In a system where leadership, particularly politics has been bastardized, it is surprising to find Nigerians, especially those in government, who still go out of their way to put their names in the sands of time, one of such people is Akwa-Ibom Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel. A man who strongly believe in quality leadership, he will always say, don’t built your administration of false promises. Zebra News was in the Land of Promise state for an on spot assessment of Mr Udom’s seven years reign as Governor. Below is highlight of our investigation.
After a three weeks tour of Akwa-Ibom State, the Zebra News team discovered that Governor Udom has touched almost every nook and crane of the beautiful state; from job creation, security, education among other basic amenities, we captured seven major areas of his achievement in the state.
1. Industrialization
The development of industries in Akwa-Ibom has been on a wide scale. This is because, Governor Udom led administration not only agrees that the importance of Industrialization, but because he understands that, it is the process by which an economy is transformed from a primarily agricultural one to one based on the manufacturing of goods and services.
2. Infrastructure
In 2015, When Governor Udom Emmanuel came into power, he has a clear vision of what he intends to do with the skeletal infrastructures in Akwa-Ibom State. Today, Akwa-Ibom State boasts of a robust internally generated revenue (IGR),” all thanks to a visionary Leader, who worked tirelessly in the last seven years to ensure that , the state boasts of vast network of solid roads, loads of community-based projects and flagship tourism asset, among others. Other sectors that have felt Governor Udom’s Infrastructural Development are health, education, Security And Agriculture.
3. Aviation Transformation
That Aviation is thriving in Akwa Ibom State today, all hails the ever hard working Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel. In the last seven years, Akwa-Ibom’s aviation industry has demonstrated a remarkable growth, which is an indication that the next few years to come, the sector will continue to grow more bigger and better. Where exactly, should we start from, is it the construction of Taxiway at Victor Attah or the full upgrade of Victor Attach International Airport. Incorporation of Ibom Airline and acquisition of 5 CRJ Bombardier Jets and 2 Airbus A220-300 Series aircrafts for operations has surpassed all expectations.
4. Agriculture
Another industry, Governor Udom didn’t leave stone unturned is Agriculture. This development has had a positive impact on the economy of the state as its GDP growth rate is a confirmation that, the Udom Emmanuel’s government is using the state resources jurisdictiously. The introduction of transformational agribusiness development has not only boost food security in the State but has created employment opportunities, empower women and youths, reduce poverty, and create wealth through viable agro-allied industrial development, and ensure the ease of evacuating agricultural produce to markets; and heavily investing in mitigating erosion and land degradation amongst others.
5. Human Capacity/Job Creation
For Udom Emmanuel, his administration will continue to ensure the entrenchment of good governance, growth of the socio-economic stability of the State through strategic government interventions aimed at stimulating profitable commercial activities in the rural areas, focus on strategic investments, the provision of avenues to promote equality, as well as the upliftment and empowerment of vulnerable segments of society. This he has demonstrated by training thousands of youths in Oil and Gas, hundreds of young entrepreneurs in business communication through his through My E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p G o a l Programme (MEGP).
6. Security
Security in any country or region is paramount for adequte development to take place, it is the benchmark of good governance. This is what Akwa-Ibom is witnessing today as efficient security architecture was not only provided to all the citizens and residents of the state but the government of the day also ensure an enabling environment for manufacturing activities and the protection of people’s lives and properties. His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel through his numerous security initiatives, has strengthen the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, among other security agencies with all necessary and modern day equipments to help tackle insecurity and other security challenges facing the state.
7. Education
The bedrock of any meaningful development in any nation is human capital development through the provision of quality education. One thing our team of reporters noticed in our research in Akwa-Ibom State is that, majority of the children have access to quality education, unlike some part of the country, where you have young people and even children roaming and hawking on the streets, Akwa-Ibom seems to be ahead of these states in terms of education. In a system where you have introduction of a multi-pronged approach to tackle problems mitigating against children’s access to free and qualitative basic education, one can only imagine what we are currently seeing in Akwa-Ibom under the leadership of Governor Udom Emmanuel. He made education the front burner of his administration, and today, his people are grateful they voted him into power. With all of these remarkable achievements, Governor Udom Emmanuel have shown that he possesses the poise, acumen and reach to help Nigeria overcome the socio-economic and political challenges facing her. Irrespective of our ethnic, religious or political alienation, we must all agree that Mr. Udom is the messiah the Nigerian politic seeks.
