...When Obasanjo Visited Akwa Ibom
By Efem Ikanga
President Olusegun Obasanjo's three days official visit to Akwa Ibom state has come and gone, but the memories of the visit will linger in the minds of the people of the state for sometime to come.
The President's first port of call on his arrival for the visit to Akwa Ibom State, last week, was the local government and chieftaincy affairs commission. Before making for the Commission, President Obasanjo inspected a guard of honor mounted in his honour at the Akon Itam boundary in Itu local Government area of the state.
At the Commission's office President Obasanjo met with royal fathers in the state before going round some local government councils to inspect and commission government projects.
One major highlight of the president's august visit was the effort of the President to lay to rest speculations that there was a major rift between him and the state governor, Obong Victor Attah.
At his meeting with the state's traditional rulers council, the chairman of the council, Apostle Owen Ukafia, asked the president to forgive Obong Victor Attah for whatever offences might have been responsible for the strained relationship between the two. It is widely believed that Obasanjo and Attah's hitherto warm relationship grew cold during the fight for the abrogation of the oil onshore/offshore dichotomy. In his response, Obasanjo said the issue of forgiveness does not arise even as he added that as long as the governor represents his people well and looks after their welfare he would have no trouble with him.
The issue was further laid to rest at the gala night held in the President's honour when the president publicly declared that he would have married Governor Attah were he to be a woman.
"I love Attah. In fact I have said this, if I had been a woman I would have competed for his hand, because he has some attributes I like. And the ones I don't like I have told him.
The president further clarified that his area of disagreement with the governor was on principles of party discipline and not on trivialities or frivolities.
'I disagreed with him on principles of party discipline. He has no right to disagree with me publicly as the commander in chief and party member and I have no right to do so in public either. If he disagrees with me 'publicly' it's a party issue," the President said.
After shedding light on the rift and laying it to rest, the president addressed other issues that were considered important by the people of the state.
Aside from their request that the President should lay the ghost of the Obasanjo-Attah rift to rest they also presented the President with problems confronting the state.
For example, they asked the President to do something positive about federal roads in the state. The roads, the people alleged, were deplorable.
During an interactive session with a cross section of the people of the state, President Obasanjo promised that bad federal roads in the state would be fixed. He explained that the delay in the repair of the roads occurred because the contract of the firm handling the roads was terminated for non-performance.
He promised that the contract will be soon be awarded to another contractor even as he stressed that work on the roads will start before the end of the year.
At the occasion, the President also had to tackle the Aluminum Smelter Company ALSCON, issue. President Olusegun told the people that 'ALSCON' is a problem that the FG will solve.
He also promised to release funds for the fixing of the Edemeya Bridge in Ikot Abasi.
Another area President Obasanjo was asked to look into was the damage erosion had caused in an area of the state called Itak Ikono. In this area erosion problems have resulted in several gullies and depression one of which is deep enough to swallow a three-story building. At the moment, houses close to this particular gully are said to be in danger of being swallowed by the huge depression.
After paying a visit to the site, President Obasanjo described the yawning gully as ''frightening'' and promised that the problem it has become would be fixed.
President Obasanjo also promised to look into the issue of the payment of backlog of derivation funds to the state and disclosed that the Federal Government has so far released N90 billion to the state Government.
In response to a question on the proliferation of foreign trawlers fishing on Akwa Ibom waters, the President disclosed that the Nigerian Navy would be empowered to increase its patrols and enforcement duties against trawlers fishing in local unauthorized waters.
He called on farmers in the state to utilize the opportunities presented by Aqua culture even as he disclosed that his administration will soon privatize three fishing terminals in the country in order to make them more effective.
He also granted the request made by the people and the state council of chiefs that the late Clement Isong be immortalized by putting his name on a Naira denomination.
When a similar request was made for Philip Effiong, the President told the people that the late Philip Effiong had come to him with a problem bordering on his disqualification from contesting an election as a result of his dismissal from the Army. The President said he looked into the problem and solved it because it was a case of injustice. He was however silent on whether the late General who led the surrender of Biafran Forces during the Civil War would be honoured or not. His response to a question asked in this regard was, "let's not go there".
President Obasanjo said that Akwa Ibom State would be granted a license for to build and operate a refinery but he charged oil companies to show concern and to be aware of their obligations so that the Niger Delta region will be saved from environmental degradation.
A major highlight of Mr. President's visit was the adoption of a young village boy from Ikot Ebidang village in Onna.
In a move that surprised many, President Obasanjo broke protocol and abruptly stopped in front of one of the houses on his way to inspect the Rice Farm Project, Onna. He got out of his official car and entered the house where people were standing and exchanged greetings with the householders.
After the exchange of pleasantries, the President suddenly focused on one Mrs. Alice Udoh, who was a neighbour of the occupant of the house where he stopped.
He asked the woman where she lived and followed her to her house, when he got there he asked her of her husband, children and occupation. The woman replied that she is the widow of a retired soldier who served the army for 30 years before dying last year. She told the President that she has seven children with only three left at home.
When the president asked why her children were not in school the woman said since her husband died none of the three children left at home is going to school.
No sooner had she finished than the president fastened his eyes on one of the children, 11-year old Nsikak Udo Henry, a primary 3 pupil of Ikot Annang primary school and declared that the boy should be brought to him in Abuja.
He promised that the boy will live with him and that he will take responsibility for his training and upkeep. All the people present at the occasion, including the widow burst into wild jubilation.
THISDAY later cornered Nsikak and asked him how he felt given the President's gesture. He replied, "very very happy"
The visit was President Obasanjo's third to the state but more than any other time it afforded the President the opportunity to feel the pulse of the people and share in their problems.
At the interactive session with the people Obasanjo was down to earth, sharing and cracking jokes even though he almost lost his temper at a point.
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