By Asuquo Cletus
There’s a dangerous kind of fire burning in Cross River State and it’s not the kind water can quench. It’s the fire of neglect, incompetence, and systemic decay. Our firefighters, those we once believed were guardians of safety, are now ghosts in hollow uniforms barely seen, barely heard, and barely functioning.
Let’s stop pretending. The Cross River State Fire Service is not working. And by “not working,” I don’t just mean trucks with faulty hoses or delayed response times. I mean a total collapse of emergency management a ticking time bomb with real casualties.
Take a drive through Calabar or Ikom after a fire incident. You’ll see charred buildings, helpless traders, and families who have lost everything. You’ll hear the same haunting line repeated like a curse: “The fire service didn’t come.” Not because they didn’t want to but because they couldn’t. No fuel in the trucks. No functional water pumps. No response infrastructure. Sometimes, no staff on duty at all.
Is this what governance has been reduced to? Empty offices with faded signboards and civil servants waiting out their salaries? In 2025, in a state blessed with intellectuals and natural resources, how is it possible that we can’t put out fires?
A few months ago, a market in Ikom went up in flames. I was there. No fire truck. Not one. Young boys with buckets of water were the “first responders.” Traders cried. Millions in goods were lost. And yet, no apology, no press briefing, no sack, no explanation from those in power. The silence from government quarters is louder than sirens we no longer hear.
What exactly is the budget for emergency services in Cross River State? Who signs off on it? Who monitors the implementation? Or are we just budgeting for ghost vehicles and invisible firefighters?
Let’s not forget the firefighters themselves. Many of them are poorly paid, under-trained, and working in conditions that would make you weep. Some haven’t seen new uniforms in years. Others are sent into burning buildings with no breathing equipment if they even make it to the site at all. These men and women are not lazy. They are abandoned. They are victims too.
The deeper issue here is leadership or the lack of it. Emergency management should not be an afterthought. Fires don’t wait for committee meetings or feasibility studies. Emergencies demand preparedness, not press statements. And yet, we have a government that reacts only when the media shouts loud enough, only when the ashes are too many to ignore.
The truth? If a major fire were to break out in Cross River today — say in a school, hospital, or fuel depot — we would be on our own. There is no functioning emergency blueprint. There is no working system. And no amount of prayers or hashtags will substitute for real, working infrastructure.
This is not just bad governance. This is dangerous governance.
Here’s the call: Let the Commissioner for Special Duties Oden Ewa or whoever is responsible for emergency management come forward with a full audit of the state’s fire service. Let the governor address citizens with specifics information , too many lives and livelihoods have been lost already.
Cross Riverians are not asking for miracles. We are asking for fire trucks that work, firefighters that are trained and paid, and a government that understands that fire safety is not optional.
Until then, the state remains at the mercy of the next spark.
