19th Anniversary of Nigeria Democracy

Sectoral Appraisal of Udom’s Administration

Governor Udom Emmanuel’s SMART Agenda has been an exceptionally purposeful brand. His ability to daily think outside the box with a view to better the lives of  Akwa Ibomites is second to none. He has on several occasions restated his commitment to the total realization of the yearnings for progressive developments in the nooks and crannies of Akwa Ibom State and this cannot be denied by all, even by our usually skeptic opposition.

Akwa Ibom no doubt is blessed with a good Governor, one who is after the people’s interest as well as their welfare. A Governor with great value added service. Although straight from the banking hall, there is no gainsaying the fact that the governor appears prepared for the job. He understands the issues and with his impressive intellect and exposure, is able to sell them. He enjoys being taken on but on the intellectual burner.

The challenges that strewn his path before and after his election were enough to throw him off balance. From the challenge of governance to the litigations over the legitimacy of his mandate, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, like most governors, had an interestingly rough start. But he kept his eyes on the ball and would not give in to cheap distractions especially that it comes with the job.

His Excellency with his Smart five Points Agenda, has clearly distinguished himself amongst his contemporaries in Nigerian political stratosphere because has evenly distributed the dividends of democracy to Akwa Ibomites. The biggest of it all has been the reawakening of the consciousness, drive, and push of every son and daughter of the soil through the Dakkada Initiative. Mr Udom Emmanuel, visionary leader and Governor saw the need for a mind-set change and attitudinal rebirth, which gave birth to the Dakkada Initiative.

Dakkada is a movement to unshackle the people from underachievement by inspiring self-belief, confidence and courage to utilize skills to maximize results. Dakkada charges us to see beyond what others see, human and intellectual. It inspires us to rise to the faith that as a people, we can move beyond ethnicity, biases, religion and gender. The Dakkada efforts are yielding fruits. As we look around, there is a proliferation of various trades, crafts, products and services across the state and it is very heart warming to see the sense of accomplishment with which these entrepreneurs, at their various levels go about their businesses.

Indeed, there are abundance of talents, professionalism and amazing stock of personality carriage in the State steered by our amiable INDUSTRIALIZER Governor. Right from day one, His Excellency, Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel consistently demonstrated that he holds the interests of Akwa Ibomites beyond his personal pursuits and political interests. He is a Nigerian that should occupy the apex point in our national life as a public servant. He is an egalitarian man per excellence, a rare gem of our time and the colossus of ever growing party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Three years in the saddle, Governor Udom is already writing his own name with a choice pen in the sand of time. With contemporaneous developments of the different and critical sectors of the state, the Akwa Ibom story can only get better. The technical committee set up for the realization of the key projects like the Ibom Deep Seaport, Agriculture and Food Sufficiency as well as Foreign Direct Investments, amongst others is evidently up to task with manifest results. His administration has made great strides in virtually all sectors in line with his determination to fulfill his campaign promises. The major pillars of Governor Udom’s administration include Wealth creation, poverty alleviation, job creation, infrastructure consolidation and political inclusion. This offering aims to highlight the positive strides of the government in the different sectors of the state.

In view of the Mandate of the Governor Udom Emmanuel-led administration to consolidate on the gains of Uncommon Transformation witnessed across Akwa Ibom State today, it is worthy of note that Governor Emmanuel has taken impressive steps which have removed doubts from the eyes of skeptics in the state about his sincerity and commitments to completely industrialize the state. Major roads construction and dualisation, including the fly-over at Ikot Oku Ikono junction, upgrade of infrastructure, urban remodeling and renewal projects, commercial agricultural schemes such as the Cocoa production scheme, Agro-allied economic enhancement programmes as well as the implementation of different capacity building programmes for the workers, the youths and the women in the state form the basis for celebrating his one year in office. These, coupled with free and compulsory education policy, free health care service for pregnant women, children between 0-5 years and the aged as well as the numerous welfare packages for the people, including the less privileged living with disabilities as well as victims of natural disasters, are some of the sectoral accomplishments of the governor so far.

AGRICULTURE:

Agriculture and food sufficiency are very critical to the well-being and socio-economic transformation of the people. With the dwindling fortunes of petroleum globally, it becomes imperative to nose-dive into massive agricultural production for increased food production towards sustainable development. Udom Emmanuel government is on the right track diversifying into agriculture. For the Udom Emmanuel government , agriculture has gone beyond a subsistent engagement to a business project.

Government has established 22 hectares of improved cocoa plantation in six LGAs namely, Ini, Essien Udim, Mkpat Enin, Ikono, Abak and Ukanafun. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, government commenced the sale of oil palm seedlings at a subsidized rate of N180 each to farmers in August 2015

Akwa Ibom State is known to have one of the best flavours of cocoa in the country. That is why Governor Udom Emmanuel has resuscitated cocoa production through the establishment of Cocoa Development Committee chaired by the Deputy Governor, Mr Moses Ekpo MFR. He also flagged off the Cocoa Maintenance Scheme to improve the yield of cocoa from the present 300kg/ha to 1,500kg/ha between 2016 to 2019. Governor Emmanuel has provided support for 8,200 cocoa farmers to cultivate 30,000 hectares of Cocoa. He has trained 480 youths on Cocoa Maintenance Scheme. Experts have been brought in to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Technical Committee to teach Cocoa farmers conventional agronomic practices to improve cultivation of cocoa in the state to earn foreign exchange.

Apart from cocoa, 6,000 hectares of land has been designated for the cultivation of cassava. There are cassava multiplication farms in Ikot Okudom in Eket LGA, Ikot Ekan in Abak and Ishiet Ekim in Uruan to teach cluster groups best practices in cassava production. Government had approved counterpart funds for FADAMA 111 Programme. Under this programme, cassava is targeted for cultivation annually between 2016 and 2019. The state is expected to cultivate 6,000ha of cassava in 2019 thereby moving the present cluster to core status. In addition I have approved the establishment of three new cassava processing factories in the three senatorial districts in the state namely: Ibesikpo Asutan LGA (Nung Udoe, Eket LGA (Ikot Okudom) and Abak LGA (Ikot Ekang). This will reduce the cost of processing cassava into other derivatives such as fofo, garrison, and pallets as well as their prices significantly. Governor Emmanuel has approved the reactivation and management of the defunct state premier fisheries at Obio Eket, Nsit Ubium by Merlot Anny Limited.

To put an end to capital flight from the state, an ultra modern poultry hatchery complex which will produce at least 520 day old chicks per day? It has commenced operation at Mbiaya in Uruan. The hatchery which comprises a feed mill and a breeder farm had commenced production. It is expected that the hatchery will attain its full production capacity of 520,000 Day Old Chicks per week.

Today Akwa Ibom is known for vegetable farming, growing tomatoes and cucumber under its Green House Initiative in pursuit of the diversification of the economy. The Green House which is Adjacent to the Akwa Ibom International Airport gate is a beauty to behold. Each of the houses draped in transparent enclosure has a landmass of one hectare with a farming model, with promising high yield. The state government, in partnership with the Mexican group, has allocated 10 hectares for cultivation of these vegetables.

For now, four hectares have been deployed while the remaining six are awaiting preparation and cultivation. Of the four that have been deployed, one has been cultivated with tomatoes which are being harvested. Another is also ready for tomatoes cultivation while one is deployed for cucumber. There is yet another which is almost ready for fresh cultivation.  According to the production manager in charge of cultivation.

The agricultural sector has been known worldwide to be one of the largest employers of labour.  Its value chain also helps in widening participation.  In the case of the intending ten hectares,  the Green House at full capacity utilisation would engage a huge number of Akwa Ibom people. In the interim, about 74 workers, according to the General Manager, are engaged in construction, production and operations. Yet, they are those who are not engaged directly, but provide ancillary services that are salient to the chain. The basket makers, transporters, owners of grinding machines and market women are also part of the chain.

EDUCATION:

Every child means everything to Mr Udom Emmanuel and his administration and for him, every child must be equipped for future challenges and relevance. Governor Udom Emmanuel believes that those who have come to hold important positions in public offices and in the corporate world are products of this public school system. Consequently, he has made huge financial and human capital investments in schools beyond just regular obligations. The education sector in Akwa Ibom state is well footed owing to the free, compulsory and qualitative education scheme where the cost of education in Primary and Secondary school is free.

It is therefore correct to say that Governor Udom Emmanuel is committed to achieving a globally competitive workforce, in a world that is increasingly being shaped by technology. There are 1401 public primary, secondary and technical schools, 895 private nursery, primary and secondary schools and four tertiary institutions which government ensures compliance with the curriculum, education policies and world best practices. In the same vein, the government has set up ICT laboratories in some of the public and private schools; the education sector has witnessed great improvement under the leadership of Governor Udom Emmanuel.

The free and compulsory education programme gives every child of school age resident in Akwa Ibom, regardless of state of origin, access to qualitative education from primary to senior secondary school level. In addition to free tuition, the state pays a subvention of N100 per primary school pupil and N300 per secondary school students per term to cater for logistics. With over one million five hundred thousand students enrolment in public schools has tripled since the introduction of the programme. To add quality to the free and compulsory education, Government has also created a more conducive learning environment through massive rehabilitation and reconstruction of school blocks, provision of science and laboratory equipment, construction of hostels and supply of desks in the 31 LGAs in the state.

As a way of ensuring that final year secondary school students are not constrained by lack of money, the government undertakes payment of WASSCE fees for all students in public secondary schools. This also includes payment of NABTEB fees for all students in public technical colleges and also providing funds for laboratory reagents for practical examinations. Udom Emmanuel has ensured prompt payment of primary and secondary school teacher’s salaries despite the economic situation while also providing subvention for the payment of newly recruited staff of Akwa Ibom State University. As basic as these sounds, several states in the country owe worker’s salaries for several months.

Governor Udom Emmanuel has provided counter- part funding to access UBEC fund for over 300 projects across schools in Akwa Ibom state. ICT has been boosted with the commissioning of two ICT centres at Government Technical School, Ewet and Topfaith Int’l School, Mkpatak while releasing 250 laptops and computers to various other schools. Beyond the basic level, scholarships and grants are still on-going (like that for law and Medical students) 30 Akwa Ibomites recently returned from a government sponsored Master’s programme on ICT. The Governor has provided subvention for the payment of newly recruited staff of the Akwa Ibom State University. The Governor has ensured the provision of an enabling environment to motivate both the teachers, pupils and students for optimal performance and output as well as attract investors to boost the sector.

His achievements in addition to the on-going free and compulsory education policy for all children in the state, from primary school to the senior secondary school level include; consultations with stakeholders in public and private tertiary institutions, to streamline, re-position and stabilize the school system, prompt payment of teachers salaries, training of Principals and teachers on new educational curriculum, teaching methodologies etcetera, dialogue with Unions in the state tertiary institutions to stem labour unrest, signing of Memorandum of Understanding, (MOU) with Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) with specific mandate to promote widespread availability and usage of telecommunication and ICT services in the state plus promotions, conversions and confirmation for deserving teaching and non-teaching staff.

POWER:

Electricity transmission is still the exclusive preserve of the Federal Government meaning the state government has limited control on implementation of power policies and programmes. But in his strides to make Akwa Ibom State better place, Mr Udom Emmanuel. There has been significant improvement in power in the state. Electricity has improved tremendously in the state and several communities such as those in Okobo and Eastern Obolo now enjoy regular electricity. License has also been acquired for the generation of an additional 495 megawatts of power.

The State’s Independent Power Plant (IPP) is generating more than 150 megawatts of electricity in the country. In communities where the rate of vandalism is low; electricity supply is constant on the average of 18 hours to 20 hours daily. The state government has deployed more than 600 transformers to alleviate the suffering of the people in areas where electricity installation has been vandalised. The state government is building a second power turbine to supply five local government areas along coastal areas with electricity.

The state government is also building two sub-stations in Uyo to improve electricity in the state capital. Apart from the newly commissioned 2×15MVA substation at 4-lane in Uyo which will improve quality and steady electricity in Osongama, Ewet housing extension, Nwaniba, Shelter Afrique, four lane and LeMeridien Ibom Hotel at 240 volts, there is a 2×15MVA at the Airport similar to the one at 4-lane; a 2×15MVA on IBB Avenue and Oron road and there is a 1×2.5MVW Point-Load Substation at Tropicana with ongoing plan to have another 2×15MVA around the stadium road.

Over 50 electricity intervention projects have been executed across the 31 Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State by office of the SA on Power. According to the SA on Power and MD Ibom Power Company, Engr Mayen Etukudo , “On directive of His Excellency, we started by restoring power in some parts of Ini and Okobo Local Government Areas where there was no light for several years. “Then we moved to Ikono, lit up communities in Mkpat Enin, replaced malfunctioned transformers at Itre Eto in Nsit Ubium, Ikot Obio Attai Itam in ITU and Ndon Wrong in Abak to mention a few.”

Several High Tension (HT) and Low Tension (LT) networks have been constructed with Relief Transformers installed across the three Senatorial Districts of the state. Communities like Ikot Oku Ikono, Enang Uko/Uko Eduok street, L-line, Ewet housing; Nkan Avenue, Shelter Afrique, Ekpri Nsukara, Inyang Isang in Ibiono, Ikot Udo Obobo in Ukanafun, Iman in Ikot Abasi, Oku Abak, Uya Oron in Oron,Ikot Udoata in Eket LGA, Otto Oro in Okobo LGA and several other communities that were never connected to the grid have been connected and now have steady power supply. There is also substation ongoing at Ekim in Mkpat Enin LGA that will ensure power supply to five LGAs. Not forgetting the ongoing plans for immediate and permanent power supply to IPC host, Ikot Abasi LGA. Governor Udom Emmanuel has done a lot in the power sector and is still doing more.

HEALTH CARE:

Health is an aphorism for wealth. In realization of this, the state government under the leadership of Governor Udom Emmanuel has continued to develop and implement policies, programmes, as well as undertake other necessary actions that will further strengthen the State health care delivery system to deliver effective, accessible, efficient, affordable and people-friendly health services.

Three of the state’s hospitals in Oron, Eket and Ikot Ekpene have been given provisional accreditation by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to provide training for House Officers in the state. place Mr Udom Emmanuel visited as Governor was a health facility, the St Luke’s Hospital Anua. He did not mind that the long standing hospital was not owned by government, he immediately swung into action to give it a face lift mindful of the large number of child births recorded there, the largest number in the entire region.

The health sector has experienced an unprecedented revolution since the advent of this administration. The Ibom Specialist Hospital has started operations, and the government did commission the state-of-the art residential quarters for the expatriates that will man the key aspects of the hospitals’ operations. Governor Udom Emmanuel is committed to providing affordable health-care services to our people. Other achievements in this sector include the upgrading of three Hospitals in Eket, Oron and Ikot Ekpene with provisional accreditation from Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to provide training for House Officers in the state, 48 House Officers had been employed and commenced training, immunization of our children and mothers, free Healthcare Programme and Malaria Elimination Programme (MEP) were pursued with success. HIV/AIDs reduction has also recorded progress as government is showing commitment in this respect. There is also the training of 272 registered nurses and midwives in the state under the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Programme (MCPDP) plus the treatment of 4,038 moderately malnourished children.

Governor Udom Emmanuel in 2015 flagged off the 2015 Maternal, Newborn and Child Week in the state. The programme featured the supplementation of children with Vitamin A, pregnant women with iron folate and de-worming of children. Welfare of health workers has also been paramount; the Governor ensured the payment of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to medical and dental practitioners in the state with effect from 2015. There is also continuing professional development for doctors as a mandatory requirement by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. This development is a prerequisite for the annual renewal of license to practice. Government in partnership with MTN foundation coordinated a 21 day free eye care outreach for people in the state. A total of 15,350 people were screened for various eye diseases, 1,150 eye surgeries were performed while 2000 eye glasses were distributed.

To ensure a better health for its citizens, Governor Udom Emmanuel has also Constructed Dr. Ann Ward Gynecology Block at St. Lukes Hospital, Anua, Uyo, Rehabilitation of Administrative Block and Wards at St. Lukes Hospital, Anua, Uyo, Construction of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in Ikot Ekpene, Rehabilitation of Etinan General Hospital, Renovation and furnishing of quarters for House Officers in Uyo and Oron, Free Screening of 15,350 people for various eye diseases and 1,150 eye surgeries performed, while 2,000 eye glasses were distributed. Also, treatment of 4,038 moderately malnourished and severely mal-nourished children.

YOUTHS AND SPORTS:

The administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel has devised many creative strategies to make our youths to be relevant in a competitive world. As he stepped into office, he set in motion several training programmes to ensure their employability beginning with the 1000 of our sons and daughters that are on a state government training on Oracle Database Management. Another 200 have also completed a power sector training in Abuja. That power sector training was designed to equip the trainees with basic skills involved in power generation, distribution and maintenance. 100 youths have undergone a special programme on mechanized farming in Israel which was strategically factored into the annual pilgrimage.

He had since floated a scheme tagged the Akwa Ibom Employment and Enterprise Scheme where young entrepreneurs are encouraged to be self reliant employing different combined methods like the franchise, common facility and business incubation system to address unemployment. Governor Udom Emmanuel places very high premium on education and skills development as both are pivotal to human capacity development. Governor Udom Emmanuel places very high premium on education and skills development as both are pivotal to human capacity development.

It is heartwarming that Governor Udom Emmanuel also sees sports as a window of opportunities to unlock hidden treasures for our younger generation. In 2015, he sat at breakfast with the management and players of our state owned team. He charged them to write the name of Akwa Ibom State on the national sporting map. He followed them all the way until we broke a 20 year old jinx. We won our first national football trophy at club level when Akwa United won the 2016 Federations Cup and qualified to play at the continental level. Akwa Ibom State is taking sports back to schools and to further develop sporting talents in our state, Governor Udom Emmanuel is building ten sports centres in the ten federal constituencies in the state. He commissioned the first one few weeks ago at West Itam Secondary School, Itu LGA. The second sports centre at Ikot Mbong, Onna is at advanced stage.

He is running a youth-friendly government, and he knows that unemployment is the major scourge of the youths. He is designing more plans to provide opportunities for our youths and give them employment. His belief is that our youths should earn a living through the works of their hands as opposed to begging for a living. In the same vein, he have set up loan schemes for small-scale businesses, especially for our women. Other youth empowerment programmes are; Special Pilgrimage and Empowerment training of 100 youth in Israel for Mechanized Farming, Training of 1000 youths on Oracle Database Administration, Training of 329 youths on film production, Training of 200 youths on Power Sector, Interest-free loans of over N2b to thousands of Akwa Ibom People, Payment of compensation to over 2000 flood victims and many others.

INDUSTRIES:

The very first step towards unlocking the economic growth potential of a state or organization is to create a strategic economic vision. Economic and historical research has overwhelmingly showed that industrialization is linked to rising educations, longer life spans, growing individual and state income, as well as improved overall quality of life. Although this transition from agrarian to industrial society is not always smooth, it is always a necessary step to escape the abject poverty found in most under-developed societies.

Indeed it is an obvious fact that no economy will experience rapid growth without its industrial activities. This awareness must have influenced the focus of Governor Udom Emmanuel as he anchored his campaign in 2015 on industrialization and the promise to work out an industrial policy which will be implemented in such a way that will facilitate massive investment in the state. It was glaring to the incoming administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel that the prosperity of the state, to a large extent would be dependent on the development and sustenance of the industrial sector, especially after 8 years of massive infrastructural development spearheaded by his predecessor. At the inception of his administration, Governor Udom Emmanuel promptly declared – “Our commitment to industrialization is irrevocable. We know that through industrialization, we shall rewrite the Akwa Ibom story in employment and wealth creation”.

That declaration had manifested in the frenetic pace of events and magnitude of developments as it touched the industrialization sub-sector of Akwa Ibom economy. Beginning from clear policy articulation to the flurry of project consolidation events, and even result bearing indices, there is no denying the fact the last three years of the Udom- led administration have been quite remarkable.

To underline the development vision of his administration from inception, Governor Udom Emmanuel re-structured the Ministry of Commerce and Industry into the Ministry of Investment, Commerce and Industry. This re-designation was aimed at forging a viable synergy between investment and industrialization, anchored on Public Private Participation (PPP) model. By this initiative, the goal was to explore and promote investment opportunities in the state; catalyze and effectively implement the industrialization policy and take commercial activities in the state to a new level.

The five point-agenda of wealth creation, economic and political inclusion, poverty alleviation, infrastructure consolidation and expansion and job creation have been judiciously dealt within the projected period. Gov. Emmanuel started his stewardship armed with industry intelligence and candour to arrive at where he is today. He devoted enough time to identify key economic priorities and actions that would unlock the growth potentials, ascertain the barriers to economic growth and ways of tackling them, and improve security to attract investment and enterprise to the state.

Like icing on a cake, he chooses to promote economic development through participatory, coherent, and coordinated economic policies. This, of course, has been the quality that stands him in good stead and sets him apart from his contemporaries. It is also the reason why Akwa Ibom people are reaping hugely from his investment drive. At several fora, the governor has reiterated his commitment, saying “Our commitment to industrialization is irrevocable.

We know that through industrialization, we shall re-write the Akwa Ibom story in employment and wealth creation that will pump the veins of our economy to overflowing, and take us to the highest rung of economic ascendancy.” In other words, Emmanuel’s middle name has become “Industrialization.” He dreams it, lives it and has translated it into reality. Instructively, having achieved so much within a short period of time, there is reason to believe that the people of Akwa Ibom state were deeply altruistic when they came out en masse to support Deacon Emmanuel as governor of Akwa Ibom state in the 2015 general elections.

Speaking on the vision that has guided the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel in this ambitious industrialization drive in the last two years, Charles Udoh, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, had explained: “Our dream is to ensure that Akwa Ibom state becomes Nigeria industrial and tourism hub. First, it is our dream to lead the way in a lot of things and in so many spheres of national life. We believe that somebody must take the lead. If I can digress a little, you and I know how the power sector has been problematic. Since Gov. Emmanuel commissioned the power injector station in Uyo, power within the Uyo metropolis has improved tremendously, we have a minimum 18 hours of electricity on a daily basis. That is good news for any industrialist. You also know that in a Nigerian setting, that is almost a miracle.”

Mr. Udoh also believes Akwa Ibom is a pacesetter in Nigeria in the last few years in the area of Industrialization. His words; “Gov. Udom Emmanuel believes we can set the pace. And if you also want to hit the nail on the head on the little successes we have recorded in terms of industrialization, you will recall that in the last two years and in the first half of this year, The National Bureau of Statistic has listed Akwa Ibom state as number 2 in terms of attracting foreign direct investment to Nigeria. We are only behind Lagos state. And that shows that our industrial stride is in full steam. If you look at the quality of industries that we are bringing, we are not just bringing industry just to make up the numbers, we are looking at opportunities”.

Africa’s largest syringe factory recently commissioned in Akwa Ibom State by Nigeria’s Vice-President seems to be of great interest to Charles Udoh. “Let us look at the syringe factory. We consume 6 million syringes in Nigeria and we import all of them. So upfront, we have the market for the syringe factory and we built a factory with an initial capacity of 400 million syringes. After One year of operation, we will grow that capacity to one billion without building an additional structure”.

Apart from the syringe factory, the commissioner touched on a few others that have wide ranging development impact in the state. According to Udoh, “we also have the pencil and toothpick factory that is serving the entire country and the West African sub-region as well as the electric metering and metering box factory, the first in Nigeria to produce digital electric meters. I also know how long Nigeria has been planning to go digital in terms of prepaid meters. We took the bull by the horns to search and find an investor who is working to produce in our backyard. The same thing with the coconut refinery and The Flour mill-we are always looking at targeted industries with market potentials”.

The plan of the current Akwa Ibom State government to create an industrial layout was also highlighted by commissioner. “If you look at the industrial plan of the state, we are looking at Ikot Abasi area. It is earmarked as the industrial hub. That syringe factory and the flour mill are all concentrated in the same area. The reason is simple- cost of doing business. It costs us the same amount to provide power for the three factories at the same time. It costs the same amount to provide security within the same locality, the same road network services.

So, it makes it easy for those companies to lower their overhead cost. That is where we have earmarked to have the Ibom deep sea seaport as well as coconut refinery and plantation that we currently have. “We are not using government resources; all we do is attract credible investors. Once we do this, we have an MOU signed which guarantees a specific number of employments for the local communities, community development projects and all that. Primarily, for us, the benefit to the state is going to be a whole lot. We are not building industries like in the past where the industries are dependent on government subventions”.

Apart from bringing in new industries, the Udom Emmanuel led government has also shown huge commitment in investing massively in the revitalization of ailing industries. This was followed with an injection of N424 million for the reactivation of Peacock paint, which led to the re-commissioning of the company in 2015. The company with a current capacity of three million litres of paint per year has since commenced production.

Also, while the federal government is thinking of producing pencil in 2018, the Udom Emmanuel led administration has already begun producing pencils since 2016. Through AKEES Toothpick and pencil industry, Governor Udom Emmanuel is working hard to see that Nigeria and other African countries stop importation of pencils and toothpick from China. The factory has the premium target of one billion naira yearly as well as creates ten thousand jobs of factory workers. The Pencil factory is currently supplying pencils to two states in the country and more are on the queue. It would definitely be a huge miracle to compress the three years of giant strides achieved by the government of Governor Udom into a text book, much less a newspaper article.