Peter Bassey|24 March 2016|6:25am
It is often said that "Great men who made history were not men who conformed to traditions and superstitions, but men who break tradition and set standards for themselves".
Everything is possible in this world, if you can conceived it, you can actualise it. Impossibilities only exist in the mind of men/women and that is because they have substituted faith for doubt.
Retrospectively, when Cross River State lost 76 oil wells to her neighbouring Akwa Ibom State through the ceding order by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the state witnessed series of economic setbacks.
The welfare of civil servants as well as the management of other sectors of the state economy was only made possible by the wisdom and purposeful leadership of the then Governor Liyel Imoke's led adminstration to salvage the plight of the state, galvanise efforts for the sustainability of the state before its handing over.
When Senator Ben Ayade's led government took over, it was however necessary to set new structures to consolidate the effort of the past administration vis-a-vis bring out new economic blue print to salvage the state economic situation and move it forward. It was on this basis that Gov. Ayade assured Cross Riverians that he will earned their trust with good governance.
Progressively, since May 29th, 2015, some well articulated projects has been outlined and work has commenced earnestly. Also, the governor has paid attention to certain areas of economic concern which is accolade worthy and has given Cross Riverians a clear picture of what they stand to benefit in the nearest future. But in doing so, Cross Riverians must keep faith with the digital governor.
With regards to the economic situation in Nigeria, one can possibly accept that Ayade has not performed below par so far. The prompt payment of salaries, the recruitments of youths into the green police, the tax relief for small and medium scale entrepreneurs in the state is highly commendable, as it will not only relief their burden but encourage business investments in the state. Again, if the garment factory, dual carriage super highway, the proposed Calabar Deep Seaport and the hydro power project which is intended to generate 90 mega watts of electricity is completed, the state will experience economic turn around and the standard of living of the people will improve.
Having said all these, hope once more beckons on every Cross Riverian to put aside political, sectional or other parochial consideration and support whole heartedly the efforts of the Ayade's administration as he strives to bring development to Cross River.
As a people, we can not at this point in time choose to shift the goal post on Ayade while the game is still on.
Peter Bassey
Writes From Calabar
