Gov.Bassey Otu
Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu has disclosed that the Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC), when fully optimized will be a huge revenue sub-head to the government as an event destination.
Some parts of the CICC had been burnt down by some irate youths during the October 20, 2020 EndSars Nationwide protest that turned violent in the state.
Speaking during an inspection of the facility on Monday, Otu said the CICC is one of the critical assets that Cross River is proud of, hence the need to bring the facility back to life.
The Governor who was surprised at the level of damage done to the facility, said revamping all the public facilities was more cost effective than building new ones.
He said, “what I have seen here is a situation were this facility was badly damaged and it will take the state so much to fix this back, but we are determined to get this place back and even better.
“From what I am told, this place was ranked about the 3rd in Africa in terms of quality, ambience , but what I have seen here is rather sad. However, I assure the people of Cross River state that we will get it working again”.
Otu who expressed confidence that the ongoing renovation work at the CICC will be ready before the commencement of the Calabar International Investment Summit within the week, expressing confidence that the consultant handling the renovation was doing a good job.
At the cultural centre complex, the governor assured that the historical centre will be remodelled to fit into a modern day facility that will make the it a beehive of activities in the South-South geo-political zone of the country.
The Governor also inspected ongoing work at the Millennium park, pupularly known as eleven-eleven.
