‘We will green-cap Cross River cities to reduce toxins’

For a start, he said his government will work to have a new green city where there would be huge level of canopy trees.
Speaking to journalists, Ayade who is chairman of the International Institute of Environmental Research said he will work to create a special centre for young men to start horticultural activities.
“That means we are going to have a dedicated day for a green carnival.  So, every visitor who is coming to Calabar will go there and buy a tree and plant so that every year he returns  to Calabar, he will remember that he has a tree that he has to nurse.  That way, we will be creating economy for young men who are running their horticultural centres and at the same time, green-capping the city, thus reducing the toxins that are being emitted into the atmosphere,” he said.
An award-winner from Japan on research in global warming in Africa and the inventor of a sewage treatment plant based on solar energy, Ayade said his government will work to turn the state with over one million hectares of forest into gainful asset.
He said the vast Cross River forests have  remained unexploited over the years.
“We have conserved this forest in the course of time without exploitation, but that’s not the way we are going to go forward.  We are going to move from forest conservation to forest management.
“We are going to regenerate the forests to engage our teeming youths to boost our economy. That regeneration regime alone is going to create more than 3000 jobs for the youths,” he said.
Ayade also said they are going to create a robust forest profile that will excite investors to come into Cross River State so that gradually, they will be moving from a civil service state to a business state.