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Tag: Cross River

  • Worry over Cross River’s untapped goldmines

    Worry over Cross River’s untapped goldmines

    Cross River State is endowed with so many solid minerals scattered across its 18 local government areas. But, no thanks to the law, little is being tapped, writes NICHOLAS KALU

    It is the proverbial land flowing with milk and honey. At the last count, there are 28 solid minerals in parts of the state. But, unfortunately, Cross River has not felt the impact of these minerals on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    The minerals include gold, uranium, iron ore, tin ore, manganese, titanium, limestone, salt, coal, muscovite, kaoline, crude oil, lead zinc and feldspar.

    Others are quartz, barite, diamond, graphite, pyrite, talc schist, rutile, tourmaline, amethyst, spring water, granite, bentonite, clay and iron ore (hermatite).

    Of all of these, the only ones exploited are limestone, which is found in Akampka, Odukpnai, Ikom, Obubra, Ogoja and Biase; granite found in Akamkpa, Boki, Obudu, Obubra, Yala and Obanliku; barite found in Yala, Biase, Ikom, Obubra, Yakurr and Obanliku; and sand/gravel, which is all over the state.

    Mining of limestone and granite is concentrated in Akamkpa. Bsarite, which is seasonal depending on the rains, is mainly exploited in Obubra.

    At the moment, there is only one limestone company, the United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) in Mfamosing community in Akamkpa which mines the limestone for cement which it sells to customers mainly in the south-south and south east regions of the country.

    Also there are 41 granite companies with quarries, especially in Akamkpa, and 22 sand/gravel mining associations.

    Information for barite miners could not be ascertained as they just come and go whenever the season favours them.

    It was gathered that except for UNICEM, the operations of these other miners are not in the interest of the host communities and the state government.

    Governor Liyel Imoke, in an interaction with reporters, said: “If you see what is happening in Akamkpa at the quarry site. You need to go there and see the ecological havoc that quarrying is causing and what is the benefit of quarrying to the people? Nothing. We don’t know what the exercise is causing. That is a major issue, but you know quarries, when they finish quarrying, they just move to the next site, create valleys, create environmental disaster areas, pollution. Nothing is done. When I write and say address this problem, the Federal Ministry will say it is on the exclusive list, that I have no business addressing environmental problems.

    “We have barite, but we have no capacity as a state because the power does not belong to us to even determine the quantity. So, when I listen to people say there is so much barite in Cross River State, I just say, nobody has determined the reserves and private sector will not come unless they know the reserves. And whose responsibility is it to determine those reserves? The Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals which is the owner since it is on the exclusive list. So, you find that there can hardly be serious investment in solid minerals in Nigeria, not just in Cross River State.

    “You have countries in East Africa making a fortune from tin and copper. For us as a state we have always insisted that solid minerals be taken of the exclusive list. The reason I argue this is that they are in every state. There is no state in Nigeria that doesn’t have one solid mineral or the other. So, if we are given the opportunity to determine the reserves and determine the quantities and to invite private sector to make those investments, then we can see another sector of the economy develop. But, until that happens, as far as solid minerals remains in the exclusive list and we are a major oil producing country, we will focus on oil production to their detriment. For us as a state, we have been canvassing a strong argument for solid minerals to be taken off the exclusive list.

    “States that exploit solid minerals it can now pay royalties to the Federal Government. That way there will be a veritable source for employment for our people. There will be income and revenue for the people and state from the investors coming in to exploit. Today, anybody that goes to mine limestone does not even pass through any office in Cross River State, not even the Ministry of Lands. They just have to get to Abuja and get a licence. We don’t know what the quarry companies pay to the Ministry of Solid Minerals, we don’t know what they pay to the Federal Government. Anybody exploiting all kinds of minerals and have gotten an approval from Abuja, while we suffer the environmental degradation, and every other degradation that goes with it, we carry it.

    “Some people have always asked why I say the Federal Government should take crude oil and leave solid minerals. And I say crude oil is in only eight or nine states of the federation, whereas solid minerals are available in all the 36 states. So, you can’t treat the two the same and if you treated the two the same, then there will be no Ministry of Solid Minerals. We would just have the Ministry Petroleum and Solid Minerals as one. But because we recognise the difference, we have different ministries. It means there is something different about solid minerals from crude. So, to my mind, it is something that can bring rapid growth and development if we can take it off the exclusive list. It will really create opportunities for us and our people across the country. The economies of the place where you have the solid minerals will  just blossom but I have never understood the argument as to why it should be on the exclusive list.”

    A representative of UNICEM said, although they have a licence from the Federal Government, it still has to work with the realities of the environment they find themselves.

    He said: “We have had a cordial relationship with our communities. For any areas we want to start exploration, the ministry of lands and housing go in there do assessment and we pay the appropriate compensations before we even go in there for our activities.

    “Besides the fact that we get licences from the Federal Government, for every activity we carry out there is what we call Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which we do and is approved by the federal and state ministries of environment and then after that a review bring all stakeholders together to see impact of what we are going to do and address them. It becomes a basis for monitoring for ministries from time. So, if you are not following the recommendations given to you then you are violating. We don’t want to pose a threat through our actions to the communities or animals within that environment.”

    Due to how lucrative business is, the cement company, which is Nigeria’s third largest cement manufacturer, is investing N84 billion in an additional 2.5million metric tons cement line to double its capacity to 5 million metric tons.

    Its Managing Director, Mr Olivier Lenoir,  said work on the project has started and it is expected to be completed in 2016.

    Most of the granite quarrying companies visited  would not volunteer any information about their operations, but it was learnt they are doing well for themselves. The granite quarrying companies, it was learnt,  have a strong market base in the Southsouth and Southeast .

    Barite miners, though inconsistent, sell mostly to oil companies.

    Director of Operations in the Department of Mineral Resources in Cross River State, Dr Gabe Akpeke, said although most of these companies have licences to operate in the state legally.

    “Mining has been going on in this state for as long as I can remember. As it is, we cannot even question any of them. They say mining is on the exclusive list. It is unfair that somebody is in Abuja giving a licence all the way to this place and harvest and go and even the governor of the state has no hands there.

    “There was a case that came from the forestry commission complaining that quarries are inside the Forest reserves, not only devastating the trees, but also scaring endangered species. Some of them are too close to houses because when they blast it is so strong and some buildings you see them cracking.

    “Take, for instance, the way they mine barite in Nyametit in Obubra. They use pick and shovel method. When they dig to about 10 metres deep, they abandon it and that mineral is wasted forever.

    “We have cases of effluent discharges and pollutions. Some of them are abandoned mines and they create situations that make it dangerous to both the humans, plants and animals.”

    At Nyamoynong in Obubra, residents complained about the activities of the company that mine barite in the area.

    They told this reporter that the excavations, which are mostly abandoned, pose challenges to them and their livestock.

    A resident of the community, Richard Owan, said: “when they dig hold like this and abandon them, you realise that when it gets filled up with water, most of our animals and even unsuspecting persons come to get the water for various use, not know the water has been contaminated by the minerals they were digging for and other chemicals too.”

  • Re: Money politics in Cross River?

    SIR: But for the fact that a job had to be done, reading through ‘Barrister’ Obasesam Eyong unnecessary  ‘epistle’, ‘Money Politics in Cross River?’ in The Nation July 22, is to say the least, a waste of productive man hours. The deepening sense of the wholesome reality is that, Obasesam Eyong and his co- travellers must have been scared silly by the recent political in roads being made by Goddy Jeddy Agba, his political manoeuvres, absorptive capacity and speedy ascendancy in the realm of national statesmanship. This unparalleled feat of the man seems to pose a threat to people like Obasesam and his sponsors.

    Unknown to them, Agba’s political ascendancy in Cross River State is borne out of his faith in God, sheer skills, intelligence and doggedness to extend the frontiers of politics in the state and these appear to have badly impacted on the intellectual psyche of the writer. The piece is eulogized as a sublime example of how not to ‘’maltreat’’ the English language. More worrisome however, are the absurdities and illogicalities our obviously, flustered writer on behalf of his bellicose sponsor(s) so incoherently tried to communicate.

    Both the flagrancy and magnitude of lies conjured by the said Eyong are a standing testimony of the fear of Goddy Agba’s wind of change. The letter, given its bland ignorance and journalistic paucity, would not have merited the honour of a rejoinder but for records purpose and for fear of silence being misconstrued for acquiescence.

    It is noteworthy to state that, we have uncovered plans by these disgruntled, disarmed and detonated politicians who have elevated falsehood to an art to cause massive disaffection among the voting public. Probably sensing an imminent loss and extinction in Cross River State, Eyong and his sponsor(s) have gone for the worst in recent times.

    For the avoidance of doubt, Prince Goddy Jeddy Agba is decent and humane. He has lived all his life devoted to these ideals and would not do anything to hurt a fellow human. However, if people think they can through blackmail, take advantage of this good nature and his famed generosity, they sure have missed the point.

    The name Godwin Jedy Agba strikes a bell; it represents a new order. The name is associated with diligence, hard work, empathy and maturity of the spirit, body and soul.

    The skyline is no longer 2015; the bridge head is not just a political party or factional issue, but a man of uncanny vision with a track record of transparent political participation and staying power. This is where the likes of Agba come in to bring on board their wealth of human capital exposure in our dear state.

    We do not begrudge those who want to be governor at age 70; they are free to mourn their woes and depressive dwindling political down turn. They are also entitled to continue to nurse the fantasy of becoming landlords of the Cross River Government House. But it is rather unbecoming of a man who aspires to be governor to prosecute a naked ambition with such reckless abandon. Perhaps they need to be reminded that those who plant cassava should not expect to reap cocoa-yam during harvest!

    As for Eyong and his ilk, a bitter heart is not capable of charity. So, his latest outing is not different from what he knows how to do most; raking mud and mucks.

    Cross River will be great!

     • Emmanuel Asukwo,

    Calabar

     

  • Voter cards ready in Cross River

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Cross River State has said permanent voter cards and materials for the continuous voter registration are ready.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner Mike Igini said  three days have been fixed for  people to collect their cards at the polling units where registration took place in 2011.

    He said the exercise would begin from August 15 to 17, adding that to collect the cards, voters must have been registered in 2011.

  • How Akwa Ibom, Cross River indigenes were rescued from jail

    How Akwa Ibom, Cross River indigenes were rescued from jail

    They were arrested separately. But, the police came up with a theory to lump them together as partners in crime. Friday Saturday and Amen Daniel spent eight years in jail awaiting trial before they were rescued, reports PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU

    They came to Lagos to eke out a living. They are from two neigbouring states in the Southsouth, which used to be one. Amen Daniel is from Ikon village in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. Friday Saturday hails from Calabar in Cross River State.

    But, to hang them, the police said they were both from Akwa Ibom.

    Saturday was arrested at Oyingbo Market in 2006. He was selling puff-puff. Because he could not afford the alleged N5,000 “bribe” demanded by the police to secure his freedom, the only N700 he had was taken by his oppressors.

    He was taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba where he was tortured, wounded with electric iron and shot in his legs twice— just to coerce him to admit he was an armed robber. He was not offered medical care; other suspects held in detention with Saturday poured candle wax into the gunshot wounds as first aid.

    After several weeks in police detention without being able to provide the N100, 000 allegedly demanded for his bail, Saturday was charged alongside Daniel, 30, whom he only knew on the day of their arraignment at a Yaba Magistrates’ Court.

    Like Saturday, Daniel, who had his share of police brutality, was arrested in broad daylight on Lekki-Epe Expressway on his way to his mechanic’s workshop after assisting a client whose car broke down.

    He, and three others had assisted the client push his car into a filling station and on his way back to his shop at about 12pm, he was stopped by a plain-clothed officer who forced him into a vehicle.

    Unable to provide the N30,000 demanded by the policemen in Ajah, Daniel said he was threatened with being framed for armed robbery and would rot in prison.

    Daniel was transferred from Ajah Police Station to SCID, Panti. Other suspects, who were arrested almost the same time as he, were released after their relatives paid “ransoms”.

    Knowing that armed robbery is a capital offence which can only be tried at the High Court, the police took the victims to a Magistrates’ Court, secured remand order and dumped them in Ikoyi Prisons.

    Like several other awaiting trial inmates, the victims were forgotten in custody. They prayed day and night, hoping that fate would smile on them since they had no money to hire the services of a lawyer.

    Fortunately, luck shone on them after a lawyer, Charles Okungbowa, visited the prison and probed into the cause of their incarceration.

    Their trial was conducted before Justice Adeniyi Adebajo (rtd), and it took about four years before conclusion— no thanks to several adjournments at the instance of the prosecution.

    After about four years of litigation, Justice Adebajo dismissed the charge of conspiracy and armed robbery against Daniel and Saturday.

    Narrating his ordeal before Justice Adebajo, Saturday said: “I was selling puff puff at Oyingbo Market around 12pm and police came there at a point I was about to sell to a customer. As I put down my show glass to sell to a customer inside a vehicle, they drove close and arrested me.

    “They searched me and saw the N700 in my pocket and a newspaper I folded in my back pocket. There was nothing more and so they collected the N700 and told me to enter the car.

    “I was asking them what I have done and that they should wait for me to carry my show glass but they dragged me inside the car and told me to give them N5000 before they will free me.

    “I told them I do not have any other money except the N700 they have taken from me and they said I will see myself at the station. When we got to the station, they asked me to write my statement and I told them I am not educated and do not even know what to write since they arrested me while I was doing my business.

    “I did not write any statement. They wrote it themselves and they accused me of armed robbery at Ajah. Meanwhile, I have never been to Ajah. They told me to call my people to bring N100, 000 to bail me. My brother came with N30, 000; they collected it and said the money was small that he should bring more.

    “He told them he does not have money and they were beating me everyday to accept I am an armed robber. They even shot me on my leg and it was the other suspects in the cell that used candle wax to treat the injuries they inflicted on me.

    “They told me that is how they treat any wound inflicted on them by the police. That they light candle and put the wax inside the injury to kill the germs. I was tortured on daily basis while at Panti until they finally took me to Yaba Magistrates’ Court for arraignment.

    “I never knew Amen Daniel until the morning of our arraignment. It was the police who brought him and told me that he was my co-suspect, that we committed the armed robbery together. I told them I do not know him and have never seen him but they told me to shut up and took us to court.

    “I just thank God that eight years after, I am alive and have regained my freedom. I am begging the government to investigate the police. The way they treat poor people is not good. I was 19 years when I was arrested, now I am 26 years and I have spent eight years in prison, for committing no offence.

    “If not for this lawyer who came to the prison and asked us what happened, after we explained to him and told him we do not have money, he promised to help us and since then, he has been the one helping us. I pray that God will bless him for the good thing he did for me,” said Saturday.

    Delivering judgment, the judge berated the police. He said it was spurious that the police did not provide any evidence whatsoever linking the defendants to their purported crimes.

    Justice Ebenezer Adebajo held that “the only evidence of robbery before this court was the taking of N700 from the second defendant (Saturday) by men of the Nigeria Police who are usually armed when going on patrols or raiding…

    “I am of the opinion that in the course of the defendants’ incarceration at the police stations, they suffered gunshot wounds and the first defendant was further tortured. No statement that purports to be confessional would stand in the light of police brutality… I find the defendants not guilty of the charge. The charge is hereby dismissed and the defendants discharged and acquitted.”

    Although the defendants have been released by the court, the pain inflicted on them through torture, loss of loved ones and wasted years have not been wiped away.

    Even the filing of Fundamental Human Rights (FHR) infringement charges against their oppressors, which is the only available option, may not hold water, especially because the police have flagrantly disobeyed such orders from court without being held for contempt.

    A lawyer, Ahmed  Adetola-Kazeem, said lawyers are frustrated in pursuing and ensuring the victims get their money as a result of the solidarity between the judges and the law enforcement agencies.

    He noted that the agencies also file appeals, which they do not pursue, as tactic to avoid paying judgment debt, just as he insisted that the laws are accurate but not enforced.

    He said: “Most times the sums awarded as damages or compensation by the courts, especially the state high courts, are very meager and hardly worth pursuing giving the rigours involved. The meagre award is largely in my opinion due to the solidarity between the judges and the government. The judges who do this are mostly those who were formally in the ministries of justice.

    “Where the judges were also bold to award damages, they are unwilling to enforce the judgments, for the fear of been victimised by their various state governments or the law enforcement agencies.

    “Another reason why it is difficult to recover the damages is that, the agencies will most times not pay the damages in their volition or on receipt of demand letter from counsel to the victims. They instead rush to file appeal, which is rarely pursued, but filed as a tactic to frustrate the judgment creditor.

    “They equally file application for stay of execution at the high court, which is often granted. All these adds to the frustration of the indigent victim, who doesn’t have the financial muscle to go all the way to recover the damages.

    “In my case, I have had to do the cases pro bono from inception and it becomes discouraging after a while because of the delay and frustration tactics employed by the judgment debtors, the situation is worsened when you realise the paltry sum awarded by the court.

    “We have the garnishee proceedings where the judgment creditor urged the court to order the garnishee( most times, the bank(s) keeping the money of the judgment debtor) to pay him the judgment debt.

    “Where the garnishee, who has the debtors money in its possession, refuses to pay the money, a contempt proceeding can be instituted against the responsible officer of the bank. Contempt proceeding can also be brought against the Judgment debtors where they brazenly disobey the orders of the court.

    “So, in summary, the problem is not in the laws, but in the willingness of the courts to ensure its orders are obeyed.”

    Okungbowa said he decided to help the duo because he felt they were denied justice and fairness by the police, the Magistrates’ Court and the Ministry of Justice since their arrests on December 6 for Daniel and December 14 for Saturday, both in 2006.

    “I met the defendants in Ikoyi Prisons sometime in 2010 during a visit to see some of my clients. My clients were the ones who introduced the duo and asked me to see how I could help them since they had suffered hopelessness to access justice and regain their freedom of liberty being deprived them by the long prison remand, which ordinarily should not have been more than one or two months as the case may be.

    “When I came in contact with them, they were still awaiting trial and neither the police nor the state Ministry of Justice had filed a charge against them at the appropriate courts of competent jurisdiction.

    “The unprofessional, illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional manner they were arrested and the circumstances/torture of beating, hanging, burnt with hot pressing iron and being shot with gun on their legs that they were subjected to by the officers and men of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba in their detention cell propelled me as a lawyer and activist to take up their case pro bono and defend them successfully.”

    Okungbowa said he felt bad that the police still go about arresting and detaining innocent people.

    “I feel very bad and concerned. It is condemnable, reprehensible and a stop must be put to it. Everybody in the society must come together in fighting it to a standstill and not offering lip services in public, only to go behind and use the police to harass or intimidate others.

    “Also prompt investigation of any allegation of misused powers by the police should be carried out with appropriate punishment meted on any defaulter. Another measure is to hold their superiors, departments or formation, accountable and responsible too, who do not properly supervise them and take any of their wrong doings seriously.

    “Finally, the human rights units in the police force are not working as it should be and is manned by the same police officers and men. This should stop and if we are serious with the unit, it should be headed by a lawyer and comprise other members of the civil society.

    “Also seminars and workshops on civil and constitutional right lectures, topics or courses should be organised as refresher and retraining for the police,” he said.

     

  • Cross River students sack leaders for alleged misconduct

    Members of the legislative arm of the National Association of Cross River State students (NACRISS) have held a session to discuss issues affecting the association.

    By the time they rose from the sitting, which was held at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) Old Senate Chambers, member removed the parliament’s leaders for misconduct.

    They scrutinised finances of the association by setting up as committeee led by Bassey Abba. Members unanimously passed a resolution to impeach  the Senate President, Francis Obono, who had been initially suspended for alleged financial misconduct.

    The motion for the impeachment was moved by Emmanuel Omang and seconded by Dominic Effiong. The students also claimed that the Senate President violated Section 32 of the association’s constitution. A new leader was chosen. He is Okanga Ogbu.

    Reacting to his removal, Francis said: “I don’t know the reason you are asking this question. When you have something better, you can find out time to talk to me. For now, I’m still the Senate President. If any person has been impeached, I am not the one. Whatever you heard is mere rumours.”

    Members also impeach the Vice President, Juliet Manyo, for allegedly participating in an illegal demonstration calling for the removal of the Personal Adviser on Students’ Affairs to the Governor Liyel Imoke, Mr Hilary Bisong, and usurping the powers of the president.

    The impeachment letter made available to our correspondent reads: “Without prejudice to the constitution; following the discrepancy, gross misconduct as reported by the house committee on fact-finding on the Vice President for violating section 53(2), Article A, B, C, D, E, F and H, that the irrelevant demonstration was not approved by the association’s president and Legal Adviser, such groups shall be suspended indefinitely…”

    The General Secretary, Sunday Obi, was also indicted for breaching the constitution and got suspended indefinitely for taking part in the protest.

    Reacting, Juliet said: “Those senators are impersonating the recognised principal officers of the senate. Whatever they are doing is simply not right. They don’t have the rightto impeach me. I am not even bothered about that. They are just a faction of the senate. Those  who claimed to impeach me are those that are given stipends by Philomena Agweye, the suspended president. Even as I speak, I have not received any notification of the so-called impeachment.”

    All efforts to reach the suspended General Secretary were futile.

    A former member, who pleaded for anonymity, frowned at the crisis rocking the association and called for dialogue among warring factions.

    “Must we fight over everything? What kind of politics is this? When we were in the union, we did not misbehave as these crops of students are doing. I will advise all of them to return to a round table discussion to settle all their grievances and stop washing their dirty linen in the public, ” he said.

     

  • AGN:NEC suspends Cross River members

    The National Executive Council of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, has placed a suspension order on members of the Cross River chapter of the Guild, following a long- drawn battle in which members were accused of running a parallel administration.

    The suspend order is contained in a letter dated July 2, 2014 and signed by the national president of the guild, Ibinabo Fiberesima.  The suspended members include Maureen Ekpenyong, Magnus Edet, Prince Emmy, Ekpedeme Moses, Emmanuel Williamson, Mbuotidem Akpan, Ekpo Daniel, Ubok Edide Ita and Stella Okon.

    “This is to inform you of the resolution of the National Executive Council, NEC, to suspend you indefinitely from the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, for illegally running a parallel executive in AGN Cross River State Chapter, which is punishable under section 8, E of the constitution of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (2011 Amended). Kindly submit the entire Guild’s property in your possession to Monica Udofia, Chairman, Cross River State chapter, AGN,” the notice read.

    It will be recalled that the Cross River chapter of the Guild fell apart early this year and a faction was created by its former chairman, Eric Anderson, after he failed to secure a re-election.

  • Awards target promotion of film industry in Cross River

    In a bid to encourage film making  in Cross River State, producers, directors and screen writers will be honoured at the Cross River Movie Awards.

    The awards’ Executive Director,  Eric Anderson, said the ceremoy was to increase movie making in Cross River State.

    The awards, which will be the second edition, will include honorary, life time achievement, special achievement, posthumous awards, performance and merit awards

    He said: “Cross River State Movie Awards is actually for movies produced in choice locations in Cross River. We intend to restrict it to that because we need to increase more production in Cross River State.

    “The industry in Cross River is over 15 years old. Whatever you do, apart from the positive rub-off of the Cross River State image, one thing we are trying to do is to promote talent, and empower talent. We are developing people and creating a sense belonging and the state would see an increase in traffic, economically and so on.

    “Cross River State has been doing well as far as the entertainment industry is concerned. We have experienced some movies of international production such as Streets of Calabar and Half of a Yellow Sun. Also lots of parents are even encouraging their children to go into the entertainment industry because of how well it is doing. The entertainment industry in Cross River has improved a lot but there is still room for more improvement.”

    Sylva Bogbo, the event consultant, said: “Not just promoting people but also promoting culture. We are opening the ground. And Cross River is the hub of tourism in Nigeria. We are in entertainment tourism, we are trying to make Calabar the Hollywood of tourism in Nigeria. It is going to be something special.  We are recognising our people and those who have come here to work.

    “The award basically is designed to see how we can award practitioners, felicitate with them. Over the years we have had people who have worked in this field of endeavour, that is, movie acting, producing and directing.

    “After last year, what we showcased took the government by storm. It was a success. Between when we had the first movie awards and now, 13 full movies have been shot in the state. We have had a lot of development of local talent.

    “Even people who came from outside have seen what we have to offer and are eager to work with the local people. This year’s edition will be excellent with the kind of preparation on ground coupled with the fact that we have endorsement from the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation.

  • ‘Our plans for outdoor advertising in Cross River’

    ‘Our plans for outdoor advertising in Cross River’

    Many old billboards dot the streets of Calabar, the Cross River State capital. The government is determined to turn them into money spinners through tourism branding, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    The Cross River State Government is eyeing outdoor advertising and signage to boost its economy.

    It plans to adopt the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) model to attract stakeholders to partner with it in tourism branding.

    Officials of the Cross River State Signage and Advertisement Agency (CRSSA) have been to Lagos to rub minds with their LASAA counterparts in the matter.

    CRSSA Director-General Godwin Iyala said the agency has learnt few things from the Lagos experiment.

    He spoke in Lagos when he visited LASAA Managing Director Mr George Noah after an outdoor advertising conference organised by the agency.

    He said: “We have seen a lot of innovations here; we have seen collaborations; we have seen good ideas that we would like to bring into fruition in Cross River State. Above all, we are going to synergise with other stakeholders to ensure that we have a uniform landscape environment for outdoors and create an enabling environment for operators, investors and regulators to have a win-win situation.”

    He said he was banking on tourism branding to attract investors.

    Iyala said: “The face of outdoor advertising in Cross River is changing to synchronise with the tourism drive that we have. Don’t forget that Calabar, especially is noted for its cleanliness and we can’t but use outdoor to enhance the beauty of the environment, not just Calabar, but the entire state.

    “Don’t forget that we also have the biggest street party in Africa called the Carnival, which attracts over 800,000 visitors every year, and we have gradually transforming from a civil service state to an industrial and tourism hub.”

    With its many vacant billboards in Calabar, the state capital, Cross River which is regarded as “The Peoples Paradise”. It is also one of the fastest growing states in the country, with an improved investment climate and a rich historical and cultural heritage.

    Iyala pledged to change the face of outdoor by rallying the state’s tourism touch points to rub off on the “vacant billboard” markers and drive more brands to put their posters.

    “Since our arrival, we have put quite a lot of things in place. We are gradually eliminating the obsolete signage and billboards and we are gradually replacing them with LED displays; we are gradually replacing them with modern gantries; we are gradually replacing them with modern drapes and other forms of modern displays advertisement like portraits,” he said.

    According to him, the opportunity for small scale businesses, especially outdoor, is growing and the state is busy confronting the challenges. “The beauty of it all is that we arrive at the time the glut came in, and we are regulating from day one,” he said.

    Iyala said regulating the outdoor business is not all about generating revenue. “We regulate to add beauty to the environment, and then we regulate to generate revenue as well. Those are things you can’t do without generating revenue. Sometimes you generate revenue and use it to create environment to enable the outdoor to thrive,” he said.

    On CRSSA’s participation at the LASAA conference, Iyalla said: “We have heard from the regulators and operators on what needs to be done and what have been done rightly or wrongly, and how we need to improve on it. We have seen quite a lot of innovation here, and when we go back to our state, we are going to implement them to move the outdoor regulations and practice forward.”

    Noah said though the industry has potential, the challenge of empirical data has continued to make advertisers think low about the business unlike other platforms of advertisement, such as television.

    He, however, admitted that despite challenges, the sector has witnessed huge transformation in the last decade following regulatory intervention.

    Noah said the sector accounts for over N50 billion turnovers while the state with a population of 22 million accounts for 60 per cent of Nigeria’s total advertising market.

    This, he said, was insignificant when what accrues to other sectors is considered since the cost of doing business is almost shrinking.

    Noah said outdoor media buying agencies generate about N8.6 billion, fabricators, rake in N1.5 billion; installers, N382 billion; and large format printers, N8.27 billion. Also, outdoor specialist agencies generate N21.9 billion, outdoor protection services, N370 million; adverts, N1.25 billion and others, N8 billion.

  • Belekete…Hell on earth

    Belekete…Hell on earth

    It is not accessible by road. The only way to get to Belekete, a ranch community bordering the world famous Obudu Ranch Resort, is by foot and it takes some seven hours or more of mountain climbing, rushing streams crossing and more, reports Nicholas Kalu

    The semi-temperate weather endures all year round giving the area the serenity of an average European city. The clouds are almost permanently locked in kisses with the mountains. The image is simply breath-taking. Beauty, beauty and beauty everywhere so much that some say they feel closer to God in this environ. But life here is not beautiful. It is brutish. Hellish may not be out of place to describe living here. It is the survival of the fittest.

    Welcome to Belekete, a ranch community some seven hours on foot away from the world famous Obudu Ranch Resort in Obalinku Local Government Area of Cross River State. At the resort, guests live in abundance and have almost everything they need at their beck and call. Belekete is the opposite. In Belekete, dejection walks on all fours, daring residents to send it packing. It is like their king and they its reluctant subjects, powerless to change the status quo.

    In Belekete, the opportunity to savour the good weather is like heaven. This apart, everyday is like  living in hell. It is not a place, where visitors flock. Residents are not eager to go out because going out is a hell of a task. Nature tucks them away among the mountains and makes it difficult even for help to come. As soon as you leave the Obudu Ranch Resort, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) telecommunication ceases to work.

    Nothing is enough here, except the good weather. Homes are nothing to write home about. Diseases are rampant. Death is not uncommon.  Expectant mothers die regularly. But no one, not even the government, has statistics of the maternal mortality.

    Homes in this community made up of eight villages are red brick houses with either zinc or thatched roofs. No electricity, except one compound with a generator. There are no schools. There is no pipe borne water too.

    The journey to Belekete starts from the top of the Obudu Ranch Resort. But unlike transporting oneself to the top of the ranch where one has the luxury of choosing among the cable car, a vehicle or a motorcycle, the only mode of getting to this community is by foot.

    This is where the problem begins. Members of the community pleaded with this reporter not to embark on the “risky” journey. Some who embarked never got back, they said, as it involved climbing mountains and descending valleys, crossing rushing streams, rocks and other obstacles. All their entreaties fell on deaf ears. If anything they only served to deepen curiosity. After all it was just walking and even if it took a full day, one would get there. Belekete must be reached. Confidence was brimming.

    So, accompanied by a guide from the community and a couple of others, the descent of the first mountain began. After about 45 minutes’ descent, one person returned. He was carried back to the top of the ranch by youths from the community.

    About 30 minutes after, this reporter began to see some sense in the warnings that were given to him earlier. The mountainside was very steep and slippery and a any mistake would mean plunging to a very horrible death, likely that one’s body may never be found.

    But at this point, it was not really clear what would hurt most – a feeling of failure for aborting a mission or a bruised ego, having to come back to meet people who would just have that “I told you so” look on their faces. About five more hours of this arduous journey lay ahead.

    After another 30 minutes’ descent, the guide, others and this reporter arrived at a rushing stream. After managing to cross it without being swept away (the rocks at the bottom were really slippery).  Two more steep and slippery mountains were climbed; two dense forests and three more streams were crossed and several small hills descended before arriving at Oshenokpa, the first village about five hours later. From there, another one hour through a difficult terrain brought the team to the headquarters of Belekete.

    Throughout the trip, not once did this reporter believe the day was going to be his last on earth. It was a near death experience. At least so it seemed to be. But this was just half of the journey. One still had to go back the same way. Thinking about it was traumatic. A comfortable mattress provided by the community head to rest for the night did not provide any comfort at all. Sleep was full of nightmares of what could happen on the way back the following day, given that all energy was expended arriving there. It had taken just over seven hours of life-risking journey to reach the community. Leaving the ranch at noon, the team had arrived a little after 7pm.

    After fervent prayers to God and with quotes from Mandela like, “It always seems impossible  until it is done”, and Bob Marley “You never know how strong you are until it is your only choice” filling this reporter’s head, the journey back to the ranch began at 6 am. In many places, you would be looking down at the cloud beneath you. Also at many points, you could not see far in front of you because you were engulfed in the cloud. The return journey was more difficult.  It took 10 hours to get back to the ranch. It was a true manifestation of mind over muscle. Drinking from streams along the way, soaking gari with a relaxer container found in the forest with water from the stream, resting severally along the way (even lying on the ground, given that fear of snakes and other wild animals had dissipated), the team managed to reach the ranch resort.

    This reporter’s only joy was that he was not carried throughout the journey. It was a miracle. But for the people of Belekete, it is no miracle. It is what they face every day.

    Clifford, the guide, was very helpful. He did not break a sweat . He just had a patient look on his face and words of encouragement to put one step in front of the other.

    Health wise, the people are deprived. In many cases, it was gathered that many had died of malaria because they had no access to proper healthcare.

    Though they have two health centres, these are grossly underequipped and undermanned. The two have just one member of staff each. They can only offer first aid or deal with minor issues. If there is an expectant woman with labour complications, or someone is gravely ill or severely injured, such a person is carried all through the way to the ranch from where they are taken to where they can have access to proper healthcare. Many never made it.

    The people have constructed baskets which they hang on their backs to carry expectant women, who have complications. Wooden stretchers are used to carry other incapacitated people who need healthcare.

    What is most important to the people, they say, is a road that would  aid transportation in and out of the area. Besides, they require health facilities.

    Chief Achagba Augustine Akwo, an indigene of Belekete, holds a National Diploma in Community Health with over 21 years’ experience. He mans one of the health centres. In fact, he is the only member of the staff.

    He said:  “We have no roads and we don’t have man power to keep the health facilities working. We don’t have enough drugs and equipment. The two health facilities we have are not well-equipped and up to standard and so we don’t efficiently carry out our health service the way we were taught to do in our various schools of health technologies. We would be very happy if the government would intervene, especially in the area of road construction and the employment of staff and equip them.

    “When a woman is in labour and we see that she will not be to deliver safely, we refer such cases and to refer a pregnant woman in that condition under labour, we weave a basket made up of cane ropes and the woman will be put in that basket and carried on the back and she will be backing the carrier. The woman will be hung on the back like a sack and brought to the ranch, which is a distance of about 20km which one would use up to six to eight hours through the forest and across running waters, mountainous areas and other dangerous terrains. Many times they do not make it and they die and are carried back.

    “Let me tell you that even when policemen come here to keep peace, at the end of the day, we have to convey the policemen on our backs to bring them back to the ranch. Even you as you have come, we are not sure you will reach and go back on your own without being carried. Apart from the pregnant women, other casualties who have serious problems, we put them on a wooden stretcher and carry them to the ranch. Many times they fall on the road and somebody who was already in critical condition would sustain a secondary injury. We need a road so that people can even have access to the place.”

    Akuo went on:“Belekete is a ranch community and it gave out the ranch to the government and that is why they kept off the place, allowing the place to be managed by government. That is why they are inside that hole there. The government should look into their problems, especially health. The people are dying. No vehicle can get to the place, not even a bicycle. We just attend to antenatal patients and treat minor ailments.”

    Kechi, who is from the area, also said: “We don’t have hospitals and access roads and we lack many other amenities there, even schools. We just have a primary school there. Each time they send teachers there due to the roughness of the road, they don’t go.

    “It is by God’s race that we are living. It is only when there is immunisation that health workers go there. Some of our people are health personnel. So, they go there and collect the immunisation and bring it as the other health workers cannot come. We have a health centre there but it is nothing. If somebody is in labour or other serious ailment, you cannot operate anybody from there because there is no equipment to be used there. They only deal with minor health issues there like cuts. If there is any such problem, we carry the person on our back to ranch here; then take the person down to the hospital. It is very risky and many time people die along the way, then we take the dead person back.

    “First we need access roads, then hospitals. We have two health centres and two health officers that are far from adequate. Health personnel can’t go there because they cannot because of the terrain. Many women die due to labour problems. Just very recently, a mother died after child birth and after that the baby died a few days later because they could not get access to proper health service. Government should help us and take care of us because we are equally Cross Riverians. We go herbal most times but having proper healthcare would be the best thing for us.”

    Francis Ajie, a farmer, said: “We are totally an enclave people that don’t have any health facility as far as I know. It is just that some of our people have struggled to be health practitioners, like the health officer you spoke with and helping his own people to at least give them first aid, which is not even enough. We are like forgotten people even though we contribute so much to the development of the state and country. But in terms of welfare, we have nothing. Deaths are rampant because of lack of health facilities. Even common malaria kills people there. Road has not even been dreamt of reaching this place. Something needs to be done urgently. You have three big mountains to cross over a distance of about 20kms. There are wild animals on the way as it falls within the reserve. You can meet things that can even eat you up on the way. Many people have gone missing and their bodies have not been found between this ranch and the village. We need a road first because even if you build a hospital, how do you transfer drugs there?”

    A mother, Mary Keche, also complained: “When a woman is pregnant and is struggling to put to birth and since we don’t have any health service here, we would carry her on the back and carry her to the ranch. We carry them in a basket tied to the back and other times we carry her on the head. We are suffering here. If somebody has a serious sickness here, there is no way for us. That is how our people die. Imagine the distance you came from the ranch. I believe you don’t need any further explanation to see what we suffer. It is not easy. Let the government give us hospital and road. If we had road at least we would not suffer like this.”

    The Clan Head of Belekete, Chief Ogweshi Francis Ngweli,  who could not give this reporter the community’s population, said:  “People have been dying because we don’t have healthcare here and there is no assistance of carrying people up to the ranch. Pregnant women and sick children have been dying. I am sure you have seen it with your two naked eyes with the almost eight hours you have passed through. We need facilities. The only health officer we have here, if anything takes him out that means we would not even have anyone to attend us even for the small ailments. In the past weeks, my people have been dying.

    “We have appealed to the government but because there is no motorable road, the government has not been able to give us some sort of assistance. We are begging they should help us. The place is so backward in all in the sense that there is no road. There is no pipe borne water and we back people who are sick all the way to the ranch. And because of that we wish the government to help us with a road and assist us with proper healthcare facilities.”

    Back in Calabar, the state capital, a senior government official, who does not want his name in print, said he never knew that a place like Belekete existed in the state.

    His words: “Are you serious there is a community in the state that you can trek to on foot for that number of hours to get to? You are not saying the truth.  To be honest with you, I have never heard of it. Did you say it was a ranch community? Does such a place exist in this state? Let me see what I can find out about the place.”

    For now, life goes on in Belekete. There are diseases, deaths and all manner of pains amid a temperate weather which gives the area the phony image of an average European city.

  • Cross River…For tomorrow to be better

    For three days last week, Cross River State government took reporters round some of its legacy projects. The tour started in Calabar and terminated in Ogoja, the far end of the state which is no less than five hours away from the state capital.

    was one of tempered expectations,

    In Ogoja, many of the state correspondents, who were conversant with the state of rural roads, were impressed with the transformation that has taken place between their last visit and now. Almost all streets in Ogoja have had their roads tarred, with good drainage channel.

    Across the state, old roads have become new and non-existent ones, such as the Margaret Ekpo Bye-pass, have sprung up.

    There is a deliberate effort to redress the neglect of the rural areas. It is a case of roads, roads everywhere and several to travel smoothly on.

    The importance of water has not been lost on the administration too. Things that will sustain its status as the tourism headquaters of Nigeria have been deliberately targetted and given attention.

    Through the State Investment Promotion Bureau, it has attracted foreign investment. Top on the list is Wilmar International Limited’s $400 million investment in agriculture and agro-processing. There is also the Brentex Petroleum $300 million pipe mills manufacturing; the $700 million Essar Power Limited 660MW Integrated Power Project; Southgate Cocoa, and the Artee Group’s investment in shopping malls.

    All these are despite the fact that  the state’s last derivation cheque in the sum of N345 million came in 2012 – the aftermath of the July 2012 apex court ruling terminating its membership of the oil-producing club. The ruling ceded its 176 oil-wells to its neighbour, Akwa Ibom State. The development came as dampener, but the state has risen beyond it.

    The state may have lost close to N20 billion in the over 22 months of non-receipt of the 13 per cent derivation funds, it is making up through FDI. The world-class Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC) not far from the Tinapa Resort –both in the domain of the sprawling Summit Hills –holds a lot of promises. It promises to make the state a force in global tourism.

    On completion, the CICC will host a 200-bed Convention Hotel under the state’s Public Private Partnership model.

    Tinapa also stands to gain from the Summit Hills project, where a monorail will link it with the CICC and end its current woes.

    The Songhai farm complex in Abi and  the multi-million dollar Wilmar farm complex in Akampka also hold promises of improving the state’s fortunes. The Songhai Farm is intended to train the youths in integrated farming system. In the farm, waste products from plants, birds, fish ponds, which are ordinarily disposed off, are recycled as inputs. The Wilmar farm is strictly for oil palm, the mainstay of Malaysia’s economy.  Cross River may as well become Malaysia all things being equal.

    As good as what the state has to showcase are, they must be followed through. The CICC, the Songhai Farm and the Wilmar Farm are not at maturity stage yet. So, nothing must stop their destinies. They hold a lot of promises that will eventually pay off what the state lost to derivation funds. Cross River can be better and the key to its being better is in the oil palm farm, the CICC, the other parts of the Summit Hills project, the Songhai Farm and others, which if not followed through, can turn out to be white elephant projects. It is good Governor Liyel Imoke says all the funds needed to see these projects through are ready.