BY LINUS OBOGO
There is an old saying that when a drowning man can no longer find a raft, he clutches at shadows. That perfectly captures Alphonsus Ogar Eba’s latest outburst against Governor Bassey Otu.
Bereft of facts, stripped of political credibility, and haunted by an unenviable record of electoral failure, Eba has chosen the familiar refuge of volubility and theatrical outrage. His claim that Governor Otu treats Northern Cross River “like clowns” is not merely false; it is an astonishing insult to the intelligence of the very people he seeks to manipulate with emotional grandstanding.
The tragedy for Eba is that asphalt speaks louder than empty rhetoric. Until Governor Otu assumed office, Ogoja, the political heartbeat of the Northern Senatorial District, had painfully degenerated into a glorified modern village, suffocated by decaying road infrastructure and years of governmental neglect.
Today, the landscape is changing before the eyes of everyone except Alphonsus Ogar Eba and his ilk who are determined to remain politically blind. Roads that once existed only in campaign promises are now tangible realities, connecting communities that had long been abandoned to isolation and despair.
Even more devastating to Eba’s warped and tendentious narrative is the transformation of his own Yala Local Government Area. For decades, communities endured the humiliation of poor accessibility, yet Governor Otu has broken that cycle through the Mfon-Okpoma-Okuku road corridor, restoring vital connectivity.
Ukelle, once practically detached from civilisation, now enjoys an asphalted road serving its two political wards. Yache is equally benefiting from modern infrastructure. These are not political slogans; they are enduring monuments of purposeful governance that reduce Eba’s accusations to nothing more than loud, vapid and empty echoes.
Representation tells an equally compelling story. If Governor Otu truly despises Northern Cross River as Eba ridiculously and outrageously alleges, why does Yala currently boasts three commissioners in the State Executive Council? Why does Obudu have two commissioners? Why has the Northern Senatorial District become one of the greatest beneficiaries of agricultural empowerment initiatives under the present administration?
Why was a government lodge of near-equivalent status to the seat of power being established in the North? Why is another ten-kilometre road scheduled for groundbreaking in Bekwarra? Why is the Governor committing billions of naira toward completing the Obudu Cargo Airport? Facts stubbornly refuse to cooperate with desperate propaganda.
Perhaps the greatest irony lies in the messenger himself. Alphonsus Ogar Eba speaks with remarkable confidence about political value, yet his own record remains a monument to spectacular failure. As Chairman of the APC in 2023, he supervised one of the party’s most embarrassing electoral outings in Cross River’s history.
Under his watch, the party surrendered two local government areas, a senatorial seat, a House of Representatives seat, and two House of Assembly seats to the opposition. Such an unprecedented collapse hardly qualifies him as an authority on political competence. In his infamous political evangelism, what stood out most strikingly, was his questionable sprout from grass to grace and greed to avarice.
Indeed, that humiliating performance exposed a painful truth. Beyond the noise, the combative press statements, and the cultivated image of political relevance lay a frightening vacuum. Rather than strengthening the party, Eba became synonymous with internal discord, self-interest, and electoral disappointment. It is therefore unsurprising that many now question precisely what value he brings to Arthur Jarvis beyond his capacity for endless microphones and limitless accusations.
Governor Otu, meanwhile, remains focused on building roads instead of rehearsing grievances, connecting forgotten communities instead of manufacturing imaginary persecution, expanding opportunities instead of recycling bitterness. Leadership is measured by visible impact, not theatrical interviews.
While Eba continues searching for headlines with recycled indignation, the people of Northern Cross River are driving on roads that never existed under those who now pretend to be their defenders. No amount of sarcastic outrage can erase concrete achievements. And when history eventually renders its verdict, it will remember one man for constructing enduring legacies and the other for constructing convenient fictions.
OBOGO IS CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY AND SPECIAL ADVISER ON MEDIA AND PUBLICITY TO GOVERNOR BASSEY OTU