A’Ibom Guber Aspirant Blames Underdevelopment on Poor Leadership

Okon Bassey in Uyo

A 2023 Governorship Aspirant in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Aniekan Etim, has blamed the lack of development and progress in the state amidst bountiful natural and human resources on poor leadership.

At a press conference in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, the governorship hopeful regretted that the leadership have created an ever-widening gulf between themselves and the led, adding that he is joining the race to narrowing the gulf for the common good of the people.

According to him, “Akwa Ibom is our state. It’s a geo-political entity South-east corner of Nigeria. Without doubt, it has scored many firsts in Nigeria and globally, and is naturally blessed with human and natural resources whose potentials are unquantifiable, but beg for proper harnessing.

“Nigeria, Africa and indeed the world need Akwa Ibom and depend on us to be stable, to grow and sustain the development. The sad story is that presently in spite of our potentials, we are yet to realise our enviable capacities owing to questionable and misplaced leadership.

“All known civilizations have had quality synergy between a visionary leadership and an enthusiastically cooperating followership. Very regrettably, ours have been cases of ‘we-against-them’ because leadership have created an ever-widening gulf between themselves and the led.

“The challenge of narrowing the gulf for the common good only declares expediency for the right fulfillment,” he said.

He lamented that education and other energies have been misplaced due to lack of foresight and commitment in serving the people. This, he noted, has taken a negative toll on the people and their development.

“Emerging trends point to the fact that the global economy is increasingly becoming knowledge-based. In no distant time knowledge will be the fulcrum. The question then arise: what has become of our schools in qualitative and quantitative terms?

“The way to ensure that it is about the people is to involve the people and the key to involving the people is to invest resources on the people to together evolve a generally shared dream,” he said.

He listed his areas of interest to include life and healthcare, vocational training and education, services and infrastructure and food and agriculture. Others include shelter and housing, safety and security, transportation and information and orientation.