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The die is cast. 2023, another year of political transition is here with us. Cross River, like most states in Nigeria, is bracing up for a fresh governorship election and contenders for the two topmost political positions in the state are not in short supply.
A candidate shall definitely emerge in the All Progressives Congress, APC. But what is also critical, is who will play the deputising role for the governor?
For the sake of argument, they are those who have been parroting the claim that as a party now in power in the state, it has not won a major election, except for the recently conducted senatorial by-election in the Northern Senatorial District of the state. However, before then, the APC won Abi-Yakurr federal seat as an opposition.
So as the APC warms up for what will no doubt be its first major election for the office of the governor come 2023, the choice of a tag team partner with the governorship candidate of the party is key, as whoever is chosen should be one with something to bring to the table.
It is against this background that the name Anthony Odey Ochicha is a fit and proper one for deputy governor.
Odey Ochicha has become a recurring decimal on the lips of a broad spectrum of Cross Riverians of like-mind who insist that there is an inextricable nexus between integrity and good governance.
For the good of Cross River, recruitment and enthronement of quality leaders that will take over the baton from His Excellency, Governor Ben Ayade on May 29, 2023, is one task that must not be shirked or treated with levity, thus John Quincy Adams’ treatise on leadership ready comes to mind here.
In climes where good governance and service delivery are the meat of democratic ethos, Quincy’s prescription forms the fulcrum upon which the leadership selection process rests.
According to Quincy Adams, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
This timeless quote clinically mirrors the character traits of Anthony Odey Ochicha. It also offers a veritable barometer to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in Cross River to hinge on while carefully sieving through the galaxy of gladiators in its fold currently angling for the two topmost political positions in the state- Governorship and Deputy Governorship.
While zoning arrangement in Cross River APC may have technically precluded Ochicha from gunning for the number one position, even though he flew the party’s flag in the 2015 gubernatorial election, his wealth of experience, patriotic fervour, selflessness, rock-solid integrity and unflinching loyalty to the party highly recommend him for the Deputy Governorship position.
Cross Riverians are desirous of leaders who are well acquainted with the socio-political and economic anatomy of the state, ones that know the nitty-gritty of governance and are committed to consolidating the gains of His Excellency, Governor Ayade’s administration. Ochicha perfectly fits this bill.
There is no doubt that if paired with whoever the APC eventually endorses as flagbearer, Ochicha will provide a robust bulwark against maladministration.
Here is an incorruptible character, a man who places integrity, honesty and morality above self-aggrandisement.
A few years ago, as a senior staff of NAPIMS, a subsidiary of the NNPC, before he resigned to vie for Cross River governorship, Ochicha refused to do what most public servants would have gleefully done.
He was supposed to travel to the US for a training program on the bill of his employers (NAPIMS)
NAPIMS had already paid him millions of Naira upfront as travel allowance to cover his stay there. However, knowing that his mind was already made up for politics, he declined to attend the training because he wanted to attend a scheduled APC meeting in Lagos, Ochicha promptly returned the humongous travelling allowance to NAPIMS.
As is the lurid norm in the public/civil service, Ochicha, if he had wanted, could have decided not to return the money as others that did not attend the training program oversea did but it was not in his character to swim in corruption.
In all he does, Ochicha puts Cross River first. For him, love of the state transcends political and pecuniary benefits which was why shortly after Ayade, his main challenger in the 2015 governorship election, was declared the winner of the exercise, he wasted no time in conceding defeat and congratulating the winner.
Of course, moving the state forward rather than dissipating energy on legal tussle or toxic opposition was paramount to him. Like the governor himself, Ochicha’s political philosophy is rooted in the principle of politics with ethics.
A consummate party man, his fidelity and loyalty to the APC contributed to a large extent the reason the party didn’t go into extinction following the debilitating crisis that rocked it before and after its defeat in the 2019 guber election.
Even when it became fashionable for some chieftains to switch allegiance to the then ruling party in Cross River, the PDP, Ochicha hugged the APC tightly, helping to navigate it through that perilous phase to its current position of strength as the ruling party following the entrance of Governor Ayade.
Ochicha’s unwavering loyalty to the party was to catch the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari hence he was appointed by Mr President to serve his fatherland as Chairman of the governing Board of the Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, Ondo State.
However, the President, knowing Ochicha’s pedigree, no doubt will be happy to see him serve Cross River as Deputy Governor.
A native of Bekwarra local government in Northern Cross River, in the spirit of equity, fair play and natural justice, Ochicha’s Deputy Governorship will go a long in assuaging the hurt that the local government has felt over the years following its mindless marginalisation politically as well as unexplained denial of basic amenities.
Jerry Ekpo, a chieftain of the APC, wrote in from Abuja
