Ibom Airport Gallery
Block work at Fire fighting Bay as at March 2007
Akwa Ibom Airport Runway - 3rd quarter 2007
Akwa Ibom airport runway 2 - 3rd quarter 2007
Compacting shoulder of runway
Control tower conduit
Control tower conduit as at Dec. 07
Blinding for under the footing at control tower as at Jan 08
Air traffic control equipment arriving from Port Harcourt
Air traffic control equipment arriving from Port Harcourt 2
Akwa Ibom International Airport Aerial view as at May 09
Runway facility as at June 09
Akwa Ibom International Airport Aerial view as at July 09
Air rescue & fire fighting facility
Fencing as at Aug 09
Control tower and lighting vault as at Aug. 09
Finishing Runway with Marking as at September 09
Fire fighting bay with fire fighting equipments and ambulance parked as at september 09
MRO facility as at September 09
Ag President Jonathan, ex-President Obasanjo, and Gov Akpbio
Borehole flushing Nov. 2007
By Essien Ndueso
On assumption of office on May 29, 2007, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio declared his resolve to implement programmes that will massively and positively touch on the lives of the people of the state and in consonance with the manifesto of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
Nearly two years in the saddle, the Governor has fulfilled his pledge to run an administration that would foster unity, and love as well as engender prosperity and harmonious coexistence among the people.
Very heartwarming to the people is the fact that almost on a daily basis, Chief Akpabio, popularly called the Digital Governor is embarking on new development projects designed to turn Akwa Ibom into a destination and an investors’ haven.
No wonder therefore that Governor Akpabio has had to contain with an avalanche of honours and awards from diverse interest groups, organizations, institutions and communities across the country and beyond.
Governor Akpabio has performed his duties in a very efficient, effective and commendable manner and has changed the socio-economic landscape of Akwa Ibom State by implementing historic policies and programmes that touch the lives of all spectrum and strata of the people across the three Senatorial Zones of the State.
Mindful of the importance of good road network in the development and improvement of economy it is understandable why the state government has spend over N150 billion naira on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of no fewer than 160 federal and state roads in the three senatorial districts of the state.
Today, through the various road construction and rehabilitation carried out by Akpabio’s administration, the whole state has become closely linked.
Notable among the mega road projects including federal roads, which had suffered decades of neglect but undertaken by the Akpabio administration are the Afaha Obong-Etim Ekpo-Iwukem Road, Etebi-Enwang Road, and Nnung Udoe Itak-Use Ikot Amama-Ibiaku-Ikot Esifa Roads.
Education is seen globally as the bedrock to the development of any society. This is why the United Nations’ Charter provides that member countries should allocate at the minimum 25% of its annual budget to this important sector.
Governor Godswill Akpabio has taken the sure footed shot at what has been elusive despite repeated assurances by past administrations as his government introduced free and compulsory education for all its indigenes up to Senior Secondary School level.
By estimation, the State Government will spend over N7 billion annually to fund the programme and another N1 billion as subvention to schools at the cost of 100 Naira per Primary School pupil and 300 Naira per Secondary School student. In doing this it eliminates all forms of charges under any guise.
To create a conducive learning environment for pupils and students in public school, the Government has also embarked on total and complete rehabilitation of all schools in the State and bring them to model learning centres.
In doing this, Akpabio’s administration knows that the resultant effect would in the near future far outweigh the present cost, and in the interim would lead to total expulsion of criminality, restiveness and other vices that is the bane of the Niger Delta region today.
Governor Akpabio also believes that through qualitative free education, the State could be made more virile and will also churn out qualified personnel to fit into national and global economy in addition to encouraging capacity building of its citizenry.
To give a legal backing to the free and compulsory education arrangement as a right of every Akwa Ibom child, the State Government has enacted the Child Rights Law. The law makes it an offence for any child to be seen hawking, trading or roaming the streets during school hours. It further prescribed punishment for any parent engaging a school age child as house help or any form of child labour.
Also the government is building a modern state of the art e- library which would also serve as an International Research Centre in the Niger Delta.
Apart from this, Akpabio’s Administration is also developing vigorously facilities at the State owned Akwa Ibom University of Technology (AKUTECH) which is billed to commence classes in September this year.
The Akpabio Administration has also made unprecedented strides in the area of rural transformation: In less than two years, the government has executed and delivered more than 800 life transforming projects ranging from water, electricity, rehabilitation of schools and hospitals, among others, in all the 31 local government areas of the State.
In line with his promise to make Akwa Ibom an industrial hub, the government is currently developing an Industrial City at Ibaka, Mbo Local Government Area that would host a deep seaport, refinery, Fertilizer Plant as well as housing and other complementary facilities.
The State Government is pursuing with vigour, the construction of what is expected to be the biggest entertainment complex in Sub-Saharan Africa – the Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Centre.
When completed, Ibom Tropicana Centre will host a 15-floor, 250 bedroom Five Star Hotel, a ten thousand seater event centre, a modern shopping mall with Cineplex and will provide over 5000 jobs for the people.
This is in addition to the gas-to-gasoline and liquefied natural gas projects being executed in association with multinational companies and expected to bring in over forty billion US Dollars investment and numerous other benefits.
Furthermore, the governor’s commitment to continuity has also propelled his administration to complete all the major projects including the Independent Power Plant at Ikot Abasi, the State University of Technology, and the Ibom International Airport Projects started by the previous administration in the State.
In the Health sub sector, the government provides free treatment to children below the age of 5, the elderly from 70 years, as well as pregnant women and in addition, has renovated over 100 Primary Health Care facilities in Akwa Ibom State to provide adequate health care in all the rural communities. While work is in progress at the 20th anniversary Specialist Hospital.
It has also ensured the training and empowerment of 620 youths with Agricultural loans of N500,000 each under the state Integrated Farmers Scheme, while developments have been made in accelerated fisheries and livestock programme.
Governor Akpabio has a large heart that accommodates and respects all manner of persons irrespective of political persuasion or any other consideration and has attracted commendations for himself from both his supporters and critics.
Only recently the spectacular performance of Chief Akpabio earned him the Fellowship award of the Hussaini Adamu Polytechnic, Kazaure, Jigawa State, conferred on him in a colourful ceremony during the institution’s last convocation.
He had earlier been conferred with a distinguished award for Good Governance by the Government of Niger Republic and has also been honoured as Governor of the Year by several National Newspapers and magazines.
As Governor Godswill Akpabio continues in his unprecedented strides at building a sound and purpose-driven economy, it requires nothing short of support and solidarity to consolidate on the achievements so far recorded, for as everyone can see, things are getting better in Akwa Ibom State.