the process by which an economy is transformed ‘from a primarily agricultural one’ to one based on the manufacturing of goods. Individual manual labor is often replaced by mechanized mass production, and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines. Industrialization is a transformation away from an agricultural or resource-based economy, towards an economy based on mass manufacturing.  Looking at Cross River State today, I dare ask, are we an industrialized economy?

13. This piece is not to discredit the efforts of our dear Governor His Excellency Ben Ayade of the APC in anyway, but I believe using the Calachika in Calabar and the Cocoa Factory in Ikom as a case study, the first things ought to have been done; investing massively in our Agriculture/SME and ensuring a safe haven for investors would have been key.

14. Up till today Cross River State is regarded as one of the poorest states in Nigeria amidst our enormous natural resources and human capital, we are still regarded as a “Civil Servants economy” dependent on allocations from Abuja, yet with the potential of feeding Nigeria and Africa if our agricultural and SME sector is well developed.

15. Today we have a Calachika, yet, we have to wait till Christmas to have affordable chicken if any. Imagine if the SME in Cross River State is properly developed, whereby the state through the Calachika management board serves as off-takers to Cross River State youths and women through cooperative societies, we will have more than enough chicken to feed the Calachika plant to cover year-round, same with the cocoa plant in Ikom and Rice Plant in Ogoja. If we do not have enough produce to feed those plants, we will be looking at another white elephant monument. The thing is, government has nothing to do with business but to create the enabling environment.

16. In 2015 we were promised five thousand Jobs, Today HE Ayade has more than five thousand employees, there’s a difference between five thousand employees and five thousand jobs.

17. Five thousand jobs means, you have five thousand jobs where one of those “five thousand jobs” have the capacity of employing five thousand people, therefore, we should have about twenty-five million Cross Riverian sustainably employed. But that is not the case in this administration, here, we have a government with five thousand employees and not sustainably employed, inessence,  What that means is, when this administration is over, we will be seating on a time bomb, if the next administration is not careful or have a plan in engaging these labourers and even the ones shouting CAPACITY! CAPACITY! today.

18. The job of the next governor wouldn’t be that exciting, therefore it requires one with the right emotional and mental attitude, a leader who is willing to invest in human capital development, agriculture, our SME etc. as evident in the just concluded Distinguish Senator Gershom Bassey’s Market women Grants of more than thirty-six million naira to 900 market women. If you are looking for capacity, here is a man with one, if you’re looking for a leader, here is one. Still much more needs to be done.

19. While I write you again on Distinguish Senator Gershom Bassey’s Blueprint to moving Cross River State forward, may I live you with His scorecard to define for yourself what capacity really is.