Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has urged stakeholders across the State to protect public facilities in their domains against vandalism, as government will not continue to invest resources on such facilities.
The Governor stated this while addressing worshipers at the April edition of Government House monthly prayer service held at the Later House Chapel, Governor’s Lodge, Uyo.
He noted that government is making efforts to touch all communities in the State, adding that going to replace vandalized facilities in some communities while others were yet to have one would no longer be tolerated.
Making specific reference to electricity transformers, he said, “There is so much request for transformers and I want to appeal that there are communities that transformers were already given. I know the last administration bought well over two hundred transformers, they distributed these transformers, and fixed them but people have vandalized some.
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“People live in these communities, so when government brings transformer to your community and you cannot watch it or set up a system to protect it, and they are vandalized and you come again, understand that we have many communities in this state, and would not replace newly-installed transformers if the people there don’t know the value of transformers.
“You need to form a neighborhood watch or vigilante to protect those transformers and other government assets around you. These facilities belong to all of us, so be interested in them,” he said.
The Governor noted that his first anniversary was drawing closer and the list of projects that will be commissioned will soon be made public, and appealed to the stakeholders to endeavour to take part in the anniversary activities.
He decried the attempt by some people to hijack and thwart government’s effort at reaching out to the elderly citizens through the ARISE Elders Initiative, saying that it was not meant for only PDP members but all Akwa Ibomites and not for an individual stakeholder to select all beneficiaries.
According to him, “Every month, each local government gives us at least fifteen elderly people so that we can help them with their medications. A lot of these people die because medical attention don’t get to them. We give them fifty thousand naira each a month. It is our ARISE initiative for the elderly, but we have received complaints that people have highjacked the process.
“Please, allow the process to run. One person cannot bring fifteen people. What is wrong with a local government chairman going to the paramount ruler, sit with him and make the selection? It is not supposed to be a PDP thing. Government programmes are not meant for PDP members alone, it is meant for everybody. It should benefit everyone.
“So please, select old men and women across the wards, let them come and get the money. Recreational activities are also organised during the meeting so that they can go home with joy in their hearts. So, please I ask that the coordinator should bring people together and not just deal with only one family. We mean well for our people and they should benefit from these programmes.
“A lot of people are asking us, what is your legacy project? For me, our legacy project is rural development. Everybody has his own style. The current reality demands that we do soft infrastructure, I call them soft infrastructures because you can do those hard ones and before people will use them, they are dead.
“That is not to say that we won’t do what we wanted to do. As we step into the second year, we are stepping up on what we wanted to do in line with our ARISE Agenda,” he added.
The State Chief Executive also advised the citizenry to take their security seriously, adding that recent happenings have shown that from everyone kidnapped in the State, 20 percent is by chance and 80 percent is information from people around the victim.
He, therefore, urged everyone to minimize the publication of personal information on the social media as such constitutes security risk.
Governor Eno appreciated the Guest Minister, Rev. Emmanuel Iniama, the Senior Pastor of Precious Faith Int’l Church for his message, and all the worshipers for making out time to be part of the service.
Earlier in his message on the theme, “Deliverance from Wicked and Unreasonable Men,” with text taken from 2 Thessalonians 3:2, Rev. Iniama said such men are everywhere and only through prayers, discernment, fasting and training can one be delivered from them.
