The Akwa Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has urged Nigerians to be thankful to God for the dividends of democracy that they are enjoying in the country.
According to him, looking back over the last 13 years, he could say Nigeria had made some modest achievements.
Chief Akpabio made the assertion in Abuja at the weekend, after being conferred with the Honourary Fellow Award of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP). He said Nigerians should avoid a blanket condemnation of democracy, as it led to the development of various sectors of the economy.
Represented by his deputy, Mr Nsima Ekere, the governor said, even as he was aware of the achievements of his other colleagues across the country, the infrastructural development in Akwa Ibom State in the last five years had been phenomenal and unprecedented.
He cited the achievement of the administration to include free and compulsory education, construction of 205 roads covering over 1,000 kilometres, building of five new general hospitals and a soon-to-be completed international specialist hospital, a new airport with the longest run way in the country; massive construction of new school blocks to cater for for crippled schools, enrolment, among many other achievements.
In a citation at the ceremony, president of the institute, Mallam Kabir Yari, said Chief Akpabio was selected as a fellow of the institute because of his achievements in the last five years, which had made reputable organisations, locally and internationally, to recognize him and urged the governor to sustain the pace of development in the state.
Other governors who were also conferred with the honourary fellowship included the Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi; Lagos, Mr Babatunde Fashola; Niger, Dr Babangida Aliyu and their Benue counterpart, Dr Gabriel Suswam.
In his acceptance speech, Chief Akpabio thanked the institute for the recognition and dedicated the award to Akwa Ibom children, whose future, he said, the administration was working hard to secure.