The Federal Government has granted approval to Cross River State to construct Bakassi Deep Sea Port.
Governor of the state, Prof. Ben Ayade, stated this to State House correspondents at the weekend after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari.
Ayade said the Super Highway, which is an initiative of his administration and the Bakassi Deep Sea Port, would be completed before the end of his government.
The governor said: “Every one of you should thank President (Muhammadu) Buhari for me; thank the Transport Minister; thank the MD of NPA; thank the permanent secretary, Ministry of Transport, thank the Minister of Finance for the approval of the Bakassi Deep Sea Port.
“Only on Thursday, we got the official approval for the Bakassi Deep Sea Port outline business case which means that the Nigerian government has now officially recognized the Bakassi Deep Sea Port and has given us the impetus to go for the full business case.”
Speaking on the Super Highway, he said: “The Bakassi Deep Sea Port is the only port in Nigeria that has an evacuation corridor; so you have a port in Bakassi with a six-lane super highway taking you direct to Northern Nigeria. So, what Cross River is trying to do is take the Atlantic Ocean closer to Northern Nigeria.
“The Super Highway is almost done. If you get to the Super Highway today, construction work is going on but because it is a brand new road, you don’t see it from the road and we are not in a habit of dramatizing it.
“But when the dry season comes, I am relocating to the Super Highway because what we have done is to segment it into 50km each and allow investors who are interested to do it; put toll gate and recover their money because it is a private road.
“It is a road that has never existed; it is not a federal road; it is my initiative and the whole idea is that the Northern part of Nigeria, particularly the North-East and North-West, cannot see the desired prosperity unless they get access to the deep sea port.
“Otherwise, the wonderful sesame seed we have in Borno and Yobe lie prostrate; the solid minerals we have in the North-East is lying waste because you cannot travel 2000km to a seaport carrying such materials on road; so definitely the Super Highway will shorten all of that.
“The coal deposit is unexploited; so you see Nigeria sitting in huge want particularly for Northern Nigeria without anybody extracting. I believe that the Super Highway and the Deep Sea Port are suppose to be Federal Government’s project at this time particularly with the potential that it will succeed.
“Ayade will not start anything that will not succeed; the Super Highway and the Deep Sea Port must come into reality before I leave office; it is a commitment that I am emotional about; and like I said, I am ready to give my all to get it fulfilled and I believe that the President, at the right time, will come to my rescue if it becomes difficult.”
Governor Ayade, who said he was at the State House on issues concerning governance and Cross River State, explained that the visit was basically on the Super Highway and the Bakassi Deep Sea Port.
He said the state was leading on the African continent on new technology, describing any person who cultivates rice either at commercial or sustenance quantity using seeds as analogue and old fashioned.
He said: “I am a digital governor, and as a digital governor, I give seedlings with a digital technology; with a press of button.
“What is the difference between seed and seedlings? The press has the responsibility to educate CBN, AfDB and all the people associated with the development of people; that governance is not about skyscrapers; it is not about super highways; it is not about deep sea port; it is about the people.
“So, when you still have your old parents going to the farm and throwing seeds; going back to those days; seeds have a lot of internal dormancy; when you are using seedlings, your yield is going to be four times more.
“So, why would you expect your parents to use the same tonnage of rice seeds and cultivate in two hectares for example and get a value that a quarter of that hectare will get if you use seedlings?
“Therefore, Cross River State is leading the direction to say look, if Nigeria must continue to lead and feed itself, it is time for every single farmer in Nigeria to migrate from seeds to seedlings.
“That way, you would have saved all the challenges associated with the use of seeds; some seeds have lost their nutrients; their metabolic activities have degenerated every single nutrient available in their cotyledon.
“Our people grow grains for eating as seeds; that is part of the major challenge and that is why I have brought in this technology; and it is not something you can go and buy in Japan or Taiwan or buy in Thailand. It is a combination of my own professorial knowledge and research to come up with a design that is peculiar and specific and sand sensitive to the West African climate; so what I have got is patent just like my research patent for my PhD.
“More importantly, agricultural infrastructure is a responsibility of government; if a farmer is saddled with getting access, getting his fertilizer; getting water to his farm; getting somebody to buy; getting the harvest done, that is beast of burden.
“That is what we are doing in Cross River State. Recently, I ordered seven million dollar worth of farm equipment from US to provide tractorisation mechanization support services to our farmers.
“So, I give you land; I do the clearing for free for you to enable you go the farm; so, you can’t ask people to go back to the farm and farm the way our parents farmed. Most of the tractors, the bulldozers I bought are air-conditioned; so, you sit with a digital button in farm and run your farm.
“In Cross River State, if you see any of us sweat, we sweat out of pleasure because the machines do the toiling and tilling of the soil.
“If I was still within the university system, I will start theorizing; the reality is that as governor, you are bedeviled with the biggest challenge; I have a population of 4.2 million; I have an income of less than N2 billion; so, I use intellectual money to fill the gap; so, the challenge I have got is just too much; as a governor, my responsibility is to make sure that I put food on the table of every Cross Riverian.”
Speaking on Nigeria @59, the governor said: ” I just want to tell Nigerians that they should share from the extrapolated sociological philosophy of Albeit Einstein , the theory of relativity—that when you are in the same coordinate with an object in motion, your velocity turns to zero; when you sit in an aircraft moving at 800km per hour, for you sitting on the aircraft, your velocity is zero because you are stationary but, indeed, you are moving at 800km per hour.
“Nigeria has made progress; we must not only look at where we have failed; as a nation, we have made progress at 59. America is over 250 years; Britain is over 250 years; we are just 59. At 59, we have GSM; at 59, we have better communication, at 59, we have medical services.
“As a nation, we may not be where we should be; but for life, for the unity; there is a reason for us to say let’s celebrate; it is not always right to look at the negative aspects alone; yes, there is room for improvement; yes, we might not have done as well as we should.
“As the leader of black people, the whole world looks unto Nigeria but we must only come together to make the progress we so desire. So, I believe that as we turn into the ceremonial 60 that is coming, we need to swagger, roll out our drums and have positive comments; healthy discussions, use the social media for positive intent just to bring value.”
