Get Guardian on Google…Says Obudu Ranch will cut Nigeria’s meat imports, create more jobs
Governor Bassey Otu has unveiled a bold new economic map for Cross River State, ranch, sea and minerals as the three frontiers that will power the state’s next prosperity.
Otu made the unveiling during the success stories session for sub-sovereign governments at the 6th African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network Investment Conference (AfSNET 2026) in Calabar, telling African leaders that Cross River is moving from potential to production.
The first frontier is the Obudu Cattle Ranch, which Otu described as a low-hanging fruit for tourism and animal husbandry.
“We have an anchor tenant now, but we are trying to build a proper economy around the ranch, which will benefit and cascade to almost everybody,” he said.
He said the state has the ecosystem and everything ready at the ranch to take care of meat production immediately, a move that will cut Nigeria’s huge meat import bill.
“If you check the meat that Nigeria is importing every year, you’ll wonder that we have the ecosystem, we have everything ready in the ranch, which can take care of this immediately,” Otu said.
“We might not be able to meet up completely what the demands of Nigeria are, but we are going to cut it to quite some percentage when we start operating.”
For Otu, the ranch is no longer just a tourist postcard, it is a working economy for jobs, food and revenue.
The second frontier is the marine economy, built on the people themselves.
“Most Cross River people are fishermen and fisherwomen,” Otu said, adding that the state, in partnership with investors, is already setting up fishing terminals to put everybody to work.
“We are already setting up some wood fishing terminals, which is going to put everybody to work,” he said.
He said the fishermen and women have been clustered into different locations and are happy with the training being provided.
At the centre of this blue economy push is the Bakassi Deep Seaport, which Otu described as a game-changer.
“The seaport is going to be very, very wonderful, in terms of impacting the host communities and all others,” he said. “It’s a game-changer for the state.”
The third frontier is minerals, which Otu said will soon act as a major aggregate for the state.
While stressing that agribusiness remains the state’s area of concentration, he said mapping of mineral deposits is ongoing and investors are already showing interest.
“The other area which I know is going to act as aggregates very, very soon is in the mineral sector,” he said.
“We are also fully involved in the mineral sector. So what we’re engaged in now is mapping and then bringing investors to come and see what we have.”
To fellow sub-sovereign governments, Otu offered a simple doctrine: focus on your comparative advantage and take accountability seriously.
For Cross River, that advantage is now clear: a ranch that feeds and attracts, a sea that employs and exports, and minerals that will soon pay. Three frontiers, one agenda, prosperity for all.
