Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has said his administration is poised to stem rural-urban migration through the provision of economically viable roads, potable water, Model Primary Healthcare facilities and the continuation of the “One Project Per LGA Initiative” across the 31 Local Government Areas.

The Governor who stated this while reeling out his strategic policy direction during his 2025 New Year Broadcast on January 1, said the Ibom Model Farm initiative signposts his administration’s efforts to combine food sufficiency and tourism which explains his declaration of the first and third Fridays of every month as Work-free Farm days.

He announced that the Arise Home Farms Scheme with the objective of giving 50 people with Home Garden a N500,000 grant is part of his commitment to enhance food sufficiency and security.

On Infrastructure, the Governor noted that in the last 19 months, 157 road projects have been executed across the 31 LGAs with the operation zero-pothole campaign ongoing and successful, which has transformed the state into a thriving construction hub.

Speaking on security, the State Chief Executive noted with delight that Akwa Ibom State remains an oasis of peace and tranquillity through continuous robust collaborations between his government and the various security agencies in the state and commended the youths for their peaceful disposition which he appreciates, leading to the creation of a stand-alone Ministry of Youth Development, separate from Sports.

According to Governor Eno, education will continue to get priority attention with the commissioning of more model primary schools, payment of subventions to public secondary and tertiary institutions, payment of WAEC fees and other fees for students, and provision of uniforms, shoes and books to pupils.

Disclosing his plans for unemployed graduates, he announced that recruitment of teachers will commence soon while budgetary provisions have been made for regular training to equip them with modern teaching techniques alongside payment of bursaries to Akwa Ibom students in public tertiary institutions as part of his administration’s policy of preparing Akwa Ibom children for global competitiveness.

On health, the Governor announced plans to commission more Model Primary Healthcare facilities, further capturing people into the Arise Care Medical Insurance Scheme in addition to the over 10,000 public servants and senior citizens already enrolled and the reorganization of Ibom Specialist Hospital (ISH) to achieve its founding objectives.

He noted that 2025 will witness the flag-off of the Medical Village within the Medical Corridor between Ibom Specialist Hospital and Raffia City, Ikot Ekpene and the formal launch of Akwa Ibom State Ambulance Services to complement the Insurance Scheme.

On Power, the Governor declared that the state will convene the first-ever Power Summit to produce a roadmap on Power and commended the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly for passing the State Electricity Bill which according to him will provide a legal and operational framework for the state to generate, distribute, transmit and conduct sales of electricity.

The Governor also vowed to reposition Ibom Power Company (IPC) for efficiency, productivity and profitability, reiterating his administration’s resolve to implement recommendations of the forensic audit on the operations of the IPC.

Tourism he noted is one of the key pillars of his Arise Agenda, thus, the government will also convene the first-ever Tourism Summit to produce a Tourism Roadmap for the state while also promising to commission the Arise Park which will become Nigeria’s best family-themed Park with; Children Playground, a 9-hole Golf Course, artificial lake, accommodation and banquet facilities, as well as a concerted effort aimed at promoting all historic tourist sites in the state.

The transport sector according to the Governor will receive priority attention with the commencement of Akwa Ibom and Cross River State Inter-State Water Travels with Passenger Ferries from the Nigerian Navy while efforts will be intensified to diversify the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), with the flag-off of Ibom Hotels, Abuja and construction of Ibom Towers, Lagos while the year will also witness the official launch of AkwaGIS within the first quarter.

The Governor promised not to relent in his passion for providing funds to traders, farmers and artisans as part of his strategic policy for SMEs in 2025, stating that over 2,000 Youths have been trained by Ibom-LED, N500,000 grant disbursed, including N750,000 for Female Youths since coming into office, with 200 youths currently undergoing training on various skill acquisition at Dakkada Skill Acquisition Centre, DASAC.

He assured that his administration will continue to collaborate with the Bank of Industry (BoI) with policies such as the provision of N2Billion for single-digit loans to Akwa Ibom traders, conversion of earlier released N2Billion loans for traders to grants, and the N200million released each to traders from Arewa, Yoruba, Igbo and Niger Delta communities doing business in the state.

On aviation development, the 2025 fiscal year, the Governor noted will see his administration continue to fulfil all its obligations to Ibom Air, assuring that the new year will see more aircraft being received to expand the airline’s operations and routes into other parts of Africa, alongside the commencement of operations at the MRO and International Terminal at the Victor Attah International Airport, VAIA.

According to Pastor Eno, in 2025 his administration will vigorously pursue the construction of Aviation Village to provide accommodation, school, clinics and recreational amenities for airport workers, complete the taxiway way, perimeter fencing and other projects around the airport while work will be expedited on Ibom Deep Seaport and Oron Jetty with cold room facilities to support fishermen and the state’s blue economy.

The Governor also assured that this year will have the state organise a Business Summit with accomplished sons and daughters from across the nation and the Diaspora in attendance to explore areas of collaboration on the 2025 budget.

On his passion and love for the Elders, the Vulnerable and Workers, the Governor assured of his continuous support with Social Safety Net Services and announced that the first batch of 15,000 out of 60,000 Youths have been empowered with the N50,000 Arise Youths Business Support Scheme while payment of backlog of gratuities will remain a priority.

So far, N42 billion out of N93 billion inherited backlog of gratuities from previous administrations dating back to 2012 have been paid since assumption of office, while payment of the N80,000 New Minimum Wage will commence once the ongoing verification exercise is completed.

He promised to ensure the construction of more Arise Compassionate Homes, stating that so far, over 112 have been built and handed over to the beneficiaries while work is ongoing on additional 62 units, with a target to deliver 400 homes, with at least one in each the 368 wards before May 29, 2027, and appealed to corporate bodies operating in the state to emulate the gesture as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The Governor also promised the continuous payment of N50,000 monthly to 600 elders drawn from the 368 wards under the Arise Elders Care Initiative, the Arise Free Food Voucher Programme by Bulk Purchase Agency to continue while the construction of Arise Elderly Citizens’ Home with recreational and health facilities to cater for senior citizens will be implemented in the 2025 fiscal