Cross River State - Imoke Calls for Review of Revenue to Develop Economy

[CrossRiverState]

Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State says there is a strong need to translate the civil service economy of the state to a demand driven one for it to actualize its vision of becoming the most preferred destination in the country.

The Governor said this while declaring open the state action plan retreat agenda 2013 with the theme, "Refocusing the State Towards Tidying Up The Footprints" at the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, adding that this could be actualized if the state reviews its  revenue generating mechanism to create development.  

Imoke reminded the participants that budget should be revenue driven and as such they should not see the retreat as an avenue to evolve an action plan but also how to achieve a template to enable the system work, saying that the time has come to implement what is spelt out for each MDA in their guidelines.

He explained that the essence of bringing all the arms of Government at the retreat was to create an understanding and a synergy for them to work collectively in the interest of the state, adding that the duty of Government is to think and plan ahead as well as key into the economy created by foreign investors in the State.

Imoke opined that development can be driven by revenue saying that it is the State's deliberate policy that it should plan for a driven economy to enable the next administration enjoy  relative ease.

He observed the importance of tax to the development of the economy because according to him; oil, which is the source of energy today like coal, will go and what Government intends to do will change the face of the State stressing that, "it is only in Nigeria that they share national cake under the guise of federation account and this does not provide service nor generate revenue which shows that it is only an unproductive country that depends on resource control".

The Governor therefore, urged participants to see themselves as agents of change and understand the importance of revenue to have a meaningful real economy, saying they should understand the critical roles which is expected of them towards developing the State's economy.

He maintained that the objective of the retreat is to create a buoyant economy which will accelerate influx of people into the State to achieve a significant mile stone through collective effort while enjoining them to challenge themselves on the way forward to excel and turn the state into a destination for conferences.

Imoke hoped that at the end of the retreat, all the arms of Government would understand its policies and create a synergy that would bring changes in the State while the executive continues to focus and strengthen relationships as well as the revenue in order to move the State forward.

A Consultant from H. Pierson Associates Limited, organizer of the retreat, noted that the retreat was intended to be an historical review between 2008 and 2012 by going through the action plans of the MDAS on revenue to see what they had achieved, their challenges and lessons learnt because the coming months requires refocusing.

The Consultant said the retreat also calls for Performance Evaluation, Projections/Strategies focused on leakages to make the footprints clear while recapping the core values under Excellent, Accountability, Creativity, and Team work (EXACT) to create impact.

[Folami David]

Economy development is important for a state like Cross River so the governor has been fantastic!

[Nifemi Donald]

How i wish Nigeria's economy can improve like the economy of several states in Nigeria. I pray that will happen someday