Akwa Ibom At 22: What kind of anniversary?

Few students of the history of the struggle for ethno-nationalistic self-determination and definition in the country, would deny that the road to the realization of the Akwa Ibom people’s dream for a state was long, winding and tortuous. From the days of the COR (Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers) State movement, the people of then Calabar, […]

Few students of the history of the struggle for ethno-nationalistic self-determination and definition in the country, would deny that the road to the realization of the Akwa Ibom people’s dream for a state was long, winding and tortuous. From the days of the COR (Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers) State movement, the people of then Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers Provinces – and later, minorities from the North and West of Nigeria – had seen in states’ creation the panacea to the marginalisation question that dominated political experience discourse shortly before and after the country’s independence in 1960. For Akwa Ibom, therefore, having their own state was like cold water on the patched throat of a farmer working on his farm under an afternoon sun heat.

The state has witnessed several administrations since coming into being, and with them, equally varied and many forms and shades of projects and programmes. From its pioneer military governor, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, to the sitting governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio, there have been stories to tell and experiences to relish, even while the people still pray and work for better life in the days ahead.

Looking down the road of the state’s development, not a few observers would say that it was certainly not created in vain. There are reasons for this. Akwa Ibom has grown from only ten local government areas at inception, to 31, and this has expanded the frontiers of growth, in spite of obvious challenges awaiting engagement. This has positively affected rural communities hitherto absent from the development map of the regional government of the 1960s. For instance, under the Ogbeha administration, the structure of an enduring future of the state was laid in terms of housing and transportation. The Godwin Abbe administration took things some steps further, and the Idongesit Nkanga regime succeeded in building such structures as the State Secretariat and some roads that still stand strong today.

While the Isemin administration elasticised rural transformation, revenue generation and a campaign for mentality change among the people, the Attah government expanded the state secretariat and road development of the capital city of Uyo, as well as started some long-term projects like the Ibom airport, Independent Power Plant (IPP) and the Science Park.

One interesting thing the Akpabio government did on coming into office was to initiate a shift from the normative self-obsession by political rulers that they must start their own projects and abandon those of their predecessors. That has seen his administration continuing with projects left behind by its predecessor, while initiating new ones as well. Thus projects like the Ibom airport, which was perhaps less than 30% constructed at the time the new government took over, is nearing completion; and in fact, is set to witness the landing of the first plane during the celebrations. The same thing goes for the IPP, which is now awaiting power transmission and distribution.

Political theorists and development scholars correctly tell us that the best way to govern is to pursue programmes that not only touch on the lives of the people, but actually bless them. Thus, the people of Mbo and Esit Eket LGAs, and many others, would be grateful that they can move to and from the Eket axis to the Mbo axis of the state on land, courtesy of what would be the longest bridge in the state being built by the Akpabio administration. The Eastern regional government had started work on the bridge but abandoned it before it went any distance. It remained that way so long that the people of the immediate locale had given up hope on it being built again. The same story is that of Afaha Obong-Etim Ekpo-Iwukem road, which had appeared in the budget of the same Eastern government, yet left unattended to. It has now been built by the current administration in the State. Abak-Ikot Ekpene road, not to mention many others embarked upon by the current administration in the state, has the same story of a-change-come-to-hitherto-neglected communities.

At creation, only very few communities, basically the headquarters of the initial LGAs of the state had electricity; but rural communities with electricity are now more than a thousand. The IPP, whose 45-kilometre 132KV ‘double circuit’ power evacuation line from Ikot Abasi to Eket is being built, will transmit power to all parts of the state. When activated, the first phase of the project will give a power output of 191 megawatts, with the state enjoying 60 megawatts of that. The second phase will raise the electricity output profile to 500mw. These are sure to catapult the economy of the state.

The state is also taking its tourism development seriously. The Le Meridien Ibom Hotel & Golf Resorts, which had 18 rooms ready at the inception of the Akpabio government, but now 153 guest rooms, 26 suites and seven chalets, is slated for further expansion to 350 rooms, to be housed in a 12-storey edifice. Besides, the State is also working hard on the Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Centre, which would consist of 258 guest rooms and VIP suites, as well as a 10,000-seater dome, a multi-cinema halls galleria and theme parks. In an era where the world is shrinking from a global village to a global room, hospitality business is a great component of what makes for global relations and interactions.

Antai writes from Abuja