THE JUST SHALL BE VINDICATED: Campaign of Calumny by Akwa Ibom State Government against Ovong Ita Awak


RE: "WHY I CAN'T SUPPORT AKWA IBOM AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT, NCAA DIRECTOR."


[By Ovong Engr. Ita Awak]




As should be expected in this season of politicking, one of the questions I was directly asked by the anchor person during my interview on Planet Radio, Uyo, on Saturday, 10th November, 2018, was to state what I have done, both as an APC chieftain and Director of Airworthiness Standards in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to help realise the Obong Victor Attah vision of having an operational aircraft maintenance, repairs and overhaul facility at the A'Ibom airport.


In my response, I said that, judging from my first-hand experience with the Governor Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel’s PDP government, I am convinced beyond doubt that the PDP government, in spite of it's advertised commitment to the radical industrialisation of the State, has not shown in the last three and a half years any tangible evidence of willingness to invest the State's resources to realise and/or achieve it's stated goal particularly as it affects the completion of the MRO facility situated at the Ibom International Airport. I went further to declare that knowing the patriotic zeal that drives Obong Nsima Ekere, and having been assured of his commitment to the development and economic emancipation of the State, it shouldn't take him, the APC governorship candidate in the 2019 election, up to three months after inauguration to channel the needed human and financial resources to get our collective MRO dream realised.


It has been brought to my attention that a few hours after my interview, some paid agents of the (Deacon Emmanuel's) PDP government in Akwa Ibom State, shepherded by one Aniefiok Macaulay, the SA to the Governor on Media, have been peddling blatant falsehood, maliciously distorting and totally misrepresenting what I said in that interview on the proposed "MRO" facility which is located at Ibom airport and other issues.


In one of their articles published on various platforms on the internet with the caption: *WHY I CAN'T SUPPORT AKWA IBOM AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT, NCAA DIRECTOR*, the media aides of the Governor, falsely and maliciously wrote: "The Executive Director (sic) of the Airworthiness of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Engr. Ita Awak, has vowed never to do anything to support the development of the Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul facilities (sic) at the Akwa Ibom International Airport."


I want to state very unequivocally, and the truth of this averment can be attested to by all who listened to the interview, that what the PDP media reported of me on the MRO issue is untrue in all material particular.


I wish to use this opportunity to make further salient assertions and clarifications on the matter of the proposed MRO facility in A'Ibom State and the humble role providence has privileged me to assume.


1. Consequent upon a directive by the Director General of the NCAA, I had the privilege, acting within my capacity as the Director of Airworthiness Standards, DAWS, of NCAA of writing a letter on the 30th of January, 2018, to the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State “requesting him grant access to NCAA Aviation Safety Inspectors for an inspection of the facility the State government proposes to use as an MRO and to discuss with the Governor to see the possibility of upgrading and utilising the facility as an option towards achieving the objective of having a world class maintenance facility in Nigeria." The Governor's consent was transmitted to NCAA on 7th February, 2018.


2. On Thursday, 1st March, 2018, I led a 4-man team of NCAA Aviation Safety Inspectors on a visit to the proposed MRO facility. The management of Akwa Ibom Airport Development Company, AADC, and H. E. Obong Victor Attah took the inspectors around the building and site.


3. At the debriefing, the Governor, the SSG and H. E. Obong Victor Attah were told the critical role which the facility could play in the aviation industry in the West African sub-region if the government will summon the will to complete and equip it. An unfinished building and/or hangarage cannot be said to be an aircraft MRO facility. For a facility to be so called, aside from the building/housing, it has to be, depending on the aircraft it is envisaged to maintain, repair and overhaul, be specifically equipped, tooled and populated with the properly skilled and credentialed technical personnel.


4. To all intents and purposes, it is the sole responsibility of the Governor and the government of Akwa Ibom State to take the lead and prioritise the investment of the needed resources for the actualization of the MRO project.


5. Given the obsessive mantra of the Akwa Ibom State Government on "the radical industrialisation of A'Ibom State", it is fair to assume that a positive endeavor such as the MRO facility, which has drawn the interest of relevant national bodies, would be the object of positive propagation of the Government’s media team rather than being deployed as a reductionist tool in the debate and effort to physicalize this national dream to the detriment of the country’s aviation economy.


6. As the recording will undoubtedly show, there is nowhere throughout the interview where I said or "vowed" never to do anything to support the development of the maintenance, repairs and overhaul facility at the A'Ibom airport." Indeed, the direct opposite is the truth. And I trust that in good conscience, H. E. Obong Victor Attah, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the current Secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government, SSG, Mr. Akan Okon, the Commissioner for Special Duties and Aviation Development and Capt. Mfon Udom, the Accountable Manager of the proposed Ibom Air will all attest to the fact that DAWS has always treated their requests promptly and professionally and without any prejudices whatever.


It is my sincere hope that Governor Udom Emmanuel will caution his media aides and order them to stop forthwith their ill-advised campaign of calumny against my person.

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