Why Gov Udom Emmanuel wants An Industrialist to Succeed him

The governor has said it overtime, also recently that he will not impose anyone of the people, and that only God can decide who his successor would be. The quality of a successor must be someone who will be beneficial to Akwa Ibom people, who understands the people and comes from the people. The governor has said that he does not desire a third term by imposing anyone of Akwa Ibom people.

But what Akwa Ibom should have in mind is what quality of a successor should succeed him. Such a person should bear in his mind the quality of service rendered to the people in the last six years; in education, agriculture, industrialization, health, road construction, etc., these are some of the projects the successor should bear in mind, alongside the Completion Agenda of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration.

So, looking at the framework of his achievements in the last six years, what is he trying to say about who succeeds him? It should be improving the lives of the people. This has been done by improving the health sector, giving inputs to farmers, creating an environment that business can grow and expanding on the already existing infrastructure. We had an airport deigned by Gov. Victor Attach, completed with the first flight landing in Akwa Ibom State. And today, aircrafts are not just landing in the airport, we own an airline; it is a major achievement of the administration, the first in Nigeria. We are a success story that a State Government can operate an airline successful. We also have international runway with  an MRO; these are a major achievement of this administration. These are creating opportunities for employment. Even the Ibom Deep Seaports have 80 percent certification for formal operations, so what does this mean? Today, two basic frameworks to achieving the seaport are free trade zones; one is operational now, the other one will soon be operational. The freetrade zones are the starting point to achieving deep seaport operations. These are areas the will expand the scope of employment, alongside the industries that are coming. The seaport has opened a major shoreline that people will be doing business, so, when you look at the framework of what is in ground today, what kind of person would you want to manage all these investments? He should be someone with industrialized mindset, who can complete the activated framework that is on the ground now. For example, there is a major relationship between the governor and the industrial community that brought about the seaport certification and not politics. What we have achieved today is not political, it is establishment relationship. What the governor is saying is that we need someone with an entreprenurial capacity and the exposure to meet with other businesses because you do not play politics with people’s investments, you must secure investments with trust, we need someone who can manage these investments. If an Industrialist has these qualities, he is qualified, if he’s politician with these qualities, he’s qualified. So, nobody is excluded, but these are the qualities Akwa Ibom people should look out for to succeed the governor.

Before Governor Udom Emmanuel came into power, we had a governor who promised 31 industries in all the local government areas of the state, yet none was done. But today, within a space of six years, you can count the industries this administration has brought in. We started with the Syringe industry and someone said it is not possible but the quality of the Syringe produced here is the best in the entire nation. It has cut across the country, reducing importation of syringes into the country. You can ask, what’s the status of our hospitals today? He came with a model of reviving the hospitals and this has touched all the local government areas