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Tag: Akwa Ibom

  • Re: Reuben Abati: The Institutional churches in Akwa Ibom State: Where Abati got it wrong!

    Re: Reuben Abati: The Institutional churches in Akwa Ibom State: Where Abati got it wrong!

    By Ekerete Udoh
    I know Dr. Reuben Abati very well and I count him as a friend and a cherished colleague. I am also eternally excited to see the way he has grown in journalism having played a small role in his foray into journalism and the subsequent success he has garnered in the profession. I am thus not very happy that I would have to join issues with him.
    In 1990, as a 25 year old PhD holder in Theatre Arts, Dr. Abati was brought to the offices of Hints magazine by his childhood friend, Kayode Ajala for consideration as a writer with Hints magazine. I recalled the Publisher of the magazine, then Chief Counsel at TEXCACO Oil and the current Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu asking me what I thought of Dr. Abati. I remember telling Dr. Kachikwu “Doc, “(as we used to call him then) “by all means, he should be given a chance. A guy with a PhD at 25 must be a genius”.
    Abati eventually joined Hints magazine as a columnist and acquitted himself very well, eventually moving to The Guardian where he became a celebrated columnist and Chairman of the Editorial Board of that newspaper, eventually ending up as the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity/ Spokesman to former President Goodluck Jonathan). Dr. Abati’s analytic skills-set stands him out as one of the best in the nation and I am always happy that the intellectual rigour he exhibited way back in 1990 has been appropriated by other Nigerians and he has not disappointed us.
    But sometimes the best pundits may veer off course, and in a rush to make what they may feel represent an informed contribution on a topical issue, end up confounding and ridiculing themselves in the process. Dr. Abati’s piece under reference represents this moment in his otherwise sterling career as a columnist and a pundit and it’s very sad!
    Dr. Abati’s main contention is what he believes to be the blurring of lines between the church and the State particularly in Akwa Ibom State and that churches in the State have” closed ranks” and that they operate “more like government parastatals” and went on to state that religious leaders “have learnt to defer to the state government and they are well-patronized in return for their loyalty”.
    Reuben Abati’s assertions above are decidedly false and are the products of bar room gossip which someone of his intellectual standing should have discountenanced or elect to conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain the veracity of such assertions rather than relying on guts feeling or politically manufactured talking points of a tiny and fast depleting community of naysayers within the Akwa Ibom political space.
    May I inform my friend Dr. Abati that Akwa Ibom State as he correctly pointed out is a decidedly Christian State and we make no apologies for our deep faith in Christ and the values inherent in those beliefs. We wear our Christian faith like badges of honour and if I may educate my dear friend further, the name of the State: Akwa Abasi Ibom means the land of a great and awe-inspiring God. Our faith in God and Christ as our Lord and Saviour cuts across political and ideological spectrum.
    Let me remind my friend that no nation-Islamic or one based on Judeo-Christian values and ethos can completely divorce itself from religion. Even the United States where Dr. Aabati spent over a year at the University of Maryland, College Point in 1997, and where Thomas Jefferson in his January 1, 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Church in Connecticut had canvassed the erection of a wall of separation between the church and state has totally divorced itself from its core Judeo-Christian values.
    Dr. Abati knows as a political pundit and one who has followed and written numerous articles about the currents that illuminate the American political discourse that the evangelicals or values voters are powerful electoral bloc that is courted, embraced, cultivated and whose endorsement is desired by politicians across the political divide.
    From the late President Ronald Reagan who openly declared his fidelity to the group to George H. Bush and George W. Bush, to the current President Trump, the leading figures within the evangelical community are inexorably tied to the White House and they consider this a patriotic duty. Billy Graham, Late Jerry Falwell, Rick Warren, James Dobson etc. are regular visitors to the White House and also serve as regular media surrogates of the mostly Republican Presidents as well as a some Democratic Presidents. No Republican or Democratic candidate will treat with levity the awesome power of the evangelical community, and this is happening in a nation where the there is a clear line of separation between the church and state as expressly enshrined in the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
    Akwa Ibom State as a purely Christian State with an Ordained Deacon of the United Evangelical Church founded as Qua Iboe Church , His Excellency, Udom Emmanuel as the Governor wears his Christian faith and beliefs with unapologetic pride and panache and he owes the likes of Abati no apologies for marketing and projecting his Christian faith. His successful 2015 Gubernatorial Campaign Organization is called Divine Mandate and His Divine and invisible Hand is at work in Akwa Ibom State, leading the Governor to achieve great strides for the good people of Akwa Ibom State in spite of the challenging economic environment the nation has faced.
    It is preposterous for Dr. Abati to state that the Clerics in the State who are proud of having a God –fearing and Christ-centric leader defer to the State Government and they are well patronized in return for their loyalty. I think this is a gratuitous insult from Dr. Abati and he owes the entire Christian community in the State an unreserved apology for this egregious insult.
    Dr. Abati also talk about the suspension of a certain individual by the African Church because of a so-called protest he led over a certain government decision and tried to establish a link or some form of symbiotic relationship based on the incident between the Christian community and the State. This is very sad for an otherwise smart and intellectually astute pundit.
    Dr. Abati, the State Government had no hand in what was purely an internal affair of The African Church and one would have expected you to have discerned this fact, having been familiar with the deliberate conflation of facts with fiction by mostly rabble-rousers and agents provocateur that populate the political space.
    I will not even dignify Dr. Abati’s confounding rant about the propriety or otherwise of the State Government to have a befitting lodge in the nation’s commercial capital-Lagos. This issue has been eloquently addressed by his Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel. But Dr. Abati should be reminded that practically every nation on planet earth has a befitting house in New York City, the financial capital of the United States nay the world. It is not just because of the United Nations alone that these nations have befitting houses in the city, but because of the ease of doing business with the business and financial mavens of the world who make New York City their home.
    In conclusion, let me inform Dr. Abati and his ilk that even though we may have differences politically which is an expected occurrence in a democratic space, on the issue of our Christian faith, the State is wholly homogenous and we, I repeat wear our Christian faith with pride and élan and no amount of bewildering assertions by an otherwise smart political pundit will take the Christian armour that we have worn for centuries off our backs. We are Christian soldiers and are marching on gloriously. My advice to Dr. Abati is simple: get used to it!
    Ekerete Udoh is the Chief Press Secretary and Senior Special Assistant (Media) to Governor Udom Emmanuel.

  • Why safe water is a compelling project

    -EU, UNICEF bring succour to Akwa Ibom community

    By Abu Veronica

    Seventy-year-old Harriet Sunday has lived her entire life in Ikot Esop community in Nsit Atai local government area in the oil-rich Akwa Ibom State, South South Nigeria.

    The community is home to more than a thousand four hundred persons and a majority of them are small-scale farmers and petty traders.
    Tucked in the lighter rain forest stock , this settlement is the typical African setting of ages when the continent was known to colonialists as “dark” and of “hewers of wood and fetchers of water”.

    Aside its beautiful scenery, Ikot Esop for centuries yearned for safe drinking water. As a young child, Mama, as Harriet is fondly called, said she dreaded waking up early and walking miles to the village stream to get water for the entire household.

    The task, she explained, was both backbreaking and time-consuming.

    Her ordeal increased when she became wife and mother of eight children. Now she had to work all day not only to provide water but also till the soil to put food on the table for her family, leaving her with less time to bond with her children.

    “It was difficult as a mother to get enough water for the entire family, if it were to be now, it wouldn’t have been like that,” she said, speaking in her local dialect.

    Asked if her husband ever helped out at the stream, she smiled and said no. Local customs put such job beyond men!
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    At the start of each year, she hoped and prayed the water situation improve, but as years turned into decades, she lost hope and the stream continued to be her last resort.

    The stream is popularly known as Iket Esop river and was the community’s only source of water supply for centuries, according to local accounts.
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    The stream is about 10-kilometre walk to and from the village centre‎. The road to it is slippery and untarred while rafia palm and chirping birds bid visitors welcome as they approach the mouth of the stream.

    The path to the river is hilly and steep with alternating holes as steps, the size of foot, dug at various points to aid movement and prevent accidents .And accidents were frequent. Often the women would slip off the steps. Many water pots and utensils were lost. Of course, injuries resulted, bruises and bone dislocation or fracture. As water was scarce, so medicare was far-fetched.Herbs were used to treat bruises while the local bone setter was the only veritable “physician”. And a woman would recall two family members who were confined to using walking stick early in life after they crashed on the path, till they passed on.

    Despite the hard road to the stream, its water is far from being ‎pure; part of its surface is covered with algae.
    ‎
    ‎”We use it to wash clothes, bathe and we have to boil the water before we drink,” Augustine Carlos, a tour guide, said.

    “Three communities depend on the stream for their source of water and some individuals come here to offer sacrifice‎ and pray to the goddess of the river. The water doesn’t get dry.”

    ‎Carlos said the poor quality of the water had repeatedly led to the outbreak of waterborne diseases in the village and it was in the bid to address it that members of the community in 2009 dug a well which supplies water only in the rainy season and dries up during the harmattan.

    Ukeme Etim, a driver, corroborated the story and noted that the dry season was the most difficult period for his family as it was difficult for them to get water.
    ‎
    Twenty three-year-old Edidion Pius, a mother of two, shared the same view.
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    But respite came the way of the villagers in 2013 when the village was selected for a water project under the Niger Delta support project sponsored by the European Union, UNICEF and the state government.Now modernity has come to the rural community. A proper water facility complete with treatment plant, overhead storage tanks and distributed by quality pipes and taps all over the community. Safe water is here, Ikot Esop is no more the same.

    The project saw water taps installed at different areas of Iket Esop, a development that has brought joy and excitement to members of the community.Threat to life via water-borne diseases and accidents on the path to the stream, has been eliminated.

    The women sang and danced at the launch of the project, saying they had now turned the page on decades of water scarcity and disease.

    They said they now invest quality time in their businesses which in turn has improved their living condition and hygiene. With infectious smiles in the crowd, Harriet said the water project was for her a “childhood dream come true”.

  • Group condemns secrecy on Akwa Ibom 2017 Supplementary Budget

    Civil society groups in Akwa Ibom State have urged has condemned the secrecy surrounding the 2017 Supplementary Budget recently passed into law by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
    However, the groups, urged that the government reallocate its 2017 budgetary funds to programmes and projects that would create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the state.

    The groups, made their displeasure known in a statement signed by Mr. Harry Udoh, Chairman of the state’s civil society umbrella group, Akwa Ibom State Guild of Community Development Advocates (AKGCODA), said observes with dismay the unfolding events surrounding the 2017 supplementary budget.

    The statement reads, “We disappointed at the way and manner the supplementary budget was surreptitiously presented by the state executive and hurriedly passed by the State House of Assembly.
    “The forum wonders why the state government seems surprised at the spate of speculations and hearsay reports that the request and passage of the supplementary budget has generated within the state, when they themselves created room for such speculation by refusing make the supplementary budget publicly available and not giving citizens the opportunity to participate in the process.
    “This posturing by government runs contrary to the avowed commitment of the government to uphold the tenets of transparency and accountability as expressed by
    Gov Udom Emmanuel, the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, in his 2016 and 2017 budget speeches and on February 7, 2017 during an Anti-Corruption summit held at the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort. At paragraph 10 of his speech on that occasion, he had said “I am confident that this summit will rekindle in all the participants, the zeal to imbibe openness and accountability in our dealings as we strive to provide sustainable development for our people.
    “We should ensure strict compliance to due process in the business of government and drastically reduce, if not completely eliminate, waste in public spending. Fraudulent activities, indolence, bribery, nepotism, lack of transparency and all such manifestations of corruption will not be tolerated in the public service of Akwa Ibom State and this, I am happy to report has been internalized by our people”.
    “From snippets of the supplementary budget we have been privileged to scout, the humongous amounts allocated to certain projects gives serious cause for concern. For instance, the revised budget of N1.2b for the construction of government lodge/office in Lagos is just for 2 items – construction of foundation and basement, and Mobilisation – whatever that means.
    “The forum also notes, sadly, that a whopping N10b has been approved for “Site investigation, site preparation, Design/Drawing and Piling/Foundation for the construction of high rise office building at the site of the former Uyo main market”. High Rise office building? How many Storeys high? Another worrisome allocation in the supplementary budget is the N10b for the Coconut Plantation and oil refinery, a project that has already gulped over N7b already. For a state battling with over 38% youth unemployment rate with the incidence of poverty bordering around 47%, it would be advisable to make more prudent use of the state’s resources.
    “We are also surprised at the unceremonious removal of the 2017 budget earlier published on-line for public benefit from the internet. The budget is the most important content in the state government’s website. We therefore deem it highly suspect that at a time like this when public interest in this document is at an all-time high, the government would choose to restrict citizens assess.
    In the light of the above, we call on the Akwa Ibom State government to employ the process of virement and other budget management tools to reallocate funds from some of the controversial items to more pressing needs of the Akwa Ibom People including programmes and projects that would create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the state.
    “Publish the 2017 approved budget and the recently passed 2017 supplementary budget on the state government website in a format that is easily accessible to citizens.
    “Organize outreach events to bridge the gap in citizens’ engagement on fiscal governance. These fora could also be used to garner citizens’ input into the 2018 budget to avoid a repeat of the current scenario and domesticate the Public Procurement Act
    “We therefore implore government to take citizens engagements in good fate as this goes to further deepen our democracy.”
  • Akwa Ibom varsity expels 21 students

    Akwa Ibom varsity expels 21 students

    The Management of Akwa Ibom State University says the institution has expelled 21 students for various offences committed in 2016.

    The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Eno Ibanga stated this while speaking with newsmen in Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enim Local Government Area of the state on Saturday.

    He said the students were expelled for various offences ranging phone theft, and grievous harm among others.

    Ibanga noted that due process was followed before the students were expelled.

    He explained that the Students’ Disciplinary Committee was set up by the university to ensure that students who had committed various offences were dealt with.

    “If you have issue and your case is sent to student disciplinary committee and we have students’ information handbook that tells you the dos and don’ts in the university.

    “We don’t want to encourage truancy, and misbehaviour, when you commit an offence, we send you there and then if you are found culpable, you will be expelled from the institution.

    “This is democracy, we don’t just wake up and expel somebody, you must follow due process before anybody is expelled,’’ Ibanga said.

    The vice chancellor said that the institution had zero tolerance for cultism.

    According to him, the campus is not comfortable for cultists to operate.

  • Lagos, Delta, A’Ibom, highest indebted states in Nigeria – DMO

    Lagos, Delta, A’Ibom, highest indebted states in Nigeria – DMO

    …As Anambra maintains lowest debt figure of N3.5billion

    The Debt Management Office, DMO has identified Lagos, Delta and Akwa Ibom States has the highest indebted states in Nigeria with debt profiles to the tune of N707billion as at December 31, 2016.

    Lagos State had a local debt stock of N311.7 billion as at Dec. 31, 2016.

    The state, referred to as the commercial hub of Nigeria, had the highest local debt stock in the country during the period.

    A document posted on the Website of DMO disclosed that total local debts of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was N2.958 trillion as at December 31, 2016.

    Delta followed Lagos with N241.3 billion in local debts, while Akwa Ibom came third with N155.4 billion in local debts.

    The three states were followed by FCT with N152.8 billion debt stock, Osun with N147 billion, Rivers N142.4 billion and Bayelsa N140.1 billion.

    The document also said that the lowest indebted state was Anambra with N3.9 billion, followed by Yobe with N13.5 billion and Jigawa with N19 billion.

    Anambra state had the lowest domestic debt figure of N3.5 billion in 2015 and still maintained the lowest figure in 2016.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that domestic debt is the amount of money raised by any government denominated in local currency from its own residents.

    The debts consist of two components: bank and non-bank borrowing.

    Domestic loans are issued through government debt instruments such as Nigerian Treasury Bills, Nigerian Treasury Certificates, Federal Government Development Stocks, Treasury Bonds, Ways and Means Advances.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Police confirm abduction of two Turkish construction workers in A’Ibom

    The Police in Akwa Ibom say two Turkish construction workers were expatriates abducted by gunmen in their hotel rooms at Eket, Eket Local Government of Akwa Ibom on Sunday.

    Mr Chukwu Okechukwu, an ASP, and public relations officer of the command, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo on Monday that the Turkish nationals worked for BKS Construction Company in Onna Local Government Area of the state.

    He said that they were seized at Airstrip Hotel in Eket by the gunmen.

    “ The state police command is working tirelessly to rescue the expatriates. The Commissioner of police has mobilised the anti-kidnapping unit and a special anti-crime unit to ensure that they are freed unhurt,” he said.

    The police spokesman said at the time of their abduction, their identities, nationalities and work place were unknown.

    He said no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction and no ransom demand made.

  • Akwa Ibom assembly approves N1.9 bn loan request by executive

    Akwa Ibom assembly approves N1.9 bn loan request by executive

    The Akwa Ibom House of Assembly has approved a loan request of N1.9 billion to enable the state government pay its counterpart fund for the provision of infrastructure in public schools.

    This was sequel to Governor Udom Emmanuel’s letter sent to the House and read at plenary on Thursday.

    After a careful deliberation by members present, the House Leader, Mr Udo Kerien Akpan, moved the motion for approval and it was seconded by Mr Effiong Bassey, the member representing Oron State Constituency.

    According to the letter from the governor, the loan will enable the state government to provide facilities in primary schools and junior secondary schools.

    Also at plenary, the assembly passed a resolution authorising the state government to issue a letter to the Federal Ministry of Finance to purchase 600,000 bags of fertiliser for farmers in the state.

    According to the letter, the 600, 000 bags of fertiliser would be sold to the farmers at N5,500 per bag in order to boost food production in the state.

    The letter stated that N3 billon would be refunded to the Federal Government after sales.

    The Speaker, Mr Onofiok Luke, directed the clerk of the house to communicate the resolution of the House to the governor and other relevant authorities for action.

  • A/Ibom to re-absorb 5,000 sacked teachers after screening – HoS

    The Akwa Ibom State Government has said it will re-absorb the 5,000 teachers sacked last October on ground of alleged fake credentials and other irregularities observed in the recruitment process.

    The State Head of Civil Service, Mrs Ekereobong Akpan, made the announcement on Thursday in Uyo while briefing newsmen.

    Akpan said the government had set up modalities for the screening and re-validation of the affected teachers, adding that the exercise would commence on Feb. 11.

    The Head of Service said the government had decided to open another window of opportunity to enable the teachers, especially those who possess relevant qualification to be recruited.

    She said that the teachers would be screened on presentation of their original letter of appointment from the suspended the exercise.

    “The affected persons will be expected to supply their birth certificates, First School Leaving Certificates, Educational Qualifications, Certificate of Origin and other credentials earlier submitted in the aborted recruitment exercise.

    “Let me state here and very sincerely that all the affected persons, who succeed at this fool proof screening shall be offered appointment to teach in our public schools,” Akpan assured.

    She said that the government had also set up a committee to ascertain the total number of staff inherited from the six privately owned community schools taken over by the government in 2012.

    She expressed surprise that the staff strength in the six community schools increased to 546 after the government took over the schools.

    “Let me break the good news that the committee set up has submitted its report.

    “All the bonafide teaching and non-teaching staff as identified by the community, who used to payroll them, will be absorbed into the service,” Akpan said.

     

    NAN

  • Akwa Ibom to bury 200 abandoned corpses

    As part of plans to decongest public storage facilities in the state, the Akwa Ibom State Government has said it will organize a mass burial for over 200 abandoned bodies deposited in the some morgues in the first quarter of 2017.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong, revealed this in Uyo on Thursday while defending the 2017 budget of his ministry.

    He added that the abandoned corpses were to be evacuated from the mortuary at Ikot Okoro General Hospital, Oruk Anam Local Government Area of the state.

    Ukpong added that the impending exercise was intended to complement what his ministry did at the Immanuel General Hospital, Eket LGA a year ago.

    Ukpong, who was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary in his ministry, Mr. Bassey Attih; Director of Medical Services, Dr. Martin Akpan, and that of the Public Health, Dr. Godwin Ebuk, and other directors to the budget defence, stated that almost all public hospitals where mortuary services were provided in the state were overloaded with abandoned corpses.

    “As you may be aware, we have a tradition that when a chief or the head of a family dies, demands will be made to the deceased family to the extent of exposing them to place their lands for sale and this will last for between two and three years thereby overstretching our mortuaries with abandoned corpses,” he said.

    Mass burial, he said, was the only avenue of decongesting public mortuaries of abandoned corpses to enable people with good burial planning to patronise their services in the state.

    Ukpong used the forum to ask for financial provision from the state government to aid emergency response services in the state.

    According to him, financial provision was necessary to enable health officials to respond promptly to emergency situations in any part of the state.

  • We don’t want your cow gift, Akwa Ibom NLC tells Gov. Udom

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Akwa Ibom has rejected a cow gift for Christmas and New Year given to them by Governor Udom Emmanuel.

    The state Chairman of NLC, Mr Etim Ukpong, explained on Friday in Uyo that the rejection was the unanimous decision of the congress at their state executive meeting.

    Ukpong said that it was not proper for the state government to give them cow gift after much persuasion on the government.

    He said that the state congress decision was also to preserve the sanctity of the union and its constitution.

    “Comrade, we must stand firm on the decision we collectively took yesterday and be bold to ask why NLC have to beg virtually for everything in the state.

    “Workers condemn in strong term the lack of concern by the state government toward the issues concerning Nigeria Labour Congress,” Ukpong said.

    The labour leader urged the state government to be more responsible towards the labour union.

    He said that the labour union would continue to maintain its integrity and focus on the welfare of its members in the state.

    Ukpong accused the governor of creating division in the NLC by using certain greedy members of the union to achieve his aim and boycott workers’ rights and agitation.

    The state government was yet to react to the development.