By Bassey Uwa
At 36, Akwa Ibom State has had the fortune of having, since its creation, leaders who have shown in words and action sincerity of purpose in transforming the state from its rural status, from underdevelopment, poverty, illiteracy and disease to a state with all the trappings of development.
As Governor Umo Eno correctly said at the recent celebration to mark the anniversary of the creation of the state, Uyo, the capital was, before September 23, 1987, provincial headquarters with narrow, one-lane roads, which had thatched houses dotting the landscape. But over the years, each leader has added blocks to the edifice that has been rising steadily from the foundation that was laid by those who were there from inception.
Eno assumed office on May 29, 2023, with a promise to not only raise the structure higher, but add more features that would enable its occupants to enjoy a better standard of living in a progressive manner. On the day of his inauguration, he had asked for one thing from the people of the state – support. This was the second and, perhaps, the last of any such request he would make to the people in the current dispensation after the one he asked for, in form of a mandate, on March 18, 2023, which the people freely gave him.
Eno asked for support to enable him to implement his five-point development programme that is encapsulated in the A.R.I.S.E agenda, the acronym for agricultural revolution, rural development, infrastructure maintenance/advancement, security and educational advancement. It is the blueprint he has started to use as the guide in his effort to transform the state and uplift the standard of living of the people.
On paper, A.R.I.S.E has what it takes to expand the frontiers of the socio-economic development of Akwa Ibom, if carefully implemented. Looking at the document, one wishes it were humanly possible to transform its contents regarding rural development into reality in a twinkle of an eye, just like that (as we say in the Nigerian parlance).
Is it in the area of infrastructure revolution and maintenance? The governor’s plan is well articulated and laid out. He has promised to take infrastructural development a notch higher than what his predecessors did. You could literally see an infrastructure paradise in the state. In the area of security, though he has inherited a state that is one of the safest in the country, Eno believes an environment cannot be too safe, or too secure, especially one that is being designed to be a haven for visit, tourism and residence. He has promised improvement. And for education, the foundation has already been laid, such that he would not need to re-invent the wheel to make the standard among the highest in the country.
A.R.I.S.E. is possible, especially with a man who has shown in all his endeavours that nothing is impossible under the sun. His success story in the private sector – particularly his chosen field of hospitality where he bestrode virtually unchallenged with the biggest privately-owned hotel chain in the state – gives one confidence he is wearing a cap that fits him perfectly. There is reason to believe he is capable of building a private-sector economy that would make Akwa Ibom the industrial and economic hub not just in Nigeria, but in the West African sub-region and the Gulf of Guinea as a whole.
Eno has come into office with huge trust capital. He wasn’t what we refer to as a professional politician before his entry into politics en route his emergence as governor. His stint in public office as commissioner for lands and water resources was a short one, under one year, but he made his mark. Those who know him closely say he is a man whose word is his bond, not one that says one thing and does the other. It may, therefore, be safe to say that the people of Akwa Ibom have a man they can trust.
Now, the man is ready. Are the people ready? Having demonstrated support by choosing him to steer the ship of state for the next four years, will they support him to deliver on his A.R.I.S.E. agenda? Elections have come and gone. Umo is not the governor of a political party, an ethnic or religious group. He is the governor of Akwa Ibom State. Anything he does or fails to do in office is going to impact either positively or negatively on the lives of everyone in the state – men, women, young, old, the political class, those not concerned with politics, indigenes, non-indigenes, visitors (even one-hour visitors), and those in transit.
The A.R.I.S.E. agenda presents a roadmap for the development of Akwa Ibom into the state we all dream of, a state that is not necessarily a Utopia (There is none anywhere), but one where life would have a new meaning. We all desire a state with a well fed, well-educated and healthy population; a state where opportunities abound for self-development and actualization in whatever field of endeavor we, our children, our grandchildren and those yet unborn choose to pursue, and a state where the basic necessities of life are taken as a given.
It is time to rise above the primordial sentiments that contributed to the state of underdevelopment Akwa Ibom suffered for many decades.
Umo admonished the people during the 36th anniversary celebrations to rid themselves of the divisive tendencies that have contributed to the state’s stunted growth.
Perhaps nothing could more encouraging and re-assuring on his part than his announcement of plan to set up a Think Tank that would comprise former governors, former deputy governors, former (and the present) speakers of the state house of assembly and religious leaders to help in charting the way forward for the state. This is a novelty in the state.
Eno needs more than an A.R.I.S.E. agenda to succeed in his quest to transform Akwa Ibom. Beyond a well-designed and articulated agenda, he needs the belief, buy-in and full support of the people for whom the agenda is to be implemented – morally, materially and spiritually.
•Uwa, an Akwa Ibom indigene, is based in Lagos