The anniversary of a land grab

NGO RRDC show shocked community members the true extent of displacement

On January 22nd 2016 the Governor Ayade administration of Cross River State in the Chronicle publication revoked rights of ownership of one quarter of the States land mass for a proposed “super highway”. A land mass 5 times the size of London seized for one road. Here is a map with SOME names of communities, towns, villages swallowed by the Cross River 400 m wide highway and its massive 20km offset.

After an outcry from environmentalists the Federal Ministry of Environment put a halt to the project pending an environmental impact assessment of a project which passes through much Nigeria’s last protected forests and over 180 communities. The Governor has been vocal about continuing with the project despite its controversy and the States heavy debt profile.
One year later the absurdity of the 20.4km width and the enormous loss of property and land stands unchanged. Many have no clue the road is gulping an additional 10 km on either side for a so-called “buffer zone” which aides have explained will be used to “build new cities” not reflected in any budgets.
Stories abound of unprecedented logging, documented destruction of farms and possible placement of “MOU” banana, sugar cane ethanol and other plantations owned by foreign investors on this seized land.
Here is a breakdown of the map starting from Bakkasi that shows in detail names of communities affected. This is clearly inconclusive but it serves as a guide. Note if your community name falls anywhere within the pink zone your land and property is no longer yours. If it is on the line then it falls within the 400 m for the actual road. You can neither sell, develop, take any loans or use it as equity for any business. It ceased to be yours 6 weeks after the land was revoked on 22nd January 2016.

Enjoy the silence and happy anniversary! Pamela Braide

Special thanks to NGOCE for providing the map. They have a huge one hanging in the office.

Section 1.

The map from which above excerpts were derived 

Map from NGO's with vegetation

Cross River Government notice. Jan 22nd 2016

Cross River Government notice Jan 22nd 2016

List of communities  affected  by cross river super highway extracted from map
by no means complete

List of communities  affected  by cross river super highway extracted from map
by no means complete

Videos

Amenism vs Doism we can do both

Online you see photos of BMW’s with instructions to type AMEN below it. I wish getting things done was that easy.

This is not an AMEN piece. It is a guide for Cross Riverians, and by that I mean residents and indigenes of the State at home and away who wonder if their land has been confiscated under the auspices of a super highway for which the Cross River State Government has revoked, on January 22nd 2016, one quarter of all the land in the state. Yes you read me right. One quarter. For a 12 lane “super highway” that ends in a rickety 2 lane road in Benue State. Width revoked 400m plus 10km on either side equals 20.4km. And this spans 260km so yes it IS a quarter of the land in Cross River State.

In 2015 Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade announced that he would focus on ambitious out of the box projects. A multi-lane super highway starting at a yet to be built deep sea port with internet access would be built at no cost to the state and end up in Benue State. People naturally rejoiced.

After bulldozers cleared (before their January 22 notice!) the highway was halted by the Fed Ministry of Environment to secure an EIA(environmental impact assessment).

Notes

1. A revocation notice is not “just a notice” as I have heard government aides explain. You will not lose your land, you have lost it. Read the notice.

2. Very few people along the path know they are have gone from landlord to landless.

3. This highway starts at something optimistically called a “deep sea port”. How? The ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon robbed us of our littoral status and that is the singular reason Akwa Ibom snatched our oil. First determine the feasibility of the “deep sea” port for a State that lost its access to the sea.

4. Usually when a high way is being built outliers enjoy business opportunities e.g. petrol stations, restaurants, guest houses, shops. Local market days move as close to the road as is safe and legal. 10km buffer zone says no.

5. People are ambivalent about the environment. But I’ll still drop these numbers. Nigeria has 4% of primary forest left. 70% of that is in Cross River. Much of that falls within the path of this road and its 20km “buffer zone”. Cross River villages do get buried by mudslides. That’s what rushed logging does. Make of it what you will.

Am I against development? Of course not. However the unprecedented quantity of land, the inexplicable path of this road from a deep sea port without a sea and the inability of Government to compensate even people whose crops were destroyed in the initial construction is deeply worrisome. As Odigha Odigha said Cross River State is 70% agrarian, and 90% of our bloody communal clashes are land related. ANY development of this nature requires DEEP consultation and minimal foot print to avoid more confusion and not a 20.4km width.

What can you do?

Typing AMEN will not return your ancestral land title. So here are some tips.

1. Download a copy of the revocation and map notice to confirm if you are affected. Show a surveyor

2. Ask your elected officials what they are doing about this situation. They ALL know what’s going on. Force them to take a stand for their constituents.

a. Local Govt. Chair, Councillor

b. State house of assembly members(communities tried to meet them in the house to no avail)

c. National Assembly legislators — Senators and Rep members

3. Visit or write to the MDA for Lands

4. Discuss this in your holiday meeting at home. Help your community members whose farms and property have been bulldozed without compensation speak to officials. They feel frustrated and abandoned.

Last points

One road evacuating a yet to be built deep sea port does nothing for 70% of our agrarian communities who watch crops rot for lack of feeder roads. Will the crops be airlifted to the highway? Does the highway go anywhere else than rickety 2 lane road in Benue? Our Government should do massive construction of feeder roads to rural areas where crops rot for lack of good roads. Or where sick people can die bumpy bike ride on a track enroute to treatment. Fix what you have and build to serve the unserved.

ENGAGE YOUR ELECTED AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS THIS SEASON. FIND OUT IF YOU ARE HOMELESS.

Next year tell me how it went. I wish you the best. I will post pictures of my meeting with whichever Cross River elected officer I see. Let us help ourselves. AMEN!

Listen to those affected speak here and here and here and here

Pamela Braide

An abridged version of this  article appeared in the 25th of December in Cross River Watch

http://crossriverwatch.com/2016/12/amenism-vs-doism-we-can-do-both-by-pamela-braide/

Now the Climate Change Carnival is over... back to reality

Now that the Climate Change Carnival is over... back to reality

It is a new year ASK QUESTIONS and continue to ask until you get coherent answers from your leaders. They serve you. 

We want development with transparency. Development that will not cause more land conflict crisis in Cross River State Nigeria.

Happy new year and enjoy the picture.