By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The senator representing Cross River South senatorial districts at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, jostling for the office of the Cross River State governor in 2023, Senator Gershom Bassey, on Wednesday unveiled a 10-Point Economic Agenda on how he intends to revived the economy of Cross River State, should he be voted into power as governor after the 2023 general elections.
The gubernatorial aspirant stated that his economic blue print, if religiously followed, will positively impact both economically and politically, thereby putting the entire state on sound economic footings.
The National Assembly lawmaker unveiled his economic blue print while answering questions from journalists yesterday in Calabar.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial asoirnat stated that if given the mandate to lead Cross River State, he will implement the economic blue print to the letter, which according to him hinges on the mantra: “re-imagine, revive and restore;” and will be anchored and driven by himself and special economic strategic team that he will inaugurate.
Bassey, who has been traversing the length and breath of the state on consultation with state indigenes and party stakeholders to seek for their support over his governorship aspiration, stated, “We must revive and build our economy.”
Bassey stressed that the 10-Point blueprint or agenda include: “increasing the state Gross Domestic Product, GDP, through value added economic activity in agriculture, tourism and the extractive, manufacturing and services industries.
He said, “Grow the state Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, through a well-structured and consolidated system to boost state revenue.
“Develop effective human capital development interventions and business friendly incentives to attract investment and business activity.
“Create opportunities for the youth and unemployed to grow an economic acquire in-demand and high value that would adequately equip them to compete in the global market and gig economy, boosting the State GDP through foreign exchange earnings.”
Other areas Bassey intend to look into include: “target the creation of skilled and unskilled jobs per annum; design a transparent procurement process for awarding state government contracts, adopting international best practices and implements affirmative action for indegenous contractors.
“Design indigene-centred policies to foster economic growth across the local agriculture and manufacturing value- chains; secure the provision of financial and technical support for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, and startups within the state.
“Invest in professional training and in-demand skills acquisition programmes and collaborate with the Federal Government to ensure the Calabar Port is re-opened for economic activity.”
