By Prince Otu Arikpo
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a written agreement between parties that expresses their aligned will. This type of document also details the intent of a common line of action. On the scale of formal agreements, a memorandum of understanding is less formal than a contract but more formal than a handshake. A contract is a private written agreement, and unlike an MOU, it is legally binding and enforceable by a judge. Though MOUs themselves are not legally binding documents, they can still include a clause that becomes legally binding on all parties if well executed.
As our beloved Governor His Excellency, (Senator) Prince Bassey Edet Otu assigns portfolios to his Commissioner designates and while they prepare to start committing to any MoU on our behalf let us reflect on where we are coming from. It is a-given that previous governments over the years have wooed foreign investors via the politics of MoU. The question is “How many MoUs (out of the thousands) signed by past administrations is Cross River State currently benefitting from?”
Records show that the last administration in the State churned out MoUs like peanuts. From the Super Highway, the Deep Seaport in Bakassi, to the ultra-modern Toothpick Factory at Ekori (Yakurr LGA), every imaginary idea of government comes with at least three MoUs most of which were personally supervised and endorsed by the then Governor himself.
When he assumed office in 2015, Gov. Ayade toured Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand and China wooing investors and came back home with a bucket full of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) including securing the commitments of global brands like Japan Gas Corporation (JGC), Thai-Africa Corporation, China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC), etc. Some other MoUs entered into by the Cross River State Government includes:
In August 2016, then Cross River State governor, His Excellency, Senator Ben Ayade (KSJ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SkipperSeil Limited of Dubai, United Arab Emirates to ensure a 24-hour supply in Calabar, the state Capital. Eight years after, Paradise City has remained a blind spot with residents still resorting to self-help for their electricity needs;
In 2016, the Cross River State Government signed an MoU with Huawei Technology of China to completely digitalise the state with a 3G and 4G network, thereby making Calabar Nigeria’s first smart city;
In same 2016, the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) and the Cross River State Government in Ottawa, Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on education development;
Guided by a fiscal budget of `Qabalistic Densification’ in September 2019, then Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade directed the compulsory sum deduction of N55,456 (spread over twelve months) from the salary of every civil and public servant in the state for the purchase of biofuel cookers and lamps to fight climate change. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Alvila Technologies Limited;
In May 2021, the Cross River State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Zipline, a drone delivery company to deploy digital medical drones to supply medical vaccines and drugs to hard-to-reach areas in the state.
We have not heard anything about the impact of these MoU’s and countless others just like them. In 2019 an Elder statesman and Head of Service in Cross River State in the 1980s, Chief Wilfred Inah (of blessed memory), cautioned then Governor Ben Ayade against making governance in the state a one-man show stating that governance in the state should not be “ad hoc but procedural.
“If the governor of a state goes to China and falls in love with the transportation system he finds there, ordinarily, he should not sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to bring the project to his state without consulting his executive council.
“The right procedure is for a governor to find a useful project in China, come back and inform his commissioners, who in turn liaise with the permanent secretaries, directors and local business influencers (who are the professionals in the system), then do a needs assessment within the state and a position paper is produced.
“In the next State Executive Council meeting, the document will be debated, a decision taken and it becomes a government policy, which all the commissioners are abreast with and can explain because they are part of the decision-making.
For an MoU to translate to huge economic benefits for citizens of any state there must be seamless synergy between the government and key players within the state’s private sector. Global corporations involved in the implementation of the MoU would necessarily require inputs from resident businesses (including startups) to execute such an MoU. Some relevant aspects of an MoU document are foundational blueprints which indigenous investors could leverage to enter into economic deals with the entities involved. There should be a dedicated agency or state parastatal (e.g Ministry of Special Duties & Intergovernmental Relations, Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau, etc.) whose responsibility should include sensitizing the local business communities on economic potentials contained within specific aspects of government MoUs that they could leverage. Government must remain the linking force between international investors and indigenous/local players within the state’s economy.
Prince Otu Arikpo
Writes From Ugep, Cross River State
