The Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, has been nominated for the first ever Swift Reporters Meritorious Award.

A statement in Wednesday in Abuja by the Publisher of Swift Reporters, Adewole Kehinde, said that Ayade’s revolutionary strides in Agriculture have earned him the prestigious award.

“It will be recalled that recently, President Muhammadu Buhari was in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to commission Africa’s first and only Rice seeds and Seedling Factory. The factory is one of Governor Ben Ayade’s major agricultural projects,” Adewole said.

The statement reads further: “Professor Ayade has created real employment to the teeming youths across the South-South region of Nigeria as the ultramodern rice mill in Ogoja, a 30,000 per year cocoa processing plant in Ikom is a testimony.

“He has also established a cotton farm in Woda, Yala, Banana Plantation in Odukpani. Work has also commenced on the Calabar Ultra-modern Poultry farm and Yellow maize farm in Obubra, among others.

“Today, the garment factory in Calabar has been completed and commissioned. This project alone has employed over 2,000 Cross Riverians and a majority of them are women and widows.

“Serious work is ongoing in the Calabar Pharmaceutical Company and various rural road projects across the state.”

“The Swift Reporters Meritorious Award which will be conferred on Gov Ben Ayade in April, 2019 in Cross Rivers State, is the latest in a string of awards that have been conferred on Ayade in recognition of his achievements since assuming office four years ago,” the statement said.