It has become trendy in recent times for attention-seeking social media commentators to substitute noise for knowledge, outrage for investigation, and conjecture for facts. The latest social media outburst by one MC Okrika against the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, sadly fits this pattern and deserves a calm but firm response grounded in verifiable records.
First, it must be clearly stated that governance in Cross River State is not conducted on Facebook timelines or through viral rants. The Governor of Cross River State, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, is focused on deliberate, data-driven governance, particularly in the health sector, where reforms are being executed in clearly defined phases. Attempts to reduce such structured governance to cheap social media theatrics only expose the intellectual laziness of the critic.
The first two years of the Otu administration were deliberately devoted to the revitalisation of primary healthcare, the foundation of any functional health system. Out of 82 Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities currently undergoing revitalisation across Cross River State, Etung Local Government Area alone accounts for six, far above the state average of three to four PHCs per LGA. This singular fact alone punctures the claim that Etung has been ignored.
The second phase, already underway, is focused on secondary healthcare development, with priority attention on abandoned and uncompleted hospitals in Etung, Boki, and Akpabuyo; liabilities inherited from the previous administrations.
The attempt to weaponise the abandoned Referral Hospital in Effraya, Etung LGA, against Dr. Ayuk is not only dishonest but intellectually indefensible. On September 12, 2023 (see photos attached), barely months into office, Dr. Ayuk personally led an inspection tour of the Effraya hospital project and publicly queried its poor execution, describing the level of work done as less than 30 percent, despite huge sums already expended.
Far from shielding anyone, the Commissioner ordered investigations, directed the Department of Medical Services to probe the financial handling, and openly questioned why the Ministry of Health was excluded from supervising a project of such magnitude. These are not the actions of a man running from accountability, but of one confronting inherited rot head-on.
The facts further show that while three referral hospitals were initiated in 2021 in Obudu, Etung, and Akpabuyo; only the Obudu hospital was completed and is operational under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement. The other two were abandoned long before Dr. Ayuk assumed office. Logic, fairness, and elementary reasoning demand that questions be directed at those who handled and abandoned the projects, not the official currently working to revive them.
The claim that Dr. Ayuk has “held appointments for ages” is patently false. His only previous political office was as Chairman of Ikom Local Government Area from 1991 to 1993. From then until 2023, when Governor Otu appointed him Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ayuk held no political appointment whatsoever. Within those years, the well-read physician preoccupied himself with self-development and health development work, where he shone in reputable international organizations like AfriCare, Ghain, and FHI360. Facts are stubborn things, no matter how loudly social media seeks to distort them.
Equally misleading is the assertion that Dr. Ayuk has done nothing for Etung. His contributions are documented and visible, including the Ajassor Health Centre, Bendeghe Ekiem Health Centre, drainage infrastructure, educational support initiatives, and other interventions dating back to his time in public service. These are tangible projects, not social media soundbites.
Beyond policy articulation and institutional reforms, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk’s commitment to Etung is not abstract; it is practical, measurable, and ongoing. As a personal intervention targeted at human capital development, Dr. Ayuk has institutionalised and commenced a free scholarship programme for all JSS 1 students in public secondary schools across Etung Local Government Area, easing the burden on parents and reinforcing access to education at the foundational level.
In the health sector, his footprints are equally profound. Through free medical outreach programmes, Dr. Ayuk has already reached over 4,000 Etung indigenes in Bendeghe Ekim and Etomi, providing essential healthcare services at no cost to beneficiaries. Plans are already advanced to extend these outreaches to Nsofang and Effraya by the Easter period, ensuring equitable spread across the LGA. These are modest but impactful interventions which, by all objective standards, are unprecedented in Etung within any political or administrative setting.
Furthermore, Dr. Ayuk has played a pivotal role in the establishment of a free palliative medical services initiative at the Primary Health Care Centre, Titor, Bendeghe Ekim, targeted at pregnant women, children under five, and the elderly. This innovative programme, conceptualised under the Governor Bassey Otu-led administration, is designed to deliver free medical services to vulnerable populations at the PHC level. Notably, it has so far been implemented only in Calabar and Etung, accentuating the strategic importance accorded to the area and Dr. Ayuk's influence in translating policy into action.
Dr. Ayuk’s impact on human capacity development has been deliberate, strategic, and inclusive. A clear example is evident in the recent recruitment into the Cross River State civil service, particularly within the health sector. Out of approximately 60 newly engaged nurses, more than ten are indigenes of Etung Local Government Area, in addition to beneficiaries from Etung across other sectors of public service. This level of representation is neither accidental nor cosmetic; it reflects a conscious effort to correct long-standing imbalances and ensure fair inclusion. A fair-minded observer is challenged to compare this with any period since the creation of Etung LGA and point to a time when such a level of opportunity and access was extended to its people.
The attempt to elevate a contractor executing health centre renovations above the Commissioner for Health betrays either ignorance or deliberate mischief. Those projects came to Cross River State through World Bank interventions, made possible only after the state, through the leadership of Dr. Ayuk, committed and paid the required counterpart funding. Executing a contract is not leadership; securing the project in the first place is.
Leadership is not a lottery, nor is it awarded based on social media popularity. It is merit-based. The fixation on age and ambition in the rant under review is at best a distraction and at worst a confession of intellectual bankruptcy. The Otu administration has made it clear that competence, experience, and capacity, not noise, will define leadership choices.
While citizens have every right to hold leaders accountable, accountability must be rooted in facts, fairness, and sincerity; not sponsored cynicism or destructive rhetoric. Young voices must be careful not to allow themselves to be used as tools for smear campaigns against individuals with verifiable records of service.
Indeed, the present success story of the health sector in Cross River State cannot be fully told without worthy mention of the man called Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk. From policy direction to institutional reforms, from primary healthcare revitalisation to the deliberate push to complete abandoned secondary health facilities, his fingerprints are unmistakably embedded in the progress recorded so far. Any attempt to discuss health sector transformation in the state while omitting his role would amount to a willful distortion of facts.
No amount of hate speech, misinformation, or mudslinging can erase the documented achievements, institutional reforms, and visible commitment of Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk to the health and well-being of Cross Riverians. The facts speak clearly, and they speak for him.
In an era where governance demands competence over clout and results over rhetoric, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk remains firmly in a league of his own.
Kingsley Agim Ogbu, a Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from the ancient city of Calabar.
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