Date Published: 02/18/10

Akpabio and reward for good governance By Usiere Akpan

  Recently, Akwa Ibom State was on display on national stage, as Governor  Godswill Akpabio received the 2009 Man of the Year award from a reputable news media – Daily Independent Newspapers .  He was conferred alongside Dr Mike Adenuga, the Executive Chairman of Globacom limited.

 But Akpabio, who was there in person to receive the honour, was the centre of attraction as speaker after speaker acknowledged his indelible achievements, a consideration which earned him recognition among many others.

According to the Minister of Information, Prof Dora Akunyili, the  choice of Akpabio and  Adenuga as joint winners of 2009 Man of the Year, cannot be faulted. Similarly, Gombe State’s Governor Muhammad Goje, who presided at on the occasion, described Akpabio as “a very performing governor”.

“… it is important to note that Governor Akpabio stands out very tall among us the Governors for his correct focus and total commitment to positively transform Akwa Ibom State particularly in the areas of education, provision of essential infrastructure and the maintenance of the political Unity and Stability of his state in particular and Nigeria in general.

“As a member of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee of my political party, the PDP, I was in Akwa Ibom recently and saw at very close quarters, the excellent performance of this Governor. I really commend him for his very many achievements including the completion of the Akwa Ibom International Airport, massive road constructions, his initiation of the Ibom Tropicana Complex and his  zeal to see to its completion and his power projects among others. Indeed, Governor, Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio is a VERY PERFORMING GOVERNOR  and rightly deserves this honour by the Independent Newspapers Limited”, he said.

The venue of the investiture was the prestigious Sheraton Hotels and Towers located in the heart of GRA in Lagos State. The crowd was difficult for easy classification. From the academia, politicians, technocrats, royal fathers, women and the youths. The media itself, being its constituency, came in very large numbers from the veterans, practitioners, publishers, admirers and friends, nationally and internationally.

For Akunyili, Akpabio is one example of a working governor. She described Akpabio, “as a God given candle lightened to serving the humanity” having, “forced children out of streets to schools and consigned the house help syndrome to the dustbin of history”.   

 “I have gone to his state (Akwa Ibom)”, she said, “and I was dazed. Yes, I was dazed! What I saw, I could not believe what he has done for his people. Not only in the area of physical infrastructure but in the area of human capital development…because even old people are now enrolling to go to school in Akwa Ibom State. And when I asked questions, I learnt that he’s even now getting to a stage of forcing children out of the streets and making sure that the question of Akwa Ibom people being house boys and house girls is being consigned to the dustbin of history. Governor Akpabio, who is my brother and friend, has done excellently well! He has been able to light his God given candle in service of humanity and we congratulate him again and again for that”.

It must be seriously on note that Chief Akpabio was selected for the award from the over 150 million Nigerian population. According to the management of the Independent Newspapers Limited Editorial Board, the final lottery on Chief Akpabio “proved to be one of the most daunting tasks undertaken during the year, after three separate gruelling sessions”.  

The Board stated that before the arrival at the decision, “opinions were often sharply divided and tempers occasionally flared”. It was mentioned for the teaming crowd that the original enlarged list for the award had extended to include the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, a - Lagos State Judge, ex president of Ghana. Other nominees that did not make the final list included the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, American President Barack Obama, Supreme Court Judge, Justice Adesola Oguntade, President Umaru Yar’Adua,Emmanuel Uduagan and Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Delta and Rivers States. From this, it means that the joint winners emerged from a formidable and heterogeneous pack.

The management was proud to say that “at the end the award was clinched by Governor Akpabio and Adenuga whose impact during the year in public governance and private entrepreneurship, respectively struck as inspiring and outstanding”.

Throwing more light on the criteria for the final choice, Independent Newspapers Limited said that it was the first celebration of the free and compulsory education initiative by the administration of Chief Akpabio, which attracted their attention for the award.

It assessed in the citation titled, “A transformation Force” that “a commitment” by Chief Akpabio, “to fund free and compulsory education is about the best self sustaining gift any governor can give to his State”. 

“If there is something that will stand the test of time in Akwa Ibom State, it is this policy of free education. Properly implemented and sustained, its effect in say 20 to 30 years time will be profound. In this age of globalization, the information highway and the digital divide, Akpabio will be remembered for this transformative initiative”, the Editorial Board stressed.

The policy of free education which formed the major yardstick of the Man of The Year award on Chief Akpabio has gone hand in glove with massive school rehabilitation, provision of desks, books and science facilities. Commendably, Chief Akpabio has been the first governor of Akwa Ibom State to sign the Childs’ Right Law which has put to grave the ugly syndrome of house help insignia attached to the State over several decades.

Accepting the award vat the full glare of serving and past governors, serving and past ministers, top class politicians, Chief Akpabio rather than being over carried by the magnitude of the award decided to dedicate it to the people of Akwa Ibom State. 

He said surprisingly, “I am not the real man of the year. The real man of the year, are the children of Akwa Ibom State whom we labour for. We would not have achieved any thing in the educational sector without them”, adding, “We have so far spent, over N30 billion, on this programme, with the believe that no price is too high to pay for posterity”.

Looking around Akwa Ibom State, Chief Akpabio has embarked on other projects with the bold bid to turn the handle of destiny irrevocably towards progress through massive road construction, the setting up of the Ibom Industrial City, Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Centre, as well as the ongoing free health care for the aged and pregnant women.

 The media still have uphill task of fighting to plant invaluable contributions it gave the nation in the emergence of independence and liberation from military dictatorship.

In the words of Chief Akpabio, the celebrated Man of the year, “the press must learn to respect the theory of Social responsibility in its practice, learn to protect its integrity by investigating stories” before publications rather than “lend itself to be used by mischief makers”.