Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno has declared government’s readiness to smoke out and make youths and community leaders instigating crisis and orchestrating violent attacks to face wrath of law.
The warning came at the wake of the protracted mapping squabble leading to people flooding social media with a flurry of gory pictures of human beings allegedly killed and butchered in the crisis-torn communities.
Eno sued for peace over the recent mapping of Akwa Ibom State, tasking youths and community leaders to maintain peace rather than instigate crisis between communities.
Governor Eno spoke this while addressing a cross section of government officials and stakeholders at the Latter House Chapel, Governor’s Lodge, Uyo, for the June edition of Government House Monthly Prayer Summit.
He reasoned that since the courts were hearing cases on the issues bothering on the mapping, it would be in the interest of peace to allow the courts exercise their jurisdiction rather than fuel crisis that would hinder progress and general development in the state.
“Let me speak on the mapping. I know communities have gone to court and when the case is in court peace should reign.
“Yesterday pictures of what happened in some places were all over the social media and people were saying there’s trouble going on. Please the cases are in court and we trust our courts, let the status quo be maintained.
“Let’s allow peace to reign, nobody is coming to drag you out of your land. All the fireworks should be taken to the courtroom. Let’s allow the court cases to finish. Let’s not go and instigate any community.
“Advise your community leaders and everyone that there should be peace. Let’s not fight. Any community that attacks another community would receive the wrath of the law.
“Community leaders would be called out for such incidences. Please we should maintain peace,” he appealed.
Meanwhile, arrangements have been put in place for the Bank of Industry in Akwa Ibom State as support to the entrepreneurial development drive of Governor Umo Eno’s A.R.I.S.E. Agenda.
Eno hinged the setting up of a branch of Bank of Industry in the state on his entrepreneurship driven administration which, he said, is tilted towards using the business services of the bank to create an investment friendly climate in the state.
He hinted that an office space has been allotted the bank at the 21 storey smart building to facilitate a smooth take off of operations and used the occasion to advise operators of small and medium scale enterprises to take advantage of the bank’s presence in the state to grow their businesses.
“Finally we will have the Bank of Industry here. We have concluded on that. There are few things they wanted and we have sorted that out. I have given them a space in the 21-storey Smart Building. Government will pay for that building to bring them to the state.
“You need to make some sacrifices to attract businesses to the state, so I ask the entrepreneurs and industrialists to cooperate because what we can do for the people is to create that environment. They should be here before the end of July, we have met all of their offers,” he stated.
Eno also advised farmers in the state to do well to register in the farmers database created by the state government to enable them enjoy direct interaction and involvement in government agricultural programmes, warning that government would not relate with anyone or group by proxy.
He said more than 300,040 farmers have registered on the active data base as at the last count, while more farmers are encouraged to register for ease of business with government in the state.
“We have the farmers’ data base. Let farmers register in that data base because very soon we will deal with them directly not by proxy.
“The data base is still active and I learnt they can register directly online. We have about three hundred and forty thousand farmers that have registered. As we take off, we will talk with them. We will credit them directly so please nobody is taking to give to anybody.
“We will deploy extension workers to work with them as it used to be because we are very serious in agriculture. So encourage people in your local government to talk with the Agric Investment people at the APICO Building and register.”
The Governor warned appointees into statutory boards and parastatals to gear up for efficient service delivery or risk losing their positions.
The state Chief Executive observed that some statutory boards were not delivering on their assigned responsibilities, warning that his administration would not tolerate lackadaisical attitude from people assigned with responsibilities.
Eno commended stakeholders for turning up for the prayer meeting particularly the member representing Ikono State constituency in the House of Assembly, Mr. Asuquo Nana, for putting aside his political inclination to join in the service, by extension, fostering peace in the state, saying that he has demonstrated the true spirit of sportsmanship in the game of politics.
At the service, Governor Eno read from drawn from Joshua 6: 1-9, while Arch Bishop Christian Ekong of the Lutheran Church Nigeria, delivered the homily on the theme: I will be with you as I was with Joshua.
