Cross River Governor Swears In 31 Commissioners, Unbundles Agriculture Ministry

Cross River State Governor Senator Bassey Otu has sworn in 31 new commissioners as part of the executive arm of the Cross River State Government in southern Nigeria.

The commissioners made up of seven women and twenty-four men were recently screened and cleared by the Cross River State House of Assembly.

The governor and his deputy, Mr Peter Odey alongside the Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr Elvert Ayambem supervised the oath-taking ceremony.

Before the oath of office and allegiance, were administered by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Anthony Owan-Enoh, the commissioners took the reintroduced oath of denunciation of secret cults and illegal societies.

Governor Otu charged the commissioners to serve with diligence, transparency and accountability especially if the task of socioeconomic transformation agenda must be achieved.

Before assigning the portfolios to the commissioners, the governor said, “You are not just answerable to me, but God. So, all your actions and interest must be guided by God. If you did not know how to serve before, you are not coming out to lead alone; you must learn to serve our people.”

According to him, “We are not unmindful of the very great expectations that our people want from us; and whether we like it or not, we must definitely turn the corner. As you are going into your offices, you will have challenges, criticisms, but you must not be distracted provided you are doing what is right and good for the people.

“You may not enjoy accolades at that particular time, but at the end of the day, in the dynamics of time, people will know that you did right,” he said.

Unbundling of Agriculture Ministry

To provide efficient leadership and service to the people, the State governor unbundled the Ministry of Agriculture and restructured others to make way for the Ministry of Crop and Irrigation Development and the Ministry of Livestock, Aquaculture, and Fisheries Development.

Others restructured are the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment; the Ministry of International Donor Coordination; and the Ministry of Establishment, Training and Pensions.

Otu explained, “For those, who are coming into Agriculture, you will discover that the reforms I have put in place have never happened. We have changed most of the issues and the dynamics that you may have known over the years.

“Times are different and government must be driven privately to make sure that we achieve the sense of purpose that we require. Within a short period of time, we have made giant strides and in a few days, you will discover most of the things we have done. I know that before you accepted these appointments, you knew the task ahead would not be easy. But, I can assure you that together, we shall conquer,” the governor assured.

One of the Commissioners, a former senator representing the northern senatorial district, Senator Stephen Odey commended the governor for the confidence reposed on them to serve and pledged, on behalf of others, to bring their wealth of experience garnered to bear in the new offices.

Emmanuel Ukoh