I Was Voted Into Power Because of Continuity, Says Eno

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Umo Eno, has said that he was voted into power because the people of the state believe in continuity. 

He said: “Because you (my people) believe in continuity, last year, you massively voted me to be your governor so that I may continue the trajectory of growth and development that my predecessors had so passionately and painstakingly started.

“You bought into our vision of the Arise Agenda, and gave me your support to implement this impactful blueprint.

“Today, I am proud to state that nearly one and half years since we came in, the fundamentals of our growth are rock-solid.” The governor made the assertion in a broadcast to mark the 37th anniversary of the creation of the state.

He posited that his administration “intentionally decided to grow our people, fight poverty, touch and improve the quality of lives in the rural areas, strengthen our crime fighting capabilities, improve the quality of education and healthcare delivery at the primary levels, maintain further the peace and security we have enjoyed,  and expand while maintaining our infrastructural amenities.

“Since this current dispensation came on board, Akwa Ibom State has continued to witness a steady growth across sectors.

“Our father, Obong Victor Attah, laid the foundation for our growth, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, came with the determination to transform the state through infrastructure, and the immediate-past Governor, Udom Emmanuel, decided to apply corporate approach to management by expanding the infrastructural base and looking beyond the immediacy to establish such legacy projects as Ibom Air.”

Eno said agricultural revolution still remains a central focus of his administration, as he expression satisfaction that the people of the state have heeded appeal for them to return to the farm to grow some of the staple foods.

According to him, “Through the Ministry of Agriculture and the AK-Cares, seedlings and other agricultural inputs have been distributed across the state and we are hopeful that the next harvest season will be bountiful.

“I am aware of farms such as Aviclaire in Abak, the farm in Nsit Ibom Council headquarters, M-Farm and Green Estate, Black Rock farms and other farms springing up all over the state.

“This is the spirit we desire from our people and we encourage others to do likewise. We must work together to bring down the high cost of our staple foods by returning to the farms.

“Work is ongoing at our Model Farm in Nsit Ubium, which, when completed, will signpost our resolve to ensure food security and tourism as well.

“We will soon come out with the list of farmers to be given grants after a thorough process to identify such farms. The Ministry of Agriculture is driving this process.”

The state government, he said, would continue to intervene through the Bulk Purchase Agency to provide immediate help to the most vulnerable across the 31 local government areas of the state.

“The direct distribution of food palliatives, which commenced last week, is going on smoothly and we are happy to hear of the good wishes people have expressed on this intervention.

“Let me re-emphasise it here that this is just an intervention, the lasting solution remains our return to the farm to grow our staple foods.

“We remain committed to developing our rural areas through the provision of amenities and social services that will significantly improve the quality of lives of our rural dwellers.

“Today, I am proud to state that there is no local government area that we have not touched through our One Project per Local Government Initiative, either with a Primary Health Centre, a Model Primary School or road projects collectively agreed to by the stakeholders and the people themselves.

“In the area of infrastructural maintenance and expansion, we have initiated a total of 60 Arise Road projects spread across all the LGAs.

“These projects comprises 49 FGPC approved road contracts and 11 direct labour intervention projects.

“Some of these have been completed and unveiled which include: the Naira Atiku Abubakar Flood Control Tunnel, the Access Road at Urua Akpanadem, completed with solar panels and water facilities which I had promised to execute within the first 100 days of our administration, the Afia Nsit-Eket Erosion control project and construction of Idua road among others.

“We have also funded 36 FGPC inherited road projects some of which have been commissioned such as Udom Emmanuel Boulevard (Formerly Airport Road) and 51 direct labour intervention projects bringing a total of projects initiated by this administration and the inherited ones to a total of 147,” he said.

 Eno said the state government is committed to maintaining peace, stressing that the state today still remains an oasis of peace, which has attracted investors and also as a destination of choice.