By Our Reporter
The Deputy Chief Press Secretary (DCPS) to Governor Bassey Otu, Mr Edem Darlington, has reacted to an article written by a Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Austin Ibok, which is believed to have portrayed Governor Otu’s administration in bad light.
In his reaction, titled ‘Austin Ibok, I pray knowledge finds you speedily,’ Mr Darlington said he was responding to Mr Ibok’s write up as a private citizen and not in his capacity as DCPS.
His words: “I wish to begin by stating clearly that this response to a certain Austin Ibok’s lame write up is in my personal capacity as Edem Darlington, a private citizen, journalist and a proud Cross Riverian and not in my official capacity as an aide to the Governor.
“This is because, before my appointment, I have always been a social crusader for good governance and because no single person remains in government for ever, I know very well that one day, I will leave and return to the trenches, when that happens, I will continue to work for the good of our people.
“Having said that, let me say that even though Austin Ibok does not deserve the response of any intelligent and smart person, because of his puerile write ups, however, it is important to properly educate the public so as to save some vulnerable Cross Riverians from falling into his falsity.
“Let me say that I look forward to educating Mr. Ibok about basic principles of advocacy, I honestly will not mind giving him free tutorials so he can be well equipped. Apart from using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and CHATGPT to write, I believe the free tutorial will help him get better in his new found love.
“Ibok’s Fallacy and What the truth is:
Ibok’s Fallacy
1. He alleged that some staff of the forestry commission have not been paid:
“What the truth is:
In December 2023, the Cross River State forestry commission put out advertorial for the recruitment of forest guards, steps after steps, procedure after procedure, the commission went through all due processes and eventually published names of successful candidates.
“Soon after that, a date was fixed for training of the successful candidates after which they went through all other processes before obtaining their appointment letters. All these took months.
“As usual, some dubious persons attempted to overbloat the list and because the Governor is one who is given to details, he quickly noticed the misnomer and asked that the process be put on hold and after a thorough verification, the blanket was lifted just a few months ago.
“It is unfortunate that the said Austin have no iota of knowledge about the workings of the civil service (even after serving as Special Adviser to governor Ben Ayade ), otherwise, he would have known that as a civil servant, one will have to work for few months before being paid.
“I can understand Mr Ibok’s intellectual poverty and destituteness, because when you lie to feed, you will have to live all your life lying. The gibberish Austine put out could be described as bare, empty and a baseless allegations.
“2. Ibok’s allegations about staff of cultural center and audit office.
“For over 20 years, those beautiful dancers and thespians at the state cultural center worked hard to earn as low as N13,000. This is not a joke, some of them have been there as long as 30 years, not as permanent staff but as casual or contract staff.
“It was untill Governor Bassey Otu came on board that he began the process of ameliorating the agony of the people by directing the immediate employment of some of them. That process saw over 47 of them employed while about 24 of those who were employed but left abandoned were promoted including a deputy director.
“It was the governor’s magnanimity that motivated the Cross River contingents to the recently concluded National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) held at the FCT to clinch a silver gong and return home victorious having emerged second best overall winner in the country.
“The fact is that, the governor is a good man who leads with the fear of God by putting the people first.
“I will avoid the temptation of taking on Austin Ibok for now, I will allow him face the harsh financial condition he is currently going through in the United Kingdom where he ran to under the cover of his wife’s professional career and the humiliation of having to work as a security guard.
“It is only a fool that tests the depth of a river with both feet.”
