Governor Ayade inspecting work at the garment factory (file picture)
By Akanimo Sampson
GOVERNOR Ben Ayade of Cross River State, a minor oil producing state in Southern Nigeria, is working silently to make the state a job destination by 2019. The governor even has plans to ensure full employment to the peoples of the state by the target year.
There are massive job-creation projects going on in the state ranging from automobile to agro industry that focuses on making the state the biggest rice market in the country. This coming April, the Calabar garment factory, one of his signature projects will be commissioned.
The project which is located along the Goodluck Jonathan By pass in Calabar,the state capital, when completed, will produce fabrics for the production of uniforms of all kinds in the state and the nation at large.
According to Ayade, the peoples of the state are having great reasons to come together and celebrate our annual festival. Today marks a turning point in the philosophical theory of the people of Cross River State and once we redesign our philosophy and concept to create a new horizon of opportunity for the young people.
“Young people who by no fault of theirs, have challenges in their own time. And as a young man who grew from those challenges now handling the saddle of leadership, I want to commit and challenge, and to tell every Cross Riverian that the new theory behind the carnival this time is that we want to return power to the youths.
“We want the young men to have opportunity and so switching on these lights today is a luminescence of the celestial path to the growth, to the future, the prosperity of the young. We make commitment, for those who do not know the theory that no matter how challenging this may be, just understand the fact that this state has to grow.
“I make it very clear today; my government is focused on the poor because that is my heritage, that is my background.”
On the new philosophical concept and job creation, he averred that “As sophisticated as this carnival looks, there is a simplicity that I am bringing into it, bringing it back to nature, climate change as our new focus. I will create jobs for all the young men, that is why I am focusing on the green police and the green carnival and the climate marshals are going to come. As far as I know, by the end of my tenure, we are not going to have any young man who is Cross Riverian, unemployed.
“I give this commitment because I understand the challenges of our people. I know our heritage and God, bringing all of you here means I have an opportunity in history to change the course of mankind” he said, also adding that he will be coming out anew at the dawn of 2016.
“You are going to see a man who will come with so much verve, so much energy, and more jantabulas. No challenges will dare us, we are going to take them down. Cross River state must rise above all the challenges which is the reason why I said we should come here and as we are switching on this light, we are switching on the prosperity of Cross River State.”
