Gov. Otu’s wife empowers 500 Street Cleaners in Cross River 

By Ene Asuquo, Calabar

The wife of Cross River State governor, Mrs. Eyoanwan Otu has empowered five hundred female street maintenance workers in Calabar the State Capital with micro business funds.

Mrs. Otu, who presented the women with Twenty thousand naira each, also gave them other items such as 10kg bags of rice and 6 yards each of cotton fabrics usually referred to as African wax print or Ankara.

The Governor’s wife also appreciated the efforts of 30 most outstanding street sweepers with a special presentation of POS (Point of Sale) machines in collaboration with two commercial banks operational in Cross River State, southern Nigeria.

Mrs Otu made the presentations during a special ‘meet and greet’ session for the 500 most dedicated street maintenance workers under the employ of the Calabar Urban Development Authority (CUDA).

In her remark at the occasion held at the premises of her office in Calabar, Bishop Otu praised the women for the punctuality, diligence and commitment to their duty irrespective of the hazards and challenges sometime encountered.

Adopting the popular quote “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, Mrs. Otu thanked the women for supporting the policy of a clean and green Cross River State, which through their hard work, was gradually returning the state to the number one spot as the cleanest in Nigeria.

“I am pleased to be with you today, our dear dedicated women. I choose to celebrate with you for the work you do. Irrespective of the weather – hot, cold, rain or not – you are always out on the streets before the city wakes to clean. Some of you leave your homes as early as 2 o’clock in the morning to sweep the roads, so that before 5:00am, you finish your chores”.

“The sacrifices you make to get the roads and streets clean have not gone unnoticed; you are all recognized. Even though some people may not understand what you give to keep our environment clean, we appreciate you, we recognize you. Our Governor Bassey Otu thinks well of you and holds all of you in very high esteem,” she stressed.

Continuing she said, “we appreciate your resilience, doggedness, labour, commitment and dedication to work. We would not have achieved our status as one of the clean states in Nigeria. But, with you we believe Cross River will again become the cleanest state in the entire country. This ‘meet and greet’ is to express our profound appreciation for the work you all do.”

Responding to the gesture, the women, who joined the Cross River first lady to dance to one of Africa’s highest, selling music “Sweet Mother”, eulogized Mrs. Eyoanwan Otu for giving them the best recognition ever.

Some of the women such as Gloria Essien-Oku, Offiong Edet and Arit Effiom said, “this is the first time anyone has shown us this kind of appreciation. We have never been honoured this way before. Some people have appreciated us, but this is the most special treatment we have ever received.”

Similarly, the Executive Secretary of the Calabar Urban Development Authority, Elder Ayi Effiong expressed profound gratitude to the wife of the governor for hosting the women, noting that the gesture was an encouragement for them to continue to give their best and for others to aspire for future recognition.

“These women give so much time to keep the city clean. These women are involved in sweeping the roads and streets daily. For the first lady of Cross River State to recognize their effort is a big motivation for them. These women face serious hazards on the road and this shows that they are seen.

“We have 500 women here carefully selected from the different units. There are more women working with CUDA, but these beneficiaries were selected based on their commitment to duty. We use this opportunity to urge other individuals and corporate bodies to encourage these women too,”she  stated.

The occasion was attended by top government functionaries and the second runner up of Nigerian Idol Season 10, a winner of the first-ever platinum ticket in Season 9, Mikki Odionka.