by crossriverwatch admin
Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State has assured the Nigerian Army that his promise to renovate the historical buildings in the headquarters of the 13 Brigade, Calabar will still be fulfilled.
The 13 Brigade barracks of the Nigerian Army is the first Nigeria military barrack where the European Military rulers resided.
Imoke had in 2009 inspected the barracks with a promise to renovate some of the historical buildings in it to complement the state tourism sites.
Cross River State is reputed in Nigeria for many firsts including the army barrack which the governor has promised to turn to a tourism site for tourists who may want to visit the buildings where the first European colonial military lived.
The governor restated the promise recently when the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu Major General Ashimiu Adebayo commissioned some projects in the barrack.
Imoke who spoke through his State Security Adviser, Rekpene Bassey eulogized the Army as one of the security agencies in the state that is doing a lot in protecting lives and property in the state.
He commended the army authorities for executing the projects, noting that the army deserved such recreational facilities as well as other projects.
He restated his administration’s determination to fulfill its promise to renovate some the historical buildings in the barrack to the ‘Cross River standard’.
“This effort is quite commendable and I am going to make a report to His Excellency the governor on this and I hope he will respond very soon to this laudable effort.” he said.
Earlier, the General Officer Commanding , 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Major General Ashimiu Adebayo, inaugurated five projects at the 13 Brigade Command.
He assured Nigerians of the army’s readiness to combat oil theft and preserve the economic growth of the country.
“Officers of the Nigerian Army are very alert on the waterways; if anybody is caught stealing the country’s oil, he or she will face the law no matter how highly placed the person may be,” he assured.
He added that the commissioning of the projects in the command would boost operations and welfare of personnel.
He commended the Commander of 13 Brigade, Brigadier General Okwudili Azinta, for the successful completion of the projects within six months on resuming office.
“I am very happy to have the likes of Brig.-Gen. Azinta in my team, working with him in this capacity is highly appreciated,” he added.
He charged officers at the command to emulate Azinta with a view to adding their contribution and values toward the development of the command.
Gen. Adebayo later revealed that most of the structures renovated and commissioned were built in 1904.
He charged the officers to display good maintenance culture to sustain the projects.
The 13 Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Okwudili Azinta, in his remark expressed happiness at the projects. He said the army needed such recreational facilities to keep fit and strong for the job.
He charged officers of the command to make good use of the facilities provided them, adding that a good maintenance culture would help to sustain the projects.
The projects include mini-supermarket, warrant officers’ mess, lawn tennis court, colonial block and transit accommodation.
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