The Governor of Cross River State, Senator (Prof) Ben Ayade, being represented by the Special Adviser on Cocoa Development and Control, in the person of Ntufam (Dr) Oscar Ofuka, distributed Cocoa Pods to Local Farmers in Southern Senatorial Zone of Cross River State, yesterday, being 23rd of November, 2022 at the CRBC Cocoa Demonstration Farm in Calabar. This is to further advance the Cocoa Revolution agenda of Senator Professor Ben Ayade.
According to Dr Oscar Ofuka, as oil dependence navigates the nation’s economy into the bleak dusk of uncertainty, Governor Ben’s agro industrial initiative has lightened the fuse for an explosive rediscovery of new economic opportunities for Cross River State and the country at large. This new economic trajectory of migrating away from non renewable, but exhaustive fossil fuel and gas to agro-industrial-driven economy, is witnessing a rebirth in Cross River State under the watch of Governor Ben. This novel initiative is sustained by the extant principle of comparative advantage and the state is set to take a lead among the comity of subnational governments by standing very tall in a highly competitive global market mostly now that Cocoa maintains appreciative similitude in value with gold.
According to him, Governor Ben’s ingenious Cocoa initiative, comes with a value-chain that has the potentials to take many jobless crossriverians off the streets, aside improving on the export value of the Cross River State Cocoa. He said that Cocoa, allover the world, plays a leading roll as a major raw material in confectionary industries which places it amongst items on the hotlist for global demand and the installation of an Ultra Modern Cocoa Processing Industry in Ikom by Governor Ayade for the crushing and processing of the Cocoa bars, which is to be fed by the massive supplies of Cocoa across the entire state, would certainly improve on the export value of the state’s products because the state shall be exporting semi finished confectionary products to fully scaled confectionary industries, globally.
For the high premium that Cocoa attracts at the international market and its explosive potentials for prosperity, Governor Ayade’s initiative of Cocoa Revolution is going to be imprinted as the most revered chapter in the records of economic growth in the state. It is an economic leap that is going to change the fortune of the state for ages with enlivening impacts on monumental propulsion.
From the bumper yield recorded at the Demonstration Farm at CRBC, Calabar, it has been, sufficiently, proven that the soil of the Southern Senatorial Zone of Cross River State does even far better in Cocoa than the Central.
The Cross River State government has brought a new improved specie of Cocoa known as the TC2, a hybrid between the Amazon and our local specie with just 18 months gestation period, which has been bio-genetically engineered by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN). This specie is, usually, short-jocketting and the yield per hectre is 1.5 metric tones which is more than five times yields of the old specie. The Government of Governor Ben has developed 3,800 hectres for the planting of this new improved variety of organic Cocoa in Akin Osonba in Akamkpa, 10,000 hectres in Ndeghe and another 10,000 hectres at Efunkpa at Ekpriko community. With this, the state government has proven that Cocoa can be grown anywhere in the state.
He added that the initiative is not only purposed to shield the state’s economy from the harsh impact of being delisted from oil producing states, but to decouple the state from dependence on FAAC and to enhance economic self reliance of individuals and many families who will likely key into the Cocoa Revolution Initiative of Governor Ben. Consequently, the hydra-headed economic throes crossriverians had suffered as a result of being delisted from oil producing states because of the loss of Bakassi and the 76 oil wells is, hurriedly, being trashed in the can of history as a forgotten past.
The occasion has His Royal Majesty, Murray Munene Okon Eyo, the Paramount Head of the Efut Combined Assembly as the Chairman of the event, amongst other traditional rulers from the Southern Senatorial Zone of Cross River State. The Murray, ceremoniously, opened the Cocoa Demonstration Farm and immediately led the harvest of the Cocoa Pods that were later distributed to local farmers for nursery.
The Murray was overwhelmed by Governor Ben’s Cocoa Revolution Initiative and appreciated Dr Oscar for keeping pace with the mandate. He encouraged the people of the Southern Senatorial Zone to key into this new opportunity brought by Governor Ayade and be defocused from the white Collar job that promises nothing but bleak economic future and uncertainty.
The Special Adviser announced that the next zone where the event will take place is the central and that the old specie of Cocoa shall be replaced with the New-Improved specie across the entire state and in a no distant time, Cross River shall be reputed as the highest producer of Cocoa in Nigeria.
By Eval Asikong
