Uproar as Reps member empowers constituents with cassava sticks in Cross River

By Emma Una

CALABAR – THE member, House of Representatives for Calabar and Odukpani Federal Constituency in Cross River State, Mr Bassey Akiba on Friday distributed tens o cassava stems to some members of his constituency as empowerment to help them cultivate their farms.

The member took the empowerment exercise to Okoyong in Odukpani local Government Area of the state which adjoins Calabar to distribute the cassava stems with each beneficiary getting ten each.

The gesture has, however, generated a lot of uproar in the constituency as many members of the constituency including the beneficiaries see it as a mockery to them.
A member of the constituency, Comrade Ikposa told Vanguard that the cassava stems and fertilizer shared are not entirely initiatives by lawmakers but a Federal Government agricultural interventions project.
“President Tinubu approved the programme and released to lawmakers early last year, unfortunately, these items were deliberately hoarded and are now being rolled out close to the election period as a campaign tool”

He said the late delivery of the cassava stems exposes the failure of our lawmakers and local government authorities to genuinely compliment the efforts of the President.

“This deliberate sabotage is one of the main reasons governance continues to fail at the grassroots level”

He said the cassava stems have since dried up haven been left in stores for over a year and besides this is not cassava planting season as the sun is still too hot for any cassava stem planted to survive.

One of the recipients of the Reps members gesture, Doris Affia said she decided to accept the ten stems given to her to avoid embarrassing the lawmaker.
“I was given ten stems but how many heaps can one cultivate with this number of stems. I just decided to accept them because if I don’t, it will seem I am embarrassing the man and next time if something comes up , I may not be listed again to benefit”

One of the Reps members supporters, Hoe Ita said “the bottom line is that he has done something, as against previous assertion by people that he has not done anything”

Efforts to reach the Reps member did not succeed as he did not answer calls on his phone.

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