A former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Nigeria, Chief Nduese Essien sees begging as alien to Akwa Ibom culture and wants those he tagged “professional beggars” to refrain from the vice.
Essien speaking with Straightnews in a telephone interview on Monday said begging culture is not common in the state, wondering why some people ply this trade to milk the financial resources of the hard working.
“It is unfortunate thing that some newly appointed political appointees to Governor Udom Emmanuel and civil servants are in the habit of begging. People you would have thought are gainfully employed are engaging in begging for alms. They would organize themselves into groups and join the fanfare of government to collect tokens.
“Those in government will take their share while those in the professional groups will part with theirs. Eventually they abandon their farms and offices to indulge in this ignoble business. What this means is that there will be food shortage while people will not be offered efficient services in office due to this bad behavior,” the minister bemoaned.
Essien, a two-term member who represented Eket Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, speaking in Inspiration FM 105.9, Uyo, Monday, said “Some political appointees of the Governor used their positions to beg. This is unimaginable. They say their take home pay is not enough. If that is the case, why can’t they stay behind and allow people who are jobless to take over to avoid them being unproductive.”
On the on-shore-off-shore oil dichotomy derivation, he noted “It is disheartening to know that what is happening to derivation sent to the state. The then President refused to pay the money, but we used our position to compel the President to pay the money.”
Commenting on the Federal Government’s remittances to Niger Delta Development Commission, the ex-legislator wondered that NDDC was established for the Niger Delta states, noting “Unfortunately, other states are also beneficiaries of the commission.”
“We heard that some National Assemblymen got contracts from the commission. In our days, it was not so. We did not get contracts from NDDC. Federal Government has a lot of influence on the money sent to the Niger Delta Region. The government has appointed people from other regions into NDDC, but the same government has not appointed people from other regions into the recently inaugurated North East Development Commission.”
Kicking against non-utilisation of the funds accrued from NDDC, he admitted that “Some of the governors in the South-South Region have not utilised the money effectively for the benefit of their people.”
