Month: September 2023

Earlier today, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, was greeted with joyful appreciation by Cross Riverians. The expression of gratitude was in response to his recent actions taken on their behalf against the unfavorable nomination of Asu Okang as the Cross River State NDDC Rep.

It’s worth noting that on August 29, 2023, the President of Nigeria approved the appointment of Hon. Asu Okang as the NDDC Rep for Cross River State.

The entire Cross River State was taken by surprise and immediately took to the streets in a lawful protest against the nomination of Asu Okang, along with other representatives, which was made public by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

The Speaker, who had previously met with the group of protesters, urged them to stay calm and law-abiding while remaining loyal to the president’s leadership, as he was their only hope for reviewing the appointment in the interest of the APC. He also promised to do everything in his power to ensure that the President worked with the Governor of Cross River State, Sen Prince Bassey Otu, to address the concerns of the people.

Today, the protesters returned to express their gratitude to the Speaker, as the previously nominated name was replaced with Hon. Orok Duke.

The Speaker, together with the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Prince Bassey Otu, represented by his Chief of Staff, Hon. Emmanuel Ironbar, thanked the protesters for their patience and resilience. They also expressed appreciation to President Sen. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for responding to the voices of the people of Cross River State promptly.

The Chairman of the GFO Orim Foundation, Chief Martin Orim, has provided skills and equipment to sixty (60) individuals from Cross River in the Northern Senatorial District of the state at the Council Secretariat of Obudu Local Government Area.

Chief Martin Orim, the Chairman of the Foundation, explained that the empowerment was the second batch after the collaboration with ITF. He said that his continuous empowerment efforts were aimed at combatting hunger and reducing crime among the youth. He thanked ITF for the training offered to the beneficiaries and assured them of continuous collaboration to elevate more Cross Riverians from hunger.

Recall that on July 6, 2022, Chief Martin Orim, the Chairman of the G.F.O Orim Foundation, approved the sponsorship of these 60 youths in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF). Training was provided to the 60 young individuals from Cross River State Northern Senatorial District in areas such as tilling/laying of interlock stones, hairdressing/barbing, fish farming, crop production, and poultry farming.

According to the program coordinator, Mr. Phydel Aben, the Agro-based beneficiaries were trained for more than two months in Calabar with all expenses covered by the GFO Orim Foundation, while other categories were trained in Ogoja and Obudu local government.

These individuals were then empowered based on their specific training. The beneficiaries were extremely grateful and expressed their appreciation to Chief Martin Orim, the Chairman of GFO Orim, for providing the empowerment. They offered prayers for more blessings upon Hon Orim and promised to use the empowerment to benefit society.

The event was chaired by Chief Spokesman Agogo, and also present were Cross River State Deputy Speaker, Hon Sylvester Agabi, Regional Manager of Industrial Training Fund, Mr. Nwigboji Rex, Program Coordinator, Mr. Phydel Aben, Barr. Dan Iyo, Engr. Thomas Aruku, Barr. Ademade, Mr. Emmanuel Bepeh, Mr. Frank Ikemti (Frankbond), APC Senatorial Woman Leader, Mrs. Janet Inakefe, all Chapter Chairmen of APC from the Northern Senatorial District, and other stakeholders in CRS.