Ben Ayade, Cross River State Governor, yesterday test-run the monorail which took off from Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort to the Calabar International Convention Centre, CICC, at the Summit Hills and back to Tinapa. Ayade stated that the feat is one in a series of pioneering achievements which Cross River is known for.
It would be recalled that the state was the first to introduce a cable car in Nigeria, and the longest in Africa, just as it was the first to launch a canopy walkway in Nigeria. On board the maiden ride was the Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, Managing Director, Assets Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, and its top management staff among others.
The premier monorail is designed as a transit for tourists between the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort and the 5,000 seating capacity, multipurpose Calabar International Convention Centre.
Calabar Monorail
Speaking shortly after disembarking from the leisure ride, the MD AMCON, Kuru, stated that: “Cross River State had done it again. First it was the longest cable car in Africa, followed by the longest canopy walkway and today we are riding on the first monorail in sub-Sahara Africa a development worth commendation.”
On the issue of opening up new business frontier with government of Cross River State, and management of premier business resort, Kuru stated that: “Like I always hold, Tinapa is more than a business, it is Nigeria’s heritage. It is important that we look at it beyond Cross River State because it is a heritage that we must work together as Federal Government and the state to project Nigeria which is what informed my visit to initiate this partnership.”
He explained that Tinapa is nature and technology at play that if fully harnessed and aggressively projected, can contribute immensely to the transformation of socio-economic landscape of the nation. But the Cross River State Governor stated that the coming of AMCON for the maiden ride was an indication that the company was willing and readily available to partner the state to revamp Tinapa.
On his desire to see to the completion of his predecessors’ uncompleted projects, considering the huge cost involved, Ayade said: “I am very excited that I played a major role in seeing to the realization of this project. Don’t forget that this project was conceptualized by Donald Duke, prosecuted by Senator Liyel Imoke, who came in and gave it his best by pumping in a lot of money to see it come to life.
I came in, in spite of the lean resources. I shut down everything to ensure that it has light. “With this, we can clearly see that Cross River State shows consistency in leadership from Donald to Liyel and now Ayade, I see everyone carrying on other’s projects.
I want to ensure that all the projects that were started by my predecessors are completed, even as I also pursue my signature projects side by side.
My primary focus in the first three years is to ensure the completion of all projects embarked upon by Senator Liyel Imoke before I embark on my own key projects.
