AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU ON WHY PROFESSOR SIR BENEDICT AYADE IS VERY MUCH NEEDED IN YOUR ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERING HIS VAST KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND PEDIGREE IN ADMINISTRATION AND DIPLOMACY BOTH AT NATIONAL AND GLOBAL LEVELS
Office Of The President,
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR,
Executive President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,
Of The Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Aso Rock Villa,
Three Arms Zone,
Abuja.
August 7th, 2023.
Your Excellency,
As a protege and student of your political school of thoughts, I have never been timid or shy of my total support for the success of your administration to deliver our country, Nigeria, to the Promise Land.
My confidence had always been based on Your Excellency's ability, fitness and competence in leading our country to the Promise Land, where Law and Order prevail, individual liberty is guaranteed, economic well-being of the citizens is assured.
That my confidence in Your Excellency remains unshaken to date. In recent time however, I want you to join the best hands in your adminstration for the actualization and realization of the renewed hope, because we all know that a key factor that sets leadership apart is the capacity to effectively formulate, harmonize, implement, monitor and evaluate policies and programmes. Therefore, merit must constitute the overriding yardstick for those that will be serving in your Administration both at the national and global levels. And in order for this administration to take off with the right momentum and maintain a steady course, it must accord priority attention to the character, personality, experience and disposition of those who will be appointed. That is where Professor Sir Benedict Ayade, CON, comes into the picture.
Arguably, the foremost political titan from the core South-South today, is Sir Benedict Ayade, CON, the erstwhile Governor of Cross River State, whose from every logical perspective should be the best-primed person to serve in some high capacity of this political dispensation. This is even more so as this humble Professor in his unassailable wisdom gave the All Progressives Congress, APC, the soft-landing and the space to grow in Cross River State within a short period of two years, a stronghold of the People's Democratic Party, PDP.
Although, Sir Benedict Ayade, CON, needs no introduction, but I will suffice to state that he is a quintessential public servant, a core grassroots politician and perfect gentleman. He served as a Senator for Cross River North between 2011 and 2015, before he became the Executive Governor of the State between 2015 and 2023, making history as the first Governor of the 'People's Paradise State' to successfully complete two consecutive tenures in office as a Member of two political parties.
Indeed, Sir Benedict Ayade, CON is an omnibus of knowledge with vast wealth of experiences; saddled with a plethora of humongous functions when he was in the Legislative and Executive Arms of Government as a Senator and Executive Governor. As an Executive Governor, he has drived many policy formulation, harmonization, implementation and monitoring of the various State Ministries, Departments and Agencies. In addition, scores of sensitive State parastatals function perfectly under his watch in Cross River State.
Consequently, he is an ideal personality with immense wisdom, sound judgment, versatility and commendable wealth of experience in governance, administration and public service. He is visionary, exceptionally diligent and fully committed to the success of the administrative governance; while possessing imitable patience, tolerance and a keen eye for details. As an administrator, he always exude positive energy, passion and grace; and as well an adherent of inclusive leadership. Of course, his effective communication is another key quality he efficiently possessed.
His youthful agenda and inclusivity in politics shows he's a reincarnated your personality Your Excellency. He has raised and empowered countless young leaders from Cross River State, both politically and economically. He has equally mentored many youths to rise to political prominence, and he is obviously not done yet. To be candid, credits must be given to him for throwing up these duo and many more fantastic very young leaders to the National stage.
Dr. Betta Edu currently thirty-six (36) served as his Health commissioner, now ministerial nominee. Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong currently thirty-seven (37) served as his Finance Commissioner, and now Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Cross River South. Currently, he's the youngest serving Senator in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.
Sir Benedict Ayade, CON relates effortlessly with; and appeals to people of all gender, ages, classes, tribes, religions and political divides. His political, social and economic tentacles are large and strong enough to attract and sustain the needed goodwill of the vast majority of Nigerians for your administration. Compared to his years of meritorious public service and the exalted positions he has held, Sir Benedict Ayade, CON may not seem to have accumulated much mundane wealth, but a lot of Nigerians will testify that his kindness and generosity is evident in the lives of countless citizens of Cross River State.
I boldly state that no politician from 'the People's Paradise State' has made the degree of sacrifice that Sir Benedict Ayade has made towards building the All Progressives Congress. Since he officially left the People's Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress on May 20th 2021, he has been met with much frustration, mostly when it was known that he is likely to be the Senate President of the 10th National Assembly if elected, but yet, his steadfastness helped to sustain the structures of the All Progressives Congress back to the State after been an opposition party for years. Ayade has paid the last ounce of his dues in Nigerian politics, and mostly to the All Progressives Congress. He remains the undeniable rallying point for the former opposition and now make it the ruling party in Cross River, winning the Governorship seat and nineteen (19) State House of Assembly Members seats, and two (2) Senatorial seats out of three, forfeiting his own chance of becoming a Senator for our great party, The All Progressives Congress. This shows that Ayade is ever accessible to the people, and that he is firmly and constantly in touch with the grassroots. He listens intently, and as much as possible, attends to the problems of his people.
Indeed, Ayade is a rare personality, which his contemporaries from Cross River can not have his ingenuity in a hurry. Though, he faced so many critics but they have all forgotten the humongous debt profile he inherited, the lean Federal allocations and the internal friction and setback he suffered. But he came out, worked hard and made it to the top five (5) performing Governors. Do the critics know what it means for a State whose Federal allocations is second to the last to make top five (5)? Ayade was receiving N2.7B monthly for Cross River State, while he was competing with Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, Lagos, etc that were receiving an average N15B monthly. He revamp Cross River State from poverty through his stimulus economic policy - which gave the youth populace the edge to attend school through bursaries, while some underemployed youth were trained on SMEs and others on agro-economy skills. He did not even stopped there, he also did well by recoupling Cross River State from a salary dependent State to an Industrial Hub of the Nation through his industrialization drive that beget seventeen (17) industries in Cross River State. He shows that governance is not all about sweeping the road. It's about empowering people for sustainable development, which he did excellently in that direction.
The Obudu German Hospital, Biase Teacher's Continous Training Institute, Ogoja Ultramodern Rice Mill, Calabar/Odukpani High Way Dual Carriage, Gas Fired Power Plant, Cross River Processing Factory (Calachika), Cross River Feed Mill Factory, Cross River Bagging and Packaging Factory, amongst others, were part of the industrial and infrastructural legacy projects he left behind in the 'People's Paradise State'. The President of the 10th Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio while serving as the Minister for Niger Delta applauded Ayade's strides in agricultural value chain, reiterating that he sees a great future for the people of Niger Delta through Sir Benedict Ayade, CON, because he had shown exceptional leadership by the great works he did in Cross River State.
Also, the Former Emir of Kano, HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, also commended Ayade for the unparalleled height attained in the industrialization. Not only that, the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, as well applauded Ayade for constructing a world-class Teacher's Continous Training Institute in Biase Local Government Area of the State. UNICEF made it known that the institute would become a citadel for teacher's development sooner than later in Africa, stating that Ayade's decision to establish such institute with modern technology depicts hallmark of a leader with an eye for the future.
Your Excellency, did you know that Cross River State got a paltry sum of N35M or thereabouts at a particular month after deduction of all their debts (fact check it)? Yet, this man ensures workers are paid every month without delay. Some of the audacious projects he embarked on, still baffles so many Nigerians where the resources came from. I have no doubts in no distance time, even though, some people within the State feels he has done nothing, but they will surely miss him and his style of governance.
However, there is no gainsay that Sir Benedict Ayade, CON has been an unrepentant loyalist of Your Excellency since his defection into the Party. In the build up to the APC 2023 Presidential Primary Election, he showed interest of contesting but step-down for Your Excellency, while the exercise is ongoing and made it abundantly clear to all Cross-Riverian, where he stood. He never dilly-dallied on his support for a Tinubu Presidency, and he gallantly led Cross River people into a resounding 25% electoral college needed for the State, at the 2023 presidential poll, delivering Cross River to the All Progressives Congress.
Your Excellency, if former Governors who did not performed better than Sir Benedict Ayade, CON, should be rewarded with Ministerial appointments, and if these appointments are meant to reflect the interests of the nation and her citizens, then rewarding Ayade's competence, vast of knowledge and wealth of experience, will really amounts to the respect for the sensibilities of the people and actualization of your renewed hope agenda.
It is with immense pride that I present Professor, Sir Benedict Ayade, CON; the munificent servant leader, bridge-builder and undoubtedly one of the best choice, brand, and materials needed in the actualization and realization of achieving the renewed hope agenda of Your Excellency.
I trust that you will jettisoned the damages lots of his unwarranted enemies might have tabled before you, by quickly and decisively taking immediate steps on where to fix him, so as to establish confidence in your government and demonstrate the capacity that you rewards brains, competence and performance.
I wish you God's guidance, courage and wisdom to do what is right, appropriate and necessary to build Nigeria of our dreams, where competence, performance and vast pragmatic experience is not shortchanged for inconsistent, non-performance and incompetence.
While urging you to take out time to read and consider this letter as coming from a citizen and a stakeholder in your administration, I want you to recall back to your words when you visited him in Calabar on June 3rd 2022, that; "Mine is to respect you as you respect me. I appeal to you as your senior brother and the first to declare his intention, not to endorse me today, but when you get to Abuja, you can endorse me fully. We must have that unity of purpose. We must work together not only for the unity and economic development of Cross River, but also of the country" - in which he did solely with his heart and mind, my stepping to the podium and do endorsed you, by stepping down.
Conclusively, I will want you to appoint him in your cabinet because the man is still young and vibrant with lots of intellectual energy and capacity to help in consolidating the Renewed Hope Agenda. On my part, I wish to assure you of my positive contributions because it is our collective legacy that is as stake if the needful is not done.
Thank you for this privilege. It is the least I can do as a patriotic and concerned Nigerian.
God Bless You Sir.
God Bless The Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Yours Faithfully,
Olayiwola Rasheed Emmanuel,
olayiwolarasheedemmanuel@gmail.com
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