Job Osazuwa

The Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, has said, through careful planning and tapping into technology, as well as huge investment in agriculture, millions of jobs could be created and poverty eradicated in Nigeria.

The governor stated this in Lagos while returning from South Africa, where he had sought technical partnership with experts in soya beans and maize cultivation. He revealed how his administration was planning to lift one million people out of poverty through agriculture and green revolution.

Ayade said: “Due to our agro-industrial revolution that is taking place in Cross River, we need massive cultivation of the produce. So, we need technical partnership, particularly for the right seeds and irrigation processes that can encourage and improve the yield.

“Remember that agro-industrial revolution is the first step for any nation that intends to industrialise. It is the only way to mop up the young men who are coming out from the university in their thousands without a corresponding place for them to secure jobs. This creates the opportunity for the government to also mop up the young men out of the streets.

“With what I have just done, it means that all the factories that I have set up, which are agro-industrial based, will now have raw materials to feed them. Henceforth, the people of Cross River will be expecting a team of experts from South Africa, who will also offer technical collaborations in power generation to provide electricity for our farm settlements.”

The governor also stated that his state was establishing a farm city, a concept that completely moves people from different towns to settle down for farming business. He said the farmers would be given hospitals, schools and other facilities to make life comfortable for them, and the farmers would soon be growing crops in large quantity to feed the rest of the nation.

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“This is the Israeli method, which is the best way to go. And this is the kind of exposure, culture and reorientation that I am bringing to Cross River. If you drive all the way from Johannesburg up to the North Province, both right and left, all you see are different growing crops. It is only in Nigeria that you drive from Lagos to Abuja and what you see on your left and right are bushes.

“I must state it clearly that the super-highway project in my state created good roads for the entire new industrial layout for agriculture to take place,” he said.

The governor also said:  “I believe that the people of Cross River know my commitment to their welfare. We remain the number one state in terms of prompt payment of salary and pension in this country in spite of the obvious lack.

“Again, let me recount that we are number 35 of 36 states in terms of what we receive as federal allocation. We are also among the top four most indebted states. Given the circumstance at hand, nobody will expect me to meet up with the minimum wage. But, I’m committed to our people. Beyond every physical constraint, the intellectual money will come into our state, especially through the G-money concept. For the N30,000 minimum wage, I’m sure I will do it because I’m committed to it in body and spirit.”

Ayade said that President Muhammadu Buhari was excited when he, the governor, introduced the G-money concept. He explained that the concept was encouraging the youths to engage in agriculture as an alternative to overdependence on oil production.

“The President is excited that I’m lifting people out of poverty using the green revolution. Targeting 2,000 young men and each person having ten people as his or her employees is something that is dear to us.

“Cross River has about 4.2 million people. I believe that with the programme I have, I will lift over one million people out of poverty in the state. Though no date is fixed yet, I’m expecting the President in Calabar to continue collaborations, especially on job creation,” he said.