By Barr. Ephraim Okon, PhD
In the hallowed halls of financial analysis and televised economic summits, Nigeria is often reduced to a series of impressive, albeit abstract, figures. We hear of the “Law of Averages,” the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and the exhilarating Return on Investment (ROI) of the Nigerian Exchange. To the suit-wearing elite, a bullish stock market is a sign of a nation on the rise.
However, for the over 90 million Nigerian adults living outside this financial bubble, these figures are not just abstractions—they are a form of statistical gaslighting. The true health of the Nigerian economy is not found in the skyscrapers of the private sector or the sanitized data of national bureaus, but in the stalls of Uruan, Uyo, and Obo-annang markets. If the “Law of Averages” tells us that we are collectively wealthier while the price of a cup of garri triples in Ikot Akpan Eda, then the metric is fundamentally flawed. As someone serving within the engine room of government, I see daily the tension between visionary infrastructure and the “graveyard” of abandoned projects that haunts our national history.
The GDP Delusion and the “Tax of Distance”
The fundamental flaw in our national economic reportage is the over-reliance on GDP per capita. In a nation marked by extreme wealth inequality, GDP acts as a deceptive mask. If a handful of billionaires increase their net worth by several billion Naira, the GDP per capita rises on paper, yet that wealth remains concentrated at the pinnacle of the pyramid. It does not “trickle down” to the woman frying Akara by the roadside or the small-holder farmer in Abak.
To move beyond this delusion, we must address the “Tax of Distance.” In Akwa Ibom, as in much of Nigeria, the cost of food is often dictated not by the farmer, but by the road. Strategic infrastructure is the only way to “cut this tax.” Take, for instance, the expansion of the Oron Beach and the revitalization of the Oron-Calabar Ferry service. These are not “elitist” abstractions; they are vital economic arteries. By slashing a three-hour journey through often treacherous roads to a forty-minute ferry ride, the government is effectively lowering the cost of logistics. When it becomes cheaper and faster to move crayfish and staples from the riverine areas to the urban centers of Calabar and Uyo, the “Market Basket” feels the relief. This is the ARISE philosophy in motion: fighting inflation not through monetary policy alone, but through the physical clearing of the paths of commerce.
The Philosophical Engine: Moving from “Civil Service” to “Ownership”
The current administration’s ARISE Agenda (Agricultural Revolution, Rural Development, Infrastructure Maintenance, Security Management, and Educational Advancement) is more than a political slogan; it is a blueprint for a psychological shift. For decades, many Nigerian states have been trapped in the “Civil Service State” mentality—where the government is the primary employer, and political “cash outs” are viewed as the only viable path to wealth.
The ARISE Agenda seeks to transition Akwa Ibom into an “Ownership State.” Through the Ibom Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development (Ibom-LED) center, we are training a new generation of value-creators. We are teaching our youth that wealth is not something you “collect” from a government office; it is something you “create” in a manufacturing hub, a tech suite, or a mechanized farm. By focusing on the rural hinterlands, we are ensuring that the most remote village feels that they are stakeholders in the state’s wealth.
The Trinity of Growth: Aviation, the Blue Economy, and Stable Power
Our current infrastructural drive is designed to position Akwa Ibom as the primary gateway to the Gulf of Guinea. We are building a multi-modal ecosystem that moves beyond the “clinkers” of failed past industrial attempts.
Aviation Excellence: With the completion of the International Smart Terminal and the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility, we are transforming Uyo into Africa’s aviation hub. This isn’t just about the prestige of planes; it’s about the maintenance economy. It’s about the thousands of technical jobs for engineers, logistics experts, and service providers that will follow.
The Tourism Frontier & The Orange Economy: We are moving toward a sustainable “Orange Economy”—the creative and intellectual economy. By linking our coastal assets and the blue economy potential of our Atlantic shoreline to world-class hospitality infrastructure, we are creating a destination. We want the world to see Akwa Ibom not just as a stopover for oil business, but as a primary destination for global tourism.
A Powerbase for Manufacturing: No nation can industrialize without a stable powerbase. Our investments in power are designed to provide the “juice” for the manufacturing hubs of the future. The lesson from the past—the graveyard of the Syringe factory or the Coconut Refinery—is that government-managed production often falters. Our new model is clear: the government provides the Power and the Roads (the Enablers), while the Private Sector provides the Productivity.
The Lasting Legacy: Performance as the Only Currency
The final, and perhaps most difficult, transition is moving from a government that tries to “manage” everything to one that acts as a world-class Enabler. We must protect new investments from the “political scavenging” that has stalled our progress in the past. We need to move beyond a culture of “proactive survival” where people seek government positions solely for personal safety or enrichment.
In this administration, the vision is to establish a culture where performance is the only currency of stay. We must manage our cold rooms, our ferries, and our smart terminals with such transparent professionalism that they become “too successful to fail.” Nigeria does not need more billionaires on a list; we need more cash in the wallets of the people in Ikot Akpan Eda, Adadia, and Okon. We need the output of our infrastructural drive to reflect in the price of food on the dinner table. The legacy of this administration will not be measured by the number of industries it launches, but by the number of industries that are still running, profitably and independently, ten years from now. Until the “Law of Averages” aligns with the reality of the local market, our work is not done.
(Ephraim Okon, PhD, is a lawyer, cultural diplomat, and Special Assistant to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State on Grassroots Mobilisation. With 17 years of experience in strategic development, he writes from Okon in Essien Udim LGA.)
