JOE EFFIONG, UYO
The former Nigerian Ambassador to Russia and chairman of the PDP governorship campaign council in Akwa Ibom State, Chief Assam Assam (SAN) has said the governorship candidate of the party, Pastor Umo Eno was prepared by providence to take the leadership of the state at this critical time.
In his opening remarks at the forum organized by broadcast organizations in the state to parley with the candidate, Assam said electioneering and its concomitant positive and negative trends, have toughen Pastor Eno and made his shoulders broad enough to carry the burden of leadership to be bequeathed to him from May 29.
“So I want to call on all people of the state irrespective of their religious, ethnic or political sentiments to stand by Pastor Umo Bassey Eno and support him. I want you to listen to his programmes and see what he has for the people of Akwa Ibom State.” Assam said.
Presenting his ARISE Agenda at the parley, Pastor Eno said he is in the race for the governorship to fill the gap and connect the dots for the prosperity of the people in the state, just as every past governor of the state had been helping to move the state forward development-wise by laying the platform for one another to improve upon.
“But there is still more work to be done. That is why we are coming in. We have a blueprint that will connect what is happening here, particularly to the rural areas so that we will be able to rebuild the fast-fading middle class in our country and then stop rural-urban migration as we take development to the people.
“I have 18 focal sectors that we will be concentrating in. But those 18 sectors have been fused into five vehicles which we call the ARISE AGENDA. These are plans that we have time lines; we have goals and we are going to monitor.”
He used the occasion to once again refute the allegation that he deducts tithes upfront from his workers’ salary, and challenged any person who had worked in any of his companies and had their salary deducted as tithe to show up with evidence; vowing to step down from the race should evidence is provided..
Speaking on agriculture which is a cardinal point in his ARISE Agenda, the PDP candidate said it is going to be a holistic package which would start with schools running their training farms, just as everyone that will be in government would own a farm in their village so as to show commitment and get the people at home involved in what is happening in government.
“We have to get our extension workers back to work and at the end of the day, the government would offtake what is left of the produce so that we can have a full value chain; so that people will be glad to plant knowing full well that there is a ready market for the produce.
“It is not going to be only subsistence farming. Government would get involved in equipment acquisition so as to help people undertake mechanized agriculture and the produce would be bought to feed our industries.
“In one planting season, we will see that there will be enough food to force down the price and people will enjoy working because there will be gain. So agriculture would be a way of life for our people.”
He challenged other candidates to show what they have done to create jobs in the state as he has done before coming in to the contest election and dropping vague statistics of development.
He promised to ensure that gratuities, now a major talking point in the campaign, would be paid to retirees so that the mounting pension debt would eventually disappear.