Akpabio Has Put Opposition Parties in a Fix – Ukpe

In a few months from now, Governor Godswill Akpabio will hand over power to another person. Don’t you think that Akpabio’s shoes will be too large for Mr. Emmanuel Udom, the PDP governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State?

Certainly Governor Akpabio is leaving behind very large shoes and they will be hard to fill. But if anyone has what it takes to create a seamless transition and maintain the momentum of development, then that man is undeniably Mr. Udom Emmanuel. He comes to the job with a strong set of skills acquired in the Banking Industry – an industry built on trust, integrity and competence. He is a quintessential banker and he was a shining light in the banking industry. He is a square peg in a square hole.

What are the strategies put in place by Gov. Akpabio to ensure that there is continuity of his developmental agenda beyond 2015?

Governor Godswill Akpabio did what he did for the good people of Akwa Ibom State. What he has done is phenomenal and unprecedented. This is largely like causing your children to acquire education. How they use it would determine whether they were worthy of it. You do not need strategies to ensure that they use it well, you can simply advise them and hope for the best. That is what Governor Akpabio is doing. He is advising the good people of Akwa Ibom State, and trying to ensure that they take the right steps to ensure the continuity of his uncommon transformation of the state. It is the duty of the people to ensure that this continues. It is only in this way that they can prove themselves before God and man that there are worthy of God’s goodness to them through Governor Akpabio’s administration.

What legacies will the governor be leaving behind for the people of Akwa Ibom State?

Governor Akpabio has put the opposition parties in a fix. They find it more convenient to talk about what he has not done than to talk about what he has done. But no administration can do everything. They claim that there is hunger in the land. Okay, if there is hunger in the land how come with all the good roads in Uyo built by the Akpabio administration, we now have traffic jams. Uyo never used to have traffic jams before the advent of the Akpabio administration. Uyo never had the kind of high rise buildings sprouting up in Uyo and the state right now. He has done so much that the difference between his administration and other administrations in the state is like the difference between midday and midnight. Let’s simply say that at every stage in the life of an Akwa Ibom person he is feeling the impact of government.

As a baby in the womb you have free treatment because of the free medical care for pregnant woman. At birth you still have free medical treatment until the age of five. At age five or six, you start primary school and you are entitled to free and compulsory education till you finish secondary school. After secondary school you enroll in college, and you are paid bursary and depending on your course you may even obtain scholarship. After college you have several youth empowerment schemes and this administration has employed more Akwa Ibom people into the Public Service than any other administration.

In terms of infrastructures, they are simply uncountable. The Nest of Champions Stadium, the Tropicana Entertainment Centre, the Specialist Hospital, the Ibom E-Library, the completion of the Ibom International Airport, the completion of the Ibom Power Plant, the pipe jacking drainage system in Uyo and Abak, the Ibom Gas Plant, the Sheraton by Four Point, over 4,500 inter-ministerial direct labour jobs, free and compulsory education, tarred more than 320 roads covering over 1,350 kilometres, built five flyovers and constructed 35 brand new bridges, the Akwa Ibom State University… they are simply too many.

Within eight years of stewardship of Akpabio in Akwa Ibom state in what are has he affected the lives of the people of the state most?

It has to be with the free and compulsory education programme. This was like God turning again the captivity of His people – thousands of children of school age who were in servitude outside the state returned to school. School enrolment tripled. Street trading and hawking by children during school hours is prohibited in Akwa Ibom State. Education monitors go around the state to ensure that all children are in school. If any child is caught not in school during school hours, his guardians risk prosecution. This programme has been applauded by many dignitaries including Prof Wole Soyinka.

The government of Akpabio scored another first in sports with the construction of the world class Akwa Ibom Stadium, what are the maintenance structure put in place to ensure that the project will not waste away after this government?

A ten-year maintenance deal has been signed with Julius Berger to take care of the maintenance of the structure.

The governor has picked the PDP ticket for the Senate, what strategy has he put in place to beat opposition at the poll?

This is a people movement, not the ambition of Governor Akpabio. The people of the Senatorial District came to him and solicited for his candidacy. He obliged them. You could not have a treasure like Governor Akpabio and not want to show him to the world. He would be an asset in the Senate. For too long we had been under-represented in the Senate. Now we have a man who the elements so mix in him that when he goes to the Senate we could go to sleep and know that we have an asset in the hallowed chambers. The Senate too will be proud to have such a man in their midst.

With the emergence of APC, how prepared is Akwa Ibom PDP to win 2015 elections?

APC is an alternative to disgruntled and desperate PDP politicians but not an option to the good people of Akwa Ibom State. The political tide has not changed. Whatever the name, whether APC or ACN, we have seen these “Egyptians” before. These “Egyptians” we see today we will not see them again after the elections. They will retire somewhere to leak their wounds in defeat. They were stronger in the media as ACN in the 2011 elections, but they were just a media creation without any weight in the state. We have heard and seen their story before. It is much huff without puff.

Why is Governor Akpabio a die-hard loyalist of President Goodluck Jonathan?

Governor Akpabio deeply appreciates the transformational leadership of President Jonathan. The Jonathan administration has done so much for the country. Those who try to blame him over the Boko Haram insurgency miss the mark. He has done his best to contain the insurgency and, it is a matter of time, the insurgency will stop. He has explored every avenue to stop it. Governor Akpabio sees in him a true democrat, a patriot, a statesman and someone who means well for Nigeria.

What is the magic in the harmonious relationship between the executive and legislature?

The members of the House of Assembly represent the people. When the people of the state are happy with the government and proud of what it is doing, you cannot expect the House of Assembly to go against the tide of public sentiments. That is the major reason. More so members of the House are partners with Governor Akpabio in his uncommon transformation of the state. In his 2015 budget address, Governor Akpabio summed up the sentiment between the administration and the House of Assembly thus, “it would be noted that this House was the factory we brought our ideas to for incubation and production. It was here we gave our ideas wings to fly. It was here that uncommon transformation soared to heights of acclaim. As you know it takes two wings to fly and the two wings in this case were the Executive wing and the Legislative wing.”

Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the PDP governorship aspirant, appears to have some resistance from politicians, why is that so?

All fair-minded people in Akwa Ibom State understand their selfish concern. In the former Cross River State, Dr. Clement Isong was brought to the state after his stint as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He contested for the office of Governor and won. He was the best governor we had in the then Cross River State. He built so many industries, institutions, developed infrastructures and touched so many lives. His tenure was the golden era of the then Cross River State. But he did not service those who saw themselves as pests of government.

The same group of politicians are looking at Mr. Udom Emmanuel as an incarnation of Dr. Clement Isong. They know he would definitely perform but they are worried that, like Governor Akpabio, he would not sacrifice the public good at the altar of their selfish ambition. They see themselves as the owners of Akwa Ibom State. As some kind of Board of Trustees of the state, they do not want any person who would not come and patronize them.

So far they have not faulted Mr. Emmanuel in anyway. They have not said that he would not perform as governor. They have only been claiming that he is not a politician. The other claim is that he enjoys Governor Akpabio’s support. They want someone who would bring back the days when they had a government in place, which awarded political contracts to them. Those of them who studied political science were awarded road contracts. That is why they are afraid of Mr. Emmanuel. They are the same people who claim that there is hunger in Akwa Ibom because when Governor Akpabio assumed office, he stopped playing politics with contracts and awarded contracts to persons and companies with the skills and competence to deliver world-class structures.