Former Cross River governor Donald Duke has bemoaned the deterioration of the once-famous Obudu Cattle Ranch at Obanliku, close to Calabar.
He asked monarchs to contribute to the rebuilding of the ranch in his Monday speech.
Duke urged the villagers to have confidence and promised that the region will soon be repaired.
According to the previous governor, the people of the state needed a public-spirited leader to restore their hope for the future. Sen. Sandy Onor, a PDP candidate for governor, was given by him as an illustration of such a leader.
He was sure that the PDP's gubernatorial candidate will be able to rekindle the nation's flagging optimism.
“To hold a public office, you must be a public-spirited person. Sandy is a public-spirited person, and that is what we need at this stage in our dear state.
“So much has been lost in the last couple of years. He knows the politics of the state. He is not a stranger; we have seen the result of a stranger.
“We need someone who can give us hope that today will be better than yesterday. Sandy is here to restore the hope of the people,” he stated.
In his address, Onor said that his administration would run the state from the bottom up.
The governor’s candidate appealed to the voters to return the PDP to power in the state, saying that the PDP has the “experience and the people” to fix the problems caused by the current administration.
“We won’t determine what you want but will sit and listen to your problems and see how we will tackle them within the available resources of the state.
“My experience as a former council chairman, former commissioner and now a legislator, has prepared me enough for the mantle of leadership of Cross River.”
Even the Paramount Ruler of Obanliku Local Government, Dr Amos Itim, lamented the current condition of Obudu Cattle Ranch on behalf of the monarchs, saying that every time he visited the ranch, he felt like crying.
But he assured them they would keep praying for the state’s wellbeing since they loved good things, peace, and progress.
“Leadership is made by God and not by human beings. We know that before you made up your mind, God had already ordained the project, especially when he knows you have a good heart,” he said.