OUR THRUST, OUR BOND: AN INAUGURAL SPEECH BY THE SPEAKER OF THE CROSS RIVER STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY RT. HON. ELVERT AYAMBEM ON THE INAUGURATION OF THE TENTH ASSEMBLY ON JUNE 14 2023.
Protocol
Gathered at the threshold of history, we have come to add an extra push to how much we can as a people achieve for our fatherland, Cross River State, the nation’s Paradise; as members of the 10th Cross River State House of Assembly who through the goodwill of our people have earned the onerous task of working the progress of this piece of God’s own estate, to which we thank the Almighty God, who has remained our help in ages past, and whose help, even on this new assignment will neither wane nor wither.
It was Abraham Lincoln who said that “when a man forgets the language of gratitude, he is not in speaking terms with his creator”, to which I greatly accept in the expression of my deep gratitude to his Excellency, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Prince Bassey Otu, whose benevolence and patriotism overlooked self-serving sentiments that could have threatened our journey to a partnership that promises our people a future of wholesome sweetness. Your Excellency, let me on behalf of my colleagues put on record that we will make you and our people proud.
I am not any less grateful to our stakeholders, whose contributions from our evolution as South-Eastern State to this day have facilitated our journey thus far. This beyond political sentiments of the moment seeks to recognize the state as a single constituency, where men and women defied sleep and personal comfort in the making of a paradise out of Africa’s troubled giant. We affirm that our resolve to preserve the labours of our heroes past has not found more expression than it would in the 10th Assembly, which I cristen the Peoples’ Assembly.
Drawing from my all time most motivating scripture in Phillipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” I remember with nostalgia my journey to this day; not much of hard work, but divine grace of God that spotted me at the lowest ebb, where the certainty of next meal was much more a phantom than its possibility. I will forever be grateful to the gallantry determination of my parents who strived to ensure our economic realities did not define our future. Today,I am here and can boldly exclaim, “na me be dis”? Many thanks to Mr Sylvanus and Caroline Ayambem; not forgetting my ever praying wife Nelly Ayambem and my family. Your Boy Elvert is the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, I hope my story motivates more young people, even those who think the future as bleak.
To my colleagues, I am neither your boss nor leader, but just a privileged first among equals. I do not take this confidence you have reposed in me for granted, conscious it could have been any of us in this hallowed chamber. From the high mountains of Obudu to the estuaries of Odukpani, from the agrarian settlements of Ikom to the swampy neighbourhoods of Bakassi, thick forests of Akamkpa to the fertile lands of Bekwarra, cosmopolitan neighbourhoods of Ogoja, Calabar South and Municipality, twenty-five of us are here gathered. Whatever vehicles of political persuations facilitated our coming this far, must at this point lose its relevance to the bipartisan conversation of a greater Cross River State.
This is to emphasize that our membership of the tenth Assembly must not be lost on the realities of time; hunger, insecurity, underdevelopment, unemployment and weak institutions respect no political alignments. This is the reason this assembly must overlook political differences and give priority to project Cross River where everyone finds what will be more than put food on our tables, guide our growth trajectory towards what is sustainable and profitable.
The joy of this day is replete with burdensome expectations from men and women who braved the elements at the long queues to ensure their votes were cast, the least we can do to reward these patriots should be getting our institutions to work at optimal levels to assuage the pull of a downward socioeconomic realities on a people that have shown desired determination at championing a change that will serve more than a generation; all they are asking for is a functional system, and this does not look like what we cannot give.
Looking through this chamber, the most of us are products of public educational and health systems, though terribly bastardized in the interim, the fortunes of our systems are not irredeemable. In those institutions lie true testaments of the resilience and pioneering efforts of our forebearers, which we must as an assembly work to reposition. With reputable stakeholders, we will in this joint task work to return public education and healthcare in our state, to its era of glory. This is more possible than replacing them with new systems that promote capital flight in an economy that is already gasping for breathe.
We have not reported for duty without a plan; ours is an ambitious agenda that will reposition our state. These much can be achieved through ensuring members are given the conducive atmostphere their legislative duties require. This will in ways than few motivate every member of the tenth assembly for utmost productivity. Through community briefs and constituency consultative platforms, we will galvanize the entire state to the offerings of a proactive legislature, that way, there would be no arm chair legislator in the current assembly.
Sensitive to the necessity of the moment, we are conscious this is no time to proof how confrontational an assembly can be. We will deploy consultations and negotiations as we walk hand in gloves with the Senator Prince Bassey Otu administration to hasten the reinvention of Cross River State into the paradise of our dream. Achieving this will sure not come without concessions and sacrifices, but rest assure whatever will be required of the assembly under my watch to partner the executive in the development of our state is already a given.
We are not ignorant of the enormity of work on the table, outside here, across our various constituencies are people and institutions groaning under the claws of obsolete laws. This is an area, we as an assembly will be declaring an emergency on, to ensure our laws are unbundled, reviewed and made to cater for our everyday need in line with demands of time and contemporary realities. This will not happen without ruffling a few feathers, but let nothing dare our resolve, we have come as partners to help Cross River work.
In ending here so as not to bore your already stretched day, let me plead that you allow us all the access we need in your homes, offices, farmstead, hamlets and communities where we will be regular visitors on consultation and conversations; comparing notes on how better we can get this job done. While we settle into it, I am confident the tenth assembly will have the support of every citizen.
Thank you for your time and favour of indulgence, as I once again warmly welcome you all to the Peoples’ Assembly.
God bless Cross River State.
Rt.Hon.Elvert Sylvanus Ayambem.
Speaker Of The Cross River State House Of Assembly.
