Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has said he is determined and
\ncommitted to alleviate the suffering of the masses by providing good and
\npurposeful governance to the people of the state.<\/p>\n
The Governor who embarked on a 14-kilometer trek across the city of
\nCalabar, where he interacted freely with residents, acknowledged cheers
\nfrom the people who showed appreciations for his leadership style.<\/p>\n
Ayade walked across several streets inspecting the state of roads in the
\nstate capital Calabar and the level of waste evacuation in the state,
\nterminated his streets tour at Atimbo.<\/p>\n
At every street the Governor passed through, chants of Obong Owo (Elder)
\nand Obong Ekpe (Chief Priest) rent the air, as residents trooped out to
\nhail him for what they said has been his proactive and humanistic approach
\nto governance.<\/p>\n
At one of Ayade’s stopovers, a mild drama ensued where an eight-year old
\nboy stuck out his hand from his father’s car for a handshake with the
\ngovernor, hailing “we love you.” The governor who waved continuously to
\nthe cheering bystanders responded with a handshake. For several others, it
\nwas bear hugs, while for some it was what is referred in common parlance
\nas “chop knuckle”.<\/p>\n
In what could be described as a show of empathy, the governor who was
\nliterally swathed by a large throng spotted a young girl of about 16 years
\nlooking dispirited with her drooped face on both hands.\u00a0 Moved by her
\nsight, Ayade, in his characteristic gesture, directed that something be
\nimmediately done to lift her mood.<\/p>\n
The unscheduled street walk which also attracted youths who besieged
\nGovernor\u00a0 Ayade, thanking him for his leadership style, while\u00a0 expressing
\ntheir total support for the construction of the ongoing Bakassi deep
\nseaport and the 260 kilometer superhighway.<\/p>\n
In unison, they chorused: \u201cAyade we love you\u201d, \u201cAyade we support you\u201d,
\n\u201cOur digital governor, we are proud of you, the superhighway must be a
\nreality\u201d, \u201cmischief makers leave our governor alone\u201d, \u201cCross River State
\nis safe with Governor Ayade\u201d.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the governor who used the opportunity to mingle, shop and
\ninteract freely with hawkers and shop owners, assured them of his
\ngovernment\u2019s commitment to look into most of their challenges.<\/p>\n
Specifically, a particular groundnut and corn seller saw fortune smile on
\nher as her stock was boosted by the governor, who stopped by her little
\nroad side stand to buy groundnut and soft drinks.<\/p>\n
Some locals who could not believe that the governor could stop by their
\nshops to buy groundnut and soft drink said the day would remain forever
\netched in their memories.<\/p>\n
Expressing his excitement, a resident of Atimbo community, Michael Uduak
\nsaid: \u201cThe governor made my day, he came to our community to eat with us,
\njoke with us, and most importantly interact with us and shared our
\nchallenges. He has shown he is a man of the people and we will stand by
\nhim to the end.”<\/p>\n
In the same vain, an overwhelmed resident, Elizabeth Ekpeyong, with tears
\nrolling down her cheeks, said: \u201cI left my business to come and identify
\nwith the people\u2019s Governor who came down to see his people, to speak to
\nus, to advise us and to assure us of the future.”<\/p>\n
On his part, Effiom Asuquo said:\u00a0 \u201cI am happy that in my lifetime I was
\nable to shake hands with a sitting governor, we are happy that he came to
\nour community to identify with us, we are happy and proud of him as our
\ngovernor\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has said he is determined and committed to alleviate the suffering of the masses by providing good and purposeful governance to the people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n