MY COVENANT WITH AKWA IBOM PEOPLE, SEN. ESUENE

My covenant with Akwa Ibom people-Senator Helen Esuene

The Senator representing Akwa Ibom South (Eket) Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate, Her Excellency, Senator Helen Esuene has  declared her  interest to contest  the governorship position of Akwa Ibom State in the 2015 Elections  with a promise to run an open government founded on the principle of equity,  transparency, accountability, social justice and participatory democracy. Making her intention known in Abuja and Eket recently,  Senator Esuene, a former Honourable Minister for Environment  said the  philosophy of  her government will be hinged on  the popular dictum of ‘government of  the people, by the people and for the people’.

Sen. Helen Esuene

Senator Esuene stated that officials of government at all levels – be it executive or legislature  shall be encouraged  to get inputs regularly  from the people before taking critical decisions. “Our government shall be an all inclusive one as no section of the state will be left out in matters of governance. We shall at all times respond to the yearnings of our people and ensure that all sections of the state receive fair treatment in the provision of democracy dividends.  The belief that those in government hold power in trust for the people shall be upheld. We shall run a government based on the sovereign will of the people”, she explained.

According to her, traditional rulers, elders, women and youths shall be  consulted and engaged in the formulation, articulation and implementation of government policies as  they will be encouraged to participate in the ownership and maintenance of government infrastructures to complement the activities of security personnel in safeguarding these infrastructures.  She said by so doing our people will feel bound to see themselves as partners in governance rather than by-standers.

The principles of fairness, equity,  social justice,  peaceful coexistence and equal opportunity, she declared,  will be the  anchor upon which the wheels of her  government will stand. The former Honourable Minister of Environment also promised to make transparency and accountability in the management of the state’s  finances  the moral  fabric of  government as  she shall publicly render periodic accounts on the management of the state finances to sustain the confidence of our people.

Her Vision

On her vision for Akwa Ibom State,  Senator Esuene said she  longed to see an Akwa Ibom State that will become a toast of other states in Nigeria, a state  where its people will once again speak with one voice as in the days of Ibibio State Union, a state  where peace will eternally reign in the hearts of our people irrespective of tribe and tongue, a state where  its resourceful and brilliant youths will no longer settle for  menial jobs in other climes.  Senator  Esuene also promised to make  Akwa Ibom  an industrial hub and tourism destination in West Africa, and to usher in an era of economic prosperity and  abundance.

3-POINT  AGENDA

Senator Esuene has promised to run a government that will give the numerous  unemployed youths  of Akwa Ibom State a visible,  sustainable means of livelihood. She also promised  a government that will  fully deploy the vast human and industrial potentials of our state to make it an industrial destination.  Thirdly, she has promised to run  a government that will  ensure that the agricultural endowments of
our state are fully exploited to ensure food security for our people.

Her  vision for the people as  encapsulated in  her  3-point Agenda will therefore focus on the following key policy areas:

1.   Job Creation

2.  Industrialisation

3.  Food security

Unveiling her three point Agenda  to the press,  Senator Helen Esuene  explained her agenda thus:

Job Creation

The greatest challenge facing any government is creating jobs for its teeming youths.  It is necessary that our youths be engaged in productive work to take them away from crime and other anti-social behaviours.

We shall therefore be committed to providing at least 50, 000 jobs annually to our youths through the establishment of Trading Clusters  in all the 31 Local Government Areas of the  state. These Trading Clusters  will be built to encourage both skills acquisition and service delivery. While they will be markedly different from the conventional market system, these clusters  will take the form of semi-industrial rendezvous complete with modern facilities.

Since it is  almost impossible for government anywhere in the world to provide  jobs for all of its people, we shall create the enabling environment through provision of facilities  to our people to enable them start their own businesses. To this end,  we shall also encourage the formation of cooperative societies to facilitate business transactions among our people.

One way of tackling the current high level of unemployment in our state is that the government shall completely review the curricula of our schools at all levels to encourage acquisition of vocational, technical and technological  skills. This is to enable  products from such schools upon graduation  become employers of labour rather than become a burden on their parents and government. The world is increasingly moving towards a knowledge driven economy, and so there is need for our people to move with the times.  

With the free education policy of the state government,  it is expected that enrolment in schools would have doubled hence the need for serious planning on the part of government to fashion out an educational policy that can take care of the products that will come out from this system. 

Industrialisation

Our industrial policy will be driven by the vision to save our state from the quagmire of being continously labeled a  civil service state.  We shall collaborate with the Federal Government to ensure that the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) in Ikot Abasi  and other Federal Government owned industries are fully resuscitated and made operational.

The Government shall also review the circumstances  that led to the collapse and or abandonement of some industries in the state with a view to reviving them through the Public Private Partnership (PPP). The collaboration of foreign investors would be sought to revive these industries while efforts will be made to take advantage of the enormous oil and gas endowments of the state to go into petroleum related investments.

The State Government shall create the enabling environment for more indigenes of the state to go
into investments in oil and gas sectors of our economy.  The various agencies of state government like
AKIIPOC set up to facilitate the  industrial development of the state shall be overhauled to make them
more effective in service delivery.

Food Security

Our state is blessed with enormous agricultural  products and a good climatic condition that should make it one of the food baskets of the nation. It shall be the primary  task of our  government not only to ensure  food security in the state, but also to ensure that our farmers get value for their investments.  

We shall fully exploit our endowments in ocean foods, exports crops and many other agricultural products to feed our population and generate wealth and employment for our people. Government shall encourage farmers to set up cooperative societies in all the 31 Local Government Areas of the state. We shall provide our farmers all the necessary farming inputs and support. 

OTHER STRATEGIC AREAS

 Health Empasis will be placed  on Preventive Medicine and  Primary Health Care Delivery System.  Our primary health care delivery system will be better administered to ensure a reduction in infant and maternal death.  We shall embark on a comprehensive overhauling of our health care delivery system to make it more  effective in service delivery and in meeting international conventions on child,  maternal and reproductive health. The compulsory registration of births and deaths shall be made compulsory to ensure proper and effective planning by government.

Transport

Given the poor maintenance culture of our people, the existing  state of the art road  infrastructure built by the current administration will be maintained through the establishment of Akwa Ibom State  Road Maintenance Agency (AKIRMA).  Efforts will also be geared towards building of feeder roads to facilitate transportation of agriculture products  and fastrack  integrated  rural  development.  We shall also liaise with the Federal Government to ensure that the existing rail network criss- crossing  the country is extended to the state.

Tourism

The tourism potentials of the state will be fully developed to generate additional revenue for the state. These potentials will be developed in a sustainable manner as a critical source of revenue and
employment generation.  With an airport in place, a good network of road  and the proposed seaport at Ibaka, the State will be accessible and will be an attraction to international tourists and investors.  The natural beaches that abound in the state’s  129 kilometre coastlines along the Atlantic Ocean will be fully developed and  upgraded to meet  international standard.

Tourism sites where colonial legacies and monuments exist will be conserved and commercialized. We  shall as a deliberate government policy encourage private investors to provide world-class hotels and hospitality outlets. Our indigenous cultural festivals will be revived and upgraded to international standard to attract tourists and investors.

Education

Our education policy will be made more holistic. Our ongoing education system will be overhauled,
fine-tuned and made more functional. Our schools will be more properly equipped  for effective service delivery.

The policy will not just stop at acquisition of basic academic knowledge alone.  Our students will be  further  exposed through  Excursions,  Sports,  Debates, Boy Scouts, Girls Gude,  civic education, etc to get the best out of them. There will also be compulsory  introduction of ICT in the curriculum  of  both our primary and secondary schools levels across the state. This is  aimed at producing well rounded students who will be able to compete effectively at the global statge.

Our policy in education shall be to  produce the total child at the primary school level so that  they
would be able to face the challenges of higher education.; therefore, the  Universal Basic Education (UBE) in the state will be fine-tuned for more effective service delivery. Priorities will be given to teachers training and  proper equipment of  schools across the state.

Her Antecedents

As  for her  reasons  for  entering the governorship race,  there seems to be an unamity of  political opinion that her  public and community service records put her in a good stead as a front runner in the governorship race . She has rendered  17 years of unbroken,  dedicated and meritorous  service to her
fatherland.  She is  presently one  of the leading private employers of labour  in Akwa Ibom State with more than 500 employees cutting across all ethnic divides in Nigeria working and earning their daily leaving under her watch. 

Also, over 200 students mostly from indigent background are benefitting from her Annual Scholarship Scheme,  a project she started long before becoming a Minister and a Senator.

She  has also  set up the Job Network Centre to facilitate the employment  of youths  in  Akwa Ibom State into  Federal Ministries and Agencies. She also recently set up the Riviera Multipurpose Society to empower  women in the state to engage in productive services to earn a living. 

In her present position as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, She has successfully adopted
the policy of regular consultation  with her constituents through Town Hall meetings while also attracting numerous federal government projects to the  state. 

Most Akwa Ibom people acknowledge the fact that she  comes  from a heritage known to offer quality
service to mankind.   No one can deny the fact that  her  late husband,  the late Brigadier General Udoakagha Jacob Esuene established  an enviable model of governance  in the then South Eastern State  some 30 years ago,  a feat only equalled in distinction and impact by the uncommon transformation  of Akwa Ibom State by Obong Godswill Akpabio.

“It is therefore with a keen sense of patroitism and passion to build on the legacies of the transformative leadership of our dear governor, the modern architect of Akwa Ibom State, Obong  Dr. Godswill Akpabio that  I have  offered myself, out of a deep compassion and  concern, to take our state to the next level”,  Senator Esuene declared.

This article was written by Victor Effik,  a journalist and author  based in Abuja,  GSM 070  512  17194,  email: victoreffik@yahoo.com