After nearly a decade of neglect and abandonment following the ceding of
\nthe Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in 2007, the displaced people of Bakassi
\ncan now heave a sigh of relief as Cross River State governor, Senator Ben
\nAyade, has awarded contract for the construction of affordable homes for
\nthem<\/p>\n
The sum of N200 million has been set aside for the project.<\/p>\n
Governor Ayade who stated this yesterday, while receiving the Chairman of
\nLafarge Africa, Mr. Bolaji Balogun and his management team on a courtesy
\ncall in his office, said that the state was going to partner with the
\ncement manufacturers, who also build affordable homes, to actualize the
\nproject.<\/p>\n
His words: \u201cWe are a responsible state that is sensible to the needs of
\nour people. We want you to do a small pilot for the people of Bakassi
\nreturnees. I will like to do a small commitment of the sum of N200 million
\nto start the resettlement process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are people that we feel so emotional about, people that have been
\ndeprived and displaced from their heritage and there is nothing worse than
\nthat that could happen to a man and we want to find a permanent solution
\nto their plight.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the capacity of the company to deliver on the project, Ayade pointed
\nthat \u201cgiven your advantage of scale, quality of work so far delivered in
\nother projects you handled and the expertise deployed to deliver, I am
\nconfident that this initiative alone will bring unprecedented prosperity
\nto the company and the state at large as we collaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He further directed the Commissioners for Social Housing, Finance, Lands
\nand other relevant agencies to collaborate with the company to kick start
\nthe process of building the homes.<\/p>\n
On the 260 km superhighway, Ayade appealed to Lafarge to find a way to get
\ninvolved in the construction because according to him, \u201cWe have concluded
\nnegotiations with Aliko Dangote to use concrete for the construction of
\nsome part of the project and now that you are here, we are hopeful that
\nLafarge will join the train.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayade commended Lafarge for its good corporate social responsibility in
\nthe rehabilitation of Federal Roads in the state, but urged them to do
\nmore by expanding their scope.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith over one billion naira worth, the impact on the people is not quite
\ncommensurate as I appeal to you to do more to impact on the lives of the
\nhost communities and the state at large because when the community feels
\nsatisfied, the business will sure thrive and be more profitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour corporate social responsibility must expand in concept, to reflect
\nthe originality of the African culture which entails love for your brother
\nand being your brothers\u2019 keeper. This state is part of you, so you must
\ntake responsibility in delivery dividends of democracy to the people as
\nyour responsibilities too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, Chairman of Lafarge, Mr. Balogun, who described Governor Ayade as
\na man of history and considerable achievement said Lafarge Africa became
\n35 percent shareholder of Unicem in 2014 and in October 2015, through a
\ntransaction with Flour Mills who were the original shareholders, increased
\nthe shareholding to 50 percent while the parent company who are handling
\nother transactions holds the other 50 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have watched you from afar and we have seen some of the wonderful
\nthings you have been doing in particular. With your ambitious
\ninfrastructural initiatives, we believe that you are a man that we must
\nwork very closely with as you strive to develop the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also speaking CEO Cement business, Mrs. Peju Adebajo, disclosed that
\n\u201cCross River currently houses the largest investment of Lafarge Africa in
\nNigeria. We have over 500 directly employed, and over twelve thousand
\nindirect staffer in our 2.5 million tons plant in Mfamusing, which we are
\nexpanding to 5 million, making it our largest investment in Nigeria and
\nAfrica.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hinted that Lafarge was also partnering with the nation in order to
\nreduce the over 17 million housing deficit with the introduction of
\naffordable, better, and faster housing scheme that could be accessed by
\nboth public and private organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After nearly a decade of neglect and abandonment following the ceding of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in 2007, the displaced people of Bakassi can now heave a sigh of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n