Ben Ayade is driven by empathy to uplift the most vulnerable members of the society. As the governor of Cross River State, Ayade practices politics with ethics and has been committed to climate action. His interest in climate disruption when he became a professor at Delta State University, Abraka. His research in global warming in Africa took the world by storm, leading him to be praised by the Japanese government for his “outstanding research.” He then went on to a serve as Chairman of the State ecological fund, Chairman International Institute of Environmental Research and a member of the State Poverty Alleviation Board.

Ayade earned his B.S. in Microbiology from Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma and his Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology from University of Ibadan.