The governor of Cross River state of Nigeria, Liyel Amoke, has suspended 20 members of the state's executive council for failing to participate in the 4km walk organized by the state government to mark the 2013 World AIDS Day in the state.


In a statement issued by the state government, the suspended cabinet members were ordered to hand over to their Permanent Secretaries immediately and will remain suspended without pay.

Those affected by the suspension include the state's Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Attah Ochinke; Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Etim Takis Kaifas; Commissioner for Social Welfare, Mrs. Edak Iwuchukwu; Commissioner for Women Affairs; Patricia Enderly; Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Sandy Onor, and Commissioner for Agriculture Mr. James Aniyom;

Others are Special Adviser on Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Eja Dons Eseghe; Commissioner for Water Resources Elemi Etowa; Special Adviser on Tourism Wilfred Usani, Special Adviser on Religious Affairs; Eyo Okpo Ene; Special Adviser on Special Duties; Mr. Fabian Okpa.

The rest are Special Adviser Forestry and Biodiversity, Ntufam, Gabe Odu-Orji; Special Adviser on Investment, Dr. Gerald Adah; Special Adviser of Political and Legislative Matters, Mr. Fred Osim; Special Adviser Legal, Mr. Mark Obi; Special Adviser, NGO, Mrs. Margaret Johnson Ebokpo; Special Adviser on ICT, Mr. Odo Effiong; Special Adviser on Mineral Resources; Mr. Effiong Bassey; Special Adviser Strategy and Planning , Prof. Idem Temple; Special Adviser on Debt Management, Fransicea Nkoyo Effiong.

Speaking during the walk, the governor said just like malaria, anyone who is infected with the virus and is not treated will die.

He said: “AIDS disease is like malaria disease and those who are affected have to be treated or they will die. When you have malaria, you do not go to church or prayer house and same is with AIDS and if detected on time, do the test and if it is positive, take medicine and will be normal like any other human being”.

“Don’t see AIDS as strange and create fear because it can be managed and is not written on faces. It is more manageable than cancer today but those who have cancers will come out and say they have cancer but not people with HIV/AIDS.

“We need to do more and tell people how it can be contracted and how it can be treated and we should look forward to a time when there will be no AIDS walk and AIDS Day.

“For this to succeed, we should enact a law and ensure it is observed in the urban area where the prevalence is high. The cost of HIV on the economy is high and we should ensure it does not increase by creating awareness for the people to be responsive and responsible”.

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