Tag: Cross River State

By Christian Njoku

Dr. Austin Ushie, Medical Superintendent of  General Hospital Obanliku, has disclosed that he was ready to face any panel or medical board set aside to investigate the cause of death of a middle aged woman in the facility.

Ushie made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN), on Monday in Calabar.

It would be recalled that on Tuesday night, Oct. 17, a woman in labour had died in the facility located in Sankwala, Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River while trying to deliver a baby.

The death which sparked up an uproar in the area had also seen different videos by residents on social media on the issue.

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Reacting to some of the videos, the Medical Superintendent said the deceased who passed on the same day she came to the hospital during delivery was never in the facility for three to four days, wriggling in pains as the videos claimed.

According to him, the patient was not a first-timer, she had been delivering by herself in the past.

“After a long day of surgeries, I closed at about 7p.m. deciding to continue the remaining surgeries on Thursday, Oct. 19 and went home to rest.

“The nurses on their part did not see any reason to alert me because the process was going on fine but after the head of the baby appeared from the deceased vulva, she fell back to the couch and started gasping.

“Before they knew what was happening, the patient was dead, they did not even get the chance to call or alert me, the only doctor in the hospital,” he said.

He said he did not even see the patient physically as she came for her ante natal when he was carrying out surgeries in the theatre

He called on anyone or organisation that wants to come and verify the hospital’s claims to come and do so adding that he had been the only doctor in the facility in the last four years and has tried to put things in place.

He maintained that the hospital was almost collapsing when he came in 2018 but he ensured that the place was revived by carrying out massive sensitisation in churches and renovations which brought life back to the facility.

“I know where this hospital was and where it is today in terms of patients attendance, revenue, number of surgeries, renovations and out patients activities, people can come and verify.

“In the last four to five years, the patients I have seen as a single doctor is more than the total number of patients that have come to the hospital in the last 10 years.

“The total number of surgeries that I have carried out in the hospital is more than has ever been done in the hospital since its inception.”

By Solomon Azu

Crisis is imminent over cocoa allocation in Cross River State as the State Government has remained indifference over cocoa administration by the previous government in the State.

This follows the setting up of a new cocoa allocation committee with terms of reference at variance with the already executed consent judgement between the cocoa landlord communities and state government.

Cocoa landlord communities had dragged the state government to court over non-payment of rents and royalties spanning over sixteen years.

The landlord communities had secured two consent judgements from Etung and Ikom High Courts ordering the state government to defray its protracted indebtedness to the landlord communities.

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Arising thereto, the government enforced the two Consent Judgments through the concerted and properly coordinated actions of the Governor and His Deputy, the Attorney-General, Due Process Office, Auditor-General, Internal Revenue Service, Smartgov Office and Cocoa Development and Control Department, Governor’s Office

Accordingly, “Cross River State Government established modalities for raising of the funds to settle arrears, new and future rent/royalties liabilities to Landlord Communities including ‘execution of a document titled, agreement to secure the immediate settlement of all grievances in the consent judgment in suit no. HE/16/2013 in respect of Cross River State Government Cocoa Estate, Etung LGA and modalities for prompt, sustainable settlement of all subsequent and future rents/royalties liabilities of Cross River State to the Landlord Communities”.

Consequently, the state government approved the payment of the government indebtedness to the cocoa landlord communities through the Smartgov account platform in line with the consent judgement.

“The primary objective of Government was to proactively settle all her past, present and future liabilities and obligations to the Cocoa Landlord Communities thus, permanently prevent delay and the accumulation of rent/royalties. Accordingly, Cross River State Government opted for and approved lease of 6 (six) years CERTAIN, to Smallholder Farmers in line with the executed Agreement dated 13th August, 2021 with the Representatives (Attorneys) of the Landlord Communities.”

The precious administration in its wisdom allocated a total of 1,415 hectares of cocoa farmland to farmers leaving out 3,137 hectares to be allocated with the landlord communities having seventy percent allocation.

So far, the landlord communities have collected over N37,000,000.00 as rent and royalties realized from the lease in the Smartgov lease arrangement while the state government has earned over N41,000,000.00 correspondingly paid through the automated Smartgov account platform number 1008000100/40237A that splits directly into landlord communities account and the state government, an action that has put an end to the age-long crisis of rent and royalties between landlord communities and the state government.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Crop and Irrigation Development, Mr. Johnson Ebekpo Jnr. while inaugurating the new cocoa allocation committee in his office in Calabar said “funds realized from the allocation would be paid into government dedicated bank account” as against the Smartgov account platform as ordered by the court.

He said the cocoa allocation would be fashioned out through a “public lottery” to select nominations across board in a transparent way where Chiefs/traditional rulers and revered public officers will be selected to draw the lottery on a big spin in proportion to the existing plots on public offer”.

The commissioner charged the allocation committee to “deduct at source from the proceeds arising from the cocoa plot allocation 45 percent of the entire proceeds thereof, and the rest paid to the government coffers as revenue through the TSA”, which is completely at variance with the execution of court judgement.

Correspondent reports that a deviation from the automated Smartgov and seventy percent lease allocation for cocoa landlord communities into the lottery model is likely to produce adverse outcome.

Beneficiaries of the 1,415 hectares who have already paid their lease fees for the 2024 – 2029 period and entered into genuine agreement with the state government have vowed to seek redress in court if their plots are encroached into by the new cocoa allocation committee.