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JOE EFFIONG, UYO
Political loyalty in Akwa Ibom State paid off over the weekend as the council chairman of Ukanafun rewarded 325 youths of the areas with cash worth N5 million for not defecting to other poltical parties.
The youths drawn from the 13 wards of local government area to the event held at the council secretariat, Ikot Akpan Nkuk, got between N50,000 and N5,000 cash as business support from the chairman of the local government area, Mr. Godwin Inyieng, who commended them for remaining in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)..
The council boss Inyieng described the youth as the building blocks of society and praised them not only for staying faithful and true to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the government of the day and his administration, but for also staying on the path of peace.
Acknowledging their steadfastness, the ccouncil cchairman recalled that a lot of them had been enticed by other political parties over the years but remained committed in their stand with the PDP. This, he said, was one of the reasons for calling them together.
He also thanked Governor Umo Eno for making the area feel his impact within 100 days of his administration revitalizing their abandoned health facility as well as proposed intervention in internal roads within and around the hospital
“Do not forget that two illustrious sons of Ukanafun – Dr. Frank Ekpenyong and Ndiana-Abasi Nana Udom – were among the first set of senior special assistants to be appointed by the governor. And I can assure you on good authority that more are coming. We came to tell him thank you for what he has done so far”, he said.
“Luckily for us, he is bringing an agricultural programme that will employ 2,000 of our youth. It is a programme of the state government, being one of the critical components of the ARISE agenda, so we’re at the final stage of donating the land to the state government. Ukanafun is coming under the first phase of that programme. We are thankful to His Excellency.
The council chairman who also attributed some of his administration’s success to the governor’s support, seized the opportunity to present his scorecard.
“We have graded roads in 10 out of 13 Wards. We’ve massively intervened in the Primary Health facility at Ikot Akpa Nkuk which was in a sorry state when we came; we’ve brought a skill acquisition centre to Adat Ifang and a big community water scheme. At the other side of the River, we have a police station that will soon be commissioned and a school block at Afaha Ikot Akpan”.
“Importantly, 50 indigent students of Ukanafun have been awarded scholarships for two years, worth 10 million naira in various tertiary institutions.” He said,
Inyieng announced the payment of bursaries to students in the next two weeks, and explained that the payment would be done within the same period his wife would be meeting to appreciate women of the area, in fulfilment of what they had promised to the people.
He however charged the recipients of the business support to make judicious use of it and refrain from vices and actions that would put the law against them, spark conflict and jeopardize the peace currently enjoyed in the area.
Two of the beneficiaries of the s One of them was Owoidighe Isonguyo Udom, a petty trader and Ediong Sunday Inwang , a commercial driver, commended the council boss from the gesture.
Consequently, the youth conglomerate passed a vote of confidence on the Chairman, his cabinet members and Governor Umo Eno, respectively.
Earlier, the chairman on the occasion and Commissioner One, Local Government Service Commission in the area, Obong Saturday Akpan lauded the youth for coming together and passing a vote of confidence on the Governor, the State Party Chairman, Elder Aniekan Akpan, the entire political leadership in Ukanafun and above all, the Local Government Chairman.
Akpan said the political leadership of the area has taken special notice of the youth’s resolve to be together and shun tendencies that would impact negatively on their wellbeing.
In his remarks, the PDP Chapter Chairman, Elder Godwin Ekpe said the Party was happy to identify with the Council Chairman on the empowerment scheme, and urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money.
