Another look at President Jonathan’s visit to Akwa Ibom State.
The smile on the face of President Goodluck Jonathan as he alighted from the presidential jet at the Ibom International Airport said it all: Democracy is working in Akwa Ibom.

You start feeling the air of good governance right from the new airport. Before now, any visiting president would need to fly to Calabar and use a chopper to access the state. But times change and so do circumstances.

For Akwa Ibom, often dismissed as a provincial state, times have changed. The president got a feel of the rhythm of the new tune that now graces the state from education to healthcare, housing to agriculture. The landmarks are multifarious.

So, when the president embarked on a two-day working visit to the state recently, he probably did not bargain for the enormity of the task ahead of him. He was billed to commission some of the projects of the Godswill Akpabio government.

I guess Mr President must have conjectured commissioning two or three projects as had always been the case in some states he had visited. But not so in Akwa Ibom. The president got more than a handful.

Starting from the airport which the president commissioned as soon as he alighted from the presidential jet by 11:35 am, it was projects galore and the enthusiasm of Governor Akpabio epitomised his joy as he guided the presidential ensemble through the state.

The airport, which is fully functional, is still work in progress. Conceived to be of international standard complete with hangar, it boasts a 3.6 km runway, 109 airfield lights, air control tower, fire fighting facility and other accoutrements that make for a standard airport. Besides, it is accessed by a dualised asphalted stretch of road measuring about 21 km and running from the airport to town.

Even with only the first phase completed, the Ibom airport straps the trappings of modernity and excellence in aviation. It was conceived by his predecessor, Victor Attah. Akpabio paid glowing tribute to Attah for his thoughtfulness in envisioning an airport for the state. Yet, in a country roiled by a culture that discountenances continuity, credit must go to Akpabio for not abandoning the vision.

It is a mark of greatness not weakness for a leader to continue with the vision of his predecessor especially when the end-product of such vision will benefit the people. The very fact that Akpabio did not jettison the vision of the previous government of which he was a key cabinet member for many years shows the largeness of his heart and an abiding commitment to offer only services that would impact positively on the people.

Without voicing it, it was obvious that Mr President must have been stressed albeit pleasantly by the catalogue of accomplishments he had to commission in just two days. Yet, it must be a soothing relief for the visiting president to see a PDP governor achieve so much in about three years. The opposition parties particularly the Action Congress never minces words each time they assess the ruling PDP government.

They dismiss it as under-performing from the centre to the states. But in Akpabio, there is a ruthless gagging of the critics not by force of autocratic intimidation but by peerless performance and matchless delivery of the dividends of democracy to the people.

Consider the following accomplishments: the Ibom International Airport and the dualised airport road, cottage hospitals, Governor’s Lodge, switch on of the Ibom Power Plant, the 56-km Afaha Obong – Etim Ekpo Iwukem Road with Bridge, among other roads, textbooks for the state’s free and compulsory education programme and many more including rural electrification programme.

Watching Jonathan commissioning the books cast my memory back to the eternal words of John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States . He was the son of John Adams, the second president of the US . The younger Adams was very scholarly and had mastery of many languages and this distinguished him as a successful diplomat before becoming the president.

He pursued scholarship and his ultimate wish was for all Americans to seek knowledge.

This is exactly what Akpabio is doing in Akwa Ibom… furnishing the means of acquiring knowledge and widening the sphere of existence. The governor did not only make primary and secondary education free and compulsory he also provided free books for the students. He has improved the learning ergonomics of both the state university and the federal university in Uyo.

Little wonder Jonathan himself, a man of learning and scholarship, quipped that commissioning those books was the highpoint of his visit. That is a fact. The greatest gift one can give to a child today is education. Good education is the key that unlocks the mystery of knowledge and a knowledgeable child is never in want of good conduct. He is confident and fully primed to face the challenges of an intensely competitive knowledge economy.

By providing free and compulsory education for the people and supplying them the chief tools for learning which are the books in their hands, Akpabio has furnished them with the means of acquiring knowledge, he has prolonged their lives and he has enlarged their sphere of existence. This is what governance is all about. It underscores Albert Einstein’s thesis that the ‘state must exist for the people’.

Akwa Ibom government exists for the people. It is not aloof from them, but it has made the people the centre of its existence. The result is the new work ethic that now pervades the state. This is the sense in which Akpabio can be said to have succeeded. He has taught the people how to fish rather than the tokenism of giving them fish. To borrow the words of former president of the United States , Ronald Reagan, “you cannot quarrel with success”.

This ought to guide those who still rakes the muck and throw dart at Akpabio … it is banal to quarrel with a man who is succeeding. Akpabio is succeeding and he deserves some respect.

By Bassey Etim a resident in Uyo

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July 20, 2010