by crossriverwatch admin
The Cross River State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development Mr. Patrick Ugbe has said that the state government will support the proposed All Cross Youth Summit, ACRIYOS coming up later in the first quarter of 2013.
The Commissioner who stated this in an exclusive interview with crossriverwatch in his office in Calabar emphasized the need for Cross River State to have a vibrant youth that will rise up and fight to defend the state when matters of interest arise.
He applauded the initiators of the ACRIYOS Summit and said the summit was a welcomed idea that government will be glad to support if it will spark that required vibrancy in our youth.
He said of the summit: “Definitely it’s a good idea. Whatever brings people together to brainstorm and chart a course forward is always a welcomed idea. It’s a good idea. Our youths need that summit if at the end of the day; the summit will spark that vibrancy in them.
“We need to have a vibrant youth in Cross River State. A youth that will stand up for the state when things happen! For instance the Bakassi issue, the 76 oil wells issue, we need a vibrant youth in the state that will stand up and begin to articulate issues like that and fight for the rights of the state as well.
“So if a proposed summit like the All Cross River Youth Summit will spark that vibrancy in the youth as promised, it is very much welcomed, we will stand for it and we will definitely support it”.
According to information from promoters of the summit and information available on the summit website, www.acriyos.com the youth summit is an initiative of concerned youths of Cross River State who are dissatisfied with recent events in the State. The summit is organised in conjunction with GiantConcepts media; publishers of crossriverwatch.
According Ms. Kate Adie one of the organisers, “We are young professionals and we are concerned that the voice of the youth of Cross River State has been completely drowned in the flurry of politics surrounding the various attempts at resolving the prevailing contentious issues in the state; partly because of our own complacency.
“We have cause to believe that the struggle is not meant for, the government, our public office holders or traditional rulers alone because; the issues more than anyone else; affect the future of the Cross River youth immensely.
“That is why we are coming together to discuss and take positions on burning issues of interest to our state and to galvanise the forces of youth across the state for timely, effective and issues based intervention in matters of interest to Cross River State whenever the need arise.” She said.
The summit is expected to amongst other things, discuss the suspended demarcation of the Nigeria/Cameroon Maritime Boundary while there are pending unresolved matters as regards the violation of the human rights of the people of Bakassi in breach of the Green Tree Agreement by the Cameroonian authorities. The significance and security implications of the demarcation exercise for Nigeria and why it should not be left to the boundaries commission alone. The case of the owners and Nigerian residents of the Bakassi Peninsula post Green Tree agreement which ends by August 2013. The dislocation of Nigeria and it’s ownership of the Peninsula and its consequences for Nigerians and well as the 76 oil wells ceded to Akwa-Ibom State.
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