3 Best Governors Cross River State Has Ever Produced

By Eyo Nse,

Cross River State is a southern State in Nigeria so with that we will be listing out the best three governors the State has ever produced.

Some of this past governors has achieved alot that some of the current leaders find it hard to emulate their steps.

Below are their names;

1. Clement Isong

Clement Nyong Isong, CFR (20 April 1920 – 29 May 2000) was a Nigerian banker and politician who was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (1967–1975) during the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon. He was later elected governor of Cross River State (1979–1983) in the Nigerian Second Republic.

Yakubu Gowon appointed Isong governor of the CBN in August 1967, an office he held until September 1975. He headed the CBN during the Nigerian Civil War (July 1967 – January 1970) and during the subsequent oil boom. During his tenure Nigeria avoided running up unsupportable debts.

2. Donald Duke

Donald Duke (born 30 September 1961 in Calabar) is a Nigerian politician. He was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007 and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential candidate for Social Democratic Party, SDP.

Duke was born to Henry Etim Duke, and the second indigenous (after Ayodele Diyan) and longest ever serving Controller General (then referred to as Chairman board of Customs and excise duties) of the Nigerian Customs service.

He attended Corona School, Lagos and Federal Government College, Sokoto.

He received his LLB degree in 1982 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria – Nigeria, the B.L in 1983 from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos and a L.L.M. in Business Law and Admiralty in 1984 from University of Pennsylvania.

3. Liyel Imoke

Liyel Imoke (born 10 July 1961) was elected governor of Cross River State, Nigeria in April 2007, taking office on 29 May 2007. He is a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

In 1992, Liyel Imoke was elected a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the age of 30 during the Ibrahim Babangida transition government. His term ended with the dissolution of the government in November 1993 by the military regime headed by General Sani Abacha.

Between 1993 and 1999, he was a Managing Consultant at Telsat Communications, Lagos; Executive Chairman of Value Mart Nigeria, Lagos, and Executive Director of Trident Petroleum and Gas, Lagos.

In 1999, he was appointed a Special Adviser on Public Utilities by President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was Executive Chairman of the Special Board charged with winding down the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission. He was Chairman of Technical Board of the National Electric Power Authority.

Liyel Imoke hails from Agbo tribe in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State. His father, Dr. Samuel Imoke was a medical doctor who became a cabinet minister and leader of Parliament in the former Eastern Region. Liyel Imoke was born on 10 July 1961 at Ibadan in the then Western Region of Nigeria.

Liyel Imoke attended Mary Knoll College, Okuku, Ogoja and then the Federal Government College Enugu (1973–1977) for his secondary education. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics at the University of Maryland in the United States in 1982.

He then studied Law at the University of Buckingham, England, gaining an LLB degree in 1985, and then studied at the American University in Washington, D.C. where he gained a master’s degree in Law. He completed his legal education at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, in 1988.

Liyel Imoke practiced law in Washington, D. C. and Lagos between 1982 and 1992. He was principal partner of Liyel Imoke and Co., Lagos.