Interview with His Excellency, Chief (Dr.) Godswill Akpabio

How are you grappling with the global economic meltdown? From the projects we hear you have undertaken in your state, don’t you think it will affect what you are doing, when funds finally dry up, given what we know now is happening to most state governments as a result of poor revenue allocation?

I will expect that it will affect us. That is why we are praying. I started early and I am a product of experience. I had been in government for over five years as commissioner. So, I know that government has time. And most of the infrastructural developments are season-bound. For instance, road construction is seasonal. You can’t do much during the wet seasons. And dry seasons are far and in-between in a place like the South South, quite unlike what happens in the North. So, when I came in as governor, while others were still on the drawing board I had started construction. And that is why today you are seeing the kind of development you are seeing in the state. I started very early in 2007. In fact, I had started major constructions before my cabinet was formed. For instance, I had my first meeting with Julius Berger on the second of June three days after I was sworn in. I had met them as governor-elect and I said they must come in to assist me in the state. So, if you come in there now and see the level of where we have taken the Government Lodge; you know we had to bulldoze it and start afresh. We are commissioning it in May 2009. So, if you come and see that the Government Lodge is almost finished, then, you will be wondering how did this happened. It is because we started early and I said I must finish it within two years in office. The same time I started about 49 urban roads in Eket, which is the oil city. I am commissioning 18 of them at the end of this month. I have commissioned many in the past. Within the first one year, I commissioned well over seven. Now 18 roads are ready for commissioning in Eket alone; brand new roads that never existed before. I will like you to be there, because sometimes seeing is believing. I don’t like to come and tell stories. If I had my way, but for petition writing, I would have closed Akwa-Ibom when I came in as governor and I would have reopened it in 2011. I am sure you will think it is a miracle. That is the simple truth. I have told you before, that is my personal belief. I would have closed the state and worked hard for those four years. In 2011, I will re-open it for Nigerians to come and see. So that you will see the difference between the time I took over in 2007 and 2011. But, you know that people will petition and put up all sorts of write-ups in the newspapers. They give a wrong impression of what is going on. A lot is happening in my state. Even me as a governor I get amazed sometimes with what is going on. But sometimes I have real satisfaction and joy when I see a completed project. If you were from that state you will really understand. I am telling you, a lot is happening there; believe me. We expect the meltdown to also affect us, that is why we are not initiating new project. The budget of this year is what we call the budget of consolidation. We want to consolidate on what we have started in 2007 and 2008 and then watch the economic situation before we embark on any new project.

Beyond that, are you looking at the prospect of revving up your revenue base?

We have done that already. When I came in, the internally generated revenue good but we have raised the level of what we are getting internally now. In fact, as at last month we had doubled it. I think every state should do the same, because the internally generated revenue would now have to be something that would assist the state governments. But you know at that level, because of the fact that the economy of the state is civil service dependent, it is not an industrial state that has a lot of business premises or a state where the land is of such very high value. But then we have been able to double the revenue that we are getting now. We are working very hard to even go about that because that is the only way we can augment what we are getting from the centre. But a lot is happening in my state. In fact, it is a major message for you that a lot is happening in my state. In the area of education our lives are no longer the same. We have tripled school enrolment in Akwa-Ibom State. We started a policy last year of free and compulsory education at the primary school level, at the junior secondary level and the senior secondary school level.

My brother, we have tripled school enrolment. Next week we are going to distribute about 10,000 school desks, because some of the children have been sitting on the floor. But it is fantastic. And the policy of free and compulsory primary and secondary education in totality; we are loosing about N7 billion every year. It is a major sacrifice for the state. But my belief is that we must sacrifice to plan for the future now that the policy in the state has a little bit of a sweetener attached to it. We have abolished all forms of levies, including Parent Teachers Association (PTA) levy. Then we went further to introduce subventions for running of schools. So, if you are a school headmaster and you have more students, then you get more money. If you are a school principal and you have more students, then you have more money. We are paying in the primary school N100 per child per head per term for logistics such as chalks and other things. Then we are paying in the secondary schools N300 per child, per head per term for logistics to the principals, so that PTA and other things will be totally abolished. And the policy is working well. So many children are running to school. I was sitting down with one clan head from Ukanafun Local Government Area, they came on a visit, and the man said that his son who is 34 years old and a palm wine tapper, has abandoned palm wine tapping and is now in class one in secondary school - 34 years old. That shows you what N10, N100 could do. A lot of people’s ambitions could not be actualised as a result of lack of small fees to pay. At the age of 34, he is back in class one in secondary school. And I encouraged him. I said education has no age limit. In less than five years from today he will be a senior secondary school leaver and that might take him to 41 years or thereabout. You will be surprised that before the man gets to 49 years he will already be a graduate. So, by the time he gets to 50 years he can never be a palm wine tapper; he will be retiring into a better life, because of the opportunity granted today by the free education policy of government. A lot is happening in that direction.

What was the policy behind the demolition of hilltop building?

It was a defective structure. It was in a very bad state and it had foundation problem. You know, it was one of the projects I inherited from the last administration. When I came in as a governor, the last governor handed over the drawing of the rehabilitation of the lodge to me and said it was in such a bad state that it needed rehabilitation. But when we brought in technical experts and they gave their advice. I did not just walk in to demolish it. It is not my personal house. It is a government structure. So there is need for us to be prudent with the management of funds. So, the problem we had was renovating it and it would have cost us N1.8 billion, then building a new one is about N2.2 billion. So, I had to take a decision whether to build a brand new one or to go for rehabilitation. They where not even giving me 100 per cent assurance. They said it had cracks and was affected by humidity. They have to dig into the foundation to determine the actual state and it would depend on what they have found in the foundation that would determine how much of it would be brought down. At the end they will not give you good guarantee. So, it was a decision that was made in the best interest of the people and I hold myself responsible for it. I got the mandate to think right for the people. So, forget the politics of people going against my decision. It was the best decision at that time. And if confronted with the facts now, I would still take the same decision.

This issue of deregulation of the oil sector, what do you think about it?

You know it is a federal government decision. Petroleum matter is on the exclusive list of federal legislation. So, most times states are not consulted and so not allowed to comment on it.

Don’t you think it will affect the people adversely? Don’t you see the sense in what labour and members of the civil society are saying?

The president’s decision will be in the best interest of Nigerians. I am sure he will definitely listen to the views of all the parties involved. And whatever is the final decision of the President will be in the best interest in Nigerians. But you know petroleum is on the exclusive list. The states are not really allowed to comment on it.

Kidnapping is becoming rampant in your state. How are you sure that soon we will not wake up and hear that the governor has been kidnapped?

We are fighting very hard and this is where we want cooperation from the public and the media. When I read about kidnapping in Somalia, I read about kidnapping in America, in Britain and other places; I read about kidnapping in Ebonyi State and even I read about kidnapping Abuja; at the University of Abuja. I was shocked. I said, but this is not Niger Delta. All these places are not Niger Delta. So it will look like kidnapping is becoming a kind of global menace that we need concerted efforts of all governments around the world to fight. So, it would become a kind of trend, like we have armed robbery now almost perpetuating itself in Nigeria. I recall that the first armed robbery incident in Nigeria was in 1970 or 1971, long after the war. Before then there was none. Then, there was no need for somebody to have a very high wall around his house and all that. But it has become a big problem today. So, we must fight against this one so that it does not remain a permanent crime in Nigeria. Kidnapping is criminal. I don’t know how death sentence will deter kidnapping, but the truth of the matter is that because they use arms, AK 47 and the rest of them, they are like armed robbers. So, in my state we treat them like armed robbers, no excuses. I have sent a bill to the House of Assembly. It has passed through second reading and kidnapping is being made a death sentence offence in my state. I have told the youths that they cannot take kidnapping as a means of livelihood. It will not work. So, people should engage themselves in other vocations rather than take to vices like kidnapping. I don’t support kidnapping. I condemn it in totality and I want to make sure that it is eliminated from the face of Akwa Ibom State. I thank the security agencies because so far, we have recorded a lot of successes in that direction. We have broken a lot of camps. You know the security situation in my state was exacerbated when Rivers State banned Okada. And so, over 3,000 Okada people from Rivers State arrived in Akwa Ibom. And many of them were informants to militants. As soon as they came, they formed themselves into small gangs. That was what happened. So, we are fighting it. I am very confident we are going to succeed based on the successes we have made so far. We will eliminate it totally. I have assured the citizens that they can move around freely and go about their lawful businesses while we fight the kidnappers. We have set up an anti-kidnapping unit as a major department in the police force now. I have also increased the presence of security agents in the state. I have increased the number of people involved in the joint security task force. We are working very hard. Intelligence is number one. I can tell you that soon you will not hear about it in Akwa Ibom.

Are you going for second term?

You see, I have a very stupid approach to the future. My mother used to teach me that you should not hope for the shoes of a dying man, because when he goes, it may not be your size. I keep listening to my mother. What I have in my hands today is a four-year mandate. The constitution allows me to go back for a second term. There is no doubt that based on the things we are doing in the state that there is need for continuity. There is no doubt about that. I won’t even blink my eyes accepting any request for me to go for a second term in office because it is the people’s interest and it is also in my interest to complete most of the projects I am doing. For instance I am commencing the Tropicana project. It is not a project that you will finish in one and half years. And it is a major project that I know will change the revenue base of Akwa Ibom State. And also it will change the aesthetics of the town in addition to the revenue; and it will also change the employment situation in terms of getting more employment opportunities for our children. At the same time it will enable us carve a niche in the area of tourism. So, I look forward to it. I am doing a flyover now in Akwa-Ibom. Though I have been assured that the first major flyover will be completed in 2010. But if it is not completed and it goes slightly beyond 2011, I will be glad to sit down to see it to completion. I am doing a 20th Anniversary Specialist Hospital, which I want to manage with foreign experts; and ensure that that place remains a referral centre, with proper diagnoses - MRI and other scans and other facilities available that we can see abroad - in order to reduce the number of Nigerians that fly outside the country and save foreign exchange. We should be able to have at least one specialist hospital outside the one we have in Abuja, one that we can say in the South South, yes we have a good hospital. That is the kind of thing I am building in Akwa Ibom State. I am also doing an international airport. It was started by the last administration. They acquired the land. I met a bare ground; I have to say that. But today I am working hard. I am going to deliver an international airport to Nigerians come September this year. And it is coming complete with an MRO - Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility. So, I will like sit through and see that repair and overhaul facility come through, because that will make it possible for planes in Nigeria to have ‘C’ checks, ‘D’ checks, to have all the other checks and get certification within the country, thereby saving a lot of foreign exchange for Nigerians. I hope also that the Federal Government will see it as a major avenue for them to have a national hanger, for major repairs of planes in Nigeria. It is something that I am also hoping because of the situation of Akwa-Ibom; that we can use it strategically as a place for search and rescue mission for the Gulf of Guinea. In fact, even the United Nations and other agencies in the European Union should be encouraged to have their presence in that airport for search and rescue missions. It is something that I will like to see through. I am dualising the road from Uyo straight to the airport. I am commissioning that by May this year and a few other things. So, these are the things I will like to see through. Independent power that was started by the last administration will be finished in a short while from now. The major problem will be the distribution of electricity to all and sundry; and that means we must revamp the existing infrastructure. I am working with PHCN hoping that by then deregulation would have become a reality, so that we can also have a niche in the distribution of power in the country. We are at the formative stage of development and as far as I am concerned, since the government is on course and it is well focused, we can achieve a lot for the people. So, that goes to say that if there is continuity, in Akwa Ibom, for instance, there are so many reasons for it. We can have thousands of reasons to ensure continuity.

How far have you gone with this power project?

We have gone very far. We are now doing the installation of the last turbine. What is delaying the IPP now is actually the gas agreement. The Nigeria Gas Company has been having problems, because of the problem in Port Harcourt. I don’t know whether it is technical, but it may be more of security. There is reduction in gas supply. In fact, it threatens even the existence of the expatriate population in ALSCON (Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria) at Ikot Abasi. That threatens it, because most of the time the gas supply is not there. And even the IPP depends on gas. Sometimes they will say that their gas pipeline has been vandalised somewhere and some other times they have even low supply. And nobody can run such a place on diesel neither can you even say that you produce aluminum with diesel. So, it has been a major problem. So, the gas supply arrangement is the only issue now. Once we sign, we have to come to terms with supply arrangements and the risk factor. In the event that there is no gas, who takes the risk? Because those places could be shut down, and if it happens, so who takes that risk? And so if we have a solid gas supply agreement and then availability of gas is guaranteed, then we can start to test it. This is actually the real truth. So, it has a lot to do with another arm of the federal government, the Nigerian Gas Company, being alive to its responsibilities to see the country through.

How much of the power you are going to generate are you giving out to other areas, especially the neighbouring states?

I think they are lucky because we are even giving them more than we are taking. At the moment what we require is about 55 megawatts at the state level. But you know what normally happens when power comes up, more demand will come, because people that are not yet linked, when they see the stability of power they will get linked. And Nigeria cannot even quantify its power needs, because as at now we are yet to even link the entire country. In Akwa Ibom, what I have done is that I have set up about four different companies that are working to ensure that every community in the state by 2011 is linked to the national grid. And so far in less than one and half years in office, we have given light to 480 villages that never had light and we are doing more. But you know this is the commitment of the government. We put in all efforts available to ensure that all the communities are linked. It is only then that we can actually determine our power needs; when all the communities are linked to the national grid. So, there has been massive electricity development in the state. That is in addition to opening up of the rural communities of the state. I am doing over 168 rural roads all across the entire state. And these things are a beauty to behold. You need to come and see these things yourselves.

I am actually very interested in taking you round so you can see for yourself that really, it is a beauty to behold. So, like you are saying the problem will also be distribution. Most of the infrastructure by PHCN are all moribund and there are lot of restrictions. Now you read in the papers the other day new restrictions on even how the state government can intervene in federal roads. They may stop you now from doing that. I am doing N81billion worth of federal roads in the state today. I am doing the Ekom Iman/Ekit Itam road. I am dualising it complete with streetlights. I am doing Ikot Ekpene all the way to Abak. I am dualising it. I am doing Afaha Obong/Etim Ekpo/Iwukem up to Abia State. We are almost 50 per cent done. Most of it is already tarred. It has a major bridge. There is also the Enen Nsit Highway, Etebi/Ewang/Ibaka road and Nung Udoe Itak/Oko Ita/Use Ikot Amama road. I am also doing the dualisation of the road from Uyo all the way to the international airport, which really should take us straight to Oron. So, most those roads are actually federal roads. Everybody knows that they are federal roads but they were neglected. To be honest with you, it will be nice if we can get our money back. But you needed to see Akwa-Ibom before now. You could not access the place easily. You have a seaport in Calabar, you cannot evacuate the goods. People are coming from Akamkpa, the road is blocked everywhere sometimes for three hours, four hours. So, I am thinking the Federal Government should even think of farming out that Calabar – Aba road to either state government. You can hand over to the state governments not just for maintenance; we can dualise that road and put tollgate and recover our money or work with corporate agencies. There is no way we can allow that place like that because even the Tinapa will not work when there is no road to take goods from there. I am being honest. The Calabar Seaport has failed woefully because there is no road to evacuate goods. People have abandoned it. Today, we are having congestion in the existing ports - over 100 ships at Lagos Port. Even the rice that we imported to use in December 2008 for Nigerians, they are still inside the port at Lagos. I hope you know that even the Federal Government imported rice as a response to the food crisis. It is inside the port. I am hoping that the rice may get to us by 2011 before we leave office. This is the truth. I am not criticising government, I am only telling the reality. Go there, you will see the rice. They are still there. So, we have a major problem. That is why we are inviting the private sector with the Federal Government, to give us the enablement to do what we need to do in our state in order to open up the economy of Nigeria. And that is why we must develop the seaport at Ibaka as major seaport because it has a natural boundary. If port economies and port siting were not done on political consideration; if they were done on commercial consideration, that is the best port Nigeria will ever have; that is the best port Nigeria would have had. So, we have to develop it; even if it means leaving it for oil and gas so that all this congestion would not be necessary. We must open up the country.

Now, let’s come to party politics. Don’t you think that PDP needed some little bit of internal democracy?

I thank them for even the little bit that they have so far. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been a governor. I am sure you are aware that when I was coming in as a governor, that the PDP opened up for a lot of delegates to come from the wards. And so, like in my state, we were almost 9,000 delegates. That is how I emerge as the winner. If there was no internal democracy, I would not have been here; because you are aware that even the former administration of the state did not support my coming. That is the simple truth. My former governor had other plans. And so without internal democracy in the PDP, I would not even have emerged. So, I am also a beneficiary of internal democracy. I am very interested in even increasing the internal democracy in PDP.

During the governorship campaign, there were about 40 aspirants. Have you been able to carry them along now that you are governor?

It is only one person that can be governor at a time. So, if you are telling me whether I have been able to carry 40 governors along; because they were about 40 governorship candidate, each of them with their own agenda of how to run the state; you should even ask whether they have carried me along with their ideas. I am hoping that I have carried them along, because I am not the one to say, they are in the position to tell whether I have been carrying them along. But you see, we have tried to run an all-inclusive government; where the youth have a say, the elders have a say, the governorship aspirants also have a say. In fact, just two weeks ago I had dinner with all the former governorship aspirants and majority of them were there. We had the largest number. We are actually 58 in number. And even when I invited them for the dinner I realised that there was somebody, who bought the form but he had a tragedy in his family and so did not contest eventually; but he had bought the form and he came as an aspirant. So, I asked him, you too? And he said yes, that he bought the form. Really, we were very many and I am hoping I have carried them along. One of the things I promised was that even if I don’t carry you along, when you come to your community you will see development. Because I think what they wanted was development. Some of them have confessed to me that I have gone far beyond what they probably thought they would have been able to do. Nobody knows what he can do until he gets in there. I did not promise my people free education, but I am giving it to them. From January this year I am commissioning 557 projects. And these are life-touching projects. And so, because I can’t do it myself I have farmed it out and then commissioners are doing them in turns. And so, you may be hearing about it because that cannot be finished in one day. The communities are very excited. You need to follow them on some of those projects that are being commissioned. In Ibeno Local Government Area, the riverine waterlogged communities in Okorotip and others, we use boats to cross to go and commission projects. In Ibeno we commissioned about 25 projects; and the people said never in the history of government in over 30 years had any government touched their lives. So, at one go we commissioned 25 projects in a community that never saw one government projects in 40 years. It is something to remember. I have mentioned traditional roads in Akwa Ibom, where you will see that for over 40 years the people never thought that they could have a road. These things are for real. We believe that if we bring development to your community and you were a governorship aspirant, once you see that development, we have more or less carried you along, because we have carried your community along. But over and above that, I consult with them now and again. Many of them give me advice and I listen to them. But you know it is not easy. So, please find out from them if they are satisfied with the level to which I have carried them along. If they are not, if there are areas I need to improve, I will improve. Mine is to run an all-inclusive administration to make sure that all Akwa Ibom people have a sense of belonging, whether you are a governorship aspirant or you are a student. I have a telephone line that I receive about 350 phone messages everyday. I don’t receive less that 350 phone messages a day from Akwa Ibom people. And I ensure, as much as I can and humanly possible, that I answer them. In that way I am in direct touch with the people.

What has happened to your rice and catfish projects?

That was before I became governor.

Yes. What has happened to them now?

It did not survive. I think the project has died before I came in as governor. And what I am doing now in terms of agriculture, I am doing a lot of strategic investment in the agric sector. I graduated last month 620 youths. I took about 20 youths per local government.
We have 21 local governments in the state. I have trained them in various areas of agriculture. And on the day of graduation, we gave them grants of about N500,000 each to go and start small farming. And we are going to do that intermittently, in order to encourage those graduates to go back to farming. And we are going to establish Akwa Ibom food reserve programme, just like the Federal Government is doing. We are buying over a facility that was supposed to be used by A-Z industries in Aba; a very large complex, completely built-up. And government is going to invest up to N18billion into that project. The intention here is that we want to encourage our farmers here to produce. To avoid cassava glut and all that we buy it off them and then strategically store them, so that we can inject them to the market at various times in order to ensure that we stabilise the food situation, because we don’t know what will happen in 2010 with this meltdown situation. So that is what is going to happen. We are hoping to engender people’s interest more in the agric sector. And rice is not part of what we have done. But we will be happy to encourage rice production. If farmers could come up, we will be happy to encourage them. but that project had died before I came.

If so many people have their way, they would ban Okada totally in many places. It is assumed that this would be the same thing in your state. What do you think about this mode of transportation, which though a menace, is capable of creating a transportation problem if it goes? Is there anything you could do to fill the gap?

We didn’t have a very pronounced taxi system in Uyo before I came in as a governor. I say very pronounced; I didn’t say it wasn’t there. Even the metropolis of the capital; you know it is a relatively newer state in Nigeria. So, what I have done is to encourage them. I have done that by making sure that invest in it and then we hand them over to the public to run. Then people will pay back the money on a weekly basis. And in doing that also, we have been able to bring in some brand new air-conditioned vehicles. So far, we started with 400. We have been able to add another set of 100; brand new. We have also brought in luxurious buses to ply certain roads. You will be amazed that private bus associations are now reacting that these people are spoiling their business; because we used it to bring down prices. For instance, people who are travelling from Oron to Uyo, will now pay N200 per trip, in air conditioned buses, which are well spaced. So, that is the kind of thing that we are doing. And so they try to attack the buses on the road, saying why are you spoiling our business; that if they must survive, they should also charge N500, so that they will also be able to survive. That is the kind of things you see. So, there is a little bit of resistance when it comes to that. But we did not just go to ban. There were a lot of security reasons why we did that in December. And I think that decision should pay. So, what we have done was to inject buses to ply the major routes in the metropolis, at least to ensure that the people do not suffer. And we are still going to increase that. You will be amazed that the crime rate in December reduced by more than 90 per cent. That was because of just a decision to stop Okada by 7.30p.m. alone. So, we think we must take a second look at the operations of motorcyclists. And that is why nobody can blame Rivers State for the decisions they took, because you know that they must have looked at the security implications about what they have done. It think the motorcyclists have allowed a lot of criminals to infiltrate their rank and file. So, in any state where you see a lot of them operating, a lot of security issues are raised. Sometimes, they are also informants to kidnappers. They use their motorcycles to follow their victims until the time for them to strike. So, I don’t know the future of that industry in the state. But for now, the restriction stays. And also, we must continue to bring in vehicles to encourage the private sector to inject in more buses to reduce the inconvenience caused the general public.

We know that Tropicana is conceived as an additional facility to increase the number of hotel rooms and other facilities in Akwa Ibom. What is the stage of completion of the Meridian hotel complex?

I think in my view, for now, the Meridian will be completed in 2009. There may be few things to be done. Just before the 10th anniversary of PDP, I had to close it; I had to close the hotel to complete it. So, for about a month to two months, we did not take in guests. I have finished the re-grassing of the golf course to international standard. I went abroad, to London to have a meeting with the IMG (International Management Group); they manage golf courses in 29 countries. And it is on that bases that we may the first country in Africa that they will come in to manage. So, they have accepted to come here and manage the gulf facilities. And that would put that particular golf facility in the Internet and on the international golf map for a lot of international competitions, year in, year out. So, I will say the stage where we are now, we are almost 98 per cent ready; we are now more or less ready to do the final opening; because what they did before, was what they called soft-opening, which was just the ground floor and a few rooms. We have about 168 rooms. We have been able to do all of them. All those bungalows down; about seven of them, we have been able to complete them. We have re-grassed the golf course. So, we are ready. Except the Meridian points out a few things; for instance, some of the doors, we have also changed them. There were a few things, they thought were not of international standards; you know, just a few things they want us to change to meet up with the international standards. So, the hotel will be ready for final opening. And the Tropicana, in short is the answer to our lack of tourist sites. We don’t have a lot of tourist sites in Akwa Ibom. And if you have to ask people to stay in Akwa Ibom and not use us as a pedestal state, to get to other states, then we have to have places that will interest the children and those in the working class. And so, the Tropicana is actually conceived to make Akwa Ibom a destination for conferencing. For instance, within the Tropicana, we have what we call international conference centre. If you go to Johannesburg in South Africa, you will see where they have an international conference centre. They use it for a lot of international pageants – Miss World and all that. So, we are hoping to have a lot of conference centres attached to it, where you could have an AGM (Annual General Meetings) of corporate organisations. You can also come there for seminars, lectures, workshops and the likes. Also, there is a five-star hotel attached to it. Le Meridian is a resort. And this five-star hotel is like a working hotel within. It will take about 250 rooms attached to that international conference centre for a lot of major events. And then, next to it is, of course, the galleria. You know, all over the world, when you go to the cities, every street, has its galleria, with its shopping mall and all that. It is quite unfortunate that in the development of Nigeria we are still thinking of the traditional markets. Very few expatriates will walk into our traditional markets, because the foodstuffs there, that are being sold there, are not what they eat in their countries. If you are expecting an expatriate population here in Akwa Ibom, then that galleria is really required by our people. And then, within that galleria, which will have shopping malls, we have cinema centre, for those who may want to relax, then next to it is a park, which will come like a mini-Disney, complete with waterfalls, for children and for adults, to go out and enjoy themselves. It is going to be a revenue-yielding centre. It is a major centre. The way we are programming it now, it is going to be almost a village of its own. And the intention here is that when you come, you don’t want to go. When you come for your AGM, you can come with your wife and your children. When the children will go to the park to enjoy themselves, your adult children could go to the cinema-viewing centre to watch their favourite Nigerian movies, your wife will move in for her shopping, while you move into the conference centre. Then in the evening everybody will decide where next to go. So, you can keep your family occupied for a week or two and you don’t miss anything. And then you enter the city; when you are coming out, well-paved roads without a single pothole on them. I have just signed the Akwa Ibom State Road Maintenance Agency into law. I am setting up a major construction, direct labour agency that will now be in change of regular maintenance of government infrastructure, particularly roads. You can challenge them. They will have telephone numbers that you can call and say what you want from now to 2011.

How are you going to fund it?

Well, we have a major amount that came in last year from excess crude oil. So, what we did was to reserve the money for the Tropicana project. I didn’t want to put it into seminars and purchase of toilet papers. I hope you don’t think I am talking about NDDC? I wanted something good and when this money came, I said this is what we are going to use it for. I wanted to be a major development. Let it be a signature of our years in office.