Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, is set to create a delivery unit that will be saddled with the responsibility of tracking his administration’s plans and promises to ensure timely implementation.
He has also announced that the previously announced N2BN single digit interest free loan scheme to traders, will henceforth be converted to a grant.
Governor Eno who made the announcement while addressing a Sunday worship service at Delightful Christian Church, Uyo, explained that the unit will pool delivery advisors and be headed by an Executive Assistant who will work directly with the Governor.
The Governor stressed that it was high time all hands be on deck to deliver on the aspirations of the government, while harping on the need for collaborations towards collective success.
“We have decided to appoint delivery advisors to accelerate the execution of our projects because there is a lot of work to do.
“We want to ensure that Government promises are followed through, and we must have what is identified globally as delivery advisors. We must, as a State, begin to have people that don’t get involved in politics, but their jobs would be to sit down to ensure that everything we have said is being followed up”, the governor stated.
Frowning at the spate of dependence on freebies, Governor Eno reiterated the value of hard work and ingenuity, describing dependency on handouts as a non sustainable practice that cannot lead to prosperity.
He outlined his various support to empower youths and entrepreneurs for economic advancement.
Among such initiatives are the creation of an employment portal for youths to serve as a pool where government agencies and companies can recruit from, opening of a branch of the Bank of Industry in the State to enhance access of Akwa Ibom entrepreneurs to loans on single digit interest rate, and provision of N2billion grant for traders in markets across the State as well as monthly financial support for the elderly.
He explained further that government will work directly with the leadership of markets across the state to get nominees for the grant, and such nominees will be verified as actual stall owners in the respective markets.
The Governor said he decided to worship in the Church after having worshipped there few years ago, when the former State Chairman of the PDP, the late Sir Udo Ekpenyong, was alive, and expressed satisfaction that the church still provides the same measure of spiritual satisfaction and joy.
The General Overseer of Delightful Christian Church, Apostle Umana Ekpenyong, in his sermon titled “the Glory of the Latter House Shall be Greater than the Former”, culled from Haggai 2:1,9, said God after making the promise of a future glory also commanded a moving forward, stressing that the manifestation of the expected glory cannot be possible without work.
