Ayade flays FG’s alleged indifference to superhighway project
Governor Ben Ayade has expressed disappointment with the alleged indifference of the Federal Government to the 275 kilometre superhighway project being pursued by his administration in Cross River State.He spoke against the backdrop of lack of support from the central government and even northern leaders he had wooed to the gigantic infrastructure.
A statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita, said the governor also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill the pledge he made while performing the groundbreaking four years ago.
Expressing what he described as righteous anger with the Federal Government’s seeming aloofness to the project, which was conceived to bring the northern region closer to the Atlantic Ocean, Ayade stated: “As I watch time run and my tenure runs to a close in a couple of years, as I watch the superhighway and indeed, the deep seaport which forms the basis of a new Nigeria, a generational and a philosophical change I had envisaged for this country, being treated with indifference by the Federal Government, I seethe with rage that a country so awash with solid mineral deposits, crude oil deposits, huge human resources, young, intelligent and smart minds, is being reduced to want in body, in spirit and in soul, occasioned by the poor exploitation of our own resources.”
Calling on northern leaders to prevail on Buhari to support the ongoing construction, the governor insisted that Nigeria has no business with poverty given its resource endowment.
“As a country, we are so rich and so blessed that we have no business with poverty. I believe that this is the time to say it before it is too late, that as the entire people of Northern Nigeria, you have a reason and you have a responsibility to join me in this cry, to seek and ask President Muhammadu Buhari to recognise the value of export agriculture, to recognise the value of solid mineral for export, to recognise the vast mineral resources from coal tar to cobalt to titanium to columbite to bauxite and iron ore. The list is endless,” he added.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
0 Comments
We will review and take appropriate action.