2027: My Govt Will Be Citizen-Centered, Not Existential - Nkoyo Toyo
By Missang AKPET
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Cross River State, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, has unveiled her vision for the state, saying her administration will shift governance from mere survival to a thriving, people centered society.
In a chat with newsmen in Calabar, Toyo said the ADC has developed a comprehensive manifesto anchored on bringing together citizens, the economy and institutions to build a productive nation.
"What we are trying to do is to bring together citizens, country, economies, and all the different things that make up a thriving society. We are suffering and surviving. This is existential. We must go out of this existential mode into a more thriving environment," she said.
Toyo criticized what she described as the prevailing political culture in Nigeria where anything is considered fair in politics, including religion and matters of faith.
She said the ADC is built on a different philosophy that emphasizes rule of law, accountability, security, productivity, protection and empowerment of citizens.
Taking a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the gubernatorial candidate said after 12 years in power, the APC has no tangible achievements to campaign with, resorting instead to personal attacks on opposition figures like Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar.
"Whether we like it or not, if you are not suffering, you must be living in an outer spaspacece which is not called Nigeria. The story of Nigeria in the last 12 years has been progressive suffering and we are at the apex of that suffering," she stated.
The former member of the House of Representatives decried the level of impunity and non-accountability in the country, citing insecurity in Calabar, including an incident in the neighbourhood of the governor's residence, and prolonged power outage in some areas without government response.
She specifically lamented the atomization of the state into small, disempowered ethnic groups, which she said has rendered the state politically insignificant and not a swing state at the national level.
She advocated for total decentralization of power and local government autonomy as a pathway to rebuild communities from below, arguing that this is critical to controlling mineral resources and preventing land dislocation by external interests with licenses from Abuja.
According to Toyo, her priority areas, in line with the ADC national blueprint which includes return of subsidy to make the country more affordable, will include education, agriculture, economy, energy, environment, mineral resources, foreign policy, rule of law, health, human capital development and social protection.
Other areas include productivity and industrialization, infrastructure and transport, and security sector reform.
"We have a philosophy. We have a belief system. We believe that beyond the various discussions, the citizens are at the center of everything we are trying to do," she added.
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