SIR: Last Wednesday, Akwa Ibom State scored another high with the first-of-its-kind inter-ministerial briefing tagged “Tracking the Promise”, featuring six ministries – Ministry of Works and Fire Service; Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Economic Development; and Ministry of Special Duties and Ibom Deep Seaport.
The two-day event had participants drawn from different sections of the state such as the media, the religious and traditional institutions, civil rights groups, labour and pressure groups, professional bodies, NGOs, etc. The essence of the inter-ministerial briefing was aptly captured by the Dean, Faculty of Media and Communication Studies, University of Uyo, Prof Peter Esu, in his teaser; Governance, Transparency and Responsibility, in which the communication scholar noted that the Udom Emmanuel administration has been responsive in her approach to governance and added that the inter-ministerial briefing was a good opportunity for the citizens to demand more from the government.
In his opinion, it was not just enough for the government to perform but also pertinent to effectively communicate its achievements and successes to the people in order to leave little or no room for speculations and misinformation.
Day one of the briefing featured Ministry of Works and Fire Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning with the Commissioners of the three Ministries taking on questions from participants. Prof Eno Ibanga, the Commissioner for Works, while responding to series of questions, cleared the air on some of the burning issues regarding contracts, completion of ongoing road projects, etc. For instance, the Works Commissioner admitted that there have been challenges with the construction of Nsit Atai – Oron Road which stalled the work since the previous administrations but that the present government has resolved the issues and work has resumed in earnest on the road.
“Nsit Atai – Oron road will definitely be completed. We are running on speed and today whatever that had happened on that road, the narrative has changed”, Prof Ibanga assured. “This government is firm on delivering good roads so it has terminated and reawarded contracts because of non-performance. We have terminated up to five major contracts because this government wants to meet deadlines. At the speed we are running, these roads will be completed.”
Reacting to a question on the government’s plan for state fire service, Prof Eno Ibanga revealed that there were ongoing plans for a massive intervention to reposition the fire service. According to him, by the time the intervention is completed, Fire Service will be a separate arm in the Ministry of Works.
It is now left for the information managers, opinion leaders, community leaders, captains of industries and relevant bodies that took part in the briefing to drive home the message to the hearing of the people without distortion. After all, good governance is a collective responsibility.
Ekpene Israel wrote from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
