The Edo State Governor,
Comrade Adam Oshiomhole,has described the outgone Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, as a great achiever whose legacy projects will outlive him and be remembered by generations yet unborn.
The governor, who made the assertion at the unveiling of the 5000 capacity Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC) said: “When I was in the union, people used to say that part of the problem of our country is that political leaders don’t sleep and because we don’t sleep we don’t dream. But today, I have seen a governor who dreams big and acts even bigger.”
The governor who was overwhelmed by the imposing edifice said, “Some people often ask at the end of your tenure, how you want to be remembered. Every executive chooses how he wants to be remembered either by friends or by foes. I think this really could be called a major legacy project that generations yet unborn will hosts people from all over the globe for variety of activities. They can’t forget the man behind the project in a hurry.”
Extolling Imoke on the feat despite the challenges the state faces,  Oshiomhole averred that, “This is the case of a silent worker because I have not seen this on television nor was so much noise made about it. It is like a lady hiding her pregnancy until nine months of delivery.?
“My brother, I am happy for you, I’m happy for the people of Cross River State. You are leaving them with a big parting gift and you have laid a solid foundation for your successor to build on and the state can only remain in the world development map.
“I congratulate you. This is a beautiful thing. I’m proud as a Nigerian to associate with it and can say that when visitors come here, it will not only be about the negative headlines they read about Nigeria, they will see that we have a facility that can compete with any one anywhere in the world.”
In his introductory remark, Imoke, who disclosed that the project was at 95 per  cent completion, maintained that: “The whole idea about this project was for us to drive enough traffic into Cross River State given the amount of investment we have put in the tourism and hospitality sector. It is also a catalyst to bring alive other investments that we have made in tourism.”
The governor further disclosed that: “Our vision is to build a destination because our observations of over the years suggest that Nigerian Tourists are more of business tourists than any other tourists who will always look for such destinations outside of the country. So we thought we could develop a purpose-built and flexible facility that is fitted with modern conference needs that can drive traffic here 24/7 outside Lagos and Abuja. It’s a unique facility considering its location and offerings; something will make a man think of coming to Calabar to indulge in a facility that is profitable to the economy not government.”
After the unveiling, the governors of the BRACED Commission held a meeting during which Oshiomhole emerged the new Chairman of the South South Governors Forum.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar