Alex Otti, Umo Eno Forge Collaboration To Fix Abia-Akwa Ibom Link Roads

The governments of Akwa Ibom and Abia States have forged cooperation in the area of infrastructure towards ensuring accessibility of roads linking the two neighbouring states and promoting existing economic ties between their people.

The understanding was reached during a condolence visit by the Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, on his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Governor Umo Eno, at Government House, Uyo, following the demise of the Akwa Ibom First Lady, late Pastor (Mrs.) Patience Eno.

Governor Umo Eno, receiving the Abia State Chief Executive, Otti, expressed the appreciation of his immediate family and the entire Akwa Ibom people for the condolence and support bestowed on them in their season of grief, especially in taking the pain of visiting logistics challenges, adding that the kindness received has been a source of strength.

According to Governor Eno, the departed First Lady in her short but impactful lifetime had left a legacy that she will eternally be remembered for and the choice of her first daughter, Helen Obareki, who has been her closest assistant while alive, to coordinate activities of the First Lady’s office, a step to ensure all her lofty visions are sustained.

“We want to thank you first of all, sir, for not just the visit but all the calls and encouragement. Like I say to people, the loss of my wife is a lifetime loss. We courted for two years and have been married for 38 years. So forty years is not something one can easily forget. Half of me is gone, but she was an accomplished woman. She made her impact, joined me to pastor our ministry, and did excellently well in managing the women and building homes,” Governor Eno maintained.

Corroborating the position of the Abia State Governor on the need to ensure the roads linking Akwa Ibom State to one of Eastern Nigeria’s economic hubs, Aba in Abia State, Governor Eno assured of his readiness to work collaboratively with the Abia State Government to both expedite federal government intervention on the Ikot Ekpene-Aba road as well as remedy defective portions of the Ini-Arochukwu road and initiate other actions to ensure accessibility of economically viable roads linking the two states.

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In his words, “For the road you have talked about, if there are other roads that we can as two states collaborate to work on, I am sure we are prepared to do that. We can look at the road and see how we can partner to work it because, at the end of the day, it is our people who will use the road.

“Aba remains a very strong regional commercial centre for all of us. I will see whatever we can do to ensure that our people have that smooth passage to and fro  Aba, Governor Eno stated.

The Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti OFR, speaking earlier, expressed the condolences of the government and people of Abia State to Governor Eno, his immediate family and the people of Akwa Ibom State for the loss of the First Lady of whom, he affirmed, the far-reaching acclamation for her impactful life speaks volumes and her demise a grievous loss, as he prayed God’s comfort for the bereaved and rest for the departed.

Speaking further, Governor Otti acknowledged the visible dividends of good governance in Akwa Ibom State and encouraged Governor Eno to continue his people-orientated projects and programs in the state, assuring of the support of Abia, being Akwa Ibom’s closest neighbour, to get the roads linking the two states fixed, in the socioeconomic interest of citizens across the two states.

In a related development, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, also paid a visit to the Government House, Uyo, to relay the condolences of the Nigerian High Commission in London to the Governor and people of Akwa Ibom State over the sad incident of the First Lady’s passage while in the UK.