We Will Partner Donor Agencies For Good Governance – Imoke

PHOTO: CROSS RIVER STATE GOVERNOR, MR. LIYEL IMOKE (L) WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONCERN UNIVERSAL, DR. IAN WILLIAMS DURING THE VISIT TO IMOKE IN CALABAR.

CALABAR, June 13, (THEWILL) - Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State has reiterated the state’s preparedness to partner donor agencies to ensure good governance

While receiving Dr. Ian Williams, Concern Universal Executive Director in Calabar during a courtesy call, Imoke thanked the donor agency for showing interest in the livelihood of the people which he said is critical to government.

The governor remarked that though the state faces challenges in its determination to preserve its forests and sustain the environment, it equally pays more attention to the host communities by ensuring that they are provided alternative source of livelihood, adding that this poses a lot of challenges because Cross River hosts the biggest rain forest in Nigeria.

Imoke explained that the state has renewed a lot of legislations as well as strengthened some of its laws with the view of protecting the forest from poaching and illegal logging of wood, saying that sustainability of the programme is another challenge as the people remain the focal point of the administration.

He said the administration is determined to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the state as such it is determined to partner NGOs and donor agencies to make the state a model.

Dr. Ian Williams Concern Universal Executive Director said the agency was established in 1977 and it came to Nigeria in 2001 and was in the state with partners from Malawi and Ghana to study the state’s environmental programme and see how they can key into it.　

While the African visitors were to take a cue from the state back to their home countries, Williams said they were interested in the state’s forestry programme especially the intervention on the mangrove forest while also studying the livelihood of its host community.

Mr. Roy Ndoma-Egba, Special Adviser International Development Support in an introductory remark, said Concern Universal which commenced water and sanitation programme in Cross River in 2007, has been in a practical collaboration with UNICEF, describing it as a private sector support group.

Ndoma-Egba said the group had within its one week stay in the State visited the mangrove forest in Bakassi, Akpabuyo and Odukpani Local Government Areas and that they have a strong desire in forest conservation and would want to key into the State’s programme.

He said though governance is seen as the function of the different tiers of Government, civil societies and NGOs also share some thoughts about livelihood and governance and would equally contribute to enable Government realize its visions, adding that the Ghanaian and Malawian in the entourage were in Cross River to share with its experience.