An Abuja-based lawyer and arbitrator, Dr. Dorn cKlaimz Enamhe, has praised Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade for introducing aptitude tests for appointees.

He said the decision to subject nominees of political appointment to mandatory integrity and aptitude tests before forwarding their names to the House of Assembly for confirmation was a welcome development.

In a chat with our correspondent, Enamhe said: “ It ought to be a thing of joy and relief, considering that for the first time, there will be a dispassionate way of assessing prospective commissioners, Special Assistants and other officers of the state with a view to identifying their peculiar strengths and weaknesses.

“It will also assist to identify the mental alertness of those who will assist the erudite governor to drive the vision and policies of his administration rather than merely juggling a list submitted by political leaders at ward, local government and state levels.

“Come to think of it, is this not what past governors did, howbeit, mentally and without a definite format? Isn’t it a plus that now there will be specific considerations known to all three members of the committee headed by a learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Paul Erokoro who should submit a report based on pure facts in addition to the fact that the nominees have been recommended?”

Commenting on President Muhammadu Buhari’s botched visit to Cross River State, Dr. Enamhe said: “ There are many lessons to learn here, it’s great to know that a breach of procedure can be curbed by a lot of things in Nigeria like what just happened.

“The Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA) is ongoing and should be completed without event. Certainly, there cannot be such an adverse impact that would warrant the project being stopped, especially as the road does not affect our forest reserves as many people would like to believe in order to further criticise Professor Ben Ayade.

“The governor is a Professor of Environmental Law, whose programmes are environment and people-friendly. For instance, he recently provided for the recruitment of more than 500 people into the Green Police whose main responsibility is to guard our forests, our biodiversity, ecosystems and ensure sanitation in the state

“The other day, he led others to clean up the capital city, Calabar and this he has done several times.

“Also he has been in the forefront of making sure civil servants come to work early. He has set a standard in the state by being there before the rest.

“He has also personally made sure that salaries that were owed were cleared and is in the process of clearing the remaining backlog of salaries. He negotiated with the Judiciary workers and got them to call off their several months strike which paralysed the courts in the state like many other states of the Federation.”

On the challenge of child labour and prostitution in the state, Dr. Enamhe said: “The State Government has a programme tagged: “Operation Skolombo” to take care of them.

“The government recently cleared Calabar of the menace of street prostitution and other social vices, showing clearly his no-nonesence intolerance for social menace.

“It is more pertinent now than ever, so all hands must be on deck to give our governor the expected support. He has kept his word, the materials for the garment industry have already hit the ground and, but for a few technical issues that are now being resolved, the Super Highway project would have gone very far.”

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