I CONFRONTED OBJ FOR HOLDING BACK AKWA IBOM OIL MONEY – SENATOR EMMANUEL IBOK ESSIEN, FNSE

Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien is a Nigerian engineer, entrepreneur, educationist, and politician who served as Senator for Akwa Ibom North-West from 1999 to 2003 under the PDP.

With a professional foundation in civil engineering, he transitioned into public service, supporting key Senate committees and the push for revenue equity. A visionary in education, he founded Ritman University and colleges to elevate access to quality learning in Ikot Ekpene. He bares his mind on Akwa Ibom at 38 in this brief interview.

A person who is 38, is a full adult, and must have achieved some reasonable milestones and I am glad to say that Akwa Ibom has attained very reasonable milestones at 38. Looking back to where we were 38 years ago when the state was created, Uyo was like a village but today, Uyo has become one of the biggest metropolises in Nigeria. The other local governments were just hamlets of villages, outside Ikot Ekpene, Eket and Oron. But today, the entire 31 local governments of Akwa Ibom State have become cities, and well connected with link routes and electricity. So you could see the level of growth that has taken place in the thirty-eight years of Akwa Ibom State, and we are glad for it.

We are very glad because the various governors that have governed this state have done creditably well. Starting from the first governor, Colonel Tunde Ogbeha who led the initial foundation, followed by Abbe, who came and continued with that foundation and expanded  it, followed by Idongesit Nkanga, followed by Obong Akpan Isemin, followed by Colonel Baku, followed by Navy Captain Adeusi followed by Ebiye, followed by Obong Victor Attah and from Victor Attah who was the architect that did the master plan of Akwa Ibom State, when the state was created in 1987, who also had the privilege of implementing the master plan that he developed. That has made the state to be a model in the committee of states in Nigeria.

During Attah’s time, there was no money because of the challenge of the onshore offshore oil dichotomy and resource control, which we fought, Attah as the governor, then we at the National Assembly.

Actually, the struggle for the abrogation of the onshore-offshore oil dichotomy started at the National Assembly. Then I took it up to the caucus of the party as the deputy chief within the senate there. Attah gave me all the necessary support to push the issue through at the caucus level and got the approval of the caucus for the payment of the offshore component of the money to Akwa Ibom State. But we had a challenge, which I have put in my book, which caused the president then, Obasanjo, to take it to the Supreme Court and then, as Obasanjo had already proclaimed, that Akwa Ibom State will come crying when the Supreme Court decides in favour of the federal government and it came to pass. And that heightened the fight, which took us to the Security Council of Nigeria, which Obasanjo invited myself, Attah and Senator Udo Udoma and I clearly pointed it out to him that we will not rest until we get our oil money. Otherwise, the president himself will die and yes, of course, I said that in caucus at the Security Council, where he called all the security chiefs. I said it and they were amazed.

They thought I was mental, but I said the truth and eventually, he saw that we were not giving in. I have all the story in my book and then, eventually, we fought through, through the National Assembly, and got the abrogation of Onshore-Offshore Oil Dichotomy, which brought money now to Akwa Ibom, which the president, the subsequent governors in Akwa Ibom State have been enjoying and using it for the development of the state. I really thank the governors that have deployed the money very effectively, I thank Godswill Obot Akpabio because the kind of work, the uncommon transformation he did in Akwa Ibom is incomparable. I also thank Udom Emanuel, who came after him, for completing some of the projects that Godswill Akpabio started, and also undertaking his own project, which he handed some to the present Governor, Umo Eno. And Umo Eno has done tremendously well in the last two years. I can say that, and say it again, that he has shown passion and compassion in the governance of Akwa Ibom State. He has delivered the ARISE Agenda, that has also put Akwa Ibom State in the front burner in this country.

So, I congratulate all of them, I congratulate all the legislators that have contributed to making effective laws for the good governance of Akwa Ibom State and also, I congratulate all other stakeholders that have made significant progress and contribution to the progress of Akwa Ibom State. I am very happy at the level, at the stage, which Akwa Ibom State presently is and the sky is not even the limit of the Akwa Ibom State, because I do know that in the next few years, especially with the transformation that the governor is doing, the present Governor Umo Eno, that Akwa Ibom in the next 60 years will be a place that no other state, even Lagos, cannot compete with.

I congratulate the Governor and the former Governors, and all those who have contributed to the progress and development of Akwa Ibom State. I congratulate the Governor for the peace that we are witnessing in the state, especially at this time.