Ayade visits Kyari over deep seaport, super highway projects

Governor Ben Ayade at the weekend met with the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, in Abuja in furtherance of talks over the ongoing deep sea and 260-kilometre super highway projects in Cross River State.

However, the governor has vowed to complete both infrastructure before the expiration of his second term tenure in office come 2023.

He said: “Ayade will not start anything that will not succeed. The super highway and the deep seaport must come into reality before I leave office. It is a commitment that I am emotional about.

“I am ready to give my all to get them fulfilled and I believe that the President, at the right time, will come to my rescue if it becomes difficult.”

The two projects, which have since received presidential nod, are to cost about N700 billion.

On the super highway, Ayade noted: “It is a brand new road. You don’t see it from the road and we are not in a habit of dramatising it.”

Shedding light on the Bakassi Deep Sea Port, the governor boasted that the facility was first of such nationwide with an evacuation corridor and a six-lane highway to convey goods directly to the north.

“What Cross River is trying to do is to take the Atlantic Ocean closer to Northern Nigeria,” he stated.

Ayade promised to switch to the site during the dry season to facilitate speedy completion of the multi-billion naira projects aimed at aiding transportation of farm produce from the north to other parts of the country.

“When the dry season comes, I am relocating to the super highway because what we have done is to segment it into 50 kilometres each and allow investors who are interested into the beat,” he clarified.

The governor, who also harped on the need for Nigeria to deploy digital technology to develop the nation’s agriculture sector, noted: “Any person who cultivates rice either at commercial or sustenance quantity using seeds is analogue and old fashioned.”