Governor Akpabio Explains Why His Detractors Hate Him.

In six years, you have transformed the state through massive infrastructural development. Why did you place accent or policy thrust in this area?

Gov. Akpabio: I think it was a onetime United States President-John Adams who said that he would study politics and war so that his children will have the freedom and luxury to engage in industry and commerce. He went on to add that, having established the enabling environment for his children to engage in commerce and industry, his grandchildren will then have the prosperity to engage in art and literature.

When I came in as governor in May 2007, I met a state that required me to study politics and war-in the mold of President Adams. In my respect however, I had to study and wage another war: I had to wage war against decaying infrastructure, war against illiteracy. I had to wage war against marginalization, a war against perception and other stereotypical definitions; I had to wage war against low self-esteem, war against the absence of basic infrastructure. So my target from outset was to build capacity and improve the sense of self-esteem and identity of the Akwa Ibom child.

I wanted to build as many good roads as possible; to open up the hinterland and stop rural- urban migration.
I wanted to provide electricity to our people and improve their quality of life. By the time I am done implementing the above programs, build airport, Tropicana, free education to all children of school age, create the enabling environment for commerce and industry to take root, then my children and grandkids, will have the freedom to engage in arts and culture.
I think we have been able to discharge and dispense democratic dividends to the good people of Akwa Ibom state and the dividends are all there on the ground for everyone to see.

I was not happy that the capital of Akwa Ibom state-Uyo still looked like the seat of a local government it was before the state was created. I wanted to change the physical land- scape of the place, and turn it into a city. Today, I am happy that we have been able to transform Uyo into a city. We wanted to make Akwa Ibom State become the nucleus of economic de- velopment in Nigeria, and you can’t achieve that if the state lacks basic infrastructure, so my government decided to make the provision of en- during infrastructure our cardinal and central thrust. We wanted to spur economic activities. To date, my gov- ernment has constructed 204 urban roads, 49 in Eket alone, 28 in Ikot Ekpene, 34 urban roads in Ikot Abasi and 18 urban roads in Oron. These places were formerly cut off from the rest of the state, due to deplorable and sometimes impassable roads. We have succeeded in linking these parts to other parts of the state and that’s why the people of Akwa Ibom state are happy and supportive of my ad- ministration. When we came in, out of the 2,700 villages in the state, only 1,152 were connected to the national grid, which means over a thousand villages did not have electricity at all. In my first two years in office, 400 communities were connected to the national grid. 

Today, as we speak, con- tracts have been given for the provision of electricity to 800 villages in the state through our ministry of Rural Development. My hope is that by the time we leave in 2015, no village in Akwa Ibom state should be without electricity. I hope to connect the state- all nooks and crannies to the national grid. Our Power plant in Ikot Abasi already is functional.

We looked at the issue of traffic congestion and what effect it has on future productivity, and we decided to build flyovers to ameliorate that possibility. We tackled the drainage and flooding is- sue by constructing the first of its kind under- ground drainage system. We felt that if our people are to have a better quality of life, drainage and flooding must be ad- dressed. Above all, some of the infrastructure we have erected may be affected by flooding, so we are always guided by a vision to create an enduring and sustainable growth and development of the state.

Akwa Ibom International Airport. When the initial contractors did not seem to meet our expectations and pace, we went ahead and got another contractor and today, our people don’t have to travel to Calabar, Port- Harcourt or Owerri to board aircrafts to their desired destinations. We have improved health care delivery processes in the state, and have employed doctors and specialists, with better emoluments. We are constructing one of its kind E-library which would serve as a research and resource tool for our people. We have improved agriculture. Many of our people are amazed that government can work for the people. We have partnered with the Vietnamese to improve our rice production. As we speak, they are in the state. We have created Akwa Ibom Food Reserve- to conserve and store food for the rainy day. Our people are amazed at what we have done and they usually wonder aloud to themselves: “So government can work? They call what we have done an Uncommon Transformation.”

In spite of your spectacular performance Your Excellency, the opposition in the state has been strident, and has employed all forms of machinations, subterfuge and other tactics that are ethically and morally reprehensible. They have written all kinds of allegations-mostly spurious and unfounded-all aimed at demonizing and cast you in bad light. How do you stay grounded in the face of all these politically motivated attacks?

Gov. Akpabio: If you’ll recall, when Akwa Ibom was created from the old Cross River State in 1997, assets-both movable like cars, office equipment and immovable assets like hotels, stadium, hotels etc were shared. Part of the movable assets we inherited was the army of professional petition writers – people whose activities had made the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar – Professor Emmanuel Ayandele to describe Cross River state as “an atomistic society perpetually at war with itself.” These people are still very much alive and have gotten more brazen in their machinations. As of today, we have 49 petitions against us, all based on spurious and unsubstantiated allegations. 

They will add, subtract, review, amplify their petitions-all aimed at making the state and its leadership look bad. These people have used the media, the internet and other new media to write all kinds of outlandish articles about our government, they have attacked my character, my motivations. I don’t mind them attacking me based on policy thrust or philosophical differences, in a democracy, that is welcome, but when such attacks are based on innuendos and are not factual, then it is truly unfortunate. 

It is not like these people don’t see the massive infrastructural transformation we have brought to bear in the state; it’s not like they don’t have children or relatives who are benefiting from our free and comprehensive education we have introduced, it’s not like they don’t travel through the rich network of roads we have constructed; it’s not like they don’t fly from Abuja and Lagos direct to the international air- port in Uyo which my government saw to its completion, it’s not like they don’t see the improved health care delivery, with easy availability of doctors and specialists, it’s not like they don’t see the improved agricultural process and output, it’s not like they don’t see the physical transformation of the Uyo metropolis land- scape, it’s not like they don’t see the many quality of life projects we are constructing and commissioning-the E-Library, the Tropicana Project, they have seen all these, but they are so blinded by the negative force and emotion of hate that they think they can win power by invoking fear, blackmail and a resort to ethnic and identity politics. One thing they have failed to understand is that the Akwa Ibom state of today has moved beyond such politics of divisiveness- we are practicing politics of inclusiveness. I was voted into office not to answer critics; I was voted to work and deliver democratic dividends to my people.

 I will not be judged by how much time I spent answering blackmailers, but by what legacy I leave on the ground, and I am glad that in six and half years, we have done the people’s job and they have in turn supported us overwhelmingly. So to answer your question, the knowledge that our programs and policies have touched people’s lives in a profound manner and change their perception of government as a force for good, the antics and machinations of the opposition will not veer us off the course of massive development we have sworn to bring to the state.

When I came in, in 2007, I made a pledge that we would use the re- sources of the state to take care of the needs of the people, to transform the physical and psychological layers of the state. The era of sharing people’s money was over, and those who fed fat on the people’s money, suddenly didn’t have such easy money available to them again. That is why they hate everything we have done, even when the whole world is celebrating us. But I am not worried,the people appreciate what we have for them, the whole country appreciates what we are doing here, the international community celebrates what we are doing here. That is all that matters. The foundation of a prosperous Akwa Ibom state has been laid, and that brings me joy of unquantifiable proportions than what some unhinged op- position are manufacturing in their heads.

Free education up to secondary school level was not part of your initial campaign issue. What informed your decision to introduce this policy?

Gov. Akpabio: I lost my dad when I was six months old, so going to school was difficult, due to the circumstance we found ourselves in. So I made a promise that should God give me the opportunity to serve the people, no child as you guys say in America “would be left be- hind” on account of lack of money to pay tuition and associated fees. So you are right, it wasn’t part of my campaign promise, but I later decided to introduce it, and it has become a roaring success. I get testimonies everywhere I go; children whose lives would have been consigned to those of indentured servants now have hopes and dreams of becoming professionals and contributing to the society; children who otherwise would have been trafficked to Gabon, Lagos, and Abuja etc. are now in school. 

We have codified this policy when I signed the “Child’s right Protective Law” and I put in a provision that made education compulsory for children and made it a criminal offense for a parent who refuses to let a child of school age to go to school. The idea is whether you are a destitute, an orphan or whatever your circumstance maybe, that such should not stop you from going to school. We have education monitors in all the three senatorial districts, whose primary task is to move around and look for children who are not in school or who are seen on the street hawking when they should have been in the school. There are provisions for caution, reprimand and for outright imprisonment. I want to fight disunity with literacy because a literate population would be a more rational population.