It was an ecstatic moment for winners of 150 houses with two-bedroom flat during a raffle draw held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Sunday evening.
The winners mainly civil servants drawn from the cadre of Grade Level 01-08 could not control their emotions as they become proud owners of houses during Grace Housing Estate Promo, courtesy of the Governor Umo Eno administration.
Straightnews gathered that 554 workers in the junior category obtained the ticket and entered for the draw, but 150 emerged house owners through the process.
Speaking at the occasion held at Fairmore Event Centre, Uyo, Governor Eno reiterated the determination of his administration to keep to his campaign promise of addressing the basic needs of the people.
Eno explained that the 400 Compassionate Homes to be built across the wards and local government areas for the vulnerable and the Grace Estate project designed for civil servants of level 01 to 08 are testaments of his resolve to provide shelter for the people, especially those of the lower class in the society.
The Governor, who identified food, shelter, and health as the basic needs of the people, said that his administration has scored high in the provision of these needs for the betterment of the people.
According to him, “Apart from the 150 houses that we have given out today, we are building about 400 compassionate homes all across this state, in every ward and every local government. We know that we need to support our people.
“The greatest need of our people right now is food, shelter and healthcare, and we believe that we are scoring good points in these areas.
“When you look at the spread, you will see that we have scored very good points in each of these programmes that we have set up for ourselves.
Eno commended the Head of Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien and Senior Special Assistant on ICT, Dr Frank Ekpenyong, for painstakingly undertaking the task and ensuring optimum transparency and success.
He also appreciated stakeholders and people of the state for their support to the administration and the critics for identifying areas of attention to give the administration a sense of direction.
“We thank you for your support in the Civil Service; we thank all of our critical stakeholders; we thank all our friends; and we thank all our enemies and critics because they have helped us stay in check,” he added.
Earlier, the Head of Civil Service and Chairman, Housing Allocation Committee, Elder Effiong Essien, had described housing as one of the basic necessities of life, regretting the inability of the civil servants to acquire houses of their own.
He thanked the Governor for breaking the jinx of inadequate accommodation for civil servants on Grade Level 01 to 08 through the Grace Estate initiative with a token of N50,000 for expression of interest in the raffle draw.
Essien thanked the Governor for his worker-friendly disposition having initiated the Health Insurance Scheme for the workers and has complimented the gesture with the Grace Housing project which addresses the housing need of the workers.
The Head of Service congratulated the winners of the draw for their success and urged them to use this as a motivation to work harder for the state.
He assured the Governor of the worker’s commitment to the realization of the ARISE Agenda in their respective capacities.
A beneficiary, Victor Ernest Effiong, Grade Level 03 and Staff of the Office of the Deputy Governor, expressed delight for being a proud house owner, describing his new status as a dream come true.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Miss Comfort Michael of the State Ministry of Information, Clement Moses Bassey, Christopher Emem Ekpenyong, Udo Ofonime Elijah and others who emerged winners of the raffle draw.
Recall that as part of activities marking his first one year in office in May, Eno, allotted 150 out of 236 units of two-bedroom apartment at the Grace Estate to civil servants in the state.
Eno, who commissioned the 236 two-bedroom Deluxe housing estates located in Ibiono Ibom and Ikono local government areas, explained that the beneficiaries would emerge through a raffle draw to ensure transparency and fairness.
