Harness Cross River Mineral Resources To Boost Revenue – Commissioner 

The incoming administration of Senator Bassey Otu has been urged to harness the vast natural resources to boost Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, in Cross River State, southern Nigeria.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Oliver Orok made the suggestion during an interactive session with some journalists in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State.

Orok, who commended Governor Ben Ayade for industrialization efforts, remarked that properly and strategically exploiting the State’s natural resources, which can be found in each of the 18 local government areas, would bolster Cross River internal revenue and reduce dependence on federal allocation.

According to him, the array of mineral and other natural resources Cross River is endowed with were more than enough to delist the State as one of the poorest in the country.

“Cross River is blessed with the potential to be self-sustaining when the huge mineral resources deposit is fully harnessed for greater benefit of the people. All these abound in the central senatorial district. 

“Agriculture is another area Cross River has comparative advantage. From rice to groundnuts, cocoa, rubber, oil palm and more, this State has no business being poor,” Orok stated.

Stop Leakages

The Agric Commissioner enjoined the governor-elect to exploit these resources to enhance internally generated revenue and seal off systemic leakages.

He stated: “Bassey Otu has a lot to look forward to and I believe he will certainly do well to change the fortune of Cross River because he has all it takes to achieve set goals. 

“Governor Ayade in his eight years had empowered thousands of young people including me to be leaders of this present generation and history would be kind to him. The incoming governor needs to work assiduously to shore up revenue and block leakages in the system,” he stated.

Orok noted that the Nigerian Government has several sealed crude oil wells in the southern senatorial district of the State, which when explored would contribute in no small measure to increase the revenue base, urging “at this point, I would appeal to the Nigerian Government to assist the incoming administration by opening up the reserved crude oil wells for exploration, which would in turn increase Cross River allocation.”

He urged the people, irrespective of political divide, to support the incoming administration of Senator Bassey Otu in the efforts to move Cross River and its people to the next level.

Confidence Okwuchi