Governor GODSWILL AKPABIO of Akwa Ibom State is readily associated with the reputation of coming to governance with anger. He explains this anger as having been informed by the level of poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment in the land. The governor goes further to state the effort of his administration towards addressing these anomalies as well as the challenges. He also speaks on the controversial onshore-offshore dichotomy debate as well as his plans to link all the villages in the state to the National Grid, in this robust engagement with newsmen.

Your state, Akwa Ibom, going by the level of infrastructural developments, could be described as work in progress. What informed this philosophy?

It is the vision, it is the dedication, it is the sincerity, it is the commitment, it is the totality of your being. Is it your intention before coming to government that you really want to move the government forward? I think that is where the problem lies and if it is your intention to do so, then you will really do so.

I was at a State Executive meeting in 2011 when a governor attended our meeting and he was telling us about a state’s economy and he announced to us that his predecessor left behind N64 billion. If you look at the state and how much it gets in a month, for it to have saved up to N64 billion and the new governor met N64 billion, questions should have been asked. What did you leave behind? He left behind sectarian crisis and N64 billion in the bank. That is why sometimes they say if you don’t give to God, you give to devil. So, if you don’t give the money for the benefit of your people, then what would happen is that you have to use the money to cure the problems that you caused because the reaction to the neglect of the poor, to the neglect of the pauperized and the weak, to the neglect of human capacity building, would come. This is because in an attempt to say you are not corrupt, you keep billions in the bank in order to attract interest. And your business is booming while the society is dying and you are now saying if Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) comes you can account for the money. Is that governance? That is a very clear example of the fact that you don’t know how to manage because the money does not benefit the people, the money does not impact on the life of the people and the money is just kept in the bank. It does not have value.

Comparing your administration with previous ones, would you say there has been much difference in terms of revenue?

To compare my administration with the past regime, one thing is certain, before I came into government, cement was costing about N350 a bag. Today, cement is above N2, 000. So if the past administration collected about N5 – N6 billion a month and cement was selling at N350 as at that time and I am collecting N10 billion or N12 billion, almost double, and cement is above N2, 000, is there any gain? You could just have performed if you had the vision and sincerity. If you had the passion and commitment, you could also have impacted on the lives of your people, if you do not have ulterior motives; and this has been the problem. So, I am building the state from the scratch as if Akwa Ibom was born today. It wasn’t born today.

You used to say that you came into government with anger. Looking at your administration and its accomplishment in the last six years, would you still say you are angry?

I started with a lot of anger. I served as commissioner for five years and I knew that where I met the state was not where it ought to have been. I used my money to repair a particular road when I was commissioner when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was to pay a visit to the state. I went and brought a heap of sand to try to fill potholes along the road. I went to the governor at that time and I said sir, let’s do something about the road. He disagreed saying that it was better Obasanjo came and saw how he had been neglecting Akwa Ibom. I told him that the visitors that were coming would think the government was not performing. He said it was not his business to fix Federal roads and walked me out. So I was a man who over advised. At times you have to be very careful how you advise government because if you over advise government, you become an opposition even with your best intention. Let me also tell you this story.

An international award was given to me in Kenya and a television correspondent came and asked me: What was your motivating factor for all you have achieved in your state which won you the award? I was stunned because that was not the question I expected he would ask. I expected he would ask how was Akwa Ibom and the rest. So I looked at her and answered that question. I said: what motivated me was anger. Do you know that after my speech, they set up a panel of discussants on Kenya Television to discuss the “Anger of the Akwa Ibom Governor”? And the conclusion was let Kenya produce many angry politicians who can, on the spur of anger, bring monumental and phenomenal development to the country. If you are not angry with the state of insecurity and the state of underdevelopment, the state of poverty in the society; if you are not angry with the lack of development and infrastructure; if you are not angry that it is that duty of state to ensure that employment opportunity should is created for thousands of people, then you have no business in governance. Somebody must be angry. It is that determination and anger that spur you to greater height. But almost five and a half years later, the anger is waning. In fact, when I listen to the way people identify with what we do here and the thinking of the society, my anger keeps going down. This is because some of you are not partisan, you are not politicians; you always speak from the heart. Obasanjo came here and described the three segments of Akwa Ibom society that he interacted with. He said he met those who supported Godswill Akpabio; those who were neither here nor there and those who were in total opposition to Godswill Akpabio. According to him, those who were in support of Akpabio said: “Ah, the governor is performing excellently well.” Those who were neither here nor there said: “The man is trying.” Those who were in opposition said: “Yes, he has done well but he has money.”

My prayer is that anybody that is coming to Akwa Ibom should have money and should also do well. You see, the fact is that what Akwa Ibom is receiving is 0.00001 percent of what comes from the Federation Account monthly. All states in the Federation collect 24 per cent of Federal Revenue. What the states draw collectively is 24 per cent; the local governments collect 15 percent, the Federal Government takes 52 percent, the collectible fund takes about 3 per cent, then 9 percent goes to FCT and another one goes to Intervention Fund. Let me go further, if the Federal Government had agreed to increase derivation and Akwa Ibom was able to get 1 percent, I would have transformed Akwa Ibom to a small Dubai. You wouldn’t need to go abroad again. I am not criticising, I am only stating the situation of things as regards how much we are getting and the transformation we have put in place in Akwa Ibom.

The onshore-offshore issue seems to have come up again. What is really the situation, especially as Akwa Ibom is an oil producing state?

You know the argument about onshore and offshore. You know that there is dichotomy on revenue from oil. The onshore and offshore issue is still there; it has not been totally removed. The compromised position was that states are to be paid for oil wells located within 200 meters isobaths. That they came to agree on 200 nautical miles was said in an interview in order to incense the North. No African country has the capability to produce oil within 200 nautical miles on international waters. The man said in his interview that they are paying derivation for 200 nautical miles on international waters. There is element of falsehood in that in order to cause violence. He knows the truth; he said it so that he can get support. I know Nigerians. If the totality of dichotomy is removed, Lagos will produce the highest quantity of oil, because Bonga oil field is located within the Lagos area. It is deep sea oil that produces about 800,000 barrels of oil a day. If the issue of dichotomy is removed today and they say there is no longer dichotomy, the state that might be the highest oil producing state in Nigeria is Lagos. Go and look at the amount that they pay derivation on. It is not commensurate to the oil sourced because the rest of oil wells are beyond 200 metre isobaths. The governors are saying that exploration is affecting aquatic life. It has impact on the livelihood of the people on the shore because life can never be the same. In the past, you could take white sand by the shore line and use it to brush your teeth but now the sand is black with the ecosystem and the continuous burrowing. And you know this oil will not last forever. So, if we continue doing that for another 25 years, because the oil will finish in 30 years, the whole of this Niger Delta will finish while Nigeria will continue in Abuja. Why don’t you allow the people to have a reasonable share while they wait for the day when there would be no more oil to tap? You can’t to take that opportunity away. And what are the implications to national security? It was the same derivation issue and same onshore-offshore issue that gave birth to militancy in the Niger Delta and Nigeria had nothing to sell for months. Under late President Yar’Adua, there was a month we had nothing to sell. So why do you as a country continuously take decisions that take us backwards? Even there is something that has to do with our Railway. There was a time in this country when I was going to the Nigerian Military School in the 1970s. I took a train from Aba to Zaria. Years later, the Railway had disappeared from Nigeria. While others are now going to the moon to see how the surface of the moon looks like, Nigeria can no longer service its Railway. Is that the kind of legacy we want to leave for our children? I think we should focus on doing things that will unite this country rather than doing things that will divide us. I am very worried that we should be promoting religious dichotomy today when Nigeria is supposed to be a secular state. I take decisions based on the Nigerian constitution. My Chief Security Officer is a Muslim, from Kano. For the past six years, my ADC is from Azare in Bauchi State; he is Muslim. He had worked with me for over six years. My first orderly for the first four years came from Benue State. The present one for the last two years is from Kaduna State. I recognise Nigeria in people. It is incumbent on leaders to live by example. If Nigerians begin to focus on religion, on things that divide us, it means people like my CSO, my ADC and the rest will be from my tribe. Leadership must be seen to be promoting the unity of Nigeria. We must live by example. I am a beneficiary of good governance and that was why in 2011 anywhere I went for campaign, I kept telling my people that if I was not contesting election, I would have voted for Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Are there adequate safeguards for the road projects in the state?

Since 2007, not even on a kilometre of road that I have done would you see a single pothole. It wasn’t like that, because we are still part of the Niger Delta. I have done drainages; I have done major underground drainage system. In fact, the third one is the one on my former governor’s way. We have done a lot of drainages to take care of flooding so that within two minutes after major rainfall, you can hardly find water on the earth surface in Akwa Ibom. Those are the kind of drainages we have done. The President even advised that we could do a documentary so that it could be put in National Library for future reference. This is the kind of legacy we are living behind. I prefer to dispense rather than acquire. Let me dispense goodwill, let me dispense dividends, let me dispense good governance. There was a bridge that collapsed in 1969. Do you know that those who tried to pass that bridge could not? There was a man that was trying to pass that bridge with an okada, he could not do so after much effort. Also a prominent man was to be buried around that area but guests could not go through the bridge and the entertainment had to be moved to Port Harcourt. You can’t even understand what I am talking about. In my village, the economic activities there died. There was no single filling station; there was nothing for 29 years. Any time I was going home, I would park my car at Ikot Ekpene and even the okada man that would carry me must be somebody who knew me, because he would refuse no matter how much you offered. You have to understand what I am talking about. When I tell you I was angry, you need to understand.

How would you assess the country’s democracy 14 years after?

You need to know that there are more projects in Nigeria between 1999 and today than between 1960 and 1998. So no matter how you hate democracy, don’t ever forget to highlight that side. The Military under-developed this country. There are many more projects in the states. I was in Anambra, I was in Awka. You would be surprised that they have built some good roads in the area. For one and half hours I was on good road on Enugu to Awka. I was very happy. This came about through democracy. If you were to post a military governor from Sokoto to Akwa Ibom, after doing the road that comes to government House, there is no reason that he would start thinking of doing roads in another area or community. Is that his community? He is on military posting. This was the situation we had for 35 years in the country. Nobody can love your people more than you do.

What measures are you putting in place to safeguard or maintain the infrastructure and other projects your government has put in place by way of law enactment so that successive administrations can equally work on?

As part of efforts at ensuring sustainability, I signed a bill into law which is on establishment of infrastructure maintenance agency recently, and I want them to employ 450 youths, 150 per senatorial district and open three offices in three senatorial districts. They will take over aspects of road maintenance, filling potholes and maintaining the street lights and the rest of them.Well, the issue of road maintenance does not lie with the workers, it lies with the leadership. If you have somebody who has the same vision with you and he becomes the governor, he will do that. If you don’t have somebody who shares the same vision with you and he becomes the governor and notwithstanding the maintenance agency you have set up, everything will go backwards. My prayer is that God will bring a successor that will think like me, that will be part and parcel of the policies we are doing, somebody who will go with the same passion to see to the full implementation of the policies of government.

Are you also thinking of developing the human capital?

There is always something you don’t have to do, you leave for the next government, because if Jesus Christ had done everything, what will the Reverend Fathers do? I would leave that in my hand over note that the next government should focus a lot on that. But I am sure that for every single contract we give out, employments are being given. Foreign contractors doing the projects are not working with foreigners, except supervisors. They are working with Akwa Ibom people. For every single job that we give out, hundreds and thousands of Akwa Ibom people are being employed at any point in time. At the same time, conversely, we are also trying to bring in industries because that is the focus now. I am happy to announce to you that in partnership with a company, we are sending out the first batch of people to be trained already. In 2008, when I realized that Aluminum Company may collapse because they didn’t have enough gas, I had to sign an agreement with an energy company that I would buy gas from them at Two dollars per cubic feet and then distribute it straight to Independent Power Plants and Aluminum Smelter Company. They are in with an investment of over $350 million. So, we have just finished plans to process gas now in those stations. We are also trying to do an underground gas pipeline through to NIPP in Calabar to supply gas through that project. In February this year, we are going to get the president to come and commission that gas processing plant. We have done the first phase of the plant; they are processing the gas now. We have also sent a lot of our children abroad for training. When I came on board, in the whole state, we were having one consultant and that was already in the ministry as a director. I had to employ additional 30 medical consultants to come and be attending to children and others in the hospital. Today, I have sent a lot of doctors abroad to go and study in different places so that they can come back and offer services to the people. Then, I also realised the need to have additional institutions because of the increase in enrolments in the state. It is the policy of the state that any child who is a Nigerian is entitled to free education up to senior secondary level. There are no discriminations at all. Any school that you see that has not been refurbished, were handed over to the missions and those missions instead want money for the refurbishment and I said I am not giving them money. So any missionary school, whether primary or secondary school, that allows us to step in to intervene, I would step in and that also include hospitals. Now, these hospitals are finding it difficult to have indigenous staff and also consultants as they used to do when they were sending Reverend Fathers and Nurses from outside Nigeria to come and help in offering services.

We also have what we call Inter-ministerial Direct Labour job. Over N20 billions, in a year, is spread out into N5 million and N10 million and given to each individual for empowerment across the state. They are the ones doing the electrification jobs you have seen. We are still giving transformers to communities because I believe that before I leave office all the over 3,700 villages in Akwa Ibom must be connected to the National Grid. All the electricity projects we are doing now will be taken over by the Federal Government once they are connected to the National Grid. A government must be committed to providing basic amenities for its people – water, electricity, good education, good health care, among others. It doesn’t matter who owns it; whether it is owned by the Federal Government or the state government, what matters is that the state has light. There is, therefore, no way any government would avoid the aspect of capacity building. The future of the country lies in education. I am hoping that if my children cannot get employment on the basis of quota, they should get employment on the basis of their skills.

This man is a liar,where did he get money as commisioner to repair federal roads for obj. to pass, who does not know there is chronic poverty in aks, and projects are executed in the press

[b][/b]

ado ok: This man is a liar,where did he get money as commisioner to repair federal roads for obj. to pass, who does not know there is chronic poverty in aks, and projects are executed in the press

You need to come down to Akwa Ibom to see things for yourself.
Gov Akpabio is someone i admire.......he has his flaws tho like every human.

I have the greatest respect for Governor Godswill Akpabio. He is the number one supporter of president Jonathan and has done substantial work for his people.

However, I think the achievement of the governor, in terms of infrastructure and all that, though huge, is not commensurate with the quantum of funds available to the state. In the face of the avialable resources, I can only conclude that the governor has under-achieved.

jealousy no go kill ACN Supporters

2 flyover, 1 roundabout , 4 roads, 1 scam and phony e library, private jet, money pit called tropicana hotel ..all with the 458 billion. 3rd largest budget in Nigeria and just 3 million people. No schools, no hospitals, no vocational manpower training centers, no parks, no recreational centered, no maternal centers or clinics, no water works, no grand vision or ideas for the future....


Anger ko, agro ni

Eko Ile: 2 flyover, 1 roundabout , 4 roads, 1 scam and phony e library, private jet, money pit called tropicana hotel ..all with the 458 billion. 3rd largest budget in Nigeria and just 3 million people. No schools, no hospitals, no vocational manpower training centers, no parks, no recreational centered, no maternal centers or clinics, no water works, no grand vision or ideas for the future....


Anger ko, agro ni

go and mind your business! Akwa Ibom remains the fastest developing state in Nigeria.

BlueBalls: jealousy no go kill ACN Supporters

Tell us exactly what's in that village to be jealous of.

BlueBalls:

go and mind your business! Akwa Ibom remains the fastest developing state in Nigeria.

.
Is fastest development the new code words for something you can say but not show....? These funny people no go kill pesin with lafta I swear..

Eko Ile:

Tell us exactly what's in that village to be jealous of.

dont be an ungrateful b@stard, that village gave you oil money to build that mega slum you are so shamelessly proud of promoting

BlueBalls:

dont be an ungrateful b@stard, that village gave you oil money to build that mega slum you are so shamelessly proud of promoting

The question was. State exactly what's in that village to be jealous of.

[quote author=Eko Ile][/quote]

real progress something you propagandist ACN zealots are blinded not to see.

BlueBalls:

real progress something you propagandist ACN zealots are blinded not to see.

its obvious you can not list anything. Shame on you.

Eko Ile:

its obvious you can not list anything. Shame on you.

IT'S OBVIOUS THAT YOU ARE A NARROW MINDED TRIBAL MONKEY KNOWING THAT YOU AND YOUR KIND ARE ABOUT TO GO EXTINCT.

ONE MINUTE YOU ARE ADVOCATING FOR RESOURCE CONTROL, THE NEXT MOMENT YOU ARE DEMANDING FOR FUEL SUBSIDY.

THE HYPOCRISY OF THE SW IS STAGGERING TO SAY THE LEAST.

GO AND SORT YOUR BACKYARD. LAST I HEARD TINIBU AND CO ARE STEADILY CARVING A JUICY SIZE OF SW RESOURCES.

GO AND FIX YOUR OWN.

THE PROGRESS CURRENTLY BEING MADE IN THE SOUTH-SOUTH REGION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY SECTOR IN NIGERIA BUT FROM THEIR OWN RESOURCES CAN YO HONESTLY SIT THERE AND REPLY THAT CARTER BRIDGE, MMA, THE WHOLE OF SURULERE GOVT DEVELOPMENT AREAS WERE BUILT FROM COCOA?

USELESS!

You don't have to yell with the big fonts. Obvuiosly, you have nothing to list but your silly big font blabbing.. abeg go away...

eko ile!kai....*shakes head*

wow.....appalling how some people reason. *smh*

Eko ile is here again, this guy can't just hold his love for development of akwa ibom thats why he can't stop snooping around akwa ibom threads hahaha. Abeg eko ile you want to make this a fashola your paymaster thread abi? No way......its about akwa ibom and akwa ibom alone. Leave us immediately! Hahahaha

BabaTony: Eko ile is here again, this guy can't just hold his love for development of akwa ibom thats why he can't stop snooping around akwa ibom threads hahaha. Abeg eko ile you want to make this a fashola your paymaster thread abi? No way......its about akwa ibom and akwa ibom alone. Leave us immediately! Hahahaha

the guy is just pathetic....he is not happy some else is taking the shine off his minigod.
Fashola is working no doubt but Akpabio is a "miracle worker".

Eko Ile: 2 flyover, 1 roundabout , 4 roads, 1 scam and phony e library, private jet, money pit called tropicana hotel ..all with the 458 billion. 3rd largest budget in Nigeria and just 3 million people. No schools, no hospitals, no vocational manpower training centers, no parks, no recreational centered, no maternal centers or clinics, no water works, no grand vision or ideas for the future....


Anger ko, agro ni

jealousy go kill you!

Eko Ile: 2 flyover, 1 roundabout , 4 roads, 1 scam and phony e library, private jet, money pit called tropicana hotel ..all with the 458 billion. 3rd largest budget in Nigeria and just 3 million people. No schools, no hospitals, no vocational manpower training centers, no parks, no recreational centered, no maternal centers or clinics, no water works, no grand vision or ideas for the future....


Anger ko, agro ni

GOOD. THIS THREAD NEEDS SOME STRAIGHTENING.

BlueBalls:

go and mind your business! Akwa Ibom remains the fastest developing state in Nigeria.

IS HE LYING?

GOODNESS ME,I'M STARTING TO THINK THERE ARE NIGERIANS PURPOSELY DECEIVING THEMSELVES.

anulaxad:
IS HE LYING?

GOODNESS ME,I'M STARTING TO THINK THERE ARE NIGERIANS PURPOSELY DECEIVING THEMSELVES.

a good thread turn trolled by a paid ACN tout.

tell me about it

BlueBalls:

a good thread turn trolled by a paid ACN tout.

tell me about it

NO. DO I LOOK LIKE I AM A FAN OF THAT USELESS TINUBU AND EMBARRASSING FASHOLA.

LOOK YOUR JUST NOT SMART ENOUGH TO REALISE WHAT PROPER INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IS. GO TAKE A SEAT.