The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Cross River

  • ‘Cross River could lose its forests in 20 years’

    ‘Cross River could lose its forests in 20 years’

    Cross River State could completely lose its forests in 20 years if something is not urgently done about the rate of deforestation, Programme Coordinator of Wise Administration of Terrestrial Environment (WATER), Chief Edwin Ogar has warned.

    Ogar expressed this fear after an awareness workshop on climate change organized by WATER and supported by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and Mainyotto Pastoralist Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO), for five forest communities in the state. They were Agoi Ekpo, Agoi Ibami, Etarra, Ekuri and Okokori communities.

    Ogar said, “Basically why we are doing climate change awareness creation in these communities is that they are not really aware about climate issues. They have low understanding of what climate is all about and what climate change and that is why the present change of climate is attributed to witchcraftcy whereas it is not so. Climate change is human induced and they have to also intervene and reduce climate change in their respective communities. So we are here to educate them what climate change is all about in a participatory manner. So that the communities will begin to know what are the causes of climate change. From the trainings we have done for five days now, goes to show that the communities are getting to know what are the reasons they are climate change.

    “Why the climate has changed is because of deforestation. It is because the forests that are expected to regulate the climate are very, very small and it can no longer help to regulate the climate as it used to be in the last 50 to 100 years. And they know they have contributed to this by cutting down the forest for farming, doing logging business and also doing degradation in the forest. Though they know it is not only logging that causes the problem, on their own they can contribute to the reduction of climate change by doing a land use plan for their community forest as well as trying to regenerate the forest naturally and not by planting trees. Planting trees would not regenerate the forest. There are so many species that make up the forest, so if you are planting and some of these species cannot be planted by humans except through natural consequence. So they realize that the best way to regenerate the forest is to allow it regenerate naturally. So far we have trained 550 community participants in the five communities.

    “If measures are not put in place to ensure the protection of our forests and they continue to exploit the forests in an unsustainable manner, in the next 20 years the forests in the state could be lost completely if no effective measures are taken by government and international development partners to ensure that communities have a sustainable livelihood through a diversified income generation activities that would definitely reduce pressure on the forests. Else the forest would not be found anymore in the next 20 years. It would aggravate climate and the impact such as flooding, low agricultural productivity, diseases and so on. It would mean disaster especially for the rural communities that are so poor. So in the next 20 years it would be a disaster if nothing is done to ensure that the forest dependent communities have a diversified income source that will hugely reduce pressure on the forest. The forests will go.”

    Clan Head of Agoi Ekpo, Attah-Ikum Oyira Onong, expressed gratitude for the training and expressed the determination of his community o continue to preserve the forests.

    A clan head of a community in Agoi Akpama, Chief Ayene Ayitu Akpama, also expressed their resolve to keep the forests intact, but begged the government to provide basic amenities as water and roads for their community, as well as provide alternative sources of livelihood to reduce their dependence on the forests.

     

  • Fire guts 15 houses in Cross River

    Fifteen shanties, which serve as houses for Bakassi returnees at Ata-Ema, Dayspring Island, in Cross River State, have been razed by fire.

    The settlement, which is about 40 minutes away from Ikang by speedboat, comprises shanties on the waterfront. The residents are mainly fishermen.

    The community head, Eyo Bassey Edet, said boat engines and generators were destroyed.

    He said: “Most of our houses have been burnt down. We don’t know what happened. We implore the government to assist us. Nobody died, but property were lost.”

    Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, who visited the community and donated foodstuffs and relief materials, commiserated with the people.

    Ita-Giwa, who inaugurated a borehole, said: “The people lost items. They have been rendered homeless.

    “I’m here to see the level of destruction. I urge the Federal Government to assist us. I believe under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, these people will not be abandoned.

    “I believe the President will look into this issue of Bakassi and develop the area. We are not asking for much. All we are asking for is that they should build modern houses here so that the thatched houses will not keep on burning. The residents should live in decent homes to enable them do their job, which is fishing. This is where they want to live. This place is conducive to their occupation.

    ”We have been crying for years that these people should be resettled. We do not want anybody to deceive the government to revisit a case that has been decided. The period of the review of that case at the International Court of Justice has gone. It will be an exercise in futility to go into that.

    “What we are asking for is that the government should develop this area. We are standing on Dayspring Island and we registered here as voters. This is where we vote and are voted for as Nigerians. So the government must come to our aid. It must develop this place. Bakassi is not a political issue. It is an issue that affects Nigeria. Nigerians should assist these people who have suffered for years.”

    The Director-General of the state Emergency Management Agency, Mr. John Inaku, who also visited the island, said they would assess the level of destruction and inform Governor Ben Ayade.

    He urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to intervene.

    The Southsouth Zonal Coordinator, National Commission of Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Mr. Andy Akpan, said they came to ascertain the level of destruction so that relief materials could be provided.

  • Peace in PDP, Nigeria, prerequisite for growth – Ayade

    Peace in PDP, Nigeria, prerequisite for growth – Ayade

    Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has said that peace within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigeria in general remained a prerequisite for the growth and development of the country.

    Ayade said this on Wednesday when the National Chairman of PDP, Sen. Ali Modu-Sheriff paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Calabar.

    According to Ayade, there is no ideological difference between the PDP and the All Progressive Congress (APC) or belonging to one faction of the party or the other.

    “What Nigerians need now is peace and unity. There is indeed no ideological difference, whether you are in PDP, APC or you belong to one faction of the party or the other.

    “If truly you put people above your person, you must allow peace to reign by recognising the challenges of the society.

    “The challenges of the society have created in itself a structure that allows us to resolve conflicts and move ahead as a country,’’ he said.

    The governor thanked the National Chairman for embarking on the peace mission across the country, adding that it was important to unite all factions in to one umbrella.

    Earlier, Modu-Sheriff said that he was in the state to visit the governor with a view of uniting all factions and moving the party ahead.

    According to him, he has paid a similar visit to Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states with the sole purpose of uniting all factions of the party.

    “As a great party, we need to work in unity and peace so that we can win the 2019 general elections.’’
    He commended Ayade for his infrastructure development in the state, adding that he was the party’s best performing governor.
    “If I am asked who the best performing governor of the party is, I will simply say that it is Gov. Ayade.
    “I am very proud that Ayade is not only a digital governor but also the number one governor in terms of performance.
    “With what you are doing now, 2019 will be an easy ride for you. There will be no challenge and no vacancy in Cross River.’’
    He also lauded the governor for appointing a Northerner, Mr Musa Maigoro, as his Special Adviser on Non-Indigene Affairs.
    Modu-Sheriff later visited the state PDP secretariat where he urged the leadership to unite all factions in the state with a view of building the party to greater heights.

  • Cross River, South Africa to establish hotel college in Calabar

    Cross River State and North West Province of South Africa last week consolidated their twin cities’ partnership between Mafikeng and Calabar, on three areas of cooperation.
    Addressing a delegation from Mafikeng, North West Province of South Africa, who was in the state for a three-day working visit, Governor Ben Ayade listed the areas of cooperation as agriculture, tourism and the establishment of an international hotel college.
    The governor said the cooperation would include the development of tourism with the setting up of a hotel institute in Calabar, the state capital.
    Ayade spoke at a technical presentation by the team at the conference room in his office.
    The governor said Cross River would implement the other recommendations on mass production of grains, especially yellow maize, livestock farming, with emphasis on poultry.
    On the establishment of the hotel college, he said an action committee would be set up to ensure the institute could become operational in five months – before the carnival.
    The governor hailed the South African team, led by the former High Commissioner in South Africa, Usha Ajulu-Okeke.
    The governor said their recommendation had opened his eyes to the huge potential in various sectors to be harnessed profitably, besides the industrialisation that had been the focal point of his administration.
    He said: “I am taken aback by so much that the South African team could unfold in just a period of about two days. But I think we will be doing a disservice to this state if we do not also compel them to go to the Obudu Cattle Ranch.
    “You will need to be at the ranch. I am quite excited that all the thoughts and concepts you shared, your fears and concerns about Nigeria have melted away just by your first visit to Nigeria and Calabar. I am sure also that the more you stay, the more you will fall in love with Cross River State.”

  • Cross River to set up panel on herdsmen

    Cross River State government is to set up a herdsmen management committee to foster relationship between herders and their host communities to  prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    The committee will, among others, manage the relationship between herdsmen and rural communities.

    This was the outcome of the weekly Security Council meeting held in the Conference Room, Governor’s Office,  Calabar. It was presided over by Governor Ben Ayade.

    Addressing reporters after the meeting, which was also attended by Deputy Governor Ivara Esu, the Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Fubara Duke, said: “We have concluded arrangement to set up a Herdsmen Management Committee to, among others, foster a healthier relationship between herdsmen and host communities.”

    He added: “The governor has assured citizens that the government will not banish any herdsman from coming to do business in the state, but will encourage them to go about their business peacefully.”

    Duke, dismissing media reports about the herdsmen’s killing, said: “Let me assure you that the governor and the Security Council took exception to stories in sections of the media about the carnage. It was untrue and we use this medium to admonish reporters to verify their stories.”

  • Fulani herdsmen kill 10 in Cross River

    Fulani herdsmen kill 10 in Cross River

    • Only one dead-police 

    No fewer than 10 people have been allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen in Obio Usiere, Odukapni local government area of Cross River State.
    Village head of Obio Usiere, Apostle Iya Orok, told reporters the community discovered eight more corpses after the two earlier killed last week.
    He said: “We have lost nothing less than 10 people in this attack by Fulani herdsmen. They normally come during the dry season to feed their cattle in our area.
    “The same incident occurred two years ago when two people were shot dead, now its 10 people.
    “As I speak with you, Obio Usiere has been deserted, our women are afraid to go their farms because they rape them in the bush and no one can help them. These people are heavily armed and we are just helpless.
    “We have reported to both police, DSS and other security agencies and we call on Governor Ben Ayade to help us because about 3, 500 people are now homeless, we have become refugees in our own land.”
    Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the attack but said only one person was killed.
    She said policemen have been drafted to the area and normalcy has been restored.
    “Our men are on ground 24 hours and we are not aware of any other killing. The rise in the death toll has not been reported to us and we are not leaving the place,” she said.

  • Revenue allocation: Ayade cries out over injustice to Cross River

    Revenue allocation: Ayade cries out over injustice to Cross River

    Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade yesterday decried what he described as injustice meted on the state by the Federal Government in terms of revenue allocation.

    Ayade spoke when he received the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed, who led members of the commission to his office in Calabar.

    He said the loss of 76 oil wells by the state was a direct consequence of the ceding of Bakassi by the Federal Government and that rather than find a permanent solution to the fiscal challenges that arose from that action, the Federal Government inflicted incalculable pain on the people.

    Ayade said: “You took our land, took our oil wells, took us out of 13 per cent derivation fund and reduced us to a weeping child in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The pain is incalculable. We are a captured people by the Federal Government. We have no say because it does not matter. We practise ethnocracy and so it does not matter how the people of Bakassi and Cross River as a whole are in pains.

    “Today we have NDDC, whose projects are based on percentage of oil production. So, look at what we have lost from the perspective of NDDC which keeps us as a crying child who is just in NDDC by geography not by production as the sharing formula here is by quantum of oil production coupled with the fact that today also , we no longer benefit from the 13 percent derivation.”

    “If not for President Buhari, I am sure that even the superhighway and Bakassi Deep Seaport (being developed by the state) would have been killed by now. But how can a people feel like captives in a place they call their own?”

    Wondering what indices are used by the Federal Government in deciding allocations for the state, he said: ” If I have to link two villages in Cross River State, the minimum kilometers you are going to do is 5 to 6kilometers because that state’s landmass is 21,000 sqkm while you are dealing with sister states in the Niger Delta with 3,000 sqkm. You need to put six states together to give you our land mass.”

    He urged the commission to use the opportunity of the visit, which is a fact-finding one, to write a report that would right the wrongs done to the state.

  • Two die after drinking from stream

    Two die after drinking from stream

    · Several critically ill

    At least two persons are feared dead and over 40 critically ill after drinking from a stream suspected to have been poisoned in Oboso community in Ogoja local government area of Cross River State.

    Two other surrounding communities also depend on the stream for drinking water, it was gathered.

    Ogoja, in the northern senatorial district of the state, is eight-hour drive from Calabar, the state capital.

    The incident, which happened on Friday, has left the communities in mourning mood.

    The sudden deaths and illness had led to fears of the outbreak of a strange ailment in the communities.

    Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, in a statement, confirmed the incident.

    He said the strange illness was characterised by “sudden onset of vomiting, foaming in the mouth, body weakness and spitting out of blood with some deaths already recorded in three communities in Ogoja local government area of the state that share a common water source.”

    The commissioner assured all was being done to get to the root causes of the occurrence.

    The ministry, he informed, had dispatched a team made up of epidemiologists, doctors, community health workers and other related health staff to the affected communities to ascertain the real situation on ground and offer immediate medical assistance to those affected.

    Director General of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Betta Edu, urged affected communities to stop fetching water from the stream with immediate effect.

    ”People should buy commercial water for now. Even after buying the commercial water, bottle or pure water, they should still try to boil it before drinking.

    “They should be careful of where they eat for now, because if that poisoned water is used to prepare food it could still be dangerous.

    “The community should be careful for now. If they have relatives in other areas, they can move there for now.

    “We are on top of the situation. Those who are ill by the poisoning and in the hospital would get their treatment taken care of by the government,” Edu said.

  • Cross River sets up task force on open defecation

    Cross River Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWATSSA) has set up a task force to verify and certify the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of communities in the state.

    The Director-General of RUWATSSA, Mr Ita Ikpeme, made this known via a statement in Calabar on Thursday.

    Ikpeme said that the task force was established, prior to the validation of the ODF status of the communities by the National ODF Task Force.

    He said that the group had been working in communities in Obanliku, Bekwarra, Abi, Boki, Yakurr, Yala, Ikom and Biase Local Government Areas of the state.

    Ikpeme said that RUWATSSA was working in partnership with Development Partners United Purpose (DPUP), an international Non-Governmental Organisation, which is also an agency of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

    “They are also partnering with us in a UK-assisted programme called Community-led Health Improvement through Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria’ (CHISHPIN).

    “These activities are to ensure that our people live in a clean and healthy environment through the attainment of ODF status in their communities,” he said.

     

  • Guinness unveils seven boreholes in Cross River State

    Guinness unveils seven boreholes in Cross River State

    Guinness Nigeria Plc has constructed seven hand pump water boreholes in Bebi Community, Obanliku Local Government Area (LGA) of Cross River State. The boreholes, which will provide more than 7,000 persons with all year-round access to safe drinking water, were unveiled at a commissioning ceremony to mark this year’s ‘World Water Day’.

    The company’s Corporate Relations Director, Mr. Sesan Sobowale, who represented the Managing Director, noted that the company will continue to play a leading role in enhancing access to safe drinking water in Nigeria.

    “The boreholes we are commissioning today are the latest addition to the range of water projects Guinness Nigeria has delivered in states across the country as part of Diageo’s flagship ‘Water of Life’ programme. Since 2007, our ‘Water of Life’ programme has provided clean drinking water to over 10 million people in 18 countries in Africa.  Under the aegis of the ‘Water of Life’ programme in Nigeria, water facilities have been constructed in 35 communities across the country. We are pleased to note that through these water projects, Guinness Nigeria has helped over 1.5 million Nigerians access clean water and ultimately improve their overall health and wellbeing,” he said.

    Also speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Water, Cross River State Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Dan Ebri, praised Guinness Nigeria’s commitment to initiatives that promote access to safe drinking water in Nigeria. He said: “I commend Guinness Nigeria’s commitment to interventions that tackle the challenge of water scarcity in rural areas especially in Cross River State.