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Tag: C/River

  • 81 from US, UK, Ghana, Uganda, others return to C/River

    81 from US, UK, Ghana, Uganda, others return to C/River

    Eighty-one Diasporas of African origin have finally located their traditional homes in the Efik Eburutu Kingdom, Cross River State. 

    They were inducted into the Royal Houses of the Palace of the Obong of Calabar.

    The returnees were from Barbados, United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), Canada, France, Dominica Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St Martins (Dutch and French),Commonwealth of Dominica, Curacao, Uganda and Ghana, amongst others.

    The Obong of Calabar, His Eminence Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi-Otu V, who performed the traditional induction and  naming  ceremony in his palace at Efanga Nsa Street, Calabar South, welcomed them back as bonafide sons and daughters of the Efik kingdom.

    He commended them for recognyizing their roots, noting that the Efik culture welcomes those who trace and reclaim their ancestral identity.

    “With this induction, I welcome all of you back as you are now a part of the ancient Efik Eburutu kingdom and members of the  Royal Houses. I believe that henceforth, you will not forget that you are Efiks and that here is your home,” he said.

    The Monarch charged the Etuboms (Patriarchs) of the Royal houses to warmly welcome, accept and embrace the new members of the houses, granting them all rights and privileges that other family members have.

    The Obong further said: “We expect you to be coming home from time to time, participate and enjoy family activities and possibly invest here so as to create mutual business opportunities for yourselves and your  brothers and sisters here,” .

    The Monarch also commended the government of Cross River state for the initiative to look for Nigerians in Diaspora, saying such bold steps would pay off in the future socio-economically.

    The inductees were then traditionally blessed and  issued certificates bearing Efik names which link them with their new houses and presented  by the  Etubom of each Royal House. 

    One of the organisers and  representative of the inductees, Dr Rev Mrs Nkwa Edet Otu, said: “With these certificates, we have received what rightly belonged to us. I feel that I and my fellow Diasporas are now finally back home.

    “We all feel so special with this connection to our roots. Thank you very much, His Eminence and all our traditional leaders, for welcoming us back home.”

    Reports said most of them had never set their feet on Nigerian soil and Cross River state in particular.

    The Nation learnt that the induction was not just a ceremonial or symbolic welcome but a full traditional adoption, including rights to participate in relevant traditional rites and even politics. 

    They were divided into the  Royal Houses where they now derive their identity from.

  • Foundation unveils platform to tackle rights violators in C/River, other states

    Foundation unveils platform to tackle rights violators in C/River, other states

    From Godwin Otang, Calabar

    As the fight against Human Rights violations continue to gain momentum across parts of Nigeria, a non governmental organisation under the aegis of Cleen Foundation, in collaboration with the media, and other partners, have launched a Human Rights Violations Management Information System (HRMIS) in Calabar, southern Nigeria.

    The (HRMIS) platform, which has already been launched in Kaduna, Jalingo, Abuja and other States of the federation is developed to provide citizens with first hand and on-the-go opportunities, to report any form of violations  of their rights as human beings and citizens by the security Agencies (especially the Police Force and military), engaged in Counter military operations.

    The platform is also meant to “provide citizens with a faster and cheaper means of reporting human rights violations that are in line with the 21st century best practices. In addition, the platform allows victims to upload evidence (Video, audio, pictorial etc) without risking losing it in the course of travels and or further violations by the same agency”, Cleen Foundation says.

    The platform was launched at a crucial Policy Dialogue on Gender, Accountability, and Transparency in the Implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Regime: on the topic, “role of technology in promoting accountability and access to justice” held in Calabar.

    Speaking to stakeholders about the development, Mr Gad Peter, Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, said the program is “a shared commitment to advancing justice, equality, and integrity within our criminal justice systems.”

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    He added that, “the administration of criminal justice is a cornerstone of any society, providing the framework for the rule of law, protection of rights, and upholding of public trust. However, this framework must be continually assessed and reformed to ensure it serves all community members equitably.

    According to him, accountability within the criminal justice system ensures that those who enforce the law are held to the highest standards. It fosters a culture of integrity and trust, both among the practitioners and the public they serve. Without robust mechanisms for accountability, injustices unchecked, eroding public confidence and undermining the rule of law.

    On behalf of the Cross River State Government, commissioner for women affairs, Mrs Edema Irom, cautioned on the role of parenting in combating human rights violations. She noted that “all hands must be on deck to ensure that rights of women, children, girls and other segments of the society are guaranteed.

  • Still on the C/River super highway

    SIR: The government of Cross River proposes to build a N200 billion 275km Super highway. The state government claims that the super highway will evacuate cargos from the proposed Calabar deep sea port to the central and northern parts of Nigeria as well as Chad and Niger. Already Cross River State has two existing highway that connects Calabar to Benue State. Research has shown that it will cost approximately N200 billion to fix and expand the existing highway. This cost includes paying compensation to those that may be affected by the expansion of the highway. This alternative will not have any cost or impact on the biodiversity of the last remaining tropical rain forest in Nigeria and communities will not be displaced. It really would have made more sense to lobby the federal government to fix and expand the highway or simply collaborate and scale-up repairs of sections of the existing Calabar – Ogoja highway currently being undertaken by the NDDC and the Ministry of Works Power and Housing.

    The super highway project is not only ambitious, but expensive. There has been so much debate about the human and environmental cost of the super highway and very little debate on its viability for investors. How economically feasible is the super highway project? How will the project be funded? Who will pay back the money?

    According to the Cross River State government, the super highway project is will be funded by a Public-Private Agreement (PPA). The state government claims its investors will make returns on investment through collected toll fees from vehicles and trucks that plight the highway, evacuating the proposed Bakassi deep sea port. But the Bakassi deep sea port is yet to exist and as of yet has no organisation has signed up to the funding of the deep sea port project. The site of the proposed deep sea port is very shallow; seven metres deep at high tide and one metre at low tide; making it impossible for ships to navigate easily. Building a deep sea port at the proposed site will not only be technologically challenging but unreasonably expensive to maintain, due to constant dredging to maintain the depth required for large vessels.

    On the bankability of the super highway project, from estimation, even if over 700 trucks (which is 20% of all cargo trucks in Nigeria) plus 4,000 vehicles (as forecasted by the state government) ply the proposed super highway on a daily basis, the toll fees would have to be set at very exorbitant rate for the state government to ensure an investment return in 100 years without any interest.

    Pray which investor would put his/her money into the project, knowing two alternative routes still exists with no toll charges. It is the responsibility of the cross river state people to interrogate the state government into presenting the cost benefit analysis of the project, especially when the state will be borrowing for the project, not to forget the state debt profile.

    For state governments to be fiscally responsible, there is need for us to continually question the economics of developmental projects like this, else, we will continue to have signature projects that end up being abandoned; never serving the poor masses.

     

    • Ogechi Nnabugwu,

    Climate Transformation and Energy Remediation Society (CLIMATTERS), Abuja.

     

  • Kudos on C/River superhighway

    SIR: Earlier this year, environmentalists stood up to vehemently challenge Prof. Ben Ayade, the Cross River governor’s decision to construct a Superhighway. It did not matter that the idea seemed beautiful on the surface – a 260 kilometre-long highway with anti-slip features, speed cameras and to crown it, high-speed internet connectivity while connecting other distant parts of the country in a short time.

    Debates here and there followed. The conflict was not on the basis of the proposed huge sum of $3.5 billion dollars to be spent for the construction; it was not the dispute over who should get the contract, foreign expatriate or indigenous companies? Neither was it the fear over how long the project will span entwined with the willingness (or not) of subsequent administration(s) to complete such pioneering project.

    The imminent degradation of Nigeria’s rich biodiversity, the destruction of her ancestral heritages, the possible extinction of wildlife like the Cross River gorillas and further threats to the diminishing population of chimpanzee, pangolin, and forest elephant were the issues that attracted international uproar over the construction of the superhighway.

    Records have it that the world’s largest decline of any subspecies of great ape recorded is the Cross River gorillas. Between 1995 and 2010 – 5 years, there was a 59 percent decline rate in their population. The Cross River superhighway could have in few months raised that percentage by another 41 per cent, thereby, causing this endemic species of Gorilla (with less than 300 left in the wild) to be entirely wiped off.

    The decision to reroute the highway is a big win considering that Nigeria is viewed as a ‘democratic’ country where people in power – federal and state take decisions with or without (mostly without) long-term consideration of the resultant effect of such actions or policies.

    The selfless act of passionate environment-conscious individuals, organizations and closely related agencies across the world that stood up and spoke loud enough concerning this issue is highly commendable.

    We sincerely thank President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ayade for this. The decision to reroute the highway and to suspend plans for the superhighway’s 20km-wide buffer through some parts of the Cross River National park is a win for our irreplaceable wildlife, a win for posterity, a win for Nigeria’s biodiversity and a win for the world at large.

    Now that we know that the superhighway’s new route will ensure that Nigeria’s biodiversity is prioritized and that our fauna and flora entities will thrive undisturbed, we are super excited about the project and anticipate its realization.

     

    • Adebote ‘Seyifunmi

    Abuja.

  • Man, 65, three others jailed over possession of Indian hemp in C/River

    Man, 65, three others jailed over possession of Indian hemp in C/River

    The Federal High Court in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has jailed four persons for being in possession of cannabis sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp.

    The four persons, who were arrested at different times in the state, were Grace Etim (32, female), Obini Mathias (65, male), Sunday Imoh (19, male) and Wisdom Philip (20, male).

    In separate judgments delivered by Justice I.E Ikwo, and made available to The Nation in Calabar, Mathias was apprehended by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at his house in Alok village, Ikom Local Government Area of the state for being in possession of 9.45kg of Indian hemp.

    The 65-year-old first time offender, in his charge number FHC/CA/CR/1/2016, was jailed for two years and six months without any option of fine with effect from December 19, 2015.

    As contained in the charge sheet, Mathias admitted guilt when the one-count charge was read to him during the course of his trial.

    According to the first prosecution witness, Ochika Simon (a deputy superintendent of narcotic), a team of NDLEA officers caught the convict with the Indian hemp neatly concealed in white sack in his house.

    Of the first time offender, however, Ikwo noted, “Prosecution says the convict has no record of previous conviction. This means that the convict is a first time offender. It is the law that the court is not to visit the whole weight of the law on the person that is a first time offender.

    “I will take this into consideration together with the allocations of the learned counsel for the defendant and exercise leniency by not imposing maximum sentence.

    “The convict is hereby sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment with effect from December 19, 2015 without option of fine.”

    However, in the charge number FHC/CA/CR/63/2015, involving Sunday Imoh and Wisdom Philip, the first time offenders had no legal representations and had to stand in for themselves.

    The duo, who pleaded guilty to the offence, was caught with 250 grammes of Indian hemp on October 3, 2015 at the Mammy Market, Akim Barracks, in Calabar Municipality LGA.

    In his judgment, Justice Ikwo said: “The first convict (Imoh) is sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment with effect from October 3, 2015 without option of fine, while the second convict (Philip) is sentenced to one year imprisonment with effect from October 3, 2015.”

    The only female convict (Grace Etim), who was caught with 3.7kg of Indian hemp in her house in the maternity area of Akpabuyo LGA on January 13, 2016, was sentenced to two years imprisonment without option of fine.

  • Why C/River led in budget transparency survey

    Not surprisingly, Nigeria’s material circumstance fell due for appraisal as the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC Nigeria), a consortium of civil society organizations in conjunction with the Department of International Development (DFID), presented its annual states budget transparency survey for 2015. The event which took place in Abuja penultimate week attracted the creme de la creme of the civil society, the public and the media. The report which focuses on the debilities in our budgetary system is a stark confirmation to Nigerians long confounded by the apparent discontinuities between official avowals and performance among Nigeria’s 36 states in 2014. According to CIRDDOC’s Executive Director, Oby Nwankwo, the Nigeria Sub-national Budget Transparency Survey 2015 was inspired by their partners and their works and hoped that the survey, in turn, would contribute to the impact of their initiatives and advance budget transparency in the states surveyed and the country at large.

    As the report noted, budget translates policies into programmes, such as those meant to provide vaccinations, textbooks in schools, and subsidies to farmers. In a contractual economic environment, budget transparency and participation are therefore essential to ensuring that the allocation of public funds is prioritized to reflect the needs of the public. Due to Nigeria’s centripetal fiscal arrangement, state governments have had the onerous task of prioritizing the allocation of scarce resources. Since states and local governments are closest in proximity to the people, the need for an open, transparent, and participatory budget and procurement process is critical to ending the misappropriation of public funds that could be used for development purposes.

    Unfortunately, the finding of the State Budget Transparency Survey 2015 is that the state budget transparency is deplorable. The report finds that in most of the states surveyed, the public does not have access to comprehensive and timely information needed to participate meaningfully in the budget process and to hold government accountable. The report frowns at this lack of transparency which, according to it, encourages inappropriate, wasteful and corrupt spending, and because it shuts the public out of decision making, it reduces the legitimacy and impact of anti-poverty initiatives. A state’s score and placement within a performance category is determined by averaging the responses to 51 questions on the State Budget Transparency Questionnaire related to information contained in the eight key budget documents that all states are required to make available to the public.

    In the end, the State Budget Transparency Index 2015 reported that over half of Nigerian states failed to provide adequate budget information to the public, opportunities for public involvement throughout the budget process, and publicly available information on the procurement process. According to the report, only Cross River, Ekiti and Lagos states under their immediate past governors scored above 50 per cent on the State Budget Transparency Index, meaning that, on the average, they published more than half of the eight key budget documents, they held consultations to provide inputs in budget formulation and public hearings on the budget, and they published bidding documentation and awards on procurement projects. Whereas Cross River led the pack of winners in the overall transparency index, Ekiti led in the provision of documents. On the assumed average, Cross River State took overall best position with 77 per cent score.

    It was another memorable outing for Cross River State whose mention of its immediate past governor Senator Liyel Imoke conjures up excellence as an elated Imoke was invited to the podium to explain his magic wand amid spontaneous ovations from the cheering audience as the occasion was beamed by the national media. This is not the first time the state is leading the pack among the 36 states. In 2010, Bekwara and Obubra local governments in Cross River State were scripted in gold on the global medical map when they recorded a zero infant/maternal mortality rate, thus attracting recognition by the United Nations, earning the state an award for meeting the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. Again, in 2013, the United Nations Development Project for Africa (UNDP Africa) declared Cross River State the best governed state in Nigeria. In the same (2013), the state won the Bill Gates Award for Polio Eradication. The Imoke administration also attracted a private sector giant, the United States-based General Electric, which is building its factory in Calabar and investing over a billion dollars in the state because of the investor-friendly policy of the state government under Imoke. The saying that adversity introduces a man to himself cannot be more apt as applied to Cross River State. Since the ceding of its 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State in 2008 thus removing it from the list of littoral states in the country, the Imoke-led administration resorted to prudent management of its scarce resources and transparency, as a survivalist strategy.

    This earned the former governor the appellation of “Mr. Due Process”. Relying wholly on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and the small allocation from the Federation Account, and without Derivation Fund, Imoke attacked excruciating poverty and underdevelopment head on in the state. While it is impossible to articulate the cumulative magnitude of his eight year developmental strides in one piece, this may actually be a factual aid to construe Imoke’s staggering achievements in Cross River State. Besides asphalting a network of more than 1,000 kilometres well developed, closely knit roads across the state, his government gave a face-lift to education. To accentuate his priority to education, not only did he build and renovate several schools across the state, he re-introduced scholarship awards for indigenes of the state to study at home and abroad. An attempt to encode some of his projects would definitely not exclude the inimitable ones among the lot. Urban and rural roads, Airport Bye-pass, Urban and rural Water Scheme, Tinapa Knowledge City, Monorail, the first fly-over in Calabar, Smartgov and Electronic Citizen Identification Scheme, easily come to mind.

    Others include: International Convention Centre cited by CNN as one of the three architectural wonders in Africa, International Specialist Hospital, International Golf Course, the Songhai Farm Project, Model Schools, Port-side Industrial Park, Housing Estates, Mother & Child Free Healthcare Programme, GIS and Land Registration Reform, etcetera. The Imoke administration had placed the Annual Calabar Carnival on global annual tourism calendar. What is more, the transformation of the rural economy through lifting road access restrictions to rural entrepreneurial potentials remains legendary. Add to this, the transformation of the system of governance into the new digital age for efficiency and attainment of the optimum in the aggregation of potential revenue resources of the state, excluding oil.

    Above all, the establishment of strategic assets across sectors, namely: healthcare, education, agriculture, electrification, water, urban and rural transportation to regenerate the rural-urban economy, among others. Yet, this miracle cannot be divorced from Imoke’s strategic templates which included a creative facilitation of the flow of private investor money into the state’s unproductive assets to make them operational thereby lifting the state’s tourism economy. In fact, Imoke’s capacity for prudent husbandry of scarce resources was a mystery yet to be unravelled. The state’s star-like outing at the states budget transparency survey is therefore not a surprise.

    • Orjiakor is an Abuja-based public policy analyst.
  • ‘We ‘re on rescue mission in C’River’

    ‘We ‘re on rescue mission in C’River’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Cross River State, Mr. Odey Ochicha, has lamented the slow pace of development in the state, stressing that the APC is on rescue mission.

    Ochicha told reporters in Calabar, the state capital, that ‘’Cross River State has sunk so low in many indices of development that it needs a salvage brigade to bring her back on feet again.”

    He said: “Let those who are on the highways and the byways know that a man who is on a rescue mission for Cross River State has arrived; ready to take on the job.

    “Cross River State is broke and heavily indebted; our dear state is the third most indebted state in the federation…already the state is experiencing difficulties in paying workers’ monthly salaries .The situation is likely to get worse in the coming days in the light of the continuing slide in crude oil prices.”

    The candidate promised that if voted in, his administration will design cardinal programmes for the economic emancipation, which will include agriculture, processing and aggressive marketing of cash crops like cocoa, oil palm and cassava.

    He said tourism and manufacturing will be developed to support agriculture, while education, healthcare delivery and infrastructure will also be cardinal to the development index of the state.

    Ochicha lamented the privatisation of some state-owned medical facilities. He said the development has made it difficult for the people to have access to basic healthcare.

    He urged Cross Riverians to come out en masse and vote for the APC during the March 28 and April 11 polls.

  • C/River REC calls for peaceful delegates election

    AS the delegates’ elections kicks off today, the Independent National Electoral Commission in Cross River State has called for a peaceful conduct.

    The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr Mike Igini, in a statement made available to reporters yesterday said,

    “The people of Cross River and all Nigerians expect people who aspire to be leaders and their supporters to demonstrate the highest level of decorum and respect for law and order as they conduct these delegates elections, primaries and convention leading up to 2015 general election.” Igini charged various political parties in the state to abide by the published guidelines for an orderly and peaceful conduct of the delegate elections in compliance with the provision of section 85 of the Electoral Act. He said,

    “INEC acknowledges that the nomination of aspirants by parties to be candidates for election is entirely the responsibility of political parties. However, the third schedule paragraph 15(c) of the constitution enjoins INEC to ‘monitor the organization and operation of the political parties including their…conventions, congresses and party primaries’.

    Consequently, all electoral officers and staff of area offices would monitor the delegates’ elections of parties in their respective local government areas with the INEC checklist. “As always, it is in the best interest of all that the rules/guidelines which parties have written for themselves and to which your members are expected to abide by as submitted to INEC as required by law should be observed and enforced, fully, fairly and impartially to all aspirants and your members.”

  • Chinese firm plans 15m dollars in new investment portfolio in C/River

    Chinese firm plans 15m dollars in new investment portfolio in C/River

    AS part of efforts at leveraging on some of the government’s successes in attracting global investment players to the state, Jiang Su Economic and Information Technology Commission is expanding its investment portfolio in Cross River State. Jiang Su Economic and Information Technology Commission, an investment arm of Jiang Su Province in China, is investing 15 million US dollars in key sectors such as Information Technology, mining, construction and infrastructure. Leading a delegation on a visit to Governor Senator Liyel Imoke yesterday in Calabar, Chairman of Jiang Su Economic and Information Technology Commission, Xie Shao, said they were in the state to intimate the governor on new investment opportunities in ICT, mining, construction and infrastructure, noting that “Cross River State is appropriate for us to make our investment and we are not going anywhere else.” Xie Shao, who said they have been doing business in the state in the last eight years, with heavy presence in the manufacturing of refrigerators, air conditioners, as well as television sets, noted that the state has become an investment haven for his company, hence the desire for further investments. The chairman, who also signified interest in the state’s cocoa business, appealed to Governor Imoke to look into the issue of land, as it was critical to investing in the state, and canvassed for an attractive import environment at the Calabar Free Trade Zone by reducing the processing cost of imported materials through the port. While welcoming the chairman and his team to his office, Governor Imoke lauded the visit of the delegation to the state, adding that the desire of the company to expand its portfolio was an expression of confidence in the existing projects and infrastructure in the state. Imoke said the firm’s increasing commitment to the expansion of its investment in the state was an attestation of the prevailing favourable investment climate in Cross River State. On the company’s desire to venture into ICT, Governor Imoke said; “We are looking at opportunities in those areas and for us, it is important that we build strong relationship with foreign investors who already understand Nigeria, Cross River State and its environment. we always want to stay ahead of others. So, we are happy that you could identify these additional investment vistas and wanting to take advantage of them.” Lauding the Jiang Su Economic and Information Technology Commission for its planned investment of 15 million dollars in the economy of the state, Governor Imoke said: “In addition, I must commend you for the fact that you plan to invest 15 million dollars on a new production line. This will see us achieve a common dream of actualizing industrialisation of our local economy.”

  • C/River council polls hold today as court rules on jurisdiction

    THE High Court in Calabar, yesterday ruled that it had the jurisdiction to entertainment the case instituted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) for excluding them from participating in the local government elections, just as the electoral body insisted the election would go on. The APC, in two suits with numbers HC/303/2013 and HC/305/2013, sought an interlocutory injunction stopping the CROSIEC from holding the election and whether the fixing of the election for today is sacrosanct and cannot be shifted or rescheduled, in view of the registration of the claimant as a new political party. They had sought an injunction retraining the conduct of the election without the participation of the APC. Justice Ofem Ikpi yesterday consolidated both cases, as well as struck out the preliminary objections raised by the defendants, among which were that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the APC is not a legal political party and lacked the capacity to institute the suit. Ikpi, who would be proceeding on leave, said the matter would be transferred to the Chief Judge of the state to be transferred to another judge. He advised that there was no need for unnecessary tension, and that if CROSIEC went ahead to conduct the election today, and the court eventually determined that it was illegal for them to do so, then it would be declared null and void. However, after the court session, there were wild celebrations among APC supporters that the ruling yesterday barred CROSEIC from conducting the election. This elicited a response from CROSIEC that the election goes on as usual. A statement signed by the CROSIEC chairman, Patrick Otu, read, “the attention of CROSIEC has been drawn to the insinuations and outright lies peddled in certain quarters concerning the outcome of the pre-election case instituted by the Cross River Chapter of the All Progressives Congress at the High Court, Calabar. “The Honourable Judge ruled that he had the jurisdiction to hear the APC case, but that due to the constraint of time, he could not proceed with the Interlocutory Injunction seeking to stop CROSIEC from going ahead with the election.