All Cross River Lawmakers in Jamboree in the U.S.

Posted by admin Cross River, Headlines, State News Friday, June 28th, 2013

All the Legislators from the oil-rich state of Cross Rivers led by its
speaker, Rt Hon. Larry Okori Odey are currently junketing across
cities in the United States for lessons on American farming.

The legislators have visited; Atlanta, Chicago and are currently
relaxing in the U.S Capitol, in Washington, DC.

According to sources, the trip is costing the State about N100 million.
In a state that pleads the case of lean resources, owing to the loss of
their revenue generating oil wells to neighbouring Akwa Ibom State,
the idea behind such a trip is dubious.

Speaking to the PSN, Dr. Joseph Ubong a Maryland based medical
practitioner said, “It cannot and should not be justified under any
guise. It must be called its name: a purely unnecessary trip and a
waste of scarce resources of the state, which could have been
deployed to better use in meeting the development needs of the
people of Cross River State”.

Curiously absent from the delegation is the Commissioner of
Agriculture, Advisers to the Governor on Agriculture, farmers and
Agro allied business men and women in the state.

“I fail to see how the trip would benefit the people of the state and
enhance the legislative duties of members of the Cross Rivers State
House of Assembly. “Those who stand to gain are the legislators,
according to Dr. Ubong”.

PSN gathered that the fun-seeking legislators requested to visit the
Fort Valley State University, where they requested to learn the
American way of farming. The four hour tour of the university was
embarked on last Thursday, where they listened to a presentation
about the role and impact of the Sustainable Agricultural Research
and Education (SARE) program of the university.

When PSN contacted the school to find out the purpose of the tour,
the school said, “The Nigerian political officials were in search for
methods to improve food production, and are seeking solutions from
Fort Valley State University”.

James Hill, FVSU’s 1890 land-grant university liaison for the SARE
program, further stated that the purpose of the visit is to expose the
Cross Rivers State officials to the SARE program, a U.S. Department
of Agriculture funded program that offers grants and provides
education.

“My expectations are that the delegates will receive enough
information from both presentations and tours to become
enlightened about U.S. agriculture, then go back and replicate it in
their own state,” he concluded. According to PSN findings they are
due back to Nigeria on Wednesday (today)…PSN
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