December 25, (THEWILL) – Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has urged the people of the state to reject any one, who wants to reverse the peaceful coexistence experience in the state for selfish political purposes as he or she will end up ruling in violence.
The governor who gave the urge in a statewide broadcast to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ stated: “Anyone, who, for selfish political purposes, wants to reverse this peace, must, and will be rejected, anyone who aims to grab power through the instrument of violence must be stopped and rejected. And let me even add, anyone who aims at getting power by using violence against his or her people, will end up ruling with violence.
“May the season of peace which Christmas represents, never see our State go through such politically-motivated years of violence again.
“As I said during our Christmas Carol event, the Akwa Ibom story must and will continue to be told in enchanting colours and its trajectory of growth and development shall be Forward Ever, Backward Never! This motto of progress is what should ring through in our heads and hearts.” Udom maintained.
Stressing on the significance of peace enjoyed in the state, the Governor said: “Of the thousands of text messages I received congratulating us for holding such a great Christmas Carol, the one that touched me the most, and they all came from prominent Nigerians, was when they congratulated us on the peaceful nature of the event. They couldn’t imagine, in a country where there are security challenges everywhere that almost half a million people could converge in one location, singing praises to the Lord and returning home in peace, with no reported news of death, or attacks of any form.
“My dear AkwaIbomites, these are not issues we should take for granted. Our people have found peace amongst themselves. Peace has seen us tap into our creative wells and the entrepreneurial culture is being embraced by our people, especially the youths. We must maintain this peace with every fibre of our beings.” He stressed.
He however re-assured the people of the state that his administration has remained committed to delivering on all campaign promises of improved living standard and infrastructural renaissance as captured in his 5-point economic blueprint.
The Governor, who said that the vision can only be achieved in an atmosphere of love, peace and tranquillity as exemplified by the birth of Jesus Christ, called for the sustainability of peace currently emplaced in the state.
Reflecting on the essence of Christmas, Governor Emmanuel stressed the need for love and sustainable peace among citizenry, whom he noted, are of a common stock devoid of ethnicities or political affiliations.
He further said that as a government perpetually on the move for sustained well-being and food sufficiency, more would be done in health and agriculture sectors of the economy.
“It is a season of hope, of our determination to continue to forge ahead and deliver on our campaign promises; to leave this State better than we met her, and to proclaim with certainty that the Akwa Ibom story will not be reversed, that the things which had hitherto defined us negatively as a state and as a people shall be permanently cancelled and erased, and it will be Forward Ever, Backward Never!
“The season of the Birth of our Lord and Saviour signifies peace and goodwill to mankind, and this peace which we have enjoyed in this State shall be permanent, and any resort or attempts to reverse it and reintroduce the orgy of violence and security challenges that this State had earlier witnessed before now, will, and shall never return
“We will however, continue to ensure that issues concerning education, agriculture, health care or the social infrastructure are given the prime attention they deserve. We owe our children the responsibility of preparing them to be competitive in an information technology-driven world; we owe them the right education to make them future employers of labour, as opposed to being job seekers.
“Our healthcare delivery service remains top in our agenda. We promised to remodel, construct and equip with modern amenities General Hospitals in all the Ten Federal Constituencies. We have successfully done nine; the last in Ikot Abasi is currently on-going.
“We promised to provide Power for All by December 2021, which actually means the provision of electricity to the 2,274 gazetted villages that make up this State. As I speak, out of the 2,274 gazetted villages, only 265 villages are yet to be connected to the national grid, that’s about 92 percent score in this regard. We hope to connect the remaining 265 villages to the national grid as soon as possible, thus meeting our target in this regard. We came to serve; to work diligently and quietly to improve the material and living standards of our people and nothing will distract us from achieving those set goals.
“Our infrastructural Renaissance is on the ascendance. Even our naysayers or worst critics will agree with us that all over the State, we are experiencing huge roads and other infrastructural expansions. We remain committed to finishing our turn-key projects.
“Let us therefore, eschew bitterness and hatred from our body-politics. All Power belongs to God Almighty and He gives such to whom He has qualified. God does not choose a man that is qualified; but he qualifies a man that He chooses,” Governor Emmanuel reiterated.
The Governor however commended youth in the state for maintaining peace and urged them to maintain the tempo.
“Let me use this opportunity to applaud our very resourceful youths for helping maintain the peace in this State. My dear youths, let me again assure you that what we are putting on ground, the sustainable growth paradigm we are bringing to bear, will create in a few years a new Akwa Ibom you will all be proud to be associated with,” he said.
In the fight against the spread of the dreaded virus, the Governor advised for effective adherence to the safety guidelines and protocols by all and sundry.
“As we get set to roll out the drums of festivities, let me again reiterate the need for us to follow the simple but effective protocols aimed at curtailing the spread of the Covid-19 virus. You may have been following in the news the mutation of a new variant called Omicron. At a time when the world thought we had turned a corner with this virus, this Omicron variant has returned the world to the starting point. Travel restrictions are being imposed all over the world and some countries have painfully considered another round of lockdowns.
“Here in Nigeria, and in our State in particular, we have discovered some cases of this Omicron variant and it is incumbent upon us to do all we can to curtail its spread. The simple protocols of social distancing, regular washing of hands with liquid soaps, the wearing of facemask, use of hand sanitisers etc. plus the robust healthcare facilities we have provided, had helped us a great deal in stemming the spread of this virus when it first appeared on our shores. We should remain committed to doing the same with this new variant. We do not intend to impose another round of lock-down. This will, however, depend on how we obey the protocols. This is a serious matter and should be treated as such,” he admonished.
About the Author
