As he marks his 50th birthday, Alphonsus Eba, a lawyer, politician, and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Cross River State, takes a moment to reflect on a journey filled with challenges, triumphs, and divine grace. Eba shares the milestones that have shaped his life, the lessons learned along the way, and why turning 50 fills his heart with deep gratitude to God. Joseph Ushigiale brings the excerpts
As you celebrate your 50th birthday today, do you have any regrets?
Let me use this opportunity to thank God Almighty, for the gift of life, the privilege of seeing this day. I was born on the 8th day of June 1975. It happened to be on a Sunday. This year, 8th of June is also a Sunday. And the best way I felt I should mark this day is to come before my Creator, God Almighty, to say thank you. That is why I tagged it ‘Birthday of Thanksgiving.’ To God be the glory. What will be my regrets? Honestly, my heart is full of gratitude to God, and this gratitude will overshadow whatever regrets if any. God has been so kind to me. In 50 years, there is nothing I have cried to God for that he has not done for me. The only regret is not having my beloved father to celebrate this day with me. My father could have turned 80 years on the 6th day, but I lost him almost two years ago. I wish he was alive to celebrate his 80th birthday, because we had planned to have a joint celebration. But I know it is God that gave him to us, and God has called him to himself. Nothing to regret about, but to thank Almighty God. How do I rate myself? The tiger, they say does not speak of its tigritude. But from what people say about my person, I will still leave that to be their judgment. What you have to say about me is left to you. On this day of my birthday, I will listen to the various comments that people have said about me. But from what I have read so far, it is on a positive note. Reputedly, Alphonsus Ogar Eba is a humble young man, he is hardworking, he is generous, honest, a loving family man, unassuming, down to earth, courageous, fearless, intelligent, has the fear of God, etc, all these positive things. But i also accept the comment that i am also gentle and very stubborn. I take all of them as compliments, but for me, I must say that this is one very happy day in my life. I thank God Almighty, I thank my parents, I thank my wife and my children, brothers, sisters and friends. I thank my bosses who contributed to my growth, the former Governor of the State, Ben Ayade and his family, Prince Bassey Edet Otu and family including all appointees of government, my colleagues in the party, schoolmates, my colleague state chairmen, all my aides working with me and my neighbors. I just thank God that as they celebrate me today, may celebration not cease from their lives.
Are you nursing any political ambitions ahead 2027?
The answer to your question is No. If you have followed my political life from my days in Fidelity Promotions, a social club in 1991, just when I was starting life and when I later became Secretary General and later President of that same club down to when I got into the university and my friends called upon me to run for the President of our department and later my membership of the Student`s Representative Assembly in the university, my representation at the NANS, National Association of Nigerian Students and then finally at the Student Representative Council of Nigerian law school in Lagos. In all of this, it was not as if I put myself out to aspire, but the call of my friends and their support was what brought me and led me through. Even when I came to party politics, the real political game and found myself aspired for the House of Assembly in Yala 1 in 2010-11 and 2015. It was all again the call by my people, my community, their trust and confidence in me, and the consensus that was reached that I should represent them that made me run. And even in 2015, when my then Governor, Ben Ayade came on board and made me Director General of Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau in the state and later gave me this opportunity and platform to become chairman of the party, I did not at any such time put myself out. So for me, aspiration has never been one thing that I am so much about. Only recently President Bola Tinubu, made me the Chairman of the governing board of the Rubber Research Institute in Benin. That will run maybe for the next four years. So like the bible says, ‘do not be anxious of what you shall eat or what you shall put on, for everything shall take care of itself.’ I do not believe in aspiring, I just believe that let every day come and let God take charge of my life.
You were the first APC Chairman pan-Nigeria who first moved the motion for the adoption of President Bola Tinubu and Governor Bassey Otu for a second term before it assumed a bandwagon twist, what informed that decision?
Let me first commend you for having the rich knowledge and deep institutional memory of the fact that I was the first APC Chairman Pan-Nigeria to officially endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Vice, Sen. Kashim Shetima alongside the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Bassey Edet Otu, and his Deputy, Dr. Peter Agbe Odey, as President, Vice President, Governor, and Deputy Governor respectively, for the offices of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that of the Governor of Cross River State. Yes, the saying that the steps of the righteous are ordered and ordained by God Almighty is what I can really say was the wisdom and drive or the brain behind that. You know, for me, I had looked at the political trajectory of Nigeria and knowing clearly that four years was too short a time for any President to perform to the satisfaction of the populace, and judging from the history of the last experience from 1999 till date, apart from the demise of our then President, may his soul rest in peace, President Umaru Musa Yar `adua, every other person that has come on board was expected to spend eight years in office. In fact, it became even clear that with the demise of the President, the then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan was only expected to complete his tenure. President Buhari that followed did his eight years. So for us, our dear President, Bola Tinubu, was not to do otherwise. But two years, or even less, into his administration, there became an unholy gang up of politicians who felt that the President should not be given an opportunity to run his full course. The saying that Nyanga dey Sleep, Trouble Come Wake am, again, made us to say, Oh, the opposition woke us up too early to fight for what is right, fair and just. So, I, alongside my State Executive Committee members, saw the need because of the track record of the performance of all that I have mentioned, and the need to give them time to complete their tenure of four years, and to have another four years, We were divinely guided. And I must say, it was nothing more than, or less than, divine guidance.
Cross River State has traditionally been known as a PDP-controlled state how did you flip it in favour of the APC?
Honestly, I can only give and return all glory to God Almighty. If you ask me how I did it, I would say it was not an effort that I solely achieved. But credit must be given to the former Governor of Cross River State, Senator Ben Ayade. And I say this with every sense of sincerity. I recall that it was the most difficult decision to take at the time. In 2020, there was an attempt, while we were still in the PDP, to make me the State Chairman of the party, but we had internal and external forces that fought the then-governor. In fact, the Congress list from the ward level to the chapter level was all tampered with by the then NWC of PDP on the instructions of some external forces. That battle raged for over a year. It only became imperative for the then-governor to chart a new political course for Cross River State. He took a very courageous decision, very bold, very daring, that a lot of people at the time did not believe. The feeling then was, how could a young Ben Ayade stand to challenge two former Governors who refused to decamp with us? The then Governor, Liyel Imoke, and Donald Duke were all in the PDP together, but they refused to decamp to the APC. On the 20th day of May 2021, when the then Governor, Ben Ayade took that decision, in what was described as the highest socketing to the centre and the first and ever socketing of Cross River State to the center. So if you ask me how I did it, I must place in proper perspective that credit should be given to Ben Ayade. Yes, I must also thank God for the wisdom he used in doing what was right, fair, and just. That decision was his insistence on a young man with so much energy whom God has prepared to serve the party from a senatorial district that has never produced the state chairmanship of the party to be considered.
That young man who once served as the Director General of Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau in Cross River State. The man whose voice you are hearing, my humble self. Ayade stood his ground and insisted I was his choice for state chairmanship. I made it very clear on the 16th of October 2021, when I took over that I was going to embark on political evangelism on the mantra of Peace, Love, Unity and Growth. I worked 20 out of 24 hours building the party, three years down the line, i am happy to report that it paid off.
What will you point to as the benefits of mainstreaming the state into the APC, what are the gains?
Yes, in terms of the benefits of mainstreaming to the APC, you would understand that there is nothing as good as socketing to the center. I recall what used to be the State of Cross River State during the PDP days, the very many disappointments we had from loss of Bakassi, I mean loss of our oil wells, the ceding of Bakassi and the infrastructure deficit are no longer the same. I must say that over time, with the APC, there’s been tremendous improvement in terms of infrastructure. Today, as you can see for yourself, the stretch of the road from the Ikom, through Alesi, through Ugep, down to Akpet Central, and around the Adim area, the APC-led federal government, since the period of President Buhari and now, the whole stretch has been covered, leaving only about 30 to 40 kilometers from Biase, through Akamkpa and Odukpani . Recently, I was with the Minister of Works, David Umahi, who assured me that Mr. President has given a commitment to ensure that portion of the road is done. The long-abandoned East-West road from Uyo to Calabar is presently receiving tremendous attention by the APC-led federal government. When the East-West road started across the entire South-South region, it got close to Port Harcourt and stopped there. It did not even get to the Ikot Ekpene axis. After Rivers State, that was the end of it. But today, the portion through Uyo down to Cross River State is being handled by three different contractors. Even when Julius Berger did not live up to expectations, it was re-awarded to another company, and only recently, another company, Hitech, has stepped into rehabilitating a very bad portion to handle with concrete technology. For us, so much has been gained. There has been a series of appointments coming to our state and we know , even though we are not yet there, but we are very positive that Mr. President has promised to do a lot for us, and we are surely getting there. The Lagos Coastal Road, the axis from Calabar towards Akwa Ibom, construction has started from that axis, and so it is our hope that with the completion of all this, the reason for why we ever socketed to the center will be fully realized. We are happy, and the gains that come our way, I think, are very numerous. With President Tinubu, our Hope is Renewed.
With just two years in the saddle and the drums of 2027 already beating how do you rate Tinubu and Otu in their individual performances?
The Tinubu-led federal government is seriously addressing the issue of insecurity from what it used to be when it went beyond the Northeast region to the South-South, to the South-East, to the North-West, North-Central and every part of this country shortly before the coming on board of the present administration. Today, from the North-West angle, even the people of Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto are proud to say that insecurity has been seriously curtailed. The North-Central had even stabilized until the recent sad experience in Benue State and Plateau but it is being addressed.
The situation in the South-East, where the whole of Imo, Anambra, and almost every part of South-east were no-go areas, is no longer the case. The rampant kidnapping of the South-South region has also been brought under serious control. So in terms of security, I would score the Tinubu-led government very well. In terms of economy, I must say factually that this country had no economy shortly before the President came on board. A situation where 97 percent of our revenue was being used to service debts including the issue of fuel subsidy, a cesspit of corruption was allowed a free holiday which was adjudged to be a fraudulent practice until that bold decision of Mr. President was taken to address this twin issue. I must say that today the kind of revenue we generate, the infrastructural development going on around the country, and then the issue of debt service that has been brought from 97 percent to around 60 percent today is a positive signpost of economic recovery. It shows that we are in a positive direction, by the grace of God, we will get better. The floating of the Naira, which today has brought a realistic exchange value is another achievement of Mr. President and the ripple effect of all this has brought increased employment because even those that have taken the path of agriculture are having high returns. For me, that we now have a realistic economic direction makes Mr. President a champion of all time. The respect today that we receive from the Committee of Nations, the rating of international organisations like the IMF, the Fitch rating, and every other international organisation shows that the President is in the right direction and I must commend the President for all this high-yielding initiative. The student loan scheme in terms of social services, the intervention in the health care, the credit scheme of the federal government, and all other interventions are game changers. The very laudable Lagos to Calabar coastal highway, and then the Lagos-Badagry superhighway, and the intervention across all sectors. Today, you get to Abuja, it is wearing a look that is similar to any country in Europe.
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