On this day, May 29, three years ago, Pastor Umo Eno pledged, while being sworn in as governor, to unite all sections of Akwa Ibom State as one indivisible people.
Staying true to the oath of office to serve the state, Governor Eno has employed unity as the driving force of his administration. From his first day in office, he did not waiver in his resolve to drive his ad-ministration on the wheels of unity.
Initially, not many understood his philosophy of unity. But he never would allow anything to distract him from the course. Gradually, the world began to understand that his style of administration is a clear departure from the past where politics of bitterness was the order of the day and partisanship fractionalised the brothers such that the state was filled with gall, divisions and distrust.
Governor Eno came with a brand new political philosophy to bring brothers together as one. He set out to clean the Augean Stable and to turn the hitherto poisoned political atmosphere into a brotherly affair.
Like an existentialist hero, he set out all alone to save Akwa Ibom State from the toxic politics of the past that did no one any good.
Contrary to what the political class had expected of him, he extended open arms to the opposition. He became a bridge-builder among the political parties at both the state and national levels. Today, the political class in Akwa Ibom State is now a one united family and the state is being humourously ad-dressed as ‘’Ákwa United.’’
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His essence of unity as a platform derives from the basic understanding that unity is ail that is needed to create an atmosphere of peace, love and togetherness which are requisites for economic, social and political development any society yearns for.
Having achieved his vision of unity, he is now in a strong position, under a conducive and enabling envi-ronment, to implement his programmes and policies which have been novel and impactful in various ways.
From the outset of his administration he was determined to make a difference in the lives of the el-derly by restarting the payment of gratuities which had been put on hold by previous administrations, all of which singles him out as a man of great compassion which he has consistently demonstrated and extends to even widows and youths of the state through various empowerment programmes.
So far, he has provided good leadership to the state and is guiding the people on a part of economic development. But he still needs to do more. While he has stabilsed the state in terms of politics, he has to roll up his sleeves to bring about great economic development which is the greatest desire of all.
Undoubtedly, Akwa Ibom is still far from being an industrialised state in spite of being one of the larg-est oil producing states in Nigeria. Also, despite being one of the highest earners in terms of monthly federal allocations, Akwa Ibom State has nothing to show for it in terms of industrialisation.
Therefore it behoves on Governor Eno to chart a course to lay a solid industrial foundation. Others be-fore him did their little best to lead the state into industialisation, but Governor Eno must do more now that he has all the necessary wherewithal.
Already, the people have great expectation of Governor Eno as the man who would bring about the actualisation of Ibom Deep Seaport regarded as the number one economic game-changer that will bring about quantum industrialisation of the state.
However, what seems to be working for Governor Eno is his ARISE Agenda which acts as a compass to give him focus and direction. By painstakingly following the guiding principles of the ARISE Agenda, he has been able to execute a lot of low hanging-fruits projects while taking his time to work out major ones such as the Ibom Deep Seaport.
There are other projects that are equally economic game-changers started by previous administra-tions which the people of the state expect him to take up and ensure their completion. For example the Ibom Science Park is a project that would not only rake in foreign exchange but firmly introduce Akwa Ibom State to a world of technology know-how. Unfortunately, the project lies uncompleted and abandoned since 2007.
Such a capital project should be completed during his tenure to move the state to a meaningful and sustainable development.
Another laudable project begging for full utilisation but left in limbo is the Ibom Power Plant. With power transmission having been removed from the exclusive list and states now free to generate and distribute electricity, it has been widely expected that Akwa Ibom State, under the watch of Governor Eno, would have been one of the first to seize the deregulation in the power sector to supply 24-hour electricity to the state.
It is hoped that as the governor begins another year in office he will exercise the political will to bring most of the projects to realisation, having already created the unity and conducive atmosphere where development can thrive.
