AKSU VC Describes Gov. Umo Eno’s ARISE Agenda Policy On Agric As Inventive, Catalyst For Economic Boom

The acting Vice Chancellor of Akwa Ibom State University, Professor OtoAbasi Akpan, has described the ARISE Agenda of the Governor Umo Eno-led administration as being all-embracing, pragmatic and people-oriented, giving Akwa Ibom people fresh opportunities to reassess perspectives on self-development and economic prosperity.

Professor Akpan gave the description in an exclusive interview with Crystal Express Newspaper, lauding Pastor Umo Eno for what he called purposeful leadership and inclusive governance.

He said, “You see, when he – Pastor Umo Bassey Eno – indicated interest in vying for the seat of governorship, of course, the first thing one would have to look for was his blueprint. What kind of blueprint did he have? And with the ARISE Agenda, we saw a clear direction towards a destination.

And for me, he knew what he was doing, because it tallies with the first law in avionics for the pilot, which is ‘Don’t take a plane to any destination that your brain has not first visited.’

“You know the reason? Because you may have challenges on the way, you will build your reflexes. You will know whether you can have an emergency landing or whether you may not even be able to land at all. Then you think of what to do so that you won’t be surprised by any incident. So when Pastor Umo Bassey Eno came with the ARISE Agenda, we saw four years ahead of him, and we could, you know, organise and classify some of the things that he needed to do.”

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X-raying the governor’s scorecard in just two years, Professor Akpan, a renowned scholar and authority in history and international studies, noted that Governor Umo has exceeded expectations in two years, a fact he further observed was a strong signal to better days to come.

“When he celebrated his two years in office a a few months back, some of us saw that it was even beyond two years. What he has accomplished for the state under his tenure was far beyond two years. We were there at the Banquet Hall of the State House, and these programmes were reeled out, you know, for us to see what he’s done in two years now,” the Don stated.

He also commended the governor for the lofty strides he has made in the education subsector, especially concerning the building of model schools, which he said would complement the learning environment, boost the performance and serve as incentives to teachers.

Speaking further, the VC also lauded the governor’s commitment to reawakening the people’s consciousness in agriculture as well as leveraging food security in the state.

“His initiative in agriculture, which we also want to key into, is top-notch. He has done so much. I think, on the first of September, we were there in the covenant prayers meeting when he told us about his plan in the oil palm industry. He has about one million palm seedlings for Akwa Ibomites. And the idea is that they come to your house. You show them the land. They are the ones to even plant. They come to you, and they replace the old ones with these new ones, which would mature in 18 months.”

Referencing how Malaysia has become a cynosure and global factor in agriculture, especially in the area of oil palm, from which seedlings they obtained from Nigerian soil in 1948, Akpan called on Akwa Ibom people to key in fully to the governor’s vision for agriculture for food sufficiency.

“Again, for me, it is highly symbolic that in 1948, Malaysia took palm seedlings from our Obio Akpa campus, which at that time was an agricultural station run by the British. Today, Malaysia earns in excess of $50 billion from farming oil palm, and Indonesia also earns it. Today, Indonesia is even number one in oil palm, earning 60 billion dollars. So, Akwa Ibom can go back through this ARISE revolution to have many mills and many refineries, and people will have jobs. There is no point in time that people don’t have needs for oil palm products,” he added.

According to him, those who know should give the governor a pat on the back, and he hinted that AKSU as a school has fully keyed into every component of the ARISE Agenda, with special focus on agriculture. This, he noted, is why the school has established a number of institutes and centres to help in research.

He mentioned such research centres to include the Institute of Agricultural Research, the Institute of Oil and Gas and Renewal Energy, and the Institute of Marine Research and Blue Economy, among others.