The Governor of Cross River State Senator Ben Ayade through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Christian Ita blows back hot at Efik leaders foundation over their "poorly scripted letter to President Muhammadu Buhari".
According to the governor, Efik leadership foundation is a "gathering of cocklings and babblers when disgruntled and disoriented elements congregate, they do nothing but babble and prattle, with inanities, propaganda and falsehood as their essential offerings. And as a bunch of puke, their pastime is to spew bitterness, hate and lies".
Ita said the "recent poorly scripted letter to President Muhammadu Buhari by failed opposition politicians masquerading as "Efik Leadership Foundation" underlines the above".
Efik nation is made up of refined, well-educated gentlemen and women who stand for truth and fairness. They are not this bunch of fossilized and expired politicians desperately clutching at straws for relevance.
Therefore, the characters cooing under the group to malign the governor do not represent the Efik Nation he said.
He also said the body is not known to true Efik sons and daughters and does not speak for the Efik nation. According to him "There are just two recognised Efik platforms known to the Efik aborigines. They are the Obong of Calabar Executive Forum and Etubom Traditional Council. These two bodies speak for the Efik nation."
He advised the group to show their face "rather than trying to hide behind one finger to spread falsehood, promoters of Efik Leadership Foundation should man up, be courageous enough to openly declare their political leaning. They should come out full blast for people to know who they are."
He added, "We have seen this in the past and so this latest infantile attempt at blackmail and incitement is dead on arrival because the Efiks love and stand by the Ayade administration as it continues to keep the state free of COVID-19. The letter by the so-called Efik Leadership Foundation is, therefore, with all intent and purposes, seeped in pernicious doctrine.
It is pernicious in principle, pernicious in appreciation, pernicious in consequence. The letter confesses a gross misreading of the situation on ground in Cross River and evokes an irreconcilable animus against reality. Their argument is a masterpiece of incoherent warblings, hollow ritual of comic relief, they wrote with a demonical fury to create and maintain sordid, false narration that collides with the true essence of the situation in Cross River in relation to COVID-19".
He argues that "the Efik Leadership Foundation casts aspersions on the Isolation centre at Tinapa but it's clear they spoke from the fringes of ignorance. None of them, it is apparent, have been to Tinapa isolation centre, obviously, these characters are opposition political figures with some of them earning the title of "also ran" in the last election.
For example, one of the signatories to the letter has not recovered from the utter trouncing Ayade gave him in the polls. For such a man who recorded only four votes in the entire election, it is not surprising that he is still bitter and smacking from the crushing defeat.
However, trying to politicise the COVID-19 global pandemic at a time the entire world is binding together to fight it amounts to political frustration taken too far.
From day one, it was obvious that the elements that signed the letter wished that Cross River under Ayade had COVID-19 case. They are not happy that courtesy of Governor Ayade's proactive leadership, Cross River has remained COVID-19 free.
It is clear that if they had their way, they would import the virus into the state just to score a political point.
It is therefore, not a surprise that rather than applaud Governor Ayade's effort at curtailing the spread of COVID-19 into Cross River or join hands with him in keeping the state free from the pandemic they are seeking to politicise it.
It is baffling that one of the characters who live in London where the pandemic is ravaging lives even permitted himself the audacity of signing a letter against Ayade on COVID-19. One wonders how many of such letters he has addressed to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth over thousands of British lives the virus has claimed so far.
One is at a loss as to why supposedly enlightened people should war against well thought out preventive measures against the virus in Cross River as introduced by governor Ayade even when the world has now turned round to copy the Cross River model.
For example, no sooner had Ayade introduced the compulsory wearing of nose masks made from fabrics than the World Health Organisation, WHO, the United States of America and other world powers adopted same.
Similarly, no sooner had Ayade given the no mask no movement order in Cross River than every other state in Nigeria copied same. Now, compulsory wearing of nose masks has become a norm throughout Nigeria.
The letter- writing opposition politicians are hereby advised to swallow their ego and give Ayade credit for his leadership qualities in combating the pandemic, even if they are stingy with the right commendation.
This has become imperative because their attempt to misinform the President has failed, owing to the fact that Mr President is fully abreast of the true situation of things in Cross River State.
Essentially, rather than Cross River posing a danger to Nigeria, it is the enemies of the state like the Efik Leadership Foundation that are posing real danger to its multi- ethno- cultural setting and Nigeria as a country with their deliberate bile and mendacity" he blasts back
He said, "Finally, the signatories in the hurriedly cobbled hatchet letter, rather than embark on an ill-advised adventure of maligning Ayade and his people-oriented, purposeful leadership, should join hands with him and with the rest of the world in keeping COVID-19 at bay because the virus does not discriminate- it knows no tribe, language, religion, colour or political party-it kills indiscriminately".
