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Akpabio's
Day Of Glory In Oro
It was not meant by its organisers to be a carnival, but
it turned out to be just that. The organisers may not
have foreseen it would turn out to be such a great
celebration, but that is what key stakeholders described
it to be.
At the end of the day, it was a consensus (not your
politicians' version) that the Grand Reception organised
by the Oro community (the third largest grouping) of
Akwa Ibom State for Governor Godswill Akpabio was a
mega-success.
The day was Saturday, 6th December, 2008, and the venue,
the Oron Stadium, where the five Local Government Areas
of Mbo, Okobo, Oron, Udung Uko and Urue Offong Oruko,
with solidarity from their brothers from Ibibio and
Annang lands, “received” their State's Chief Executive,
Godswill Akpabio, and wife Ekaette.
As early as about 8.30 a.m. Stadium Road , the road
leading to the venue (stadium itself) had started
witnessing a crowd trooping to the venue. By mid-day,
private vehicles entering that road had been restricted
by the Police, as part of their crowd control, except
for official vehicles that conveyed the dignitaries into
the venue.
Between noon and about 3.00 p.m. when the man of the
moment, the guest of honour and governor, arrived the
venue, traditional dancers had a field trying to out-do
one another in announcing their presence.
It was a sight to behold, as the Oro elders and young
men, dressed in their trade mark time-honoured loin
cloths and long-tailed red caps (iyara) added colour to
the event.
Then came the D-time 3 p.m., when Mr. Governor arrived.
Excitement took over the crowd that had thronged the
venue, and you wondered if this was a carnival, festival
or reception. Pronto, the event went into full throttle
as no time was allowed for new introductions.
Welcoming the governor on behalf of the Oro people, the
President-General of the 83 years-old Oro Union, Chief
Okon Medekong, said that the Oro ethnic nationality
identified fully with the governor's vision and mission
in government, and commended him for his government's
free education policy, the planned Liquefied Natural Gas
(LNG) and sea port projects in the area, continuation of
the airport and Independent Power Plant projects and the
Tropicana Centre. For the people, these projects “will
make Akwa Ibom the preferred destination for investors
and tourists.”
Not done, the people also thanked Akpabio for empowering
the youth and women of the area to the tune of N250m as
well as giving N25m to reconstruct the Oron main market
which was razed earlier in the year. They appreciated
him for appointing a female Head of Service from the
area, appointing three civil commissioners, and
facilitating the election of the PDP National
Vice-chairman (South South) from the area as well.
Beyond the appreciation, the Oro people called for the
appointment of a Minister from the area, increasing the
number of Permanent Secretaries, recommending the
appointment of the Managing Director of the Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC) from their own, submitting
that “it is incontrovertible that 75% of off-shore oil
which give Akwa Ibom membership of NDDC, is derived from
Oron..” They called for the realignment of Oron Uyo road
to cushion the pressure on the people who now have to
travel a longer distance to Uyo, the State capital,
because of the airport project. They acknowledged the
governor's intervention by the provision of three luxury
buses to cushion the rise in the fare on the road,
occasioned by the closure of the road over the airport
project.
It was vintage Akpabio, who in responding reached to the
depths of the vaults of his oratorical repertoire. While
appreciating the people for organising the reception in
his honour, he reminded them of the 34 roads he was
working on in their main city, but added that the road
revolution he embarked on was not restricted to Oron,
but cut across the State. With a tinge of the jocular,
he remarked that with Oro having the Head of Service in
the person of Mrs. Grace Anwana, they were as good as
having 5 Permanent Secretaries in that one person. In
spite of this, he promised to do more for the people in
appreciation of their love and support for him.
Moving on, the State's chief Executive remarked that he
had not even started developing the State, noting that
he came into government in anger: anger against poverty,
deprivation and underdevelopment. Recalling his
difficult days while growing up, he called on the rich
to remember the poor, charging that a child's background
should not be what determines its access to education
and the good things of life. He said he had extracted
promise of more seriousness to work from contractors
handling construction work in the area. He announced
that government would construct the major linkage roads
of Anwana Esin, Murtala Mohammed and Stadium, to the
cheers of the crowd.
Highlights of the event included the investiture of the
governor as Offong Unwana Oro (light bearer of Oro) and
the wife as Offong Uduo-onyi Oro (Pillar of Hope of Oro),
the Oro Declaration, adopting the governor for the 2011
governorship election in the State.
Present on the occasion from the Annang group were
prominent community leaders led by the Itai Afe Annang
IV, Okuku Pius Esideh III. The Ibibio group (the largest
in the State) was led by Obong Akpabio, and they all
gave messages of solidarity.
The event attracted “who is who” in Oro nation, nay Akwa
Ibom; and one observer aptly summed it up by saying that
Oro stood still for Akpabio; and indeed it did!
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