By Matts Udoaka
Mr. Lenon Fifth stated in his (DECADE OF NORMALCY IN AMERICA: 1920 – 2928) that “politics is a garbage collection that accepts every trash, but in due course it brings out the wax of optimism.”
The palaver of Akwa Ibom State government with anyone is politics that should be amended with care.
Within the context of Nigeria’s political situation, one can easily discern Mr. Lenon Fifth’s assertion, and be quick to add also that in politics, it is not every glittering thing that means gold.
Normally it could be accepted that it’s not every APC member that is Buhari, and similarly too, not everything that seems to be allegedly corrupt stands for PDP as being alluded in some quarters.
There are different spins of web in everything that brings out different results. So are the years and performance of every administration of Akwa Ibom State.
Since this country attained her political breakthrough some seventeen years ago; there has been no dull moment in Akwa Ibom State, as different government perfects her different perspective to improve the lots of the citizens of the state.
But the years of the past administrations differ considerably from the progressive years of the present administration since everyone is not the same in outlook and performance.
So far, the good two years of the present administration is here for people to judge the state on economic, financial prudence and her infrastructural renaissance.
Therefore, for Mr. Anietie Usen, the Director of Commercial and Industrial Development in the NDDC to assume Mr. Ephraim Inyang Eyen, the Akwa Ibom Ibom State Commissioner for Works position as attacking the NDDC or its Managing Director, Obong Nsima Ekere, is an overstatement within the frontier of politics. Mr. Usen knows what he is doing to safe guard his stomach infrastructure.
Rather, what evoked the misconstrued position of Mr. Inyang Eyen, is his (Inyang Eyen’s) insistent on truth, based on the quality of job and tenacity to execute the jobs by the NDDC. Considering Akwa Ibom State that was beset with bad road network, and most roads worked now show the flashes of NDDC performance, the Akwa Ibom State people with their gullibility and sentiment are wont to extend their skewed belief of NDDC to roads duly rehabilitated by the state government.
Therefore, Commissioner Ephraim Inyang Eyen, who is on top of the Works Ministry, has had to defend his boss, himself and his ministry, for what they have been doing, just as Mr. Anietie Usen spoke in favour of his Commission and his Chief Executive Officer.
Akparawa Ephraim Inyang Eyen, has every right to tell the world the logistics his ministry is using to perform, and the deception he notices from NDDC.
NDDC and 95 Roads
Above all, the NDDC claim to have worked 95 roads is squarely in doubt as per the Works Commissioner. The doubt is that the roads that have inferior finishing like Nkemba street which was certified as having been worked but is still with a big cave in the middle that has resulted in serious accidents for unfamiliar drivers of the road, and a road like Port Harcourt Street with newly designed potholes should not be counted as perfect roads that NDDC is glorifying itself on.
Still on noticeable poor performance that the Commissioner for Works detests is the proven poorly executed federal road that links the entrance of Essene community in IKot Abasi L.G.A, from Regina Coeli College to the East-west road. This road, bye-passing to Port Harcourt, does not need its importance to be over stressed.
It is a road that carries heavy duty trucks, and trailers that go and come from Cross River State on granites transportation to other Niger Delta states.
The road is being used day and night by these heavy duty trucks including petroleum tankers that load from Port Harcourt refinery. To give that road such a hurried execution, in a typically rain belt zone of the state is a disservice to Nigeria.
Mr. Ephraim Inyang Eyen was also not impressed with the high number of roads started and abandoned by the NDDC.
When the inspection team of the NDDC and the Akwa Ibom State government went round the state, did they not see that NDDC abandoned roads in Ikono, Onna, Ini, Obot Akara and Ikot Abasi to mention a few? In Essene again, the road linking the Customary Court to the East-West road (Axis II) was abandoned after the contractors had poured red earth on it.
Right now, with early rains, nothing like pedestrian or car can enter that road again, whereas the contractors had left the site with all their equipment a long time ago.
Why should the authority of the state government not raise alarm for the whole world to come and see the nice job of the NDDC in the state?
The Commissioner, when contacted maintained that before politicizing the number of roads the NDDC has worked in Akwa Ibom State, the Commission should first complete their abandoned projects to buttress their claims.
When contacting the personnel of NDDC, the answer was that the Commission is only on intervention duty and not to construct roads for the government, knowing that intervention agency’s duty does not mean constructing roads for people.
If such spurious claim is believable, what justifies the huge budget of the Commission on yearly basis? The NDDC should not continue to cheat the nation on the assumption that they are to intervene and not to construct roads.
Intervention is not distant from rehabilitation. If Akwa Ibom State is the home base of NDDC this time around, that is in terms of management, much is expected from it.
The Commission must understand the principle of starting charity from home. Ambassador Edem did it when he did not have an elaborate scope like the Managing Director.
To the best of his ability, he turned Nsit Ubium local government to Dubai by providing good and durable roads in every nook and cranny of the local government.
This is there for anyone to see. As the Chief Executive of the Commission, Obong Nsima Ekere has the wherewithal to turn the whole of Akwa Ibom State to Europe or America. Let him do it now.
Commissioner Inyang Eyen will not fail his state. Let the twosome from the Eket Senatorial District show their worksheet by cooperating so that the Uyo and Ikot Ekpene people may have a more difficult shoes to wear in future. (C) The Waves Newspaper, Uyo
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