UNEASY CALM GRIPS A STATE IN NIGERIA AS ITS GOVERNOR EMBARKS ON FRENCH LEAVE .

By Jonah Okah

As workers groan and contend with months of non payment of salaries in a state down the ocean of the Niger, fears and worries have gripped the state and top government officials as its governor embarks on french leave for over two weeks without transmitting an official letter to  the House of Assembly or formal handover to his deputy.

The action by the said governor has fueled widespread rumours and speculations across the state and beyond and constituting the talk of  the town in drinking joints and eateries.

The long absence of the said governor is coming on the heels of frustrations, pains and disillusions boldly written all over the faces of workers coupled with the parlours state of the economy of that state occasioned by mismanagement in a maner that many small scale business enterprises are relocating to neighboring states because of the increasing excruciating difficulties of doing business.

Political office holders too are grudging and worried on why the said governor could create such a bad history of governance by leaving the state without a word for the people he was elected to serve leading on to self-inflicted rumours.
They wondered why he could not hand  over formally to his deputy who had displayed uncommon loyalty and commitment to service.
Long absence of the governor is further fueled by his visible absence in political activities involving his party and serious matters of governance at the national level involving his colleagues .

Meanwhile, close allies of the said  governor  have embarked on dry fast seeking God's intervention for peaceful return of the governor while some workers are on the other side of the fence  praying that  even if the rumour is not true they are asking God to make it a reality for the people of the state to enjoy good governance like its counterparts in Cross River state that are paid salaries promptly and even in advance by its governor.

Interestingly, in spite of the worries and enquiries about the whereabouts of the governor, mum has become the rule as no serious and dependable official statement has been issued to that effect.
Those closed to the governor have dismissed the rumour as the usual attitude of the people of the state at any time the governor jets out of the country, describing it as wicked and callous.

The question however on the lips of the people of the state is,  'Don't we have the right to know the whereabouts of  a governor we elected to govern us? Why did he choose to leave the state when his house is on fire? '. Whether the answers are provided or not, the answers could be anybody's guess in this digital era.