Gov Ayade’s signature
projects to re-inventing Cross River
Since Cross-River lost 76 oil wells to her neighboring Akwa Ibom state, her economic condition
has remained in near parlous state. The Civil Servants had suffered more over
this predicament, as their little emoluments became the only lubricant for the
market driven economy of the 40-year-old state.
This loss of oil wells coupled with the dwindling federal allocation can only be
imagined, as both the government and people have lost all hopes, relying on divine
mercies to redeem the image of the impoverishing economy.
Even with the burden of taxation, not much could be assembled to glitter the hope of
a once-vibrant economy. Interestingly, the people persevered and made untold
sacrifices for their beloved motherland, as they do not have another state but
Cross Rivers.
The emergence of Professor Ben Ayade as the fourth Executive Governor did not only
come with a quota of hope but also with lots of inspiration. The passionate
environmental scientist in the wake of his campaign, publicized practical and
adorable ideas for the development of the local economy. His ideas were at home
with Cross Riverians and tenable to even the mitigated minds. The people believed
in him.
Ayade had prepared the minds of the people not to depend any more on federal
allocation only, for survival as a government and as a people. Rather than
blowing the popular whistles of inherited debts like his counterparts in other
states of the federation, the Governor has chose to blow the trumpet of a
well-endowed Cross Rivers state; full of potentials and capable of taking the
state and the nation to a greater height.
Giving insight on his new task, during his inaugural speech, Professor Ayade said; “I
am fully aware of the weight of this challenge and fully resolved that by the
Grace of Almighty God, we shall build on the great tradition of excellence left
by my brother and my leader, His Excellency, Senator Liyel Imoke, these past
eight years. Fellow Cross Riverians, I am a proud inheritor of an outstanding
legacy, which has firmly placed our beloved state on the global map of
purposeful leadership; and for this, I am eternally grateful.”
“Fellow Cross Riverians, we have come to that bend in the river where we must all rise
to our full height to envision and carve out a better future for ourselves and
posterity. True, it seems such a daunting task with the falling oil prices and
dwindling revenues, further compounded by the general atmosphere of despondency
across the country, with our backs against the wall, we must dig deeper into
the wells of our creativity and hew out a new pathway to greatness.”
Taking the words of the African sage, Nelson Mandela with him, that “it always seems
impossible until it is done,” the governor reinvigorated that drive to hit the
ground running so as to succeed.
“As we climb this imposing mountain of hope, we shall widen our scope, broaden the
horizon and sharpen our instincts for fresh and big ideas that will galvanize
this great state to achieve its full potential and usher in a prosperous Cross
River, where our people will live in peace and harmony with one another and
with nature.” He added.
True to his talk, Professor Ayade has speedily embarked on an enterprise with the
private sector. The private sector is encouraged to raise 500 million Euros for
Calabar Deep Sea Port project.
The Broad Spectrum Industrial Services is the consortium working with the
administration towards realizing this project and has become the perfect sign
of many good things to come. For Simon Eyo, a Calabar resident, ‘it is not too
early for a man who knows his onions to embark on a project like the Calabar
Deep Sea Project, knowing how innovative and transformational it will be for
our economy especially in the face of Nigeria trying to look away from oil.’
For the governor, this is the source for his passion. “Our seaport had been dormant
because it has no evacuation corridor to permit the passage of mother vessels. Consequently,
these mother vessels often berth in Lome while flat vessels are used to convey
the shipments in bits to Calabar.”
“Chad and Niger Republic are land-locked so, they rely on Lagos seaport. If Calabar
seaport becomes functional, it will serve as the second largest distribution
outlet to our neighbouring land-locked countries with the expected
distributional consequences. The sea-port is to generate N30 billion every
month.”
The Broad Spectrum will also include in their tray of projects; the construction of
a dual carriage super highway, a modular refinery, cement factory,etc. as part
of their economic blueprint for the Ayade years in Cross River State. Now the
ball is rolling.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the consortium, Mr.
Michael Havre have said that the figure (500 million Euros) neither represents
a loan nor a grant but purely that of project financing as the projects would
be executed on Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement which only requires
25 percent bank guarantee from the state government. For a passionate Ayade, Bank
Guarantee cannot hold down a monumental project as this, as a leading Nigerian
bank has already agreed to look into the possibility of issuing the guarantee
on behalf of the state.
Havre disclosed that he is in touch with one of the banks that have agreed to issue a
guarantee on behalf of the State government.
He made it clear to the government and the people that the involvement of the
state is going to be very minimal as it is purely a PPP driven. “I don’t need
your money, what I just need you to do is get to your bank and give us a bank
guarantee and we are good to go and that is why we are here. We are here to
work with you to bring progress to Cross River,” said the Broad Spectrum
boss.
While Ayade is bent on making the state a new economic hub, there are indications
that Hydro Power projects to generate 90 Megawatts of Electricity are already
on the drawing board following his new deal with some Chinese experts. The
Governor plans to generate 30mw from Kwa Falls, 30 mw from Agbokim while the
canalization and Channelization from either Ikom, Calabar and Itigidi Rivers
will generate 30mw, bringing the total output to 90mw.
From
his words of wisdom; “we are happy because we understand the power generation
mechanics and how it works. A lot of states that invested in gas turbines today
have their hands burnt because it is always very difficult to sustain the
turbines. The huge gas supply per day at high running cost makes turbines more
expensive to operate.”
“So if we go hydro, the water is free. It is obvious that we are taking the right
path and we are lucky to have this (Chinese) team which is tested and proven
with long history of successes as experts in the field,” he assured.
Apparently wary of the numerous abandoned projects in many parts of the country, Governor
Ayade is not one who has not learnt from history. “As a people and a state who
understands the difficulty of gas powered turbines, we as a state decided to
develop a culture that will insist on hydropower.”