BAR TINA BANKU AGBOR IS READY FOR HIGHER CHALLENGES BY DOMINIC KIDZU

 BAR TINA BANKU AGBOR IS

READY FOR HIGHER CHALLENGES 

BY DOMINIC KIDZU 

Where there to have been a thousand people gathered in an open field, it would still have been easy to pick her out without hindrance because from her shoulders upwards she would be taller than most. Such is the sheer presence and dignity of her natural endowment that could persuade one to pay obeisance to her even before she is fully introduced and to seek to freely kowtow before her as soon as she is fully revealed. Greatness seems to have found her this way before it made indelible history in her name and gifted her to Cross River State in its service and honour.

BARRISTER TINA BANKU AGBOR is a scintillating work of vintage art, a rarity that avails itself only once in a long time, poignant, enigmatic, consistent, irrepressible, yet humble in service in a way that can only honour her and command the rest to listen and to learn. She started her early education in Boki Local Government Area before departing the shores of Nigeria for the United Kingdom in search of the golden fleece. She soon returned with a law degree from Thames Valley University, Ealing College, London, enrolling for the Nigerian Law School in Lagos upon her return in 1992. She would later obtain a Masters degree in Managerial Psychology (MMP) while practicing law - specializing in Real Estate Acquisition, Sales, Management and Title Perfection.

Severally she ran for elective office but came against stiff male chauvinism and conspiracies from the cult of manhood in her native Boki. In the elections into the Cross River State House of Assembly in 1999, she was coasting home to certain victory with thousands of votes ahead of the rest when the result was dramatically changed in favour of one of her male opponents who had been lagging behind her all day long. She took over the Borum Oilpalm Estate from the Cross River State Government on a lease agreement and ran it so efficiently that she began to make tons of money even as a young girl before she was unfairly petitioned to the military administration of the day which seized the estate from her.

When Governor Ben Ayade appointed her Secretary to the State Government in 2015, many believed that it was a fitting compensation from the Almighty God for the political wounds she had unjustly endured, adding further credence to the dictum that one's destiny could only be delayed but not denied. It was also a just recompense for the educated and hardworking women of Cross River State whose toil and efforts have hardly been rewarded with just and substantial desserts. Tina Agbor assumed the office of SSG with bold optimism, fair treatment of all those who came into her presence and undiluted loyalty to the man who gave her a second life in politics and a new hope for her tomorrow. 

As SSG she came against the most ferocious bandit in the history of Cross River State, self-styled General Obi Iron, who seized the palm estate that lie in the expanse of land between Oku his village and Borum, her village. Leading a band of about 100 heavily armed boys and making millions of Naira everyday from harvesting all the fruits from the estate, General Iron declared 'fatua' on the SSG and banned her from coming home. She was forced to personally begin the construction of an alternative road from Ogep Osokom to Borum with equanimity to avoid a bloody confrontation with the bandit. Even though several vigilante groups offered to assist her fight the warlord, she refused to give the order and bore her pain with fortitude until the so called General met his ripe and timely Waterloo in the hands of a combined squad of local vigilante and the Nigerian Army. 

As the countdown to the end of the tenure of the Governor begins poste haste, not a few Cross Riverians have wagered a bet upon the next direction of her political carreer, some even suggesting that she should run for Senate or at least the Federal House of Representatives in continuation of her service to the people and her state. Her cryptic response has been that "the mother dog licks its puppies one after the other. I am SSG today, and that is my only job for now. When that one comes to an end then we shall see what fate has in store for me. For now only the Almighty God and my boss know which direction I shall be asked to follow and when that time comes, either sooner or later, I will accept whatever directive I am given with humility and obey ".

She believes very completely in her boss, without question or doubts, because he can do no wrong, can make no mistakes and is forever the illumination that lights up her paths. She is the warehouse of the AYADEISM philosophy which propounds a whole new body of economic and political theories that defy settled contemporary principles and provides new solutions to the nation's socio - political and economic concerns. She refers to him with reverence as the GIANT ALAKUKU OF AFRICA. He has become to her something of a personal totem in whose political shrine she is the goddess who carries out his instructions with complete obedience and belief.

She is forever speaking glowingly about the industrial revolution that Ayade brought about and the enormous financial and employment opportunities that it will enable for the youths of the state. Ticking off the factories one after the other on the fingers of her hands, Bar Tina Agbor is never tired of reeling out the different entities, their functions and capacities in addition to their suitability and desirability at this time. She believes that when all the Ayade industries begin to perform optimally, hiring workers at full capacity, Cross River State will never be the same again as it will finally be de - coupled from the federal feeding bottle system. 

Having undergone patient tutelage at the feet of the Governor himself for all of eight years she has ripened into a confident and disciplined administrator with critical emotional intelligence. With her wide experience and exposure on the global stage, Barrister Tina Agbor is a leader that is ready to take over as Governor, or deputy thereof, if not sent to hold forth at the National Assembly. It cannot be conceived where the pendulum will finally swing. What is without doubt however, is the fact that she cannot be passed over having earned her entitlement through unblemished loyalty, painstaking hard work and overarching belief in Governor Ben Ayade, who she confesses is her own god on earth. 

As the irreverent hustling for higher offices amongst her colleagues in the state Executive Council climbs to octane pitch and intricate plans for electoral successes are being laid out, Barrister Tina Banku Agbor has continued to restrain her supporters, hundreds of whom she brought into government for the first time in their lives, to remain calm and wait for the time and the chance since the race is not usually to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The year 2023 no doubt presents the certain prospects of a more robust and challenging assignment for this smart and ebullient amazon of the politics of Cross River State with a wide national reach and the courage to dare.

DOMINIC KIDZU is the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information.