Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has urged the U.S. Government to delist
\nthe state from the list of unsafe states in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Emmanuel made this known during a courtesy visit by U.S. Ambassador to
\nNigeria, Mary Leonard, at Government House in Uyo on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
According to him, listing Akwa Ibom among the unsafe states in Nigeria
\nwas repelling to investors, hence, inimical to the industrialisation
\ndrive of the state government.<\/p>\n
He noted that such categorisation was at variance with the decisions of
\nseveral security agencies that place Akwa Ibom as one of the safest
\nstates in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp me review; right now we are expecting many investors in the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cReports labelling Akwa Ibom as being unsafe for Americans to travel
\ninto is going to affect a lot of investments in the country, especially
\nin Akwa Ibom, because it stands contrary to the Police and other
\nsecurity agencies\u2019 reports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no society on planet earth where there are no pockets of
\ncrime.<\/p>\n
\u201cPockets of crime cannot render our state insecure,\u2019\u2019 the governor said.<\/p>\n
He expressed delight over the partnership between America and Nigeria in
\nthe provision of critical facilities in the state.<\/p>\n
He appealed to the American Government to partner with Akwa Ibom for
\ntransparency and effective projects monitoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe USAID can come in, we don\u2019t need the money and they can partner
\nwith the state government on this programme through the Ministry of
\nHealth.<\/p>\n
Emmanuel said that if the projects must go to the implementing partners,
\nthe state government should be the third party for proper monitoring and
\ntransparency in its financial reporting.<\/p>\n
He emphasised that partnership with the state government would ensure
\nthat the programmes being executed by the U.S. government are beneficial
\nto the people, as funds allocated would trickle down to the appropriate
\nlocations without encumbrances.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Leonard said she was pleased to have the opportunity to visit
\nthe state to ascertain the status of U.S. funded projects after
\nconstraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The envoy described the Akwa Ibom government as a model in the pandemic
\nmanagement and fundamental support for the USAID projects in the state.<\/p>\n
She also expressed delight over the investments made by the state
\ngovernment in the health sector.<\/p>\n
The ambassador said those were evident in the improved health
\ninfrastructure, trained health workers, the wellbeing of USAID projects
\nin the state, reversal of hitherto held statistics in malaria and
\nHIV\/AIDS amidst the COVID pandemic. (NAN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has urged the U.S. Government to delist the state from the list of unsafe states in Nigeria. Emmanuel made this known during a courtesy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n