Paramount ruler of Obudu Local Government Area and Uti Ukani I of Obudu, Uti J. D. Agba has exclusively told calitown.com that his son, rumoured gubenatorial aspirant in 2015, Goddy Agba, is “capable, enlightened, exposed, has the basic education and enough national and international interaction” to become governor of Cross River State, “if God wishes and if the people vote so”.
At his palace in Utugwang, Obudu LGA, Uti Agba further maintained that “since Goddy is a citizen of Cross River State, if he wants to follow my footsteps and serve the people, let him serve, I am still serving”. He went on to say that “at age 21, I was already a chief, serving my people, there is ofcourse no law in Nigeria that say because he is the son of the paramount ruler of Obudu, he cannot become the governor of Cross River State”.
On the issue of the Obudu Ranch Resort and her dwindling economic fortunes, the longest serving monarch in Nigeria expressed displeasure at government’s inability to attract entrepreneurs to the resort “to run those critical aspects of the Ranch that gave her great economic value”. He was particular that “all those cows that we use to have grazing on the expansive grasses of the Ranch and we in turn benefitting from dairy products, are no where to be found; it is a thing to worry about. Or is it the pork that no longer comes from there? When the whitemen who built the Ranch were around, they took useful advantage of that place and built sustainable infrastructure, have we been able to maintain it? No. We must gird our loins and get it done and rightly too”.
Uti Agba also appealed to government, to increase the stipend it pays traditional rulers in the state, pleading that the money is inadequate “when you consider that our responsibilities at the grassroots level are an integral part of the workings of government”.
On a final note, he sued for restraint on the part of political players in the state and country, emphasizing “the sincere need for us all to work towards preventing the disintegration of this country because of a divergence of views”.
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