We are biting more than we can chew - Gov Akpabio

Obong Godswill AkpabioObong Godswill Akpabio is the governor of Akwa Ibom State. In this interview with Assistant Editor, JACKSON UDOM, he speaks on challenges in office, his programme for the people of the state and sundry issues. Excerpts:

On plans by his administration to construct a new Government House
I want you to, after this session, visit the Government House as it is today. We recently signed a contract with Julius Berger to build a new Governor’s Lodge and as usual, with such a decision, a lot of political opponents jumped in and say there is no need for a new lodge. Infact, the previous administration had done a design for its renovation, but when we assessed the cost of renovation vis-a-vis the cost of a new one,we felt it was wiser to build a new one. The cost of renovation is almost N1.8 billion, while the cost for a new one is about 2.5 billion. So we said, it will look like wastage of public funds if we do massive renovation which won’t last us 10 years or there about. Whereas a new one would last 50 years. The intention is to leave legacies behind, leave something good for the people of Akwa Ibom State. But some people tend to misunderstand it, thinking that the governor is more concerned about his welfare, maybe he wants to live well, forgetting that by the time we finish the building, this administration may not even be the one to use it, it could be the next administration. So we brought in people to do evaluation and they concluded that we had some structural defects here and there and even the renovation cannot guarantee the functionability of the lodge. The contract is broken into about three parts.

The first part is the lodge itself, the second one is a kind of Women Centre that will house the Women Affairs Ministry, the office of the First Lady, and a banquet hall for the women. The third one is the aesthetics; landscaping, the fencing and other things that one would do. With the high cost of cement and other building materials, the total cost of all the jobs that would be done there would be N6.5 billion or thereabout. So some people just tended to misunderstand and went to the aggregate amount that makes them to say this is how much the lodge itself would cost.

On the printing machine bought for the Pioneer Newspapers over eight years ago.
I have a close sister, Christy Essien Igbokwe. I never had any problem with them, because I believe untill now, I am very close to the family. We spoke together last in 2002, when I was in Lagos. Suddenly, I saw a letter alleging threat to life. In the letter, she said the lives of members of her family, including children ,are being threatened. The letter also stated, ‘if you go and buy a new Rotary machine for the Pioneer newspapers, I will lead a protest to the EFCC for your prosecution whether you have immunity or not’. So I was astounded and I then realised that the basis of this threat to her life letter is that she doesn’t want the state government to purchase a Rotary machine for the Pioneer newspapers. For about eight years, we have produced substandard Pioneer newspapers. Every Akwa Ibom indigine knows those facts. The incumbent deputy governor was the commissioner for information then and he was even the one that was supposed to commission that machine but up till today, that machine has not been commissioned because right from the time the machine was installed, it was noticed that it was a refurbished machine and they saw all the defects. Several millions of Naira were spent on the machine to upgrade it from analogue to digital and it did not work. If they supply machines in other states and they work, I don’t know why that of Akwa Ibom should be different. The contract for the job was awarded by the last military administration in the state and was revalidated by the last administration. Even to produce 10 copies, you’ll use 90 copies of newsprint to produce a semblance of a newspaper. There was no cost effectiveness in the whole thing. It was a disaster, there was no hope for any economic gains and government continues to give subvention to the company and, as well, pay their salaries.I just even don’t understand why somebody would write such a letter.

Would a state governor go and threaten the lives of a contractor and her children,who had a contract during the military administration and who probably supplied a defective machine six or seven years ago? I just came in as the governor and my job is to ensure that I address and redress issues and move the state forward. If I need a new machine for the state, if we can afford it, we will buy a new one and move on. If there are issues connected with their contract, there are agencies of government that can deal with those issues. We did not even raise the issue till now, all we said was that the machine was defective from the outset therefore, could not do what we wanted. We started printing the Pioneer from outside since October 1, 2007.You are in the industry. I get really worried when the intentions of the supposedly highly placed people in the society would be to use this politically motivated letter to run down a governor.Let me say this categorically, this administration will never pander to the use of blackmail by anybody to make it not to put things right. So I see a politically motivated petition..

On his plans for the development of the state
We are very committed to changing things, particularly the perception of governance. People used to complain that so much money had been going to the Niger Delta in the past, but so little was seen on ground. What we want to do now is to do so much so that when you come you see more than the money we receive. I want you to ask, where did the governor manufacture money from to do all what is on ground? In eight months, we have made a lot of giant strides. I believe strongly that with commitment and maintenance of the tempo we should invite you in less than two years from now to join us in the commissioning of a lot of people oriented projects. Outside that, we are doing a lot in the area of education. We have sent our sons and daughters abroad for training in aviation because of our International Airport which we are pursuing assiduously. We have employed more than 200 children in that sector and most of them are studying in Europe and other places. We have a contract with a company called Cypel to also go into what I call, Targeted Education to send children in batches of 40 to study welding and underground welding to prepare them in the areas of fabrication because we are hoping that by God’s grace very soon, a consortium of Centric Statoil and CCC will be coming in on the shores of Akwa Ibom State, to build a very large LNG project estimated at about N12 billion. It is going to be in partnership with the NNPC. I don’t know what role would be for the state government, but we are aware that it would create employment opportunities for over 20,000 Niger Deltans and other Nigerians. We do not want to be caught unawares, so we have started a policy of Targeted Education. We are preparing our children specifically for the marine industries which would soon kick off. Apart from that we have also commenced rigorous refurbishing and rehabilitate existing infrastructure in the educational sector. We are hoping by God’s grace that the State University of Technology would take-off in less than a year from today. We are trying a lot in the areas of road construction, you will notice that we are very ambitious but I don’t know where we are going to get the money to pay. I get frightened, when I look at what we have put up. In the three senatorial districts in the state, we have tried to open up the rural areas. In Eket which is the oil producing district, we are constructing about 37 roads now, In Oron, as a local government, we have 33 roads now. Sometimes, I get frightened. We are opening up the area that for the new sea port, we’re giving contract of about N8 billion for the construction of that road. In Ikot Abasi, which is the industrial hub, we are doing about 18 roads there. In Uyo, of course, the process is on going outside what we call the financial district, where we have the Central Bank and the Stock Exchange, we are opening up roads in that area. At the moment, we are undertaking almost 15 internal roads. The federal roads, from the Itu end coming into Uyo, which is about 29 kilometers, we are dualising it. It used to be a death trap. Julius Berger is handling that. In the Ikot Ekpene axis, we are doing well over 25 roads internally. Then the road that comes from Umuahia towards Port Harcourt, the axis between Ikot Ekpene and Abakof about 18 kilometres, had been impassable for over 15 years. Today, Julius Berger is handling that right now.

In Ibiono Local Government ,which is like the food basket of the state, we have a road from Uyo that is called Nung Udoe-Ikono, Okoi-Itak, Use, Ikot Abams road, it is over 50 kilometres, but I can tell you that it would touch on the lives of the people directly, we are doing that right now. At the same time, we are dualising all the roads from Uyo, which is another hub of the federal road structure, all the way to our International Airport, we are opening up those structures. Between Ikot Ikpene and Aba, there is a federal road but, unfortunately, our people, for over 50 years, could not access one local government we call Ika. We are doing the road from Afaha Obong junction to Aba side where we call Iwuke, a distance of about 56 kilometres. I don want to go into too many details, I think we are bitting too much . But with prudent management of resources that come in, we can space the payment for about two years. We took our time to select first class companies for the execution of these road projects. We also use the internal roads to patronise indigenous contractors who have excelled in the past in the area of road construction.

On Housing programme.
As we talk now, we are at the verge of commencing a new Housing Estate for the town and new structures by ways of luxury high risings. We are doing that in partnership with some private interest. We are building what I may describe as Standard State Library with international status and amphi theatre. It would be a wonderful thing when it is well equipped. The construction has started.

On sports development
We have refurnished, at the cost of N500 million, the stadium that we met on ground to try to also encourage sports. You know part of the encouragement of sports won Nigeria the world heavyweight championship belt. We are now looking at other areas like wrestling, which we used to dominate. We have formed a new football team called Akwa Starlets. It would act like a feeder team for Akwa United. We are even planning to export our children in the area of sports for foreign exchange in the next few years and you will see the results later.

On on-going projects
I think strongly that we are very focussed. We have not lost sight of existing infrastructures that were not completed such as, the Independent Power Plant and others. We are also working on them. I believe strongly that when next you come, you’ll see some of these things on ground. They say seeing is believing.

On the crisis in the Niger Delta area and youth development
We are one of the most peaceful states in the Niger Delta. You see a lot of white people driving their cars on the streets. You see the expatriates moving around freely and I pray it remains that way.We have a policy of ensuring that the youths are partners in government, and that policy has worked well for us. The youths now know they have a future. Since I came in, I have empowered over 750 youths either by way of appointing them as members of caretaker committees of local governments, about 48 of them as PAs and SAs to the governor, or putting them in other areas like street cleaning and some into cooperatives. You notice that outside government vehicles, you cannot see taxis in Uyo. But in the next two weeks, the first major taxi scheme in Uyo would be launched. If you go to Government House premises now, you’ll see over 200 brand new cars, painted, ready to go. We are starting with about 400 vehicles in all.

We inherited a kind of capital that you would have called an upgraded local government headquarters. Our job now is to turn it into a city. Even as I speak, the dualisation from Itu, cutting across up to Itam in the Uyo metropolis and passing to join Abak road, would have a flyover, the first for Uyo. We are doing that taking cognizance of traffic flow in the future as we expand and enhance the economic well being of the people.

We are also partnering with a lot of small organisations like cooperatives, the most interesting aspect that people like to write petition about. I gave about N100 million to the Christians’ Association of Nigeria (CAN) Akwa Ibom State branch to use as a revolving loan scheme for the less privileged in the church community.It is working well. The intention is not for them to see it as their own share of the national cake, it is for the poorest of the poor who are in the churches. The church, in this regard, partners with government and try to assist those people with N250,000 and N500,000 revolving loans here and there and as they pay back, they give it to others so we can begin to fight poverty even using the church as a partner.

Akwa Ibom people are predominantly Christians and I should start from that one. But if in future, we have evidence that Akwa Ibom people have also joined other religions we will also empower them.But people write petitions and say we don’t know why the governor would go and give money to the church. CAN has a Board of Trustees and they are managing it well, infact, it is touching the lives of the people positively. We shared over N400 million in NAPEP to also do the same thing, but I have not seen a single petition, may be because that one is a Federal Government establishment. At the end, you may be surprised that even the church one may work better than NAPEP. In Akwa Ibom State, without boasting, we are very hopeful that our people would see the dividends of democracy, and it should be so if you know the history of how this government emerged.The first government that emerged from the will of the people. So we have a covenant with the people, since it is a people oriented administration. The victory was that we also won overwhelmingly, massively and convincingly, so much so that all the judicial judgments confirmed all what I’ve just said. We have no single judicial case right now because the Court of Appeal had confirmed that I am truly the elected governor of Akwa Ibom State.

On the state of the Ibom International Airport
I don’t know whether I can place deadline any longer because the main contractor we met on site is trying but we are working with a lot of difficulties. But I hope we can at least have the runway at the end of this year. The runway is such that it would land Boeing 747 and 838. It is a major runway of about 3.6km and wide enough for bigger planes to land. It is a futuristic airport for MRO for C and other checks. We have a temporary terminal building, we have paid for the Tower already and well over 200 staff are being trained outside the country. I believe, like I told Mr. President that we should have at least a major runway that could land a plane by the end of the year. I am meeting all my obligations to the project, it is now left for the contractor. If they work at the speed they are now going, we may have problems but if they double their speed and increase the tempo, then we should have a substantial part of the airport completed before the end of the year.I am sure it will not go beyond 2009.I think you have to distinguish the Akwa Ibom Airport from the Cross River Airport. You have Tinapa, before you can package Tinapa well, you must have a process of continous supply of the movables and Akwa Ibom Airport can land 747 and other bigger planes so, most of the international planes that can’t land at Calabar Airport, because the Calabar airport is not big enough for landing,Ibom airport will complement that.

We don’t have airports where all the checks are done in the whole of West Africa. It will help check a lot of capital flight. Money will now be spent here, you can pay in Naira and do your checks,without having to go outside, so, it’s also like a regular aircraft and I also want to place emphasis on cargo and you know we are in a hurry to develop. So, it will help a lot to bring in a lot of things for the marine industry and, of course, the petroleum sector. We are going to have an (LNG), we have to take into consideration all the other developing interest within the Oil and Gas sector. So, its something that even Nigeria needs.Nigeria has to look into the future, in the entire area of this Niger Delta, that Airport will serve the marine industry, the petroleum industry and GULF of Guinea.

On efforts put in place to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)
It has been improved since I came in, we are also looking at extant laws and what obtains in other states around us in order to make the necessary laws to beef up what we are collecting at the moment. The loopholes inherent in the system have been assessed by the State Executive Council and we have approved that we go into automation. We have patnered with the Skye Bank in this direction. We are very sure we will tripple our IGR as a means of raising additional funds in respect of the on-going projects.

On the proposed University of Technology for the state
In the University of Uyo, which is a federal institution, it had a lot of problems of accreditation of their courses because of what they described as poor funding. Over 28 courses were lost. Students stayed for over seven years without graduating. When I came in as governor we had to assist the university. I released the sum of N100 million to the school authority to enable them revamp most of their existing infrastructure inorder to meet up NUC’s accreditation policy and that has saved a lot of situation. I have a report from the Vice Chancellor last week inviting me for the first thanksgiving and it is like they have got back most of their courses. I also assisted them in their internal roads by moving in contractors to carry out repairs on their internal road network. I am not supposed to do that, but you know that most Nigerians who attend this institution are indigenes of the state.As a governor I can’t sit here and say Iam giving quality education when the Federal University we have is going down. Then, we also went to assist even the medical college. I came in and donated money and they built a Dialysis Centre for kidney treatment, that is outside other contributions to other sectors. So, today ,the state government has donated brand new 17 Dialysis machine to the University of Uyo, completed a dialysis centre and people with kidney problems are being treated there. Before then, those who could not go to Lagos or Abuja ended up in their graves. The idea of a state university is to complement the efforts and fill in the gaps where the federal universities can’t assist the people. It is not borne out of the need to just have a university.

On Agriculture
Agriculture still remains one area that will ensure the biggest returns in terms of employment opportunities for our people. So, that sector is very clear.Infact, I recently sent my commissioners to Malaysia and other places where they went for studies on some farm produce. You know Akwa Ibom is within the palm produce belt, so we are completing in the next two months three major palm produce depots .We have brought in the equipment and the palm produce. One is sighted in Ukanafun, the other one in Ibesikpo and the last, Essien Udim. We are laying a lot of emphasis on that, the equipment is already on ground, we are going to install that, and ,of course, it will go into all sorts of things that you can do with palm produce from industrial point of view will be undertaken by those depots.

On his relationship with his predecessoe, Obong Victor Attah
I think it is very cordial. When we came in, we met a lot of ongoing projects, and ,of course, we also met bank debts, so, I think the thing was blown out of proportion, because the job of government is to take responsibilities for both assets and liabilities, so, we never said we were going to take only the assets and leave the liabilities, but you know political insinuations . As soon as you become a governor, what it means is that you govern what you see. I think I have a good relationship with Obong Victor Attah.