Akwa Ibom Youths Opt out of Planned Protest, as Gov Eno Reels out Achievements 

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, was on Tuesday presented a bouquet of commendations and assurances that peace will reign in the State during the August 1 planned nationwide protest against hardship in Nigeria. 

At a  Town Hall meeting with a cross-section of Akwa Ibom people, which included youth organisations, Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC, Students Associations and the Traditional Rulers Council of the State, the governor was applauded by all stakeholders for his people-oriented intervention programmes, especially in rural Akwa Ibom, which have endeared him to the people.

The stakeholders at the Town Hall meeting took turns to point out various impactful projects and programmes of the government under Governor Eno and concluded that Akwa Ibom is not a zone for violent protest.

 Harry Udoh, a Pastor and leader of the Civil Society community in the State, commended the impactful role of the governor in every sector of the society through bulk purchasing and distribution of food in every village, skill acquisition and empowerment programmes for youths,  prompt payment of salaries, and other entitlements to workers. 

He demanded for closer monitoring and evaluation of the various programmes the governor had embarked on.

Wisdom Emmanuel, a medical student at the University of Uyo and leader of the student union groups at the Town Hall meeting,  praised the governor for payment of bursary and scholarships to Akwa Ibom students in various tertiary institutions and concluded that the performance of the governor was sufficient disincentive for protest. 

Speaking for the traditional institution in the State, the President-General of the Akwa Ibom Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers, Dr. Ntenyin Solomon Etuk, acknowledged that the governor had been very intentional in his development efforts, adding that the planned protest “is not necessary in Akwa Ibom State”.

On their part, both the NLC and TUC, represented by their State chairmen, Sunny James and Dominic Abang,  respectively, commended the governor for workers’ welfare including prompt payments of salaries, pensions and gratuities, adding that the planned protest does not follow relevant  procedures and conditions required for protest by organised labour.

Surrounded by the heads of all the security agencies in the State, the State Commissioner of Police,  Waheed Ayilara, laid down the grund rules for any protest and insisted that those rules must be complied with by protesters. “We are ready to provide the necessary protection to all including those who wish to protest but must comply with laid down rules before stepping out”. He urged everyone to go about their legitimate businesses and remain peaceful and law-abiding.

The governor, Pastor Eno who described  the Town Hall meeting in Biblical terms as a “Come Let Us Reason Together” took the opportunity to justify why Akwa Ibom State should not be part of any violent protest. He said the State has built a good reputation as the most peaceful part of Nigeria and will benefit more in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility than protest that could destroy the beautiful infrastructure that generations of governors had laboured to put in place.

The Governor acknowledged that while it was the constitutional right of citizens to protest peacefully, past experiences in Nigeria showed that hoodlums do take advantage of such protests to do extensive damage to public infrastructure and private properties. 

“We are a peaceful State and a very peaceful people. We have maintained this hard-won peace over the years. I want to appeal that if you will participate in the planned protest, please do so peacefully. You must ensure that miscreants and hoodlums do not hijack your protest”, the governor said. 

However, the governor arrived the Town Hall meeting with sufficient reasons why Akwa Ibom should not join the protest and he was very factual, persuasive and rhetorical about it. 

“The question now is: should the protest actually take place here in Akwa Ibom State, given our people-friendly disposition, our deep and abiding concerns for the welfare of our people, our care for the workers in the public service, for the poor and the most vulnerable and our intentional concentration of resources on giving hope to the hopeless, and homes for the homeless, built by the ARISE Compassionate Homes programme across the State?”

He went ahead to reel out other accomplishments of his Administration. “We have paid over N22 billion gratuities to the retired Primary School, Local Government and State Civil Service retirees. We are paying N50,000 stipend every month to the elderly in our ARISE Elderly Care Initiative. Our free food voucher programme through our newly established Bulk Purchase Agency has so far touched 314,422 families in the State…We have reached out with our arms of care to the  physically challenged, chronically ill, widows as more than 200,000 of them drawn from the revised Social Register are benefiting monthly from the government. 

“We have also paid wage awards for three months to cushion the effect of the high cost of living arising from the removal of fuel subsidy.  We paid the 13 month salary tagged  ’Enomber’ last December and about a month ago, we paid 1.1 billion Naira as bonuses to all public service workers to mark the ‘Public Service Week.’ We have commissioned 236 low and middle-income housing schemes for civil servants, of which 150 are to be given free through a raffle draw…

“We have released the 2023 promotions and increased the pensions of those who retired before 2012. We have approved the release of the outstanding 7.7 percent Contributory Pension to contributors.  The conduct of Service-wide examinations in preparation for the 2024 promotions have been approved,” the governor said.

The governor further listed his other achievements to include; donation of 36 fully-furnished two-bedroom bungalows equipped with solar powered borehole, solar electricity;  business support grant  of N500,000 each to 10,000 skills acquisition trainees and beneficiaries. 

While enumerating many other strides of the State government, the governor raised the hopes of all stakeholders and won a standing ovation when he said: “We have not even started yet. Better days are coming…Instead of joining to protest let us join to protect our infrastructure, our investments and our good reputation as a peaceful, serene, friendly destination of choice in Nigeria”.