A visible attempt by the Cross River State Government to introduce a new state logo as part of activities to mark the state’s 50th anniversary this month has been met with a groundswell of stiff opposition, www.calitown.com can reveal.
The logo, believed to have been put together by PR guru, Charles Otudor, which graphically shows a charging bull encased in an 18 star studded ring, was until late Sunday evening, May 21, 2017, the lead in a logo with an all red background, christened “Spirit Of Entreprise”, leaked online, before state governor, Ben Ayade was billed to unveil it.
Several residents and indigenes of the state at home and abroad, quickly protested against a decision which seeks to do away with the apt “Destination Cross River” logo, introduced by the Donald Duke administration that drove tourism in the state to the envy of many. One aide of the governor who took to social media to defend the new logo while stoutly disparaging the present logo, misinformed that the “Destination Cross River” logo is “a sick crawling snail (which) has no positive connotative meaning, as it only reveals the unpleasant experiences of our past throes and demonstrates a prophesy of a state that will crawl in every aspect of development”.
But a closer look at the government want-away logo shows not a crawling snail but a dolphin obviously darting across waters. Emphatically, one Richard Duke wrote on the aide’s Facebook page that “… you guys need to listen to public opinion on this one. All your oratorical demagoguery will not save you here. A small junta inside State House don’t have the exclusive inalienable right to dictate how the logo should look. It’s our state; listen to the tax payers”.
In a remarkable twist of events, another logo positioned to replace the embattled one emerged unexpectedly online, unknown to some of the governor’s aides, still sweating to justify the red coloured logo. John Inyang, Ayade’s Commissioner for Lands and Housing who posted the new logo said thus: “Thank you all for your comments on the proposed new state flag/logo with a bull on red background. Here comes another proposal with a blue background. Reactions or comments are expected. God bless you”. His soft landing attempt has also not gone down well with socio-political commentators.
For now, several persons appear bent on watching events unfold as the Ayade administration moves from one seeming controversy to the other.