UMANA UMANA RATES GOVERNOR AKPABIO HIGH Those who think that Obong Umana Okon Umana, the immediate past SSG and former boss, Governor Akpabio are enemies, are doing so at their own peril. There were the best of friends, and there is a saying that old friends are better friends. Below is Umana Okon Umanas assessment of his friends government, as carried on the Vanguard of Thursday September 4th, 2014. By Ehis Osagie Recently, Obong Umana Okon Umana, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Akwa Ibom State in an encounter in Abuja spoke on a wide range of issues most especially, on the performance of the State Governor Chief Godswill Akpabio and why he deserves a second term in office. Can you briefly tell us about yourself? I am a retired Permanent Secretary and a former Commissioner for Finance in the immediate past administration. I hold a BSc. Degree in Economics and an MBA in Finance. I am alumnus of the Columbia Business School, New York and the London Business School. I am happily married to Florence, and the marriage is blessed with four children. One  would have expected that retiring from Civil Service, you should have taken a long rest, what motivated you to join politics? Politics is all about service, you can count many retired permanent secretaries who are in politics and they have done very well, for example the current governors of Kano, Kaduna and Niger State. So you have civil servants who have retired and have continued to serve on the platform of politics and they have done exceedingly well. So, I am not the one who started it and I am not about to end it. As a former commissioner for finance in the last administration you were reported to have said that the Offshore_Onshore oil dichotomy worked against that administration from achieving much, does this administration face anything similar to what the previous administration experienced in the area of finance constraint? Every administration has challenges when it comes to finance. The richest country in the world in terms of GDP and per capita income still faces financial challenges because resources are limited. And that is why every year a budget is prepared to match plans and programmes against the available resources. You cannot think of any administration operating on a platform where money will not be an issue. So it’s a question of matching available resources against the priorities of government and I think the present administration has done very well in that regard. The previous administration faced challenges of Offshore_Onshore struggle especially in it’s first term, but I think in the 2nd term when the National Assembly put in place that Act which abolished the dichotomy, we were able to have the benefit of 13% derivation especially from our Offshore resources. This administration has done well because from day one the Governor, His Excellency Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio had a clear vision and came out to hit the ground running. So the time lag or the inertia that other administrations usually suffered by spending one year or 18 months to plan was certainly not there. Most of the road projects we are completing today were awarded within the first three months of the Governor’s assumption of office in 2007. It means His Excellency, the Governor was fully prepared for the office of Governor. He had his programme and plans well articulated. So once he took over as governor, there was no inertia, that is why we have the success story that we are having today. Don’t you think the 13% derivation package for the oil producing states should be reviewed upwards? It is a matter of the law. The constitution says a minimum of 13%. This means the National Assembly can come up with a revenue formula that can prescribe something higher than 13%. We are hoping that when the National Assembly reviews the revenue allocation formula they will do something about the derivation percentage. Also all Nigerians now appreciate the problems of the Niger Delta region and have come to accept that indeed the region which produces the bulk of the resources of the federation had a raw deal in the past and therefore they deserve something better. We are hoping that in that spirit when the revenue allocation formula is reviewed the percentage allotted for derivation will also be reviewed upwards. If you reflect on the Policy Thrust of this administration, Sir, are you satisfied with the level of its implementation so far? As somebody who is serving under the government of His Excellency, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio may be I am not the one who should tell the story, but I want to say that I am encouraged by the testimonies of outsiders who come to Akwa Ibom and openly commend His Excellency, the Governor for the very dramatic transformation of the state in terms of the provision of core-infrastructure. You see we may take things for granted, but I want to say that we should have every reason to thank God that three years on, from May, 2007 to May 2010, when Governor Akpabio took over office, things have changed so dramatically, Transformation has been so fundamental. Outsiders who come here are amazed at the pace of development, starting from the mega projects inherited from the previous administration. We could have an administration that would abandon the projects and the investments already made by the previous administration could have gone to waste. So, we must commend His Excellency, the Governor, for the courage and maturity to complete mega projects inherited from the previous administration. You can have a governor who comes and because he is worried about his ego and the fact that he may not be given full credit for completing projects started by previous administrations, he may end up playing to the gallery to say I want to undertake my projects, but Akwa Ibom would have lost tremendously because resources had already been committed to these projects. His Excellency the governor, came and completed the Airport project and on 23rd September, 2009 when we celebrated the 22nd Anniversary of our State creation we had the inaugural landing of a flight at the Ibom International Airport, that was symbolic, it was historic and it spoke volumes about what this administration has been able to accomplish. He also completed the Le Meridian Hotel and Golf Resort. He came and spent close to N7billion to get the hotel fully ready. The same story applies to the Ibom Power Project (IPP) which today is 100% complete except that we have issues about transmission and distribution of the power generated from the plant. It has the capacity to generate 185 mega watts. So, again he (the governor) committed funds to ensure that the project was completed and he is also working with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to ensure that the transmission and distribution issues are tackled so that within three to six months we can have the full benefit of the IPP. On his own projects, His Excellency the Governor came up with a strategy to provide core infrastructure that will form the foundation of industrialization in the state. He came also with a promise to make Akwa Ibom State a destination of choice for tourists and investors. That is why we have invested massively on road construction to the tune of almost N200 billion both on state and federal roads. Of course it is evident to all who come to Akwa Ibom that today, we have the best road network in the country outside Abuja. Some of the long forgotten and abandoned roads which have great historical significance have been worked upon. Examples are the Afahaobong-Etim Ekpo-Iwukem road, Use Ikot Amama road in Ibiono Ibom axis, dualization of Abak_Ikot Ekpene road which is a federal road, the dualised Ekid Itam-Ekom Iman road. So you are talking about over 400 kilometers of roads embarked upon by the current administration. Why the emphasis on roads? I personally believe and that is also the position of His Excellency, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio that the entry point to development is the development of road infrastructure, because you cannot talk about setting up industries, providing healthcare facilities or schools where there are no roads. When you open up the rural areas and there is easy movement of goods and people you have already laid the foundation for growth and development. That is why it will follow naturally that as Governor Akpabio ends his first term in office and starts his second term, the major plank of his development programme will be industrialization. By the second term he is planning to launch an industrial fund of over N50billion for the setting up of cottage industries all over Akwa Ibom State. But he had to do first thing first. Then the massive rural electrification programme. By the last count over 800 communities have had the benefit of having electricity provided by the Governor Akpabio’s administration. When he took over, he directed that a study should be undertaken to determine how many communities have been connected to the National grid; that study showed that of the 2700 communities and villages in Akwa Ibom State only 1600 have been connected to the National grid, so we had over 1100 yet to be connected, so as I speak to you contracts have been awarded to cover over 800 communities. The governor’s plan is to ensure that by the end of his first term in office all the communities in Akwa Ibom will have the benefit of electrification. The strategy we adopt is different. When we intervene in any local government, it is 100% coverage and no village or community is left out. This is to ensure that by May 2011 all communities will have the benefit of electrification and that is also a very important factor for growth and development. These are projects we now take for granted but elsewhere even Mr. President will be invited to perform the commissioning ceremonies. Then in terms of human development, one defining policy of Chief Godswill Akpabio’s administration has been the free and compulsory education from primary through the senior secondary school levels and you can see that in spite of the teething problems at the beginning of the implementation of this policy, we have done very well in term of the upsurge in the number of students who have registered. I am personally amazed; I couldn’t believe that so many of our children could not have the benefit of primary education because of fees. We’ve had almost 100% increase in enrolment. Government has also intervened by building additional classroom blocks, laboratories in response to the increase in enrolment. If you move around the state, you would find that we have upgraded facilities in health centres, five general hospitals have been massively renovated, we’ve upgraded hospitals in Eket, Ikot Ekpene and other locations apart from the four new general hospitals government is building in Ibeno, Eastern Obolo, Ukanafun and Essien Udim. So our success story has covered virtually all the sectors and everywhere people have felt that there is a great change that has impacted on the quality of lives of Akwa Ibom People. We have so far commissioned over 2000 rural based projects which cover electrification, upgrading of facilities in schools, health centres, hospitals,and provision of potable water in every nook and cranny of Akwa Ibom. You would find that something has changed positively in Akwa Ibom and that the children in the villages who usually would have ended up in Lagos or Ibadan or wherever as house boys can now go to school. So there is a positive change and I thank God that in these three years we have witnessed tremendous blessing in terms of what Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio has been able to achieve. Given the need to publicize all these achievements, how will you assess the performance of the local press (print medium) in the state? I think that we have had some of the newspapers who have done quite well putting the message across, reporting the programmes, policies and achievements of the administration. But also we have a few tabloids who clearly have been publishing propaganda and falsehood to smear the governor and government officials, may be because elections are around the corner. So we have seen some political opponents who cannot fault the governor on the basis of performance thinking that the only way they can get at him is to come up with these tabloids to publish propaganda to see if they can deceive and mislead the people of Akwa-Ibom State. But the people are too knowledgeable to be misled, they have eyes and have seen that these achievements are not achievements on paper, they have seen the sincerity of purpose, they have seen a governor who means well for the state. This is a governor who has not discriminated in terms of appointments, distribution of facilities and amenities, this is the governor who has taken the whole state as his constituency; so because they cannot fault him they think that the only way they can get at him or distract him is to use some tabloids to smear him and publish falsehood with the hope that they can deceive the people of Akwa Ibom State; but overall I think that Local media are doing fine. And of course the National Media have honoured the governor severally and they did so independently without any prompting from the government. Also because today Nigerians can have easy access to Akwa Ibom State, they can fly in under one hour either from Abuja or Lagos to see things for themselves, it is not only what they read but also it has to do with what Nigerians can see when they visit Akwa Ibom. You’ll recall that sometimes in 2008 when we hosted the 10th Anniversary of PDP in Akwa Ibom we had all the who is who in PDP and in the federal government, state governors, the entire national working committee of the PDP led by the President (Late President Umaru Yarâ Adua). They were all in Akwa Ibom and they saw things for themselves. That is why the propaganda by the opponents of the government cannot go far because people know the truth; they were here and they saw the unprecedented transformation taking place across the state. Sir, could you expatiate on what the government meant when it directed members of its cabinet to denounce cultism? People should not take that out of context; there were allegations that the government is one of cultists, but we came out to deny that and to state that this government is not a government of cultists. The governor came up with a hypothetical situation and said even if we have cultists that he will give them time so that they will renounce cultism if they still wanted to be part of the present administration. But people read that out of context. The Governor also said that in moving forward that anybody that is coming into his administration will have to publicly take a position that he has nothing to do with cultism, but that was not an admission of the allegation that has been made. Sir, recently the governor promised to massively empower the people of Akwa Ibom State, how does the government intend to go about this? The housing programme will commence soon. The governor has said that under the first phase, 2000 housing units will be built. He also said that to ensure that the people of Akwa Ibom State are empowered that contractors and resource persons will be picked locally. So it was from that stand point. These contracts are being processed, so those who will be selected or will win the bids will then go ahead and construct the houses. So certainly the people of Akwa Ibom State who will be favoured will be empowered. What are your challenges as SSG? The challenges any SSG will face. You have to be alert to keep up with the pace of His Excellency the Governor. He has said it often that he is in a hurry to turn things around in Akwa Ibom State. So if you are a member of his team you have to work hard to keep up with that pace. So I think the pace of this administration has been something that I would think is challenging to all members of the team, that’s why when a project is started, the contractor is monitored virtually on a weekly basis to ensure that schedules are met when it comes to delivery. We make sure that contractors are kept on their toes and so all hands are on deck. I also have the responsibility to co-ordinate the activities and programmes of the various agencies. The job may be challenging but because we are getting the results, it is also a very rewarding experience. Sir, earlier you talked about this administration’s commitment to completing inherited projects, the Ibom Science Park appears not to be in the list of such projects. What are the reasons? We have issues with the contractor. The value of job done on site was not commensurate with the amount released to the contractor by the previous administration and you know the House of Assembly had set up a committee to investigate what had transpired. When the report is submitted to the governor, the government will take appropriate decision and if money has to be recovered, it will be recovered; if the contract has to be terminated, the contract will be terminated and thereafter the government will take steps to ensure that the project is completed. On the purported movement of Ifim Ibom Ibibio to Ibom International Airport to receive the governor and the reaction that trails the act, what can you say about that? The government had nothing to do with it, it was a spontaneous reaction by the people. The governor had been away for two or three weeks and when he came back, the people on their own came out to welcome him. At the rate the administration is moving to deliver dividends of democracy to the people, one wonders if really you have time to rest? The governor always says that, there is no permanent governor even if you have permanent secretaries; that he has four years in the first instance and a second term of another four years giving a total of eight years. So at the end of eight years he can really take a long holiday. I think service to the people of Akwa Ibom comes first and every member of the team has been galvanized to support the governor on his vision, progrmmes and promises. So I think for us it is a twenty four hour service. I play squash to relax and maintain my fitness. Your take on support for President Jonathan Mr. President has said that he will be committed to electoral reforms and ensuring that we have free and fair elections come 2011. Other Nigerians have also encouraged him to ensure that, he is committed to ensuring that the policies and programs of Late President Yar’Adua are implemented. I’ll like to urge Nigerians to give him maximum support, so that he can succeed. The state government has declared vacancy in its civil service, what measures are there to ensure that only qualified people are employed to these vacant positions? Those who are eligible are expected to apply and they will be interviewed and the best will be picked. The process is on, I think over 2000 openings were advertised and it will be the very first time in the history of Akwa Ibom that, in one fell swoop such a large number of persons will be recruited into the civil service. This is still part of welfarist policy thrust of the present administration. The same thing has been done for teachers where over 1000 teachers have been previously recruited, same thing for doctors. So it’s an ongoing process. We encourage qualified people no matter where they are to take advantage of this offer. What is your philosophy in Life? We should do our best to add value no matter where we find ourselves and in whatever position we find ourselves. So I try to do my best and I try to add value wherever I find myself. I am a very principled person, and I believe that in our relationships we should show trust, integrity and above all we should have the fear of God. Kindly tell us, what is government plan to accommodate some of those traders who were displaced from the former Uyo main market, bearing in mind the complaints of unavailability of shops to go round? Those who are aggrieved, I will encourage them to please write to the government and I can assure you as in previous cases the issue will be properly addressed. We had a higher number of displaced traders compared to the number of available shops ad stores, so it was clear that there was no way available shops could go round. It was like a first phase allocation that was why the government had to come up with a method that will be fair; so the governor directed that the shops should be given out on the basis of balloting so that every one will know that the process is transparent. But if after what has been done there are still complaints, again government will be happy to look into complaints. We would like to know what the government intends to do with Uyo main market Site? It will be a business district. We are not going to have a market in the sense of what was there before, but it will be something the people of Akwa Ibom will be proud of. The designs are being prepared, so that place will serve as the Uyo Central Business District with offices, high profile shops and residential buildings. We hear of an American dream, is there anything like Akwa Ibom dream and if there is, how do you define it? As an Akwa Ibom person, I’ll like to see Akwa Ibom become a model state in Nigeria, a state the will be highly industrialized, that is I.T. driven, where everybody will be yearning to visit, one that will become a destination of choice for tourists, for investors, one that will lead Nigeria. So I think that dream is really what is pushing us because if you want to end up as the best and become a model then you have to work for it. Finally, as an apostle of His Excellency, Chief Godswill Akpabio and a key player in that project, what is your message to PDP faithful in view of the forthcoming party primaries and general elections? My message is that we should remain focused. We should not be distracted by those who think they can get there by playing the ethnic card or propagating falsehood. The governor has done well. His works will speak for him and we should be committed to the cause to ensure that when the time comes he is re_elected as governor for a second term.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 21:05:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015