By Tony Udoh
Unlike some seminars, retreats, summits and conferences that are often regarded as mere talk shops, the Akwa Ibom Dialogue which lasted for three days and ended with the launch of the ARISE Agenda on the fourth day, was adjudged to be very successful especially given the quality attendance, rich content and contributions which have no doubt, enriched the ARISE Agenda.
All thanks to the organizing committee, the resource persons were dutifully selected and departmentalised in line with the different focal areas which included: Agriculture, ICT, Health, Commerce, Trade and Industry, Public Sector Development and Good Governance, Infrastructure, Women and Children, Environment, Tourism, Housing, Transportation, Mineral resources, Rural Development, Youth and Sports, Security, Urban Renewal, Education as well as Power.
At the close of the 4-day engagement, the Governor offered an extension of days for those in the tourism industry, in addition to appointing two experts as honourary Special Advisers but that is not the main point.
Exactly four days later, he led a high profile committee on a tour of the different tourism sites in the state including; State Centre for Arts and Culture, the Ibom Unity Museum and Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Centre along Udo Udoma Avenue and Ibom Icon Hotel where he visited the Golf Course, Marina Beach and the existing relic of the then slave trade and colonial era.
The Governor who was excited at the potentials of the tourism industry to create jobs and revenue for the rural and riverine areas, reiterated his promise to invest in the sector as a viable industry that can stimulate the state’s economy.
He said, “Let us just go round, see the things that we can turn around and make Akwa Ibom a tourist destination. We can then sit down, re-strategize and begin to take them one after the other. Akwa Ibom has a lot of tourism sites that require attention, these are the things that stimulate the economy. Anything that stimulates the economy, be it in a small, medium or large scale will capture my attention” Truly, that is his motivation, and that can only be ascertained in the field not in the comfort of his office.
It is not strange that communiques issued at end of conferences and others, especially in the African context, are merely for media publications as they are hardly given the desired force that would transform them to actionable plans beyond the pages of newspapers.
But Governor Umo Eno, as a demonstration of his determination to change the status quo began the process of repositioning the tourism sector by inspection of the state of the sites, but that’s still not the point.
The chief executive of the State who ordinarily would have sent out his retinue of aides for this assignment, defied the rainy Tuesday, which even obstructed some women from going to market, just to match words with action, by galvanizing the tourism industry in the State.
This is, to say the least, a rare commitment to campaign promises by any Nigerian politician. Recall that the Governor had during his campaigns promised to reactivate the tourism industry when elected into office. He said he was a player in the tourism and hospitality sub-sector, and was ready to make the state a preferred tourism destination.
Unarguably, the sector cannot be fully reactivated or transformed without first ascertaining the state of the sites and facilities as well as assessing the potentials embedded in each; and that is onerous task the governor has begun by leading from the front in conjunction with tourism experts and the Ministry.
The Governor energetically walked through the different sites inspected, freely connected and interacted with the staff and the people at the sites and to their utter amazement, had an experimental hair cut at the Ibom Tropicana Shopping Mall and also tried his hands on golf at the Golf Resort.
This is a governor like no other, very hands-on and people-centred. And from all indications, with the support and patience of Akwa Ibomites, the future is looking very bright for our dear state.
