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.”
“The decision for hydro is specific. In spite of the fact that it has high cost of initial investment, the downstream over time will kneel out the initial operational cost and therefore, from longevity operational efficiency and sustainability, it is imperative that we have to go for hydro, more so we are a coastal state,” he reiterates.
One may also be amazed at his quotient of understanding and passion to take Cross Rivers state into a new economic surprise. “Our thinking is that, since we have opportunity to have about three locations where we can generate hydroelectricity, our requirement as a state is a little below 8mw, so from our projections we shall be generating 90mw at the three locations, utilizing only 30 as a state and selling out the remain 60mw to the Federal Government.”
The governor has been excited over the acknowledgement of the peaceful disposition of his people as observed by the investors who pointed out that Cross Riverians are nice and warm people.
There are other undertakings being incubated for ‘hatchery’ by the governor in Cross River. They include an assembly plant for the production of trucks and mass transit vehicles already being promoted by Steyr Nigeria Limited. The Governor has prepared the grounds for these projects to come on stream.
Ulayi is a media aide to Ayade