Newsfront Online …Telling the Public as it is
… Turns village to tourist centre
… Names major road after the Governor
By Saviour Ekpe
In recognition of the super performance of the State Governor, Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmauel, Ikot Akpan Ediene in Oku Clan, Uyo Local Government area has donated large hectares of land to the state government for any project that could be meaningful to be sited.
The community has also named a major road for the governor as a token of appreciation for his achievements especially the industrial renaissance experienced in the state since his assumption of office on may 29, 2015. The newly certificated head of Ikot Akpan Village, Chief Ekpongntak Japhet Udobong who made this known while interacting with Century Newsfront in his palace recently said Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel deserves to be appreciated, commended and supported following his people oriented programmes, policies and achievements within his three years in office which has changed the frame of development in the state.
Chief Ekpongtak Udobong observed that for any Governor to have managed the biting recession which dismantled all economic activities in the country and came out top in the management of lean resources with payment of workers salary and Sectoral advancement such governor should be applauded for his management ingenuity and statistical prowess.
The village head who specifically mentioned Governor Emmanuel’s achievements in education, agriculture, road construction, industrialization, youth and women empowerment and human development capacity, lauded the governor for achieving so much in only three years in a biting economy. He stressed that as the village head of Ikot Akpan Ediene, he has copied and duplicated the development strides of the governor in his village by massively developing the Community and changed it to a Modern City within the Capital City of Uyo.
The workaholic village head pointed out that the community for many years was seen as interior, inferior, rural and rejected place due to lack of development even when the community is part of the Uyo capacity development authority, but with the recent massive change by his rulership, the community now attracts many investors and strangers to building many modern residential estates and apartments. Chief Udobong said that so far, he has opened about 34 new roads in the village so that the entire community could be accessed, purchased two brand new lawn mowers and employed workers to maintain cleanliness of the community cutting of grasses community and around the at the village primary school since the pupils are too small to cut grass, changed the mentality of the people developed nature of the community in order to attract more strangers and investments.
In the area of security, the village has good rapport with police from D-Division Uyo, state police command , Ikot Akpan Abia and Zone 6, which has made it possible to arrest some hoodlums who were using the community as their hide-out, “now you can sleep in your house with your doors open, again, since the name of the village has gone international because of our own son, Samuel peter, one of the world’s wrestling champions, who has made us proud, the village would be rim to have international reputation, standard infrastructure and mannerism and we call on our world hero, Samuel peter to train more young talents to be like him, we have named a street for him”.
Meanwhile the people and residents of the community have eulogized the village head, Chief Ekpongntak Japheth Udobong as hero for breaking rural barriers and develop the community to a modern city within Uyo capital. Pouring encomium on the village head, a community member, Mr. Bassey Ambrose Antai, described the village head as a powerful force that has turned the fortune of the community around by building a community market and made it standard leading to the attraction of traders from far and wide, as well as provision of overhead water supply to the community and another water supply to the primary school.
Mr. Antia said that in order to support the government and community efforts in empowerment, his NGO – single parents and parentless children association has been renewed and called on government to assist him so that the NGO could reach out to many helpless children in the state.
Also speaking, the Youth President, Mr. Promise Ime John and Obongiwaad Aniedi Duncan Edet commended the village head for carrying youths, women and elders along in his scheme of things as such leadership style has given the people of the community a sense of belonging and active participation in the affairs of their community.
The duo observed that since it was governor Udom Emmanuel, the exceptionary performing governor that certified their village head coupled with the fact that the entire village is PDP – oriented, the entire voters from the village would return the governor by 100 percent. Still in the line of enology, Mr. David Edet Etim, a consultant grader driver, who handles the opening of the internal roads in the community pointed out that the village head has spent millions of naira in the development of the community and challenged other village heads to learn from Chief Ekpongntak Udobong to improve the well being of their people by opening up the village to development instead of waiting for government to do everything for them.
In his part, the president of the Tipper Contractors Development Association, Akwa Ibom State, Obong Udo Uko Akpabio commended the village head for giving the association space in the village to open their tippers depot in the state which acts as meeting point between tipper contractors and people who need sand to build their houses, expressing happiness that the community has contributed immensely to the building of estates and houses in Akwa Ibom State.
