Everywhere you go in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, you are bound to see ‘ARISE’ staring you in the face. This is not about Arise Television nor is it about the biblical crippled man Jesus told to arise and walk. It is a gospel according to Pastor Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom State. You can see it on many billboards in Uyo. You can also see the insignia on the clothes of government officials and supporters.
ARISE is an acronym. It is Eno’s visionary plan to propel Akwa Ibom’s socio-economic growth and transform the lives of the citizens. It means Agricultural Revolution, Rural Development, Infrastructure Maintenance and Advancement, Security Management and Educational Advancement. This is aimed at building upon the achievements of the previous administrations and to take the state to new heights.
As I ruminated about the ARISE Agenda, I remembered what a good friend of mine who was a journalist but now a public relations guru with Dangote Industries Limited told me recently. He said almost all my articles tended to see nothing good about Nigeria. He asked if I knew about the concept called developmental journalism. In answering him, I asked him to mention one good development in Nigeria in recent times, which I should devote my time to. He couldn’t mention any.
This is partly why I am focusing on Akwa Ibom today. Between November 14 and 18, 2023, members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors were in Uyo for their annual All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC). Beyond the presentation of different papers, some of us took time to move round some parts of Uyo to see things for ourselves.
What will strike any visitor to Uyo is the state of the roads in the city. Most of the roads are neat and well tarred. Editors are usually conservative when it comes to praising people in government. But most of the comments I heard from my colleagues centred on praises than condemnations for the government of the state.
Of course, the state of Uyo and some other parts of Akwa Ibom is not the handiwork of any one governor. It is a combination of the efforts of some past governors such as Victor Attah, Godswill Akpabio, Udom Emmanuel and the incumbent governor, Pastor Eno. That each of these governors continued from where their predecessors stopped is commendable.
In June 2021, I had cause to write about this same Akwa Ibom. Titled “Udom Emmanuel: Footprints of a professional in politics”, the article dwelt on some of the achievements of Emmanuel as the then governor. One of them was Ibom Air. I have had cause to fly with that airline, the only one run by a state government in Nigeria, and I was impressed by its services. The common refrain in Nigeria is that government doesn’t effectively run business in this country. But here is a state government running a commercial airline that has served the public well since it started its operations on June 7, 2019. From a little beginning of only three aircraft, the airline increased its fleet to five. As of June 2021, it acquired two new Airbus A220 series to bring the number to seven. The Airbus series are bigger than the other five aircraft, Bombardier CRJ-90, which it earlier acquired. Last week, the airline took delivery of the first of 10 new Airbus A220-300 aircraft it ordered from Airbus in November 2021. With this new arrival, the airline is expected to expand its operations to other West and Central African countries. Emmanuel also expanded the runway at the Victor Attah International Airport. He embarked on the construction of the international terminal building and maintenance repairs and overhaul facility at the airport.
The central focus to achieve Emmanuel’s five-point agenda was industrialization. The aim was to transform Akwa Ibom from being a civil service state to one that has a robust manufacturing base. He tried his best to achieve his dream. For instance, he attracted such industries as pencil, plastics, plywood, toothpicks and tissue paper manufacturing plants. Some others include meter and syringe manufacturing plants, Flour Mill Company and Sterling Petrochemicals.
The incumbent governor appears to have a similar vision. For instance, his administration has turned the E-Library complex of the state to more productive ventures. In that complex is the state’s Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development (LED) Centre. At the centre, about 400 participants are currently undergoing Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme (EAP). It is for three months. The programme runs every quarter and the state government pays N150,000 per participant. And at the end of the programme, each of the trainees is given N500,000 to start business. We visited the facilities of the shoe and tailoring start-ups within the complex. Their product can compare with any foreign product.
We had earlier visited the Model Primary School in Uyo. The school was known as the Christ the King Primary School, but it is now being remodelled to Christ the King Model Primary School. The construction is almost completed and the plan is to replicate the model in all the 31 local government areas of the state. It has staff quarters. About five members of staff, including the head teacher, will live in the quarters. The Commissioners for Education, Idongesit Etiebet, and Special Duties and Ibom Deep Seaport, Dr. Bassey Okon, noted that the contract for the building of the school included a four-year maintenance retention contract with the contractor. This means the contractor will not just build the school but will also maintain it for four years. With 20KVA solar power, constant electricity is guaranteed.
The school can compare with any in the world. It is equipped with modern facilities that make learning a pleasurable experience. It is equipped with Montessori learning kits, tablets, sick bay, cool indoor assembly ground and a playground. Although it is built to world standard, it is free. It is meant to take 600 pupils.
Like schools, there will be model primary health centres across the 31 local government areas of the state. We visited the one at Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area to see things for ourselves. The project was started 12 weeks ago and is aimed at reaching the grassroots with standard health care.
Governor Eno has also reportedly released N100 million scholarship grant to persons living with disability in the state and has released funds for disbursement of bursary to Akwa Ibom students in public tertiary institutions across Nigeria. This is in fulfillment of his campaign promises to enhance educational development in Akwa Ibom. So far, he is said to have paid N5.3bn as backlog of pension and gratuities of some civil servants. He has also restored and renovated dilapidated historic/heritage sites such as Lord Lugard House and War Museum at Ikot Abasi.
Eno did not forget road construction in his ARISE agenda. He has flagged off construction of some roads in different parts of the state. He is also upscaling Ibeno beach and other tourist sites.
To ensure food availability and security for his people, Eno’s government has acquired over 50,000 hectares of land across all the 31 local government areas. The administration has also flagged off Songhai demonstration farm at Nsit Ubium.
I know some people will say Akwa Ibom is an oil-producing state. That is true. As an oil-producing state with access to a lot of oil money, the government has no excuse not to do well. It is not doing the people any favour by doing what it is elected to do. However, the state is not the only oil-producing state in the country. Some of these oil-bearing states compete with the rest of the less endowed states in poverty of the citizens, poor infrastructure and general low standard of living.
Nevertheless, it is still early to sing praises of the Pastor Governor. He has spent barely six months in office. This is just an attempt to encourage him and others like him to do more for their people. If our leaders utilized resources effectively, Nigeria would not be where it is today. As I have canvassed on this page before, there is need to restructure this country to make governance less attractive to thieves and looters. Whoever is aspiring to govern as governor or President should be prepared to render selfless service to the people with minimum remuneration to go with it. May other state governors who are lagging behind study Akwa Ibom, arise and walk as well!
Re: Nigeria’s snatch-and-run elections
Dear Casmir, I feel somehow ‘frustrated’ about the current position of our country when I remember all the opportunities I turned down over the years because of my belief that Nigeria would get better. Little did I know that I’d be proven wrong, but I still thank God. Who knows what would’ve happened if I’d taken the alternative route. With the recent elections this year, it’ll be difficult convincing people like me to ever go close to a polling booth. However, we’re still waiting on the Lord, in spite of everything. Thank God for journalists like you. Let’s keep hope alive.
– Chief Chinasa, +234 802 300 8302
Dear Casy, when the head is rotten, the rest of the body shall, also, degenerate into rottenness. Since the Nigerian political system is rotten, the process is equally rotten to the point of placing the nation in inverse position where all indices of a decent nation is on reverse gear. A nation where elections have turned into ‘(s)elections’! A nation where for you to clinch political power, you must do the unthinkable, including surrounding yourself with goons and sending them, under statutory security protection, after any person(s) considered as threats to the wiles and guiles deployed towards the realization of your political ambition! A nation where the Judiciary, seen in saner climes as the last hope of the common man, is inversely, the lost hope of the common man because the Judiciary ‘speaks in tongues’, especially, where matters affecting the mighty or the ‘anointed’ are concerned! Hence, all manner of rots, including shams, now, baptized as ‘snatch and run elections’ that have turned the nation into a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
– Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731
Casmir, Tinubu is a major reason why we are in a near state of collapse! He has been ‘playing god’ with the destiny of Nigerians in the last eight years. He ‘gave’ us Buhari in a special arrangement of you go first – via my moral & financial support – and me next. How can the facilitator/promoter of ‘snatch & run’ elections save Nigeria from impending collapse? Those who saw the successful practice of ‘emilokanism’ by Tinubu will put to practice what they learnt in the ‘school of emilokan’! The philosophy of emilokan is: the kingdom of ‘politics in Nigeria’ suffereth violence and only ‘the violent’ take it by force! A bad and dangerous template has been handed over to the political class with the expected ‘final outcome’ of the Feb 25th, presidential elections. It is now a case of: do all you can to make INEC declare you the winner and the rest is ‘easy’! The problem is not really the systems in place, but the nature/character/attitude of our politicians! Take Nigerian politicians to America in a swap arrangement; they will destroy America in the twinkle of an eye! Bring American politicians or Americans in general to Nigeria and watch Nigeria prosper!
-Mike, Mushin, 0816 111 4572