Eyo Ekpo, Social Democratic Party, SDP, Cross River State gubernatorial candidate in the last general election, believes strongly that CRS is better off doing business with China than Taiwan.
Ekpo who exclusively spoke with www.calitown.com, also wondered whether CRS governor, Ben Ayade, presently on a trip to Taiwan, sought the advice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before embarking on his trade mission to Taiwan. “If he did, they might have advised him to be very careful about it, especially with publicity; because it could jeopardise the relationship with China.”
If the advice was not given, Ekpo wants Ayade to understand that, “very few countries have the clout to do business with BOTH China and Taiwan simultaneously. The former regards the latter as a renegade province and actively discourages dealings with Taiwan. Indeed, Nigeria does not officially recognize Taiwan as a country, which is why its diplomatic mission here is called a Trade Office. The reality is that Nigeria, speak less of CRS, is better off with China than with Taiwan.”
“The Governor is reported to have signed a few important MoUs, including the deep sea port, if I remember correctly. Isn’t he jeopardizing possible Chinese investment by this foray to Taiwan, especially when the latter certainly does not have a clearly-defined policy of investing in Nigeria?”, he asked.
On the recent directive by the state governor cancelling all cocoa allocation made by the Cocoa Allocatiin Committee, set up by the CRS government, Ekpo frowned at this development and sought to know, “when the CRSG start allocating farmland for cocoa farming? Will he (Ayade) personally go and find out who does and who doesn’t deserve to be a cocoa farm allottee? Is this what a State government in Nigeria of 2019 should be doing? Allotting farmland for growing a cash crop governed purely by market forces?”, he completed.
