Governor Udom Emmanuel has sneered at one of the aides to President Muhammadu Buhari for his inability to attract what he called ‘a kilometre of road’ from Federal Government to his village in Akwa Ibom State.
Emmanuel who spoke Sunday at the COVID-19 briefing beamed live by Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Service (Radio and Television Services) and relayed by other privately-owned radio stations in the state further blasted Senator Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs for his inability to build a kiosk for any person.
In what appeared like a trigger, Enang recently had castigated the Governor on the publication by National Bureau of Statistics putting Akwa Ibom State as the second-highest on unemployment rate in the country and derided Emmanuel administration for the 42 per cent figure despite the high number of industries established by the government and the huge monthly allocations accrued to the state.
Like retaliatory tactics, Emmanuel hit back “Don’t listen to those that the bible describes as Evil Reporters in Numbers 13: 25. There is one Lawyer that in the last 20 years, no one can point at one law chamber that he has established and possibly employ a single person. But he is the one talking about unemployment. Please, don’t listen to such people.”
He admitted “I am not saying we are there yet in terms of employment, but we are better off than what we met on ground. It is wrong to say that we are worse off. No we are not. People should understand that politics is over and we are focused on governance.”
The Governor lambasted “People like Ita Enang should be advised. Enang should understand that he does not have a monopoly of madness. People that know him should remind him that he has not built a single kiosk for any person since he started working in Abuja, yet he keeps insulting the Governor on the internet. If he wants to be a Governor, let him pick a form and contest.”
“When we started Ibom Air, he called it a scam and said all sorts of things. Is that someone that wants development for his State?
“Whoever knows Senator Ita Enang should warn him. People like him should not be talking. Whoever owns him should call him and advise him. There’s the other side of Udom Emmanuel and if he wants to incite unrest in Akwa Ibom State, we will use him to show others that we want peace in Akwa Ibom State.
“Ita Enang has been in the Presidency for 5 years, has he tarred even one kilometre of road in his village? We are creating roads and it’s a problem to Ita Enang. Tell him that if he wants to be a Governor, he should come and contest an election. He brags that he’s at the centre, how many tailoring shops has he created for Akwa Ibom people to work?
“He is talking about education. How many schools has the Federal Government given him money to build as someone at the centre? Ita Enang only knows how to insult Udom Emmanuel,” Emmanuel berated.
According to him, “For over six years in the federal government, Ita Enang should show one thing he has brought to this state. He should show one classroom he has renovated. It is rather unfortunate that others who are not from this state are cooperating with us to develop the state and all that our own son is doing, is to incite youths into violence.
“I hereby warn him that as a government, henceforth we would not tolerate such abnormality in this state,” he cautioned.
