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"We are looking at a new generation, and as far as I am
concerned, you must also have the necessary road infrastructure for them to move
on. Akwa Ibom people, for many years, go to Umuahia and Aba to go and hire lorries
for the transportation of onion, tomatoes and other goods from the North, but now
they can do that with their own government assisted trucks. I believe that when
they come to Akwa Ibom we will 'convince and confuse' them with projects"
- Akpabio
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"Why must we sit down in Akwa Ibom, and the only source of commercial movement is
okada, that’s why government recently rolled out brand new 400 taxi’s for Uyo Our
intention is that in the next one year, we should have 1000 taxis with air-conditioners
moving around all the urban cities of Akwa Ibom State"
"As I speak today, this administration, in just one year in office has commissioned
at least, 256 projects. One major issue is that we are not developing Akwa
Ibom for people to praise us, we are developing Akwa Ibom for ourselves. I live
here, my house is here, my children come from here, I have moved my things from
Lagos to Akwa Ibom, if I do not have good roads, where will I drive my cars, if
there are no good schools here, where will my children go to, if there are no good
hospitals, if Iam sick where will I go to, so, people don’t understand, we must
have recreational facilities, so that we can take time to relax, bring international
events into the state, and turn AkwaIbom to an exhibition that people would come
and watch."
- Akpabio
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Tractors provided for mechanised farming in the state |
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Modern fishing boats provided for improved fish catch |
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Road Construction and Rehabilitation
- Opening of new roads
- Dualisation of roads
- Rehabilitation of roads
- Building of drainages
Governor Godswill Akpabio has put in place a vigorous road construction and
rehabilitation scheme since 2007. With this scheme all headquarters
of the 31 local government councils have been linked with a 20km tarred road.
Several roads that had existed without attention since the inception of the state,
have been tarred by this administration. New roads are opened up and many are being
rehabilitated more than any other period in the history of Akwa Ibom State.
Contracts for road construction worth well over N80 billion for road segments totalling
330Km have been awarded to both foreign and local construction firms which include:
Ekim Itam – Ekom Iman road dualisation, Afaha-Obong – Ika – Etim Ekpo, cutting across
3 local government councils, and Ikot-Ekpene – Abak road.
Etebi – Enwang road, road network around the Union park, Ikot Ntan – Obiokpok –
Afaha-Offiong – Mbiokporo – Ikot-Edibon Section I and II, Eket urban roads lots
1 – 5, Nung Udoe Itak – Okoita – Use Ikot Amama – Ibiaku Ikot Esifia, Ikot Abasi
urban roads, lots 1 – 5, Oron urban roads, lots 1 – 3 and Ikot Ekpene urban roads.
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Transportation
- 1,000 Vehicle Taxi scheme
- Solar powered traffic and street lights
- 12 haulage trucks for farm produce
- Construction of Akwa Ibom International Airport
- Construction of Seaport at Ibaka
- Planned railway line
The present administration has overhauled the transport sector in the state with
strategies for land, water, and air transport.
On land, government has introduced a brand new fleet of 1,000 taxis to move people
around commercially and the neccessary infrastructure and support network to make
it work. Further, government has propossed Uyo - Port Harcourt railway line to ease
the movement of goods and persons in the region. On water, government is building
the Ibaka seaport that will rival other seaports in the country and place the state
on the regional map of West Africa as well as improving our waterways for maritime
activities. On air, the state is constructing a world class airport which will also
provide maintenance facilities to the fleet of aircrafts criss-crossing the West
African skies but ending up in developed countries when it comes time for maintenance.
Indeed, the various earth moving in favour of the transportation sector will only
end up moving the world to Akwa Ibom State. This sector will ride on the network
of roads constructed, the open sky of the airport and freshness of the sea
to package an industrialising Akwa Ibom and realise the industrialisation dream
of the present adminitration.
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Agriculture
- Emergency in food sector declared
- Distributed 22 Tractors for farm operations
- Distributed modern fishing boats and outboard engines to fishermen
- Funding the payment of the State’s counterpart contributions to the National Fadama
Developement Programme
"We don't want to rely on oil, we are making efforts to re-engineer our agricultural
sector and increasing our internally-generated revenue," says Gov. Akpabio. The
present administration has reformed the agricultural sector and made it atractive
as a business venture. The government has put in place resources to
enhance profitable farming such as fertilizers, day old chicks, rabbits, agrochemicals,
cassava cuttings, improved seedlings and technical /extension services to farmers
through the Ministry of Agriculture and the Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development
Programme (AKADEP).
In April, 2008 government got proactive and declared emergency in the food sector
as a pre-emptive measure to avert an imminent food crisis in the State. this the
government declared is a wake-up call from the global food crisis and to be
pragmatic in ensuring food sufficiency for all AkwaIbomites thereby taking delivery
of 600 metric tonnes of maize worth N26 million to be sold at subsidized rate to
the people. Also, plans were announced by the government to commence processing
of cassava flour with a directive to every bread producer to use 10 percent of cassava
flour and 90 percent of flour in bread production.
Government has also procured and distributed twenty-two (22) Tractors for farm operations
in the State. This has eased manual farm labour and eradicated drudgery commonly
associated with traditional systems of farming and will eventually increase food
production in the State.
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Education
- Free education for the first nine years
- Targeted education to fight unemployment
- State-of-the-art digital library
- Accreditation of courses at our higher institutions
- Provision of digital center in AKS Polytechnic Ikot Osurua
- Renovation of at least 1 primary school and 1 secondary school in every local government
The state government intensified efforts at revamping the educational sector by
rehabilitating dilapidated schools and boosting the morale of teachers. Gov. Akpabio
introduced a free education policy for the first nine years in public schools and
has made the Akwa Ibom state University of Technology his priority educational project.
Its new management team is working towards getting the nod of the National Universities
Commission (NUC), and academic and other activities are set to commence in the institution
before September.
Determined to provide affordable and qualitative education to its citizens, Gov.
Akpabio has also charged the commissioner for education and all agencies involved
in education management in the state to map out workable solutions to checkmate
the level of decay in the public educational sector.
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Skills Acquisition
- Over 20,000 new jobs being created
- Several schorlarships to study and acquire specialised skill abroad
- Uyo stadium renovated
- 200 interminiisterial direct labour jobs mostly in rural ares
- Micro credit facilities
The government has been pragmatic in the initiation of projects that would be of
economic benefit to the people of the state. In appointing key political office
holders, Gov. Akpabio ensured balance among the ethnic divide, a development that
has created a sense of belonging in the polity and provided jobs for all cadre
of Akwa Ibom youths.
Well educated youths have been mobilized through appointments into government at
both local and state levels. They have also been given opportunities to execute
projects under the State direct labour jobs; involve in Integrated Farmers Scheme
and made to acquire skills under various government sponsored programmes. These
people-oriented projects have brought about a socio-economic transformation of the
state.
Much more worthy of note is the total number of 211 interministerial direct labour
projects completed within one year of Gov. Akpabio's administration. These projects
include electrification of communities; provision of potable water through Mini-Water
Schemes, reconstruction of primary/secondary schools; provision of fishing boats/outboard
engines for fishermen in the oil producing areas and reconstruction of health facilities
in the state.
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Health
- Free medical services for children, pregnant women and senior citizens
- Construction of specialist hospital
- Provision of 6 ambulances
- Re-constructed 65 health and educational facilities
- Provided 12 dialysis machines
- Provision of medical equipment to School of Nursing, Anua
- 700 Water projects
To uplift the health care delivery standard in the state, the administration has
built and donated a dialysis centre with 12 units of dialysis machines to the Federal
Medical Centre, Uyo. Free medical services have been introduced for children, pregnant
women, and senior citizens. While massive rehabilitation work has been done on several
government-owned hospitals, even as obsolete equipment were replaced with new and
sophisticated ones.
In addition to this, the administration last year laid the foundation stone of an
ultra modern specialist hospital at Ekit Itam II. The hospital is expected to be
completed within the next 24 months and when completed, it will serve as a referral
centre for the entire Niger Delta.
Since the state has suddenly become mobile on her own soil, Gov. Akpabio was rather
speedy in seizing the opportunity to put in place 6 state-or-the-art well equipped
mobile clinics with trained medical personnel in form of ambulances that will be
stationed at strategic locations and parabulate the state so as to nip emergency
medical cases in the bud.
To improve the health conditions of the people, the state government carried out
about 700 water projects all over the state to ensure sustainble and portable water
supply.
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Tourism
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Electricity
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Investment Attraction
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- New world class entertainment centre and galleria with a dome, shopping
mall, new 5-star hotel, and theme park spanning over 115,000 sq m
- Existing 5-star hotel to be upgraded to 350 rooms
- New museum to showcase our cultural heritage
n the last one year, the government of Gov. Akpabio has evolved strategies that
has raised the tourism index in the state, which include: upgrading of tourism infrastructure
and facilities to a level that meets competition in global tourism events to encourage
influx of tourists, undertaking branding of the unique tourism products in the state
and partnering with private investors to invest in the state. One of such
partnership would soon see the construction of a tourism and film gallery in Uyo.
Right now the union amusement and leisure park has reached completion stage.
New sand beaches are to be developed along with structures that will serve as tourist
attractions. One of such structures is the Ibeno Beach which is to take off soon.
One major investment aimed at improving the tourism index of the state is the Le’
Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort. The resort houses imposing structures and facilities
of international standard, situated on a plateau surrounded by crush green vegetation
near a seafront, its frontage opens to a scintillating 18 hole golf course which
has hosted international golfers like Nancy Lopez, the golf course has also hosted
amateur and national golf competitions sponsored by one of Nigeria’s GSM companies,
MTN. The water front is developed for sporting and leisure activities like
boat cruise, surfing, wildlife, hunting, gaming and health spa. The magnificent
edifice that sprawls on a 72 – hectare of land has space for development of arts
and craft village. The hotel is managed by Le’Meridien, an international management
group.
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- Ibom Power Project
- Development of gas reserves for electricity generation
- Vigorous rural electrification scheme to place all rural areas on the national grid
- 800 electricity projects
Government plans to provide uninterrupted power supply in Akwa Ibom State, with
a surplus to be fed into the national grid through the Ibom Power Project. The project
is in two phases. The first phase is more than 90% completed with the installation
of 2 No. GE frame 6 and 1 No. frame 9 gas turbine, offering a total capacity of
180 MW, the installation of a 132/11KV transformer as well as the construction of
a 45km – 132 KV “double circuit power evacuation line from Ikot Abasi to Eket sub
station.
The second phase of the project is expected to generate an additional 465MW that
will feed the National grid through a transmission line to Afam sub station. The
132 KV transmission line between Eket, Uyo and Itu is to be straightened to ensure
the evacuation of the full capacity of the first phase.
There are over 800 rural electrification projects under the
Inter-Ministerial Direct Labour projects at various stages of completion across
the State. Another 800 transformers are being procured by the State government.
The full impact of this shall be appreciated when the IPP comes on stream. A new
330 KV transmission line from Ikot Abasi to Ikot Ekpene with a new sub station in
Ikot Abasi is to be constructed to evacuate power from the second phase of Ibom
Power Plant. It is expected that by the time the Ibom Power Plant is switched on,
every community in the State will be energized and the entire Akwa Ibom State will
be aglow not just with electricity but with diverse power-dependent economic activities
that will provide 3,000 indirect employment opportunities, in addition to the 1,000
direct employment opportunities.
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- LNG project
- Ibaka Free Trade Zone
- Fertilizer company
- Amakpe Refinery
- 6 high rise appartment buildings for top flight executives
- Most peaceful state in the Niger Delta
"Akwa Ibom has the best natural location for a sea port with 13 metres depth that
can bring in large ocean lining vessels. We are inviting a lot of international
investors to come in and develop a major seaport in the state that will serve Nigeria,"
- Gov. Akpabio
The Governor further states that his administration "is committed to creating an
industrialised state that would be an investor's haven where the activities in the
Akwa Ibom International Airport (AKIA), the seaport, the world class entertainment
centre with the Theme Park and the Ibaka Free Trade Zone are inexplicably interwoven
to produce pleasurable ride for residents and tourists on classical road network".
Gov. Akpabio hosted and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a number of indigenous
and multi-national companies, including financial institutions with intention to
invest in the abundant natural and investment potentials in the State.
The government also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a number of indigenous
multi-national companies and financial institutions with the aim of tapping the
abundant investment potentials of the state. The companies included Mortgage Banks;
Union Bank Plc, ExxonMobile; Petrogenesis Oil company, RUSAL, Julius Berger Plc,
Costain Plc etc which all pledged their readiness to help build the state's economy.
Alexander Livshits, United Company Rusal, director for International and Special
Projects operating from Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State has this to say, "We do not
regard investing in Africa as a risk, but as an opportunity. We firmly believe the
continent is living up to its long-held potential and will emerge as a major region
in the international economy over the coming years. By ensuring our raw materials
and alumina refining capacity is close to our aluminium smelting operations, we
reduce transport costs and can move materials to the smelter more quickly. This
maximises our competitive advantage on the world market."
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