ACTIVITIES commemorating the second anniversary of Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State in office and 2017 Democracy Day have kicked off with the commissioning, inspection and flag-off of development projects across the state.

Among the projects commissioned by Emmanuel are the Toothpick and Pencil Manufacturing Factory, 1.5km Nsikak Eduok Tropicana Outfall Drain along Nsikak Eduok Avenue.

In the same vein, the governor flagged off the remodelling of General Hospital Ituk Mbang, 3.2km Dual Access road at the Permanent site of the University of Uyo, construction of network of roads within the College of Education Afaha Nsit, and construction of 9.76km Ancillary roads in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area.

The governor has equally declared open an emergency medical response training programme organised for Medical Doctors in the state and inspected a dualised 20.0km Ikot Oku Ikono – Etinan Road.

At the General Hospital Ituk Mbang, Emmanuel said the facility when fully rehabilitated, would take care of gynaecology, paediatrics, emergency health care and other general medical services.

He decried the situation where  medical attention are sought in the tertiary health institutions and restated his administration’s resolve to provide quality and affordable medicare to the people saying that equipment for the hospital have been purchased and would soon arrive the state to drive home his vision of bringing out the best in  secondary health institutions in the state.

On the quality of equipment, Emmanuel said: “let me assure you that theequipment we are bringing in are of best quality and world standard.”

He expressed his administration’s  readines to partner with international agencies to bring in more equipment and provide healthcare services in accordance with international best practices.

Ekpenyong O. Ekpenyong, medical superintendent of the hospital, while expressing appreciation to the Governor for the intervention said “It is on record that you are the first Governor that has visited this hospital in the last 23 years; the last time we had a governor visiting this place was May 6, 1994, when Col. Yakubu Bako came. As the first democratically elected Governor to set foot here, we believe the visit would mark a new beginning in the hospital.”

Emmanuel also flagged off the construction of the 3.2kilometer dual access road at the permanent site of the University of Uyo where he reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating conducive learning environment for students and assured that despite the federal status of the institution, his government would  assist in the development of physical infrastructure in the university because it is located in the state.

He urged Ephraim Inyang, the state commissioner for Works, to expedite action and ensure the completion of the project before the next convocation of the institution.

At the State College of Education, Afaha Nsit where he flagged off the construction of internal road network, Governor Emmanuel, accompanied by members of the State Executive Council and political stalwarts, announced that his visit was to underscore his concern for the provision of quality education in the only state institution that offers training to teachers for the basic education programme.

He said: “We want to first of all give a facelift to the main entrance and internal roads,” and urged the students and people of the community to cooperate with his administration to ensure a smooth execution of the project in the institution.

The governor also commissioned a 1.5km outfall Drain project at the Nsikak Eduok-Tropicana Entertainment Centre.

At all the project sites visited, stakeholders in the communities spoke glowingly of the giant strides of the Udom Emmanuel administration, pledging their solidarity to the government.

Women groups, traditional display added colour to the tour of the projects undertaken by the governor.

—  May 24, 2017 @ 02:05 GMT