BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – It is not the best of times for some political appointees of the Cross River State government following last week’s kidnapping of over 15 passengers conveyed in ferry boat along Calabar-Oron waterways.
With palpable fear of possible job loss, Forefront News scooped that initial security report submitted to government on the embarrassing kidnapping saga may have indicted certain appointees for what competent sources alleged as their ‘ignoble role’ in disbursing the N800 million Naira empowerment start-up grant for ex-Bakassi Defence Force agitators and other beneficiaries.
It was reliably gathered that questions are being asked about the procedures adopted by the affected State officials in mobilising and enlisting beneficiaries for the empowerment programme.
Allegations that the selection process was fraught with irregularities and improper practices by some officials seem to be gaining grounds within and outside the government circles, particularly among those allegedly schemed out of the exercise.
Insider sources hinted that with the accused officials acting so ‘high and mighty’, an aggrieved group of ex-agitators, who expected to be part of the programme, became frustrated as their complaints and protestations over the ‘skewed process’ fell on deaf ears.
A sources with access to the initial security report told Forefront that the investigations seem to pointed at likely connection between the kidnapping and some aggrieved parties among the ex-agitators.
The suddenness of events leading to the kidnapping has heightened speculations that some of the ‘repentant bad boys’ may have, in their anger and frustration, abandoned reasonability and returned to their past vomit by deploying the kidnapping incident to conspiratorially register displeasure over the manner government appointees usurped the process for selfish gains and personal aggrandizement.
Allegations in the public domain are pointing to the fact that those in charge seemed to have thrown caution to the winds by enlisting their relations, political cronies, and even girlfriends as the programme beneficiaries leaving the some of the ex-agitators, who are the key actors, out in the cold.
Available information indicated that of the 400 beneficiaries already penciled down for the Start-up grant, less than 100 of them are actually ex-agitators while many undeserved persons found their ways into the beneficiaries’ list under the pretext of being so-called farmers and small business owners.
“The state government had promised to empower 200 repentant agitators in the programme but there are concerns that officials are shortchanging the people with their selfish attitude of favouring those close to them in the selection process
According to a competent insider, frowning at what is popularly described in local parlance as a case of ‘monkey dey work, baboon dey chop, the kidnapping may turn out to be the ex-agitators way of sending warning signals to the authorities that all is not well with empowerment programme.
As expected, the incident seems to have triggered the required response and hell seems let loose with a furious Governor Bassey Otu ordering thorough investigation, given that the State has for a long time been calmed, security wise, devoid of any kidnapping incident.
The sources further claimed that the unfortunate development could be the aggrieved ex-agitators’ way of alerting the State governor that the real enemies of his ‘Peoples’ First’ transformative administration are some of his purported trusted aides who seize every available opportunity to display greed and avarice.
There are unrefuted claims that certain officials are always cornering for themselves things that the government is offering as its goodwill to the people.
Forefront learnt that the kidnapping, which took place just days after the grants’ disbursement at a popular hospitality arena by Governor Otu, has utterly embarrassed the State government and all things being equal, heads will likely roll in the coming days or weeks.
Insiders said the unfortunate development is worrisome, especially coming few weeks to the planned commencement of activities around the annual Calabar carnival, popularly tagged Africa Largest Street party.
However, amid the accusations, a government official, who did not want his name on print for obvious reasons, described the allegations as a ‘mere figment of some people’s imagination’, assuring that the State government has measures in place to safeguard the programme’s integrity and impact.
The official volunteered that monitoring committees have been set up to track the mobilisation of beneficiaries as well as judicious use of the grants, adding that there are additional funding available for those who demonstrate accountability and success in the exercise.
