By Sam Eyoboka, Olayinka Latona and David Oso

THE Akwa Ibom State Government has restated its commitment to establish industrial estates in different parts of the state for the promotion of small and medium scale enterprises.

The state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Elder Adasi Ubulom made the assertion during a recent visit to Lagos to attend the flag-off ceremony of Methodist Church’s 170th year of autonomy/50th anniversary of entry into Nigeria, pointing out that the idea of the estates was borne out of the government’s vision to make Akwa Ibom an investor’s destination.

According to the commissioner who is a lay president with the Methodist Church, indigenes of the state can testify to unprecedented transformation that has taken place in the state in the last four years by the present administration.

Gov Akpabio

“Akwa Ibom used to be a pedestrian state but now it has become a destination. Akwa Ibom now has almost 2,200 roads that have been constructed to meet international standards. According to the Aviation Minister, the Akwa Ibom International Airport is the best in this country so far because it meets international standards as best practices were employed in the building of the airport,” he stated.

Buttressing his argument for investors to see the state as a natural destination, Elder Ubulom said “there are free medical services for the aged and children of between the ages of zero and five years.”

Education in Akwa Ibom State, he said, “is free and compulsory and in addition to that, the state government pays for all candidates sitting for NECO and WAEC examinations. Workers in the state, in addition to the regular salary paid monthly, they earn double salary in December which the civil servants now call AKPABIOMBER because they have never seen the type before.”

According to the commissioner, Akwa Ibom democracy is the real definition of democracy as it is practised in civilized countries, pointing out that the state government has a real human face; because democracy means government of the people by the people and for the people.

“This means that democracy must be able to take into consideration and bring to the front burner the welfare of the people. Any government that is void of the welfare of the people is not democracy. If Nigerians want to know what democracy stands for, people should come to Akwa Ibom and see what is on ground and they will be amazed.

“At least, Gov. Akpabio is not going for third term; therefore nobody is campaigning, but because of what we have put in place in the first four years, this second term, we are going to build on industry and those things that should woo industrialists to the state.

We have good road network; even taking over Federal Government roads because the roads are being used by the citizens.”

Akwa Ibom State has given governance a new definition of what people should stand to gain because of the infrastructural development and the transformation taking place. That is what is happening in Akwa Ibom State, he stated, adding “the state is now a destination state and no longer a pedestrian state that it used to be. Even the indigenes can bear testimony to this.”

Asked what the focus of the Akpabio administration will be in the second term, Sir Ubulom said: “We are going to create wealth and employment through industry. That is why he used his first four years to build infrastructure; good roads, airport, compulsory and free education because without education, the people are not informed, but rather deformed.

“These necessary things are actually in place so that we can start industrialization. The second term of this administration is going to be based on industrialisation. And as the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, we have on board 50 industries that we are going to develop through the informal sector of the economy and everything is in place.

“The state has set aside N20 billion for this vision and we are calling on investors to come in because every local government has industrial estates where foreign investors will be given free land so that our youths can be employed. We believe that once our youths are occupied, crime will be reduced in the society.

“We believe that once our youths are occupied, they will not be idle and think of anything evil. Therefore we want to create employment which will bring about wealth. Our vision for this term is employment and wealth creation and everything is in place to incubate this vision,” the commissioner stated.

On the friction between Akwa Ibom and its sister state, Cross River over oil wells that were moved from one place to another, the commissioner said the issue has been handled maturely between the two sister states.

“We don’t have problem any longer; we still exist as sisters. We came out of Cross River State; therefore we don’t have to fight with each other. Whatever creation that was done, boundary separation and the rest of them have not removed that ancestral link so there is no problem any longer,” he explained.

Speaking on the nagging issue of Nigerian indigenes who are being maltreated by Cameroon gendarmes on the other side of Bakassi, Elder Ubulom urged the affected Nigerians to return home, saying “we are bound by the international jurisdiction that was adopted and accepted by the government of Olusegun Obasanjo.

“Akwa Ibom State is rich in oil; either offshore or onshore and we don’t have problem harbouring our people,” he stated, adding “we have been calling on the affected people to come back home because by this industrial policy that we have on board, every person must come home and be accommodated.

“Why people were running around was because there was no employment and infrastructural development and those things that will create conducive environment for people to be accommodated in their homes.

“But as a government, we have been able to put these things into place and no one has any reason to run away from the state. We are calling on our people not only those in Cameroon but others all over the world to come home so that we can together build this state. All hands must be on deck to make it what it should be. It is not a mystery,” Sir Ubulom appealed.