Former Senator for the Cross River South Senatorial District of Cross River State, Florence Ita-Giwa, popularly known as Mama Bakassi, addressed controversies about dissatisfaction of the Bakassi people with both the recently concluded 2023 presidential and gubernatorial elections.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, the politician spoke up on the various issues that caused insufficient conduct of the 2023 elections held in the Bakassi community situated between Cross River State and the gulf of Guinea. Though a large portion of the community is governed by the Cameroonian government, a portion of the Bakassi community is still located within Cross River state known as the Bakassi Local Government Area.
Mama Bakassi however expressed that issues during the election stemmed from the community’s total lack of infrastructure and the government’s negligence towards the community and its residence. This included the lack of proper mobility to the polling units as well as interruption for “freedom fighter” militant groups and insufficient facilities for the voting processes.
“You’re talking about improvement in the area but there’s nothing in Bakassi. I managed to build a town hall but there isn’t even a hospital. I’ve probed the government so much that at a point I began to look like the villain in the story so I backed down. But the government needs to do more for the Bakassi people of Cross River.”
According to Ita-Giwa, even when a 56-housing unit complex was erected for Internally Displaced Persons, the building was brought down by community members during the ENDSARS riot of 2020.
Though it was noted that a yearly amount of above 500 million had been dedicated to the an initiative noted as the Bakassi Stabilization Funds, the community activist denied knowledge of such funds and stated that for years, she had probed the government to actively take action in aiding the development of the Bakassi community and its people.
Mrs. Florence Ita-Giwa is wife to the late Dele Giwa, journalist, political activist and founder of the Newswatch Magazine. The politician is also a strong advocate for the growth of wellbeing of the Bakassi people.
During the election, out of 2460 accredited voters, only a little over a thousand were able to vote. A total of 3000-4000 persons were disenfranchised.
Glamour Adah
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