By Raph Inyang
Udom Emmanuel plans to consolidate the successes of his first term as governor of Akwa Ibom State with a programme he has codenamed Completion Agenda. It is a programme that is expected to guarantee sustainable socio-economic development of the state from the present well into the future.
The Completion Agenda is expected to be the final phase of the fulfilment of Udom’s promise to leave behind a state that meets all parameters of development by the time he completes his eight-year tenure in 2023.
A common denominator of the projects encapsulated in the Agenda, which actually builds on the success of the Five Point Agenda of the first term, is the fact that they are futuristic – legacy projects that are designed not just to meet the needs of today, but most importantly to build a state that would provide for generations yet unborn. This has established Governor Emmanuel as the quintessential leader and visionary who thinks of the next generation, not a politician who thinks of the next election (In any case, he has no other election to worry about).
His success in his first outing was underscored by the many “firsts” the state recorded under his stewardship. Top on the lists of “firsts” is the fact that Akwa Ibom is the first state on the African continent to own and successfully operate an airline. The state has been able to prove that government enterprises can indeed be successfully managed, which has not been the case in Nigeria.
The wisdom in setting up Ibom Air can be seen in the fact that it has helped in opening up the state. The airline is also expected to facilitate and simplify air travel into the state, against the background of expected influx of investors desirous of taking advantage of the conducive environment the administration has created with security, peace and attractive economic policies. The expected boost to the state’s economy under this initiative is quite enormous. Already, more than 16 functional industries set up by the administration in just four years stand as confirmation of the state’s position as the most peaceful, secure and safest to live and work in the country.
Udom is trying to see tomorrow quite distinct from a darkened past which was full of despair and despondency that held down a hugely endowed state for many decades, and is acting as the enabler of the real change the state badly needs. In doing this, he is guided by the words of a former American president, Lyndon Johnson, who said, “Your initiative and indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth. For you in your time, we have the opportunity to move not only towards the rich society and the powerful society, but towards to the great society.”
The efforts of the administration in the current dispensation is geared towards moving Akwa Ibom from a predominantly civil service state to not just a fast industrialized, rich and great society, but also one that will witness unprecedented growth in all spheres of development and capacity enhancement.
This is reflected on the projects covered by the Completion Agenda. Take infrastructure, for instance. With over 1, 700 kilometers of roads so far constructed, the administration has been able to open up the state, including the hinterland, for transportation of goods and humans in a bid to stimulate economic growth throughout the state.
It is now possible to reach the farthest point from Uyo, the state capital, in a maximum time of one and half hours. The government’s strategic road network plan ensures that every road has an economic value, no matter how seemingly insignificant. Infrastructure development under the Completion Agenda will make it possible to have roads in every nook and cranny of the state that are motor able all year round. These include roads in the rural areas, to facilitate easy transportation of agricultural produce to the urban centres – in a state where agriculture, including fishing, is a major occupation. This would ultimately improve the quality of life of people in the state through active participation in economic activities, including the hitherto forgotten people in the hinterland.
Work on the second runway at the Victor Attah International Airport has received a Category 2 Classification, with construction work on the taxiway currently ongoing. In the shortest possible time, Akwa Ibom will score another “first” in the country by being the only state with two runways at its airport. This is expected to increase the number of flights, both local and international, in and out of the airport, with a huge boost to the state’s economy.
The significance of this development must be viewed against the background of the fact that the federal government’s plan to build a second runway for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja has remained on the drawing board for many years now. When the government needed to carry out repair work on the airport’s only runway in 2017, it had to close the airport for the duration of the repairs, while flights were diverted to Kaduna, with Abuja-bound passengers forced to complete the rest of the journey by road. The only airport in the country today with two runways is the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos that was built in the 1970s.
The infrastructural development of the current administration in Akwa Ibom is headlined by the Ibom Deep Sea Port at Ibaka, in Mbo Local Government Area, arguably the most ambitious infrastructural project to be embarked on by any state government at the moment. The seep sea port is designed to serve as Nigeria’s gateway to the Gulf of Guinea – one of the richest economic zones in the world – and also serve as the hub for maritime trade in the West African sub-region.
Preliminary work on the site of the deep sea port in which the federal government has an interest has reached advanced stages. The port is expected to become operational during the life of the current administration, and will probably be the greatest infrastructural legacy the governor will leave behind when he bows out of office.
.Inyang, a businessman, lives in Uyo
