May 24, (THEWILL) – The Cross River State government has tasked civil servants in the state’s civil service to embrace the ongoing cocoa revolution in the state.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Cocoa Development and Control, Ntufam Oscar Ofuka, made the appeal in Calabar, during the flag off of Cocoa planting at the State Secretariat Complex in Calabar.
He said civil servants should embrace cocoa cultivation so as to secure their future after retirement.
“The essence of this flag off is to encourage civil servants to go into massive cocoa cultivation.
“Today, cocoa is thriving everywhere and the cocoa we have can grow even on a rock.
“The flag off of this excercise is enough sensitisation that the only way we can secure our future is to go into massive cocoa cultivation.
“We desire to design the Secretariat with cocoa, it is not only going to yield income to us, but serve as ornamental trees”, he said.
He added that to make cocoa available to more people, the government has created small holders scheme to segregate cocoa plantations into hectares for farmers.
The idea, he said is that after retirement, civil servants can settle down, have enough security for their children.
“We have decided to go into small holders scheme, where we have segmented the cocoa plantations into hectares and distribute to farmers and civil servants as well.
“The idea is that after retirement, they can settle down and have enough security for their children, as well as food on the table”, he said.
On his part, Dominic Akwaji, the Head of Service, said the state is blessed with 5 distinct exo types and all these can sustain cocoa development.
He said, “If there is hope for the state, it is that the governor has shown us the light to embrace agriculture.
“This flag off gives a strong indication to civil servants that they must create additional income line.
“When you are in service, you have to create a line of income in farming as it does not conflict with civil service work”, he said.
Several commissioners and other senior officials participated in the flag off excercise including the state attorney general, Tanko Ashang
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
