Akwa Ibom @37: Gov Eno pays tribute to founding fathers, lists progress, challenges

…why we can’t launch CNG buses in Akwa Ibom

BEING THE TEXT OF THE BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PASTOR UMO ENO, GOVERNOR, AKWA IBOM STATE, MARKING THE 37TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CREATION OF AKWA IBOM STATE, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, UYO-SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

My dear Akwaibomites

1. My wife, Her Excellency, Pastor (Mrs.) Patience Umo Eno and I join you in wishing us all a Happy 37th Anniversary!

2. Today, as we roll out the drums to celebrate this joyous occasion, let us not forget to give honour and glory to the One who made this momentous occasion possible and whose name also, defines this great Land of Promise, our Almighty God.

3. We give Him thanks for being the Invisible Hands that touched and used our revered elder statesman, our former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, GCFR (rtd) to make manifest the dreams and battle our founding fathers, had fought long and hard to have a state where our common essence and homogeneity will shape our identity. We will forever be grateful to former President Babangida, for this unique gift. We continue to pray for the blessings of good health and a sound mind. God bless you, Sir.

4. Thirty-Seven years after the creation of this great State, God has been the unseen anchor that has navigated and propelled the path of our development. Today, from a rural backwater State at creation, with a provincial capital and spartan infrastructure, God has raised our profile to being seen as a Shining City on the Hill.

5. He has guided our past leaders to work twice as hard to make us easily one of the fastest developing States in the nation with infrastructure that is arguably one of the most robust of all the subnationals. God has granted us peace from within, joy and growth from without.

Today, because our past leaders worked hard for the people and invested the funds available to them judiciously and prudently, we have been able to advance our growth and development at such a fast rate that, thirty-seven years later, Akwa Ibom State according to National Bureau of Statistics has the third largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the nation. To God be the glory!

6. As we celebrate our Anniversary, permit me to thank our dear President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, CGFR, for being a father to all, who operates and runs his administration without recourse to rigid partisanship. Let me again assure him that we will continue to collaborate with him to get us out of the current economic challenges and also to prove that governance should not be seen from the prism of strict partisanship but rather one of shared responsibility devoid of party labels.

7. Let me salute and thank our past leaders, military and civilian, from Brigadier General Tunde Ogheha (rtd) (to Major General Godwin Abbe (rtd) Late Air Coomodore (Otuekong) Idongesit Nkanga (rtd). Late Obong Akpan Isemin, Col. Yakubu Bako (rtd), Late Navy Captain Joseph Adeusi (rtd) Group Captain John Ebiye (rtd), Arc. Obong Victor Attah. Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, CON, and Mr. Udom Emmanuel, CON for working so hard to change the narratives of our development.

8. Since this current dispensation came on board, Akwa Ibom State has continued to witness a steady growth across sectors. Our father Arc. Obong Victor Attah laid the foundation for our growth, the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, came with the determination to transform the State through infrastructure, and the immediate past Governor, Udom Emmanuel, decided to apply corporate approach to management by expanding the infrastructural base and looking beyond the immediate to establish such legacy projects as Ibom Air.

9. Because you my people believed in continuity, you last year, massively voted me to be your Governor, so I may continue the trajectory of growth and development that my predecessors had so passionately and painstakingly started. You bought into our vision of the Arise Agenda, and gave me your support to implement this impactful Blueprint.

10. Today, I am proud to state that nearly one and half years since we came in, the fundamentals of our growth are rock-solid. Just as a former American President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who, after inheriting robust infrastructure from his predecessors, especially General Dwight Eisenhower, decided to invest in the people through what is generally known as Great Society Initiatives, which covered such issues as education, urban renewal, fight against poverty, Medicare, development of depressed communities, we, too, have intentionally decided to grow our people, fight poverty, touch and improve the quality of lives in the rural areas, strengthen our crime fighting capabilities, improve the quality of education and healthcare delivery at the primary levels, maintain further the peace and security we have enjoyed, and expand while maintaining our infrastructural amenities.

11. Agricultural Revolution still remains a central focus of our administration. I am happy to note that our people have heeded our appeal for them to return to the farm and grow some of our staple foods. Through the Ministry of Agriculture and the AK-Cares, seedlings and other agricultural inputs have been distributed across the State and we are hopeful that, the next harvest season will be bountiful.

12. I am aware of farms such as Aviclaire in Abak, the farm in Nsit Ibom Council Headquaters, M-Farm and Green Estate, Black Rock farms and other farms springing up all over the State. This is the spirit we desire from our people and we encourage others to do likewise. We must work together to bring down the high cost of our staple foods by returning to the farms. Our Farmers Free Days of the first and third Fridays of the month shall continue to be observed.

Work is ongoing at our Model Farm in Nsit Ubium, which when completed will signpost our resolve to ensure food security and tourism as well. We will soon come out with the list of farmers to be given grants after a thorough process to identify such farms. The Ministry of Agriculture is driving this process.

13. In the meantime, we continue to intervene through the Bulk Purchase Agency to provide immediate help to the most vulnerable across the 31 Local Government Areas. The direct distribution of food palliatives which commenced last week, is going on smoothly and we are happy to hear of the good wishes people have expressed on this intervention. Let me re-emphasize it here that, this is just an intervention, the lasting solution remains our return to the farm to grow our staple foods.

14. We remain committed to developing our rural areas through the provision of amenities and social services that will significantly improve the quality of lives of our rural dwellers. Today, I am proud to state that there is no local government that we have not touched through our One Project per Local Government Initiative, either with a Primary Health Centre, a Model Primary School or road projects, collectively agreed to, by the stakeholders and the people themselves.

15. In the area of Infrastructural Maintenance and Expansion, we have initiated a total of 60 Arise Road projects spread across all the Local Government Areas. These projects comprises 49 FGPC approved road contracts and 11 direct labour intervention projects.

Some of these have been completed and commissioned which include: the Naira Atiku Abubakar Flood Control Tunnel, the Access Road at Urua Akpanadem, complete with solar panels and water facilities which I had promised to execute within the first 100 Days of our administration, the Afia Nsit-Eket Erosion control project and construction of Idua road among others. As you may have seen from our schedule of activities to mark this anniversary, we will be commissioning projects back-to-back until the end of next month.

We have also funded 36 FGPC inherited road projects some of which have been commissioned such as Udom Emmanuel Boulevard (Formerly Airport Road) and 51 direct labour intervention projects bringing a total of projects initiated by this administration and the inherited ones to a total of 147.

16. The theme of the Thanksgiving we had yesterday which was taken from Psalm 122:7 ” Peace within thy walls and prosperity within they palaces” captures the peace we have enjoyed in this State for which we are committed to maintaining. Our State today, still remains an oasis of peace, which has attracted investors and also as a destination of choice. Today, we have a full-fledged Ministry of Internal Security and Waterways, which working closely with the security agencies in the State, has kept the peace, and make our State an unwelcoming place for criminal elements.

17. We have created the Ibom Community Watch which, working closely with the institutionalized security architecture is poised to add three thousand jobs to our teeming youths. Let me use this opportunity to welcome our new Commissioner of Police, CP Joseph Eribo and to again express our deepest condolences on the passing of our immediate past Commissioner of Police CP Waheed Ayailara. May his soul rest in peace. Permit me to commend our Service Commanders for their deep sense of collaboration with us and remain dedicated to working closely with them. We have donated 15 gunboats to the Nigerian Navy to patrol our waterways and Hilux trucks to our Police Command for faster response to security emergencies.

18. In the area of Educational Advancement, we have commissioned the first of the world-class Model Primary Schools located at the Christ the King School and Ewet Model Primary School.

Others are ongoing across the state. We shall commission at least seven of the Model Primary Schools starting with St. Ignatius Model Primary School, Essien Udim Local Government Area which is scheduled to be commissioned next month.

We have also increased the bursary for students at Public Tertiary Institutions from 10-20 Thousand Naira for undergraduates and 30 Thousand for those studying professional courses like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Agriculture etc. The 100 Million Naira Educational Grant for students living with disabilities is being accessed with undergraduates receiving 250 Thousand Naira while postgraduates receive 300 Thousand Naira.

19. During the Thanksgiving service, we formally received the 39 students drawn from the most vulnerable backgrounds whom we sent on a students’ exchange program in Southwark, England. These are students, bright and smart whose circumstances had not allowed them to enjoy the best that life could offer, but because we believe in leaving no child behind or the circumstances of birth being a limiting factor, we decided to send them to England and today, they are ready to face the future with more assuredness and expansive mindsets.

20. Education continues to be free and compulsory at the Primary to Secondary School levels with regular payments of WAEC fees. Subventions also are given to our Public Tertiary Institutions, all of these are geared towards producing graduates who, apart from being job creators, will compete with their peers anywhere in the world.

21. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on poverty reduction and hunger, we have undertaken numerous social safety net programs that have been celebrated all over the nation. The Arise Compassionate Homes is a scheme very close to my heart. Today, we have built and donated 36 units of fully furnished 2-bedroom bungalows complete with solar panels to the most vulnerable and the neediest across all the wards in the state. Work is ongoing with the construction of an additional 164 units bringing the total number of units we will be donating within the first two units to 200. By the end of our first term, we hope to build and donate 400 units across all wards in the state.

We have also recently donated a three-bedroom apartment we had built for the family of the Youth Corp member from Ugep, Cross River State whose story of determination and passion touched the nation when she presented her NYSC Certificate to her father in a severely dilapidated home. We have also presented a remodeled home to the family of the late Nollywood make-up artist who sadly had drowned earlier this year.

22. We have also commissioned the Grace Homes- a low to medium housing estate in Ibibio Ibom. Yesterday, in fulfillment of the promise I made when we commissioned the Grace Estate, we gave out 150 of those units free through a raffle draw to civil servants between Grade Levels 1-8. This is our way of appreciating our Public Service Workers for working with us to interpret the vision as embedded in the Arise Agenda. The Ibom Luxury Homes in Ewet Housing as well as the Dakkada Luxury Estate remain on course.

23. We continue to take care of the elderly especially in the rural areas with the payment of 50 Thousand Naira to 600 of them monthly under our Arise Elderly Care Initiative. This compassionate initiative has been roundly commended and we will continue to support this scheme. We have also completed our contract protocols for the construction of the Elderly Citizens Center which will serve as the relaxation and recreation facility for our elders. It will also house a health post to cater for the immediate health needs of the elders.

24. We have kept our campaign promise to pay down the backlog of gratuities and other entitlements to our retired civil servants. To date, since we came in, we have paid over 31 billion Naira and in the next few months, we hope to raise the total amount paid to 35 billion.

We had paid a one-time dress allowance of 1.2 billion to our teachers, 1.1 billion as a bonus to mark their Public Service week, and 104 million to Primary School Teachers’ Leave Grants, Promotion and other entitlements. We have kept our word in ensuring a robust relationship with organized labour.

25. Health they say is wealth. We have already commissioned the Model Primary Healthcare Centre in Ibesikpo Asutan, and Nsit Atai Local Government Areas respectively. Others have been completed and are set for commissioning in over 10 LGA across the State.

All of these will be commissioned within October and November, 2024 starting with the Primary Health Centre at Oboyo Ikot Ita. Last Friday, we launched the Arisecare, which is our State Health Insurance Scheme aimed at making healthcare available and affordable to our people. This scheme is the first of such scheme in our State, and we are proud and happy that it has been greatly received by our people. At the event, again, to show how appreciative we are for the great work our civil servants are doing, I announced the registration of our civil servants from grade levels 1-6 for the scheme. We have purchased six ambulances for medical emergencies and we hope in the course of time, to increase this highly essential requirement to 10.

26. Ibom Specialist Hospital, is being reorganized to make it serve the vision of its founding. Soon, a new management will be put in place to make it run as a stand-alone hospital with its operations run along the same model as Ibom Air. We also directed the Hon. Commissioner for Health to ensure the construction of ten dialysis centers across the Ten Federal Constituencies in the State.

27. We remain committed to the empowerment of our youths because they represent the future. Two weeks ago when we thanked and celebrated them for working with us, and not participating in the protest that took place some weeks ago, I had rolled out what I called “My Contract With Our Youths”. These among other schemes included: 60 thousand youths to be empowered through our Youth Business Support Scheme, where each will receive support of 50 thousand for an initial twelve months beginning from next month, 10 thousand youths will also be covered through the provision of business equipment and other cash support in our Arise Entrepreneurial scheme, 1, 200 already have been trained under the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programme of IBOM-LED, with 500 thousand grants given to each participant and a further 250 for training fees. 400 of these are drawn from our female youths. We hope to touch 10 thousand youths through this scheme. 3,000 youths, (100 each) from the thirty-one Local Government Areas excluding Uyo where 550 had already been recruited, would be engaged through Ibom Community Watch.

One thousand youths are to be trained between 2024 and 2025 at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC)- 200 of these youths have already commenced training. In all of these empowerment schemes, we hope to empower 100 thousand youths.

28. We have kept our obligations to Ibom Air. Since we came in, we have received two Airbus A200-300 Series. Three weeks ago, EXCO approved and funds have been released for the outright purchase of two brand new CRJ 900 Bombardier jets, bringing our fleet to 9. This is a bold move that should gladden the hearts of all Akwaibomites. Ibom Air remains the pride of our dear State and we will continue to support its expansion. We are working hard to get the International Terminal at the Victor Attah International Airport, the Taxi way ready for operations as well as the MRO, which we hope to be operational very soon. We are also providing funds for the completion of the Apron which is to further enhance our investment in the Aviation Industry. Soon, work will commence in the Aviation Village, which is aimed at truly creating an aviation eco-system and further establishing us as the aviation hub of the Gulf of Guinea. We have completed the construction of the internal security roads within the Victor Attah International Airport, as well as the perimeter fence.

29. As I stated in my first-anniversary speech, we intend to play big in the real estate market in Lagos and Abuja respectively. Soon, construction will commence at glittering 19- Storey Ibom Towers and the Ibom three-star hotel in Abuja. We must be ready to utilize our moribund assets for productive investments.

30. In the area of tourism, we hope to commission what is easily one of the most audacious projects in the South-South region of our country- the Arise Park. This park is a testament to foresight and passion. The sight it is located was once a gully erosion-ravaged ravine and home to criminal elements.

Today, it is a Worldclass-park with a 9-hole Golf Course, artificial lakes with floating restaurants and a world-class park for family relaxation. It will change the face of tourism in our region and indeed the nation, when commissioned. Work is also ongoing on the reconstruction of Oron Maritime Terminal and we have ordered two passenger cruise ferries to ease water transportation between Akwa Ibom and our Sister State, Cross River.

The Oron Maritime Terminal project comprises the Maritime Terminal, Shore Protection, Jetty, Warehouse and Cold Room and other Recreational facilities.-

31. On Ibom Deep Seaport, we are constructing access Roads such as Orukim Uyeghe Road and other facilities to make the environment conducive for investors. We are working tirelessly to woo investors to partner with us in this great investment.

We have awarded the contract for the construction of security fence and other infrastructural amenities at the Ibom Industrial Park which will provide work for thousands of our youths and also drive entrepreneurial spirit in our people.

I want to commend the people of Ini Local Government Area for their warm appreciation of the solar water project we have completed for them. This project comprises treatment plant and is to be reticulated to five villages. Eleven of these projects are ongoing in all the ten federal constituencies.

32. We are in search of partners who will provide refilling depots for our CNG buses. Once this is achieved, we will launch this program. It does not make sense to buy CNG buses that will not have refilling depots, doing so, will defeat the purpose of this initiative. Let me warn those who are selling petrol above the approved price that the Government will not tolerate such unpatriotic actions. We will soon set up a Task Force to ensure that those engaging in this practice are brought to book.

33. As we celebrate 37 years of our creation, God has given us peace within our walls and we are working hard to expand prosperity too within her space. I call on our people to remain united and treat one another with love, mutual respect and compassion. If God has blessed you, please be a source of help to others. Let us face these challenging times together and Arise in glory as one people, whom God brought together 37 years ago.

34. Politics should not divide us, ethnicity should not separate us, let our kindred spirit be an everlasting tie that binds and shapes our daily engagement with one another. I have led this State since my inauguration as a peace-maker, who loves to work across party lines and show humility in governance. I intend to continue with the approach as long as I remain your Governor, so help me God!

35. Happy Anniversary to us all!

BEING THE TEXT OF THE BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PASTOR UMO ENO, GOVERNOR, AKWA IBOM STATE, MARKING THE 37TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CREATION OF AKWA IBOM STATE, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, UYO-SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

My dear Akwaibomites

1. My wife, Her Excellency, Pastor (Mrs.) Patience Umo Eno and I join you in wishing us all a Happy 37th Anniversary!
2. Today, as we roll out the drums to celebrate this joyous occasion, let us not forget to give honour and glory to the One who made this momentous occasion possible and whose name also, defines this great Land of Promise, our Almighty God.
3. We give Him thanks for being the Invisible Hands that touched and used our revered elder statesman, our former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, GCFR (rtd) to make manifest the dreams and battle our founding fathers, had fought long and hard to have a state where our common essence and homogeneity will shape our identity. We will forever be grateful to former President Babangida, for this unique gift. We continue to pray for the blessings of good health and a sound mind. God bless you, Sir.
4. Thirty-Seven years after the creation of this great State, God has been the unseen anchor that has navigated and propelled the path of our development. Today, from a rural backwater State at creation, with a provincial capital and spartan infrastructure, God has raised our profile to being seen as a Shining City on the Hill.
5. He has guided our past leaders to work twice as hard to make us easily one of the fastest developing States in the nation with infrastructure that is arguably one of the most robust of all the subnationals. God has granted us peace from within, joy and growth from without.

Today, because our past leaders worked hard for the people and invested the funds available to them judiciously and prudently, we have been able to advance our growth and development at such a fast rate that, thirty-seven years later, Akwa Ibom State according to National Bureau of Statistics has the third largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the nation. To God be the glory!

6. As we celebrate our Anniversary, permit me to thank our dear President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, CGFR, for being a father to all, who operates and runs his administration without recourse to rigid partisanship. Let me again assure him that we will continue to collaborate with him to get us out of the current economic challenges and also to prove that governance should not be seen from the prism of strict partisanship but rather one of shared responsibility devoid of party labels.
7. Let me salute and thank our past leaders, military and civilian, from Brigadier General Tunde Ogheha (rtd) (to Major General Godwin Abbe (rtd) Late Air Coomodore (Otuekong) Idongesit Nkanga (rtd). Late Obong Akpan Isemin, Col. Yakubu Bako (rtd), Late Navy Captain Joseph Adeusi (rtd) Group Captain John Ebiye (rtd), Arc. Obong Victor Attah. Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, CON, and Mr. Udom Emmanuel, CON for working so hard to change the narratives of our development.
8. Since this current dispensation came on board, Akwa Ibom State has continued to witness a steady growth across sectors. Our father Arc. Obong Victor Attah laid the foundation for our growth, the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, came with the determination to transform the State through infrastructure, and the immediate past Governor, Udom Emmanuel, decided to apply corporate approach to management by expanding the infrastructural base and looking beyond the immediate to establish such legacy projects as Ibom Air.
9. Because you my people believed in continuity, you last year, massively voted me to be your Governor, so I may continue the trajectory of growth and development that my predecessors had so passionately and painstakingly started. You bought into our vision of the Arise Agenda, and gave me your support to implement this impactful Blueprint.
10. Today, I am proud to state that nearly one and half years since we came in, the fundamentals of our growth are rock-solid. Just as a former American President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who, after inheriting robust infrastructure from his predecessors, especially General Dwight Eisenhower, decided to invest in the people through what is generally known as Great Society Initiatives, which covered such issues as education, urban renewal, fight against poverty, Medicare, development of depressed communities, we, too, have intentionally decided to grow our people, fight poverty, touch and improve the quality of lives in the rural areas, strengthen our crime fighting capabilities, improve the quality of education and healthcare delivery at the primary levels, maintain further the peace and security we have enjoyed, and expand while maintaining our infrastructural amenities.
11. Agricultural Revolution still remains a central focus of our administration. I am happy to note that our people have heeded our appeal for them to return to the farm and grow some of our staple foods. Through the Ministry of Agriculture and the AK-Cares, seedlings and other agricultural inputs have been distributed across the State and we are hopeful that, the next harvest season will be bountiful.
12. I am aware of farms such as Aviclaire in Abak, the farm in Nsit Ibom Council Headquaters, M-Farm and Green Estate, Black Rock farms and other farms springing up all over the State. This is the spirit we desire from our people and we encourage others to do likewise. We must work together to bring down the high cost of our staple foods by returning to the farms. Our Farmers Free Days of the first and third Fridays of the month shall continue to be observed.

Work is ongoing at our Model Farm in Nsit Ubium, which when completed will signpost our resolve to ensure food security and tourism as well. We will soon come out with the list of farmers to be given grants after a thorough process to identify such farms. The Ministry of Agriculture is driving this process.

13. In the meantime, we continue to intervene through the Bulk Purchase Agency to provide immediate help to the most vulnerable across the 31 Local Government Areas. The direct distribution of food palliatives which commenced last week, is going on smoothly and we are happy to hear of the good wishes people have expressed on this intervention. Let me re-emphasize it here that, this is just an intervention, the lasting solution remains our return to the farm to grow our staple foods.
14. We remain committed to developing our rural areas through the provision of amenities and social services that will significantly improve the quality of lives of our rural dwellers. Today, I am proud to state that there is no local government that we have not touched through our One Project per Local Government Initiative, either with a Primary Health Centre, a Model Primary School or road projects, collectively agreed to, by the stakeholders and the people themselves.
15. In the area of Infrastructural Maintenance and Expansion, we have initiated a total of 60 Arise Road projects spread across all the Local Government Areas. These projects comprises 49 FGPC approved road contracts and 11 direct labour intervention projects.

Some of these have been completed and commissioned which include: the Naira Atiku Abubakar Flood Control Tunnel, the Access Road at Urua Akpanadem, complete with solar panels and water facilities which I had promised to execute within the first 100 Days of our administration, the Afia Nsit-Eket Erosion control project and construction of Idua road among others. As you may have seen from our schedule of activities to mark this anniversary, we will be commissioning projects back-to-back until the end of next month.

We have also funded 36 FGPC inherited road projects some of which have been commissioned such as Udom Emmanuel Boulevard (Formerly Airport Road) and 51 direct labour intervention projects bringing a total of projects initiated by this administration and the inherited ones to a total of 147.

16. The theme of the Thanksgiving we had yesterday which was taken from Psalm 122:7 ” Peace within thy walls and prosperity within they palaces” captures the peace we have enjoyed in this State for which we are committed to maintaining. Our State today, still remains an oasis of peace, which has attracted investors and also as a destination of choice. Today, we have a full-fledged Ministry of Internal Security and Waterways, which working closely with the security agencies in the State, has kept the peace, and make our State an unwelcoming place for criminal elements.
17. We have created the Ibom Community Watch which, working closely with the institutionalized security architecture is poised to add three thousand jobs to our teeming youths. Let me use this opportunity to welcome our new Commissioner of Police, CP Joseph Eribo and to again express our deepest condolences on the passing of our immediate past Commissioner of Police CP Waheed Ayailara. May his soul rest in peace. Permit me to commend our Service Commanders for their deep sense of collaboration with us and remain dedicated to working closely with them. We have donated 15 gunboats to the Nigerian Navy to patrol our waterways and Hilux trucks to our Police Command for faster response to security emergencies.
18. In the area of Educational Advancement, we have commissioned the first of the world-class Model Primary Schools located at the Christ the King School and Ewet Model Primary School.

Others are ongoing across the state. We shall commission at least seven of the Model Primary Schools starting with St. Ignatius Model Primary School, Essien Udim Local Government Area which is scheduled to be commissioned next month.

We have also increased the bursary for students at Public Tertiary Institutions from 10-20 Thousand Naira for undergraduates and 30 Thousand for those studying professional courses like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Agriculture etc. The 100 Million Naira Educational Grant for students living with disabilities is being accessed with undergraduates receiving 250 Thousand Naira while postgraduates receive 300 Thousand Naira.

19. During the Thanksgiving service, we formally received the 39 students drawn from the most vulnerable backgrounds whom we sent on a students’ exchange program in Southwark, England. These are students, bright and smart whose circumstances had not allowed them to enjoy the best that life could offer, but because we believe in leaving no child behind or the circumstances of birth being a limiting factor, we decided to send them to England and today, they are ready to face the future with more assuredness and expansive mindsets.
20. Education continues to be free and compulsory at the Primary to Secondary School levels with regular payments of WAEC fees. Subventions also are given to our Public Tertiary Institutions, all of these are geared towards producing graduates who, apart from being job creators, will compete with their peers anywhere in the world.
21. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on poverty reduction and hunger, we have undertaken numerous social safety net programs that have been celebrated all over the nation. The Arise Compassionate Homes is a scheme very close to my heart. Today, we have built and donated 36 units of fully furnished 2-bedroom bungalows complete with solar panels to the most vulnerable and the neediest across all the wards in the state. Work is ongoing with the construction of an additional 164 units bringing the total number of units we will be donating within the first two units to 200. By the end of our first term, we hope to build and donate 400 units across all wards in the state.

We have also recently donated a three-bedroom apartment we had built for the family of the Youth Corp member from Ugep, Cross River State whose story of determination and passion touched the nation when she presented her NYSC Certificate to her father in a severely dilapidated home. We have also presented a remodeled home to the family of the late Nollywood make-up artist who sadly had drowned earlier this year.

22. We have also commissioned the Grace Homes- a low to medium housing estate in Ibibio Ibom. Yesterday, in fulfillment of the promise I made when we commissioned the Grace Estate, we gave out 150 of those units free through a raffle draw to civil servants between Grade Levels 1-8. This is our way of appreciating our Public Service Workers for working with us to interpret the vision as embedded in the Arise Agenda. The Ibom Luxury Homes in Ewet Housing as well as the Dakkada Luxury Estate remain on course.
23. We continue to take care of the elderly especially in the rural areas with the payment of 50 Thousand Naira to 600 of them monthly under our Arise Elderly Care Initiative. This compassionate initiative has been roundly commended and we will continue to support this scheme. We have also completed our contract protocols for the construction of the Elderly Citizens Center which will serve as the relaxation and recreation facility for our elders. It will also house a health post to cater for the immediate health needs of the elders.
24. We have kept our campaign promise to pay down the backlog of gratuities and other entitlements to our retired civil servants. To date, since we came in, we have paid over 31 billion Naira and in the next few months, we hope to raise the total amount paid to 35 billion.

We had paid a one-time dress allowance of 1.2 billion to our teachers, 1.1 billion as a bonus to mark their Public Service week, and 104 million to Primary School Teachers’ Leave Grants, Promotion and other entitlements. We have kept our word in ensuring a robust relationship with organized labour.

25. Health they say is wealth. We have already commissioned the Model Primary Healthcare Centre in Ibesikpo Asutan, and Nsit Atai Local Government Areas respectively. Others have been completed and are set for commissioning in over 10 LGA across the State.

All of these will be commissioned within October and November, 2024 starting with the Primary Health Centre at Oboyo Ikot Ita. Last Friday, we launched the Arisecare, which is our State Health Insurance Scheme aimed at making healthcare available and affordable to our people. This scheme is the first of such scheme in our State, and we are proud and happy that it has been greatly received by our people. At the event, again, to show how appreciative we are for the great work our civil servants are doing, I announced the registration of our civil servants from grade levels 1-6 for the scheme. We have purchased six ambulances for medical emergencies and we hope in the course of time, to increase this highly essential requirement to 10.

26. Ibom Specialist Hospital, is being reorganized to make it serve the vision of its founding. Soon, a new management will be put in place to make it run as a stand-alone hospital with its operations run along the same model as Ibom Air. We also directed the Hon. Commissioner for Health to ensure the construction of ten dialysis centers across the Ten Federal Constituencies in the State.
27. We remain committed to the empowerment of our youths because they represent the future. Two weeks ago when we thanked and celebrated them for working with us, and not participating in the protest that took place some weeks ago, I had rolled out what I called “My Contract With Our Youths”. These among other schemes included: 60 thousand youths to be empowered through our Youth Business Support Scheme, where each will receive support of 50 thousand for an initial twelve months beginning from next month, 10 thousand youths will also be covered through the provision of business equipment and other cash support in our Arise Entrepreneurial scheme, 1, 200 already have been trained under the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programme of IBOM-LED, with 500 thousand grants given to each participant and a further 250 for training fees. 400 of these are drawn from our female youths. We hope to touch 10 thousand youths through this scheme. 3,000 youths, (100 each) from the thirty-one Local Government Areas excluding Uyo where 550 had already been recruited, would be engaged through Ibom Community Watch.

One thousand youths are to be trained between 2024 and 2025 at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC)- 200 of these youths have already commenced training. In all of these empowerment schemes, we hope to empower 100 thousand youths.

28. We have kept our obligations to Ibom Air. Since we came in, we have received two Airbus A200-300 Series. Three weeks ago, EXCO approved and funds have been released for the outright purchase of two brand new CRJ 900 Bombardier jets, bringing our fleet to 9. This is a bold move that should gladden the hearts of all Akwaibomites. Ibom Air remains the pride of our dear State and we will continue to support its expansion. We are working hard to get the International Terminal at the Victor Attah International Airport, the Taxi way ready for operations as well as the MRO, which we hope to be operational very soon. We are also providing funds for the completion of the Apron which is to further enhance our investment in the Aviation Industry. Soon, work will commence in the Aviation Village, which is aimed at truly creating an aviation eco-system and further establishing us as the aviation hub of the Gulf of Guinea. We have completed the construction of the internal security roads within the Victor Attah International Airport, as well as the perimeter fence.
29. As I stated in my first-anniversary speech, we intend to play big in the real estate market in Lagos and Abuja respectively. Soon, construction will commence at glittering 19- Storey Ibom Towers and the Ibom three-star hotel in Abuja. We must be ready to utilize our moribund assets for productive investments.
30. In the area of tourism, we hope to commission what is easily one of the most audacious projects in the South-South region of our country- the Arise Park. This park is a testament to foresight and passion. The sight it is located was once a gully erosion-ravaged ravine and home to criminal elements.

Today, it is a Worldclass-park with a 9-hole Golf Course, artificial lakes with floating restaurants and a world-class park for family relaxation. It will change the face of tourism in our region and indeed the nation, when commissioned. Work is also ongoing on the reconstruction of Oron Maritime Terminal and we have ordered two passenger cruise ferries to ease water transportation between Akwa Ibom and our Sister State, Cross River.

The Oron Maritime Terminal project comprises the Maritime Terminal, Shore Protection, Jetty, Warehouse and Cold Room and other Recreational facilities.-

31. On Ibom Deep Seaport, we are constructing access Roads such as Orukim Uyeghe Road and other facilities to make the environment conducive for investors. We are working tirelessly to woo investors to partner with us in this great investment.

We have awarded the contract for the construction of security fence and other infrastructural amenities at the Ibom Industrial Park which will provide work for thousands of our youths and also drive entrepreneurial spirit in our people.

I want to commend the people of Ini Local Government Area for their warm appreciation of the solar water project we have completed for them. This project comprises treatment plant and is to be reticulated to five villages. Eleven of these projects are ongoing in all the ten federal constituencies.

32. We are in search of partners who will provide refilling depots for our CNG buses. Once this is achieved, we will launch this program. It does not make sense to buy CNG buses that will not have refilling depots, doing so, will defeat the purpose of this initiative. Let me warn those who are selling petrol above the approved price that the Government will not tolerate such unpatriotic actions. We will soon set up a Task Force to ensure that those engaging in this practice are brought to book.
33. As we celebrate 37 years of our creation, God has given us peace within our walls and we are working hard to expand prosperity too within her space. I call on our people to remain united and treat one another with love, mutual respect and compassion. If God has blessed you, please be a source of help to others. Let us face these challenging times together and Arise in glory as one people, whom God brought together 37 years ago.
34. Politics should not divide us, ethnicity should not separate us, let our kindred spirit be an everlasting tie that binds and shapes our daily engagement with one another. I have led this State since my inauguration as a peace-maker, who loves to work across party lines and show humility in governance. I intend to continue with the approach as long as I remain your Governor, so help me God!
35. Happy Anniversary to us all!