Duke/Imoke Tango And The Death Of Honour

By Dan Amor

"If our credit be so well built,
So firm that it is not easy to be shaken
By calumny or insinuation,
Envy then commends us,
And extols us beyond reason
To those upon whom we depend,
Till they grow jealous,
And so blow us up
When they cannot throw us down"-  Clarendon.

Former governor of Cross River State (1999-2007), Mr. Donald Duke and his successor, Senator Liyel Imoke, who governed the state between 2007 and 2015 have been best of friends. They know how they and one of their own, Senator Gershom Bassey, came together and drew up a blueprint for the New Cross River  State prior to the current democratic civilian dispensation in 1999. 

*Duke handing over to Imoke in 2007 

(pix: crossriverwatch)

As progenitors of the intricate power calculus in the state, they know what arrangement they had behind closed doors as to who among the three musketeers would give the first shot at the governorship of the massively agrarian state. They also know how they have been helping one another from when they met up until today. As politicians, they know that crisis is part and parcel of the game of politics. And they have, individually or collectively, been in and out of crisis after crisis in the course of their involvement in the political engineering of the state. It is common knowledge in Cross River State that in 2007, Duke did not support Imoke to succeed him. He actively encouraged and financially supported his Deputy, Walter Nneji to run against Imoke, an aspirant whom Imoke roundly defeated at the primaries.

Yet, since the build up to the 2015 general elections, Duke's political temperature has had to rise to fever pitch time and time again. At a time when even erstwhile strange bedfellows were aligning and re-aligning for relevance, Duke who, at a time, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on whose platform he rose to power but was brought back by his benefactor, Imoke, was said to have openly lambasted the latter in a clandestine or cavalier manner. According to reports, Duke, against the backdrop of the 2015 political engineering, had an ulterior motive to hijack the party structure from Imoke who ideally was the leader of the party in the state as the then sitting governor. At a reception for Goddy Jedy Agba, a governorship aspirant, by a faction of the party in Calabar, the State capital, Duke was said to have derided Imoke for the crisis that rocked the State chapter of the party.

He was said to have queried the veracity of Imoke's claims on the development of the state vis-a-vis the economic health of the state under Imoke. As though he was out to disparage his successor or to challenge him to another round of political combat, Duke called Imoke a dictator without looking back at how he (Duke) behaved while in power including his relationship with his late Deputy, John Okpa. Like the proverbial monk who wants to have his cake and eat it, Donald Duke is once again in the news, for the wrong reason of promoting mischief. In a cover interview he granted Newswatch Times magazine dated July 2015, Duke gave a false narrative of his relationship with Imoke and his successor's role over the fate of his legacies. It was headlined "How Imoke Ruined My Efforts- Duke." As if that was not enough, Duke granted another interview to a new magazine, The Interview dated August 2015, a section of which was used to attack Imoke.

*Donald Duke, as Governor of Cross River State, holding 

up the keys to the Tinapa (pix: tinapafreezone)

It's astonishing reading Donald Duke in the conversation with The Interview alleging that his successor, Liyel Imoke did not follow through with his vision. What a fabrication! Of course, every administration wants to build its legacies. Even the present Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari has said it would not continue with some of the policies of its immediate past predecessor. But there is no administration that preserved the legacies of its predecessor like Imoke's since the current civil rule began in 1999. Let's take, for instance, the Calabar Carnival and Festival. Duke started it, and every informed Nigerian knows from where Imoke took it over. It is now on the global annual calendar. Imoke has turned it into a massive revenue earning, labour generating and talent hunting event. The Imoke administration introduced the Children Carnival, the Cultural Parade, and the Kings and Queens competition. Every informed Nigerian knows that Imoke took the Carnival to unprecedented height. So, how can you now say that he ruined your efforts? In the same vain, the Obudu International Mountain Race which Duke initiated celebrated its tenth mountain race anniversary with increased international participation and grew to become the official African Mountain Race Championship under Imoke.

The Tinapa case is even more beguiling than it appears to the general public due largely to Donald's use of the media to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians and the world at large. We must admit that Duke built a project without tenants. International best practices demand that you secure anchor tenants even before the foundation is laid. Duke continuously makes reference to Walmart coming to Tinapa, but he doesn't have any agreement to that effect. Duke did not even have a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU). If Duke had wanted Walmart to come, why did he now open Tmart? If Imoke was going to stop Walmart, why did he not stop Tmart which belongs to him (Duke)? And how well did Tmart do in Tinapa? To be candid, it was Tmart that drowned Tinapa. Walmart and other retailers have discovered that Tinapa was not suitably located and did not have any clear operating or regulatory framework;  they realized that the Duke administration didn't take into consideration some critical elements from the onset. It was touted as Public Private Partnership project, but now, everybody knows that the burden of Tinapa is being borne by the Cross River State Government. Yet, in spite of all the burdens and debts, there are things that Imoke did to protect someone who is now saying that he (Imoke) did not want to continue with his legacies.

*Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke 

inspecting  one of the coaches of the Calabar

(pix: crossriverwatch)

It was Imoke who got the operating licence for Tinapa in 2008/2009, when the Customs operating regulations were approved. The simple truth is that Duke touted Tinapa as Nigeria's Dubai when, in fact, as a governor, he could not in anyway change or amend the constitution or the fiscal policies of the Federal Government. All Duke did was put massive warehouses and line shops in place at the expense of the taxpayers. Secondly, Duke knows that when Tinapa was commissioned, the hotel, the water park and the studio were not ready. One of the first things the Imoke administration did was to get a loan of N3billion specifically to complete those outstanding projects in Tinapa. In fact, the hotel became operational during Imoke's tenure. Imoke even introduced a new conference facility in Tinapa, even as he introduced a children amusement arcade all in the hope of bringing in some traffic to the complex. Imoke made offers to companies like Silverbird to take over the studio but Silverbird refused. Imoke made offers to Shoprite, and all of them said Tinapa was wrongly located; that Calabar did not have what it takes to bring business to Tinapa. Indeed, the failure of Tinapa is not due to lack of effort. Very clear effort was made by the Imoke administration including the completion of the studio and signing of an agreement with Ebony Life TV, which today is operating from Tinapa.

Tinapa was without electricity. The Imoke administration ensured that power supply was brought there, and everything else at the cost of billions of Naira. But Duke would have Nigerians believe that Imoke ruined his efforts. This is because Imoke is media shy and does not talk. Duke is enamoured of politics of belligerence and has become its virtual synonym. He believes, like Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian theorist of The Prince fame that to have peace, there must be war. But Imoke is a man of peace, always contented with the fruits of the spirit. He is a gentleman whose aristocratic upbringing would not permit to wallow in delusion of grandeur. Were it not for the fundamental failure inherent in the structure of Tinapa, Imoke's effort would have been enough to jumpstart the project. But we hear Duke claiming that there is hope as he is discussing with Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON. He should be asked who approached AMCON. It was Imoke who approached AMCON and actually signed the AMCON Agreement that Duke is making reference to. It was the Imoke administration that went through the whole arrangement of inviting AMCON, sitting down with them, negotiating the agreement, and now Duke wants to take the credit. Imoke's greatest mistake was that in an attempt to shield his friend and predecessor from public odium and disgrace, he tried to deodorize the white elephant project called Tinapa which Duke fraudulently used to attract headlines. Yet, unfortunately, while Imoke was in office as governor, Duke tried to stop AMCON from concluding the transaction through subterfuge and blackmail. Duke is now trying to conclude it with the new governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, but unfortunately the management of AMCON has been dissolved. 

Duke has made reference to Imoke not wanting his projects. By the way, what business has a State government operating a commercial entity? Duke ended up making the state to bleed from a project that was not well designed. Even when KPMG, the consultant, was asked how come they were a consultant to such a white elephant project, they said that what was developed was not what was recommended. The truth of the matter is that all effort was put in, resources mobilized to make Tinapa become operational. That the studio is working, the water park , the children amusement arcade functional and the Tinapa Hotel operational, is to the credit of the Imoke administration. Again, that nothing has ever stopped anybody to come to do business at Tinapa was because the Imoke administration offered rent-free accommodation to investors at Tinapa. But a number of things hampered the operationability of Tinapa. It was developed as a Free Trade Zone which was in the Exclusive Legislative List, by a State government. Even the regulation was got by Imoke. Duke as a governor built the infrastructure of Tinapa without operating guidelines; without any regulations.

*Imoke at the launching of Nigeria’s second Software 

Incubation Centre in Tinapa (pix: techtrendsng)

It also behooves on Nigerians to know that according to the plan, the Calabar channels were supposed to be dredged but was outside the control of the State Government; the Federal highway was supposed to be dualized and the airport was supposed to be expanded. These were also not at the control of the State Government. So, all the critical elements that would have been put together to give Tinapa a small chance to grow were outside the control of the State Government. Now, how would a governor undertake a project in which he has no control over its critical success factors with such huge amount of tax payers' funds? All the success factors of the project were outside the control of the governor and government. He (Duke) should admit that the Tinapa project, from inception had failed. If there is any government that improved Duke's legacies, it is the Imoke administration. The failure of Tmart, which Duke owns is a confirmation of the fact that the Tinapa concept is flawed from the word go.

Again, the Monorail was the last project Duke abandoned. But, today, in spite of the lean resources at the disposal of the Imoke administration, though some of the monorail parts had been ordered, Imoke deployed those parts and brought in the monorail itself, to link Tinapa and the City of Calabar across the Tinapa Lake. There are also other projects which Duke did not complete that Imoke completed. One of such is the Lemna Road. He did not complete it; Imoke finished it. The Tinapa Road was a one carriage way. Imoke dualized it. When Duke left office in 2007, street lights were on Mariam Road alone, but today, the whole of Calabar Municipality, Federal Housing, Calabar South, have street lights. Every discerning Nigerian would know that Imoke refused to make public statements about Duke's Government. In fact, it was a rule in the immediate past administration that nobody criticized the government of Donald Duke publicly since governance was believed to be a continuum.

About the Ranch, Duke, in his grandiose ideas, went and spent billions of Naira for the Cable Cars. The cable car derived attraction but commercially it is a disaster. Even if the occupancy of the Ranch was high, it would still not have covered the cost of the cable car. The cable car is a high precision infrastructure project which is located where there is no traffic. Today, we hear that Duke is trying to do cable car in Lagos. Has he learned from his experience? The cable car in the Ranch, was what the Imoke administration spent millions of Naira to maintain and kept running throughout his tenure. The average cost of maintaining cable car annually runs into hundreds of millions of Naira, even though there is no traffic to generate commensurate revenue. Imoke even developed additional facilities at the Ranch. But Duke made a fundamental mistake. He went and bought wood from Finland, one of the coldest countries in the world, whose wood, as nice as it is in their country, cannot survive our weather. The rain, the humidity, the hot temperature in Nigeria, everything has affected the cabins and they are leaking.

So the question is: was that a wise decision especially when Cross River State is the biggest producer of wood in Nigeria? Maintaining that place is very expensive. It was during the Imoke administration that electricity was brought to the Ranch, something that was never there, just to reduce cost. They had to build sub-stations to draw electricity from the national grid to the Ranch. And this cost a fortune. The Imoke administration spent about N600million on the Bebi Airstrip, bringing in sophisticated landing equipment and consequently installed the doppler system because of the two aircraft that crashed. Donald has forgotten that people stopped coming to the Ranch due to those crashes. The government under Imoke had to spend close to half a billion Naira just for the airstrip recertification by the regulatory agencies in the aviation industry, and now flights can come to the Ranch. In doing so, and in a bid to save the Ranch from collapse, the Imoke administration had to procure a Dash-8 aircraft operated by Aero Contractor which remained with Aero Contractor that had an agreement to maintain the aircraft and operate flight to the Ranch at no additional cost to the state government. This is in contrast to  what obtained during the Duke administration when Duke was paying Aero Contractor N6million weekly for a flight to operate to the Ranch (with or without passengers). In fact, the Imoke administration inherited a huge debt including over a N100million that was not paid to Aero. Aero would fly to the Ranch but the State Government would pay the cost.

The cost of running the Ranch is heavily subsidized. The Imoke Government subsidized flights, the strip, the cable cars, the water park and power supply to the Ranch. Again, rather than hand over the Ranch to the private sector that had the capacity to handle such investment, Duke spent billions of Naira operating the Ranch. So, while others were going into privatization and commercialization, Cross River State under Donald was building hotels and resorts without any private sector involvement. It is this same man who is today saying that Imoke ruined his efforts. Since I started reading what Duke has been feeding the media with in the name of Imoke-bashing, I have been scrupulously contemplating the true meaning of honour. And I have been at a loss. I must confess my quandary. My dictionary, that reliable, authoritative resource text, has failed me. The dictionary has been led to rebellion by a supposed Excellency who has murdered honour in the process and has thus turned fighting in the media to his enduring epithet. Somebody who has risen to the position of a state governor ought to behave like a statesman rather than dancing naked in the public.

*Amor, a  journalist and public policy analyst, contributed this piece to SCRUPLES from Abuja. He could be reached with danamor98@gmail.com