BY Dyepkazah Shibayan
Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, says the state will soon witness economic change.
Ayade said this on Sunday after returning to the country from an investment trip in Asia.
He had spent three weeks in the continent in a bid to seek opportunities to boost the economic fortunes of the state.
The governor said the various factories at the different stages of construction in the state will soon be operational.
“Every trip I have made is for the interest of Cross River. If I need to go on a holiday, I will not choose Asia, you don’t go to Asia for a holiday, you go to Asia for business,” he said.
“Cross River will witness the change I have always sought and against that background, our factories will start running soon.
“For any society to grow, its roads, ports and factories remain very critical, hence my intervention on factories which is a co-agendum that I drive, creating an opportunity for us to become manufacturers and producers so that we can underpin our tourism on hard work as the foundation of deliberate income for young people.
“[Factories] will see Cross River saving over N700 million as all carnival costumes for this year will be made in the state’s garment factory through the help of the Indian team and professionals.”
Ayade said he visited India because of the state’s 21 megawatts power project.
“I brought back an Indian team with me, and so in a couple of weeks, they will be doing the test run,” the governor said.
He urged youth to enrol in the state’s construction academy to enable it have a skilled workforce.
“It is time to put our hands on the plough so that we can drive a new Cross River that will give us the horizon of hope and prosperity that will engender that kind of success we all anticipate,” the governor said.
Ayade said he wants to be re-elected into office based on his achievements.
“By how much I have delivered in this my first term and until they are properly crystallised, I think I don’t have the moral credentials to talk about elections. That is my thinking and I want to convince my conscience that I deserve a reelection,” he said.
“While America is in the past, Asia is in the present, Africa is indeed the future and I am leading a generational change, a new philosophy to celebrate Africa for what we are.”
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