Cross River Governor, Bassey Edet Otu said the facility at the Calabar International Convention Center (CICC), when fully upgraded, will be a huge source of revenue for the government and will serve as event destination.
Part of the CICC building was set on fire by angry youths during the nationwide EndSars protest on October 20, 2020, causing the violence to escalate into violence in the state.
Speaking during an inspection to the facilities, Otu said the Calabar International Convention Centre is one of the critical assets that Cross River is proud of, hence the need to bring the facility back to life.
Speaking during a tour of the facility, Otu said that the Calabar International Convention Center is one of the most important assets Cross River is proud of, so it needs to be brought back into operation.
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.
“What I have seen here is a situation where 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” he assured.
Otu expressed optimism that the ongoing renovation work at CICC would be completed within a week before the Calabar International Investment Summit begins and expressed confidence that the consultant handling the job was doing a good job.
Similarly, in the case of the Cultural Center Complex, the governor assures that the historic center will be remodeled and adjusted to accommodate modern facilities, helping to transform the center into a hub of activities within the south-south geopolitical region of the country.
The governor also inspected the work going on at the Millennium Park.
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