‘Emmanuel is Building an Akwa Ibom for All’
The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Ini Ememobong, recently paid a courtesy visit to THISDAY office in Abuja during which he had an interactive session with senior editorial staff. He spoke on a variety of issues including why the state is focused on aviation development as well as the rejected Water Resources Bill now being reintroduced in the National Assembly. Udora Orizu presents excerpts from the session.
What’s your reason for visiting THISDAY?
Having been made Commissioner of information on the 3rd of August 2020, I thought it’s right we should interface with THISDAY and most of the papers. As the spokesperson for Akwa Ibom State, it’s critical that I inform you so that you can partner us in informing the society. The Governor of Akwa Ibom State Udom Emmanuel is setting up an Akwa Ibom for all, strategically he’s making that statement. We just received the fifth plane for Ibom Air and we are starting operations in Enugu very soon. It won’t be the states private aircraft, it’s a company formed with the good spirit of the Akwa Ibom person, it’s a company for all. It’s arguably the most reliable, most prompt airline conveying people between Lagos and Abuja, we are starting the Enugu route on the 14th of this month. The Governor has an agenda on focusing on critical areas like aviation development, rural and urban communities development we must focus on these areas, security etc. These are things we want to partner the media house with, to shape the thoughts of Nigerians and the global community. It’s for global citizens who appreciate that all you need is a location anywhere in the world and the world will come to you. Those are the things the Governor is projecting in building an Akwa Ibom for all. That Akwa Ibom is not just a destination for aviation but also a destination for investment. Even in COVID-19 and post COVID-19 we still have companies that are interested in trying to set up. And we are setting up because what we’re trying to do is to reduce the bureaucracy in investment. It is critical that in these last three years that he has as Governor that we deepen the discuss about Akwa Ibom and the ministry under my watch is very concerned about making the people who shape thoughts to appreciate what we want to deliver, they must understand it before they can convey it.
What Business model drives Ibom Air?
The business model is a fully private firm, running clearly like private but government of course owning, government purchases the infrastructure and allow them run the low end fully as a private venture. We have companies like that running in Akwa Ibom, where the ownership, infrastructure, building are government but in the commercial end of it is run purely as a business where government cannot interfere. So on the low end it runs like any other business but the ownership is government. So there’s a reporting line where at the end they bring their full year account, so government will say look are you doing well? Why are you not doing well? So at that point, the dayto-day running doesn’t have government involved but the infrastructural purchase has government involved.
How many aircraft do you have now?
We have five, the last came in on Wednesday 2nd September. It came in during COVID-19 period so it has to go through the process of registration and some flights before it’s accredited. It was finally certified to fly and commence business on the 2nd.
What’s the rationale behind projecting so much in aircraft business, for a state that it’s commercial state is not yet at optimal stage. How’s Akwa Ibom coping especially now that health is on the front burner, do you have a world class health facility that can stand the test of time?
Healthcare is a critical component of His Excellency’s vision and if you recall we have a world class isolation center during this COVID-19 pandemic. The case fatality is below 3.0, our contact tracing is at 98% and we have gone into community testing stage level. We have a PCR lab that the NCDC came and certified that it was state- of-the-art and commended the state government. Away from that, on how we are managing COVID-19 we started from Ibom Specialist Hospital which again is a world class facility which was prepared as a stop gap at a time when COVID-19 came. Before covid the Governor had reconstructed over six hospitals to world class standard, on his first 100 days. Ikono General Hospital in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, compares with any hospital in our country as we speak. It’s completely paperless and fully computerized. Because Ibom Specialist Hospital wasn’t meant to be an Infectious Diseases Centre, what we did was to transit and build a world class isolation center and the PCR is part of it. Healthcare is something that if Governor Udom Emmanuel is scored, he will score a 100 percent. But now we’ve realized that there’s still room for improvement in this September a lot more hospitals that are being remodeled are going to be commissioned. Going into investments in airlines, back in Governor Victor Attah era when we wanted an airport in Uyo, the argument was how do we create an airport in Uyo when Cross River State is less than few miles to Uyo. And the argument was look, 60% of passengers to Cross River come from Akwa Ibom and with the poor road nature our people used to miss a lot of flights but God through the reign of President Obasanjo approved it. Immediately we commenced flights from Uyo it is always full. The investment portfolio of the Governor has brought more than 12 industries. With the company in and out of Akwa Ibom, we run two flights out of Uyo everyday morning and evening, almost all the time, they 60% to 80% complete. The state government under former governor Godswill Akpabio had to make a deposit to say look and any day you fly below 40 percent, you take, we had to even battle with them to get back the money because there’s no single day we didn’t meet that benchmark. So the investment portfolio and His Excellency’s vision is to create a gateway into the state land, sea and water, which is why Ibom Seaport is also critical to what we’re doing. Not just Ibom Airlines, there are other airlines coming in and they are not empty. The commercial content of Akwa Ibom and it’s environs is bigger than what is speculated, Ibom Air within six months of its existence declared profits they surpassed their financial projections. Ibom Air I assure you is a venture that is very profitable.
What’s your take on the reintroduced Water Resources Bill? Has Akwa Ibom taken a position?
You will recall that when the Bill was first introduced it didn’t just get condemnation from the states but also from right thinking Nigerians. The idea of playing ostrich has become a political disposition of people who don’t mean well for the country. We must think as Nigerians. We mustn’t align with issues because they affect us, we must align with issues because it has the capacity of breaking the country and further creating inequalities in the country. The water resources bill is a fundamental issue that has the capacity of not just creating unhappiness through the country but disturbing the unity of this country. The attempt to reintroduce it must be rejected. There’s this saying that goes like this ‘they came for pastors I did not fight because I was not a pastor, they went for Muslims I didn’t fight because I’m not a Muslim and at the end I was the only one left and they came for me and there’s no one to fight for me’. The Niger Delta states, everyone involved are taking positions we are calling on Nigerians to take positions, it’s the same position we took in mineral resources when there are different regime for mineral resources and the country is suffering from it because of the over dependence on oil, whereas we could have developed all our mineral resources at the same point and in COVID-19 we couldn’t find who to sell oil and the whole country is suffering. Even at the level of Commissioners of Information we are meeting and discussing because we must have a joint position. It’s a position to save the country because injustice to one part of the country is injustice to all. Our position is simple, Vexatious legislations like this should not be entertained, the National Assembly should be very busy. Look at the probes, they were unable to complete the probes because the degree of theft is mind boggling and consuming. So they have more serious things to worry about than to introduce vexatious legislations. The fact that a government now has a second term doesn’t mean they should be irresponsible. Your second term will finish and you will still be alive to see that seed of discord you sowed are becoming trees and at that point it becomes difficult so let’s not even plant seeds of discord. The seed of discord through vexatious legislations must be refrained from, it does the country no good. Water is critical for everyone, now you want to federalize those resources. We should be united as a country to save humanity.
The investment portfolio of the Governor has brought more than 12 industries. With the company in and out of Akwa Ibom, we run two flights out of Uyo everyday morning and evening, almost all the time, they 60% to 80% complete. The state government under former governor Godswill Akpabio had to make a deposit to say look and any day you fly below 40 percent, you take, we had to even battle with them to get back the money because there’s no single day we didn’t meet that benchmark. So the investment portfolio and His Excellency’s vision is to create a gateway into the state land, sea and water, which is why Ibom Seaport is also critical to what we’re doing