By Bassey Ndifon
The real worth of a man is measured by the sum total of his elegant character traits; the integrity of his personage. However, unscrupulous characters have no qualms about integrity. Such people speak from both sides of the mouth; and are sepped in half truths; in most cases, shamelessly spewing outright falsehoods just to satisfy their whims and achieve immediate vain glory.
The above perfectly characterise the gubernatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC for Cross River, Senator Owan Enoh. Owan-Enoh appeared on a national television few days back to reinforce what many in Cross River know him for: a consistently inconsistent character. Janus- faced Senator Enoh may succeed in misleading outsiders, who are not in the know about his legendary duplicity but certainly not the people of this state. They know him too well.
It is a tragedy that a man who is seeking to lead, to govern Cross River could grit his teeth, put a bold face and tell bare- face lies in the full glare of Tv cameras. APC ought to be ashamed of Enoh. His friends ought to ostrice him for he is a disgrace to decency.
The man dies in him who manifestly eats his words and deny his own past. For example, while speaking against Governor Ben Ayade and his projects and policies on the TV programme, Senator Enoh shamelessly failed to admit that he had been a great fan of the Governor on account of his unmatchable re-invention of the state; the unprecedented infrastructural and socio-economic development in Cross River, and had infact at various times poured effusive praises on the governor's polices and projects.
Yes, the Janus spirit in him, the unbridled ambition to upstage Professor Ayade prevented Senator Enoh from informing his listeners that shortly after he was conducted round the Cross River state garment factory complex by Governor Ayade in 2016, he glowingly said the project will reposition the state economically.
This is what he said then: “The dream of the Cross River Garment Factory is happening right before our eyes, I am happy and marvelled by it.
"This can be likened to the Assumpta Cathedral in Owerri where, from outside, you cannot appreciate how huge the place is until you come in. So coming inside the garment factory, I can actually appreciate how little I am compared to the gigantic project I find here.
"When commissioned, it will not only generate employment opportunities but will also boost the economy of the state.
“I am overwhelmed that it is happening before our eyes, it was bound to happen and it has to happen now.”
The question Senator Enoh needs to answer is, what has changed between then and now? Have the Garment Factory and the other projects instituted by Ayade for which he praised the governor to high heavens suddenly disappeared from the radar of Enoh's memory? Enoh's supporters need to ask him if he indeed made the statement below and whether the Garment factory no longer exist.
If for political reasons the APC candidate now claim Ayade's projects, in his estimation, are non-existent, his supporters should ask him why he 'lied' to them in the past that such projects existed. Again, the question is, why is the same Owah Enoh who was excited by Ayade's projects now desperately trying to discredit them because he wants to be governor if not hypocrisy? Owan-Enoh can hardly conceal his chronic affliction: Consistent inconsistency!
Apart from applauding Ayade on projects, Enoh had also spoken glowingly about him in relation to workers' welfare. But today, a political ambition which watchers of Cross River politics say is death on arrival has blinded him; and led him astray.
This was Owan-Enoh before the Janus spirit took hold of him: "The Ayade- led government in Cross River State has shown great commitment to alleviating the plight of workers in the state with some pro-workers and people-oriented policies. As a demonstration of the governor’s commitment, workers now receive their salaries before the 25th of every month. In fact, I’m aware that workers in the state were paid their September salaries on the 23rd, which is a confirmation that this governor holds the workers in high esteem”.
It is ironic that a man who is a sitting duck in the Senate; who cannot lay claim to any bill in the upper legislative chamber in the almost four years of his presence there is questioning the performance of Governor Ayade whose magical strides in Cross River loudly resonate.
Comparing Ayade and Senator Enoh is like comparing a cow and lizard.The settled case is that Owan-Enoh is not fit to rule Cross River.
Now, lets compare Ayade in the Senate and Enoh as a serving Senator. In the seventh Senate, Professor (Senator) Ayade was outstanding. He sponsored a total of 47 bills and was rated the most vibrant Senator in the seventh senate. But in Owan-Enoh's case, what do we have? A deaf and dumb Senator who only regains his voice and hearing whenever he wants to utter unmitigated lies against those who helped him to climb the political ladder.Talk of Brutus!
Why would Owan-Enoh hide under the canopy of an ill- fated guber ambition to spread lies about the circumstances that led to the exit of Senator Ndoma Egba from the Senate and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP as he did during his TV appearance? Again, because his trade mark of inconsistency got better hold of him.
Senator Owan-Enoh failed to tell his listeners that the same unbridled ambition that is currently ruling his entire being also led to the displacement of Senator Egba from the Senate and subsequently PDP. He failed to mention that in 2014, he orchestrated the intrigues that made Senator Egba lose the PDP senatorial ticket for Cross River Central; and Egba's loss became his(Enoh) gain- Enoh was sworn-in as Senator on the platform of PDP in June 2015 on the ashes of Ndoma Egba's own ambition to return to the upper chamber!
How ironic that Enoh has now gone back to the very people he worked against. One's only advice to the clan of APC in the central zone and indeed the entire Cross River is to remember the timeless maxim: He who dines with the devil should do so with a long spoon!
In any case, Enoh's sordid gubernatorial dream will remain what it is: A dream.His ambition is dead on arrival because the people of Cross River will not allow anybody to distort the peaceful power equation in the state.
Coming from the Central zone, his election will dislocate the power rotation arrangement. Donald Duke from South was in the saddle for eight years as Governor; followed by Senator Imoke from Central who also did eight years.Senator Ayade is from the Northern zone and after his two term of eight years ending in 2023, power will rotate back to the South. Nobody in Cross River wants this beautiful power rotation formula truncated and this explains why Enoh's ambition is unpopular in the three senatorial zones.His own Central zone is even at the vanguard of the crusade against him.
Cross Riverians have clearly said they do not trust liars and those who speak from both sides of the mouth.Enoh is one.The people are angry that Enoh lied there are no equipment at the Cross River Rice Seeds and Seedling factory when infact the factory is suffocated with avalanche of state of the art equipment and machineries.
Senator Enoh is deliberately blind to Ayade-inspired industries that dot Goodluck Jonathan By-pass and in every local government in the state, but the people who benefit directly from these industries; whose living and econonic conditions have been vastly affected positively are witnesses to truth.
And if because of partisan politics Enoh cannot acknowledge the existence of the ultra modern Cocoa Processing plant Ayade being built in his adopted local government of Ikom to bring value to his people who are predominantly cocoa farmers, then the man who wants to be governor is irredeemably allergic to integrity. And Cross Riverians do not want an integrity- challenged character as governor!
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