‎Uproar as Reps Member Empowers Constituents With Cassava Sticks in Cross River

‎Uproar as Reps Member Empowers Constituents With Cassava Sticks in Cross River
‎
‎
‎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”
‎
‎Educational resources for students
‎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.
‎
‎Report by Vanguard