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| Professor Ivara Esu, Cross River State Deputy Governor with Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani |
Governor Ben Ayade has expressed huge appreciation to President Mahummadu Buhari for the several key appointments Cross River state have enjoyed under his administration since he came to power.
Governor Ayade who expressed his views in Calabar through is deputy, Prof Ivara Ejemot Esu OFR, when top officials of the ministry of Niger Delta affairs, led by the minister Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, who are in Calabar for a retreat paid him a courtesy visit at the Exco chamber of the Governor’s office.
Governor Ayade who appreciated the president for considering Cross River state as very strategic to the realisation of his great vision for Nigeria by the qualities and numbers of key appointment he has made from the state assured him of continuous support from the state government and the people of cross river.
He stated that President Buhari is a great Nigerian and a nationalist who mean very well for the country and charged all Nigerians to support and rally round the president at these times of recession as he is committed to getting the country back to the path of greatness.
According to him cross river state is very grateful to Mr President; we want to use this opportunity to express our huge appreciation for all he has done for our state. Our states under this administration have enjoyed great goodwill from Mr President by the qualities and numbers of appointment he has made.
‘As a people we are indeed very grateful that our people are considered very strategic by the country’s number one citizen to work with him in very important positions to getting our country working again. We are happy and assured the president of total support and all the necessary understanding in his quest for a better Nigeria.’
The governor who used the opportunity of the visit to welcome the minister home charged him to start his charity from home by working well with the state government to fixing all the bad state of the roads in the state.
His word: ‘You are welcome home, infact the choice of Cross River as host of your retreat is not a mistake. The state is very serene and peaceful. Please take urgent steps to address the terrible roads situation in the state, work with us in this direction so it can help improve the economy of the state as we are doing everything to curb the insecurity in our coastal areas so that it would not go out of hand.’
Early, the minister hailed governor Ayade and the state government for the very warm reception given to the delegation and appreciated the governor for his continuous cordial working relationship with the federal government. The minister who said that even as an opposition government the government of governor Ayade have shown so much warm and hospitality to the APC led minister and his officials.
According to him we have been to some PDP states and we were never given this kind of warm reception. Right from the reception at the airport we have been shown that we are welcome here we want to really thank you.
To this end, Pastor Usani disclosed that the essence of the retreat and visit was to inform the state government of what the ministry having been doing to improve the lives of the people of the Niger Delta and Cross Riverians .
In addition, refocus the policy of ministry as regards development because of modern challenges while revealing the federal government plans to dualise the Calabar-Itu and Calabar-Ikom highway and improve the state of federal infrastructures in the state.
‘We are here to ensure the state government is aware of what the ministry because revelations have shown that most states in the region don’t know what the ministry is doing in their state which would have helped them focus on other areas of development. The emphasis of the present government is to complete all existing projects to prevent wastage which is the reason the government have not initiated new projects.’ He also observed.