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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Cross River State Governor, Bassey Edet Otu, has inspected the scene of the tanker fire in Odukpani, commending the emergency response by the council chairman, stakeholders and residents, while sympathising with shop owners whose businesses were affected by the incident.
The governor, who also visited the massive landslide along Anansa Street in Calabar, said the environmental disaster required coordinated federal intervention because its scale exceeded the capacity of the state government.
At Odukpani, Otu praised the courage and community spirit of residents who mobilised to assist during the emergency, assuring those affected that government remained committed to protecting lives and supporting vulnerable residents.
“At times like this, we should come together and support one another.”
He urged stakeholders to sustain the intervention and ensure that their response addressed both the immediate consequences of the fire and the underlying vulnerabilities that could expose the community to similar emergencies.
Otu said the inspections would give government first-hand knowledge of the challenges confronting residents and enable it to respond on the strength of professional assessments.
At the Anansa Street landslide site, the governor described the damage as “very, very devastating”, saying technical studies were underway to establish the magnitude of the problem and identify a sustainable solution.
“What is happening here is very, very devastating,” he said. “We have made several attempts to study exactly what is happening and determine the appropriate response. We already have what I would call studies that are ongoing. The Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government has put two teams on the ground.”
He said the enormity of the landslide required wider technical and institutional support, including additional engineers and other specialists, and could not responsibly be treated as an ordinary erosion problem.
“Clearly, this project is just bigger than the state. It is so huge, so huge,” Otu declared.
The governor disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had directed a team to visit the affected location and carry out an assessment, saying federal participation would complement the state’s measures and strengthen efforts to find a permanent solution.
He attributed the worsening situation partly to prolonged rainfall and the effects of climate change, explaining that persistent downpours had restricted some of the work engineers and other technical experts could undertake.
Otu expressed optimism that conditions would improve as the rains receded, providing an opportunity for more comprehensive intervention.
“We are very sure that in the near future, as we look towards the end of this month, the rain should die down,” he said. “Then we can get some allowance for additional engineers to come in and see what we have done here and determine the appropriate long-term solution.”
He directed that the technical and institutional assessments be sustained, stressing that a permanent intervention at Anansa Street must rest on credible engineering studies and withstand the environmental pressures responsible for the crisis.
The governor assured the affected communities that government would continue to work with the relevant agencies and technical experts until a durable solution was achieved, while responding urgently to emerging environmental and public-safety challenges.
Meanwhile, Otu has approved the restoration of 3,000 local government workers to the state payroll following discussions with organised labour at the State Executive Council Chambers in Calabar.
The meeting involved the Cross River chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), whose representatives raised concerns over workers’ welfare, recruitment, promotions, salary harmonisation, pensioners’ entitlements and other industrial relations issues.
The NLC leadership appealed for reconsideration of the disengagement of workers who had already spent about two years in service, arguing that they were sons and daughters of Cross River who had built their livelihoods around their employment.
Otu acknowledged that “people have been used to particular remuneration” and that “to cut them off at short notice will be too much to absorb”, especially where the salaries constituted their entire source of livelihood.
He said government understood the hardship that abrupt withdrawal of income could impose on the affected workers and their families, while explaining that the public service intervention was intended to correct anomalies, restore due process and ensure that employment and remuneration reflected appropriate qualifications and fairness.
The governor maintained that employment opportunities must be distributed equitably among qualified citizens.
“Somebody cannot be a secondary school [leaver] and already be getting an appointment,” he said, adding that “because you have the opportunity, that does not mean it is your family alone; others also deserve the opportunity”.
Otu said his administration was rebuilding the state on fairness, productivity and shared responsibility, and appealed to labour to participate in the process.
“We are committed to the rebuilding of all these elements,” he declared, urging labour leaders to “join hands” with government.
He said government could not carry the burden of transforming Cross River alone, describing the partnership with labour as “principally a corporate relationship” and asking for “maximum cooperation” in addressing the state’s challenges.
On finances, Otu said the administration was dealing with inherited obligations and substantial recurring commitments while also trying to improve workers’ welfare and develop infrastructure.
Although government had worked to reduce outstanding liabilities, he said fresh obligations continued to emerge.
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“Almost every month we are taking out 300 to 600 [million],” he said, referring to payments towards outstanding obligations.
He expressed optimism that improved revenue and careful management of existing commitments would give government more room to meet its obligations and address workers’ legitimate concerns.
On the wider economy, the governor said his administration was laying foundations through infrastructure, investment opportunities, human-capital development and citizens’ empowerment, and urged labour to become a partner in development.
“The real foundation for the economy has been laid,” he said.
He urged a transition from a “hand-to-mouth economy” to one sustained by productivity, enterprise and durable opportunities, saying “we must be ready to fold our shirts and take up the challenge” of rebuilding Cross River.
Otu also acknowledged the concerns over outstanding promotions, salary harmonisation and the welfare of low-income workers and pensioners, assuring the unions that the matters would receive further consideration after the relevant official documents were examined.
“For the other issues, I will need at least some briefs,” he said, directing labour representatives to submit the necessary documentation while government reviewed its own records.
He said the engagement had enabled both sides to understand the issues more clearly, address outstanding concerns and strengthen their partnership. Discussions on the other labour matters would continue following his approval for the workers’ return to the payroll.
In another development, stakeholders in Cross River’s Northern Senatorial District have endorsed Otu’s second-term bid and called for bloc votes for President Tinubu and other All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the 2027 elections.
The stakeholders, drawn from Ogoja, Obanliku, Obudu, Yala and Bekwarra Local Government Areas, made their position known during the Cross River State Consultative Forum’s sensitisation tour at the Ogoja Local Government Council Headquarters on Saturday.
The engagement followed a sensitisation walk from Ajengnle Junction to the council headquarters and brought together political leaders, traditional rulers, youths, women and other community stakeholders to assess the administration and present their expectations.
Chairman of the Elders Advisory Council and former governor, Chief Clement Ebri, said the exercise would enable the council and the Consultative Forum to obtain first-hand information about the people’s assessment of the administration.
“We are more like a fact-finding team,” he said.
Ebri explained that the team would also hold private discussions with stakeholders, allowing them to express concerns they might be reluctant to raise publicly, before briefing Otu on the findings.
He said the governor had requested honest advice and shown a willingness to listen and make adjustments when genuine shortcomings were identified, while urging residents to exercise patience as the administration addressed inherited infrastructure and development challenges.
Ebri commended Otu’s efforts towards restoring Cross River’s oil-producing status, saying the issue had received renewed attention after years of neglect.
He urged support for Otu’s second term and a strong bloc vote for Tinubu, arguing that such backing could strengthen Cross River’s recognition and bargaining position at the national level.
Chairman of the Consultative Forum, Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo, said the Ogoja meeting was the forum’s first outing in the Northern Senatorial District and thanked residents for supporting the governor.
He described the gathering as an engagement among friends, brothers and stakeholders of like minds, explaining that it provided a platform to discuss development and the state’s political future.
Ekpo said the views expressed by the five local government areas amounted to a strong endorsement of Otu’s second-term ambition, urging continued grassroots mobilisation for the governor and Tinubu and efforts to ensure that votes counted in 2027.
He also called for objective, fact-based assessment of government performance and peaceful political engagement, saying differences should not undermine relationships across communities.
The state APC chairman, Rt. Hon. Chris Etta, represented by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Ugana Lukpata, commended participants and urged stronger grassroots mobilisation extending to both party members and other residents willing to support APC candidates.
“We cannot record anything below five over five,” he said in the message, calling for victories for APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
Etta highlighted ongoing projects in the Northern Senatorial District and linked progress in recovering Cross River’s oil assets to the improved relationship between the state and Federal Government.
He said the state had 46 oil wells in its coffers, with exploration and exploitation activities underway, and argued that continued support for Otu and Tinubu would help sustain the gains recorded.
In a communiqué at the end of the engagement, the stakeholders acknowledged ongoing projects and interventions by the administration and reaffirmed support for the continued tenure of Otu and Tinubu.
They called for completion of ongoing projects and sustained attention to the development needs of communities across the Northern Senatorial District.
The stakeholders resolved to intensify grassroots mobilisation, promote peaceful political engagement and deepen consultations with communities and political leaders, while reaffirming support for Tinubu, Otu and other APC candidates at the federal, state and local government levels.
The communiqué was signed by the Consultative Forum’s chairman, Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo; its secretary, Dr Julius Okputu; the drafting committee chairman, Ntufam (Barr.) Fidelis Ugbo; and the drafting committee secretary, Prof. Michael Okom.
