By Ime Ben
The Project Impact Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Anietie Ukpong has joined thousands of Nigerians to congratulate His Excellency distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, CON
for his appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in charge of Niger Delta Ministry.
Dr. Ukpong, in his message of felicitation described Senator Akpabio as an uncommon transformative leader, saying his appointment could be nothing but a divine one for a region ravaged by poverty and gross neglect.
Ukpong, a Governorship Candidate of the Change Nigeria Party, CNP in the 2019 Governorship election in Akwa Ibom State, expressed optimism in Akpabio's appointment saying "as you led the transformation of a greater part of Akwa Ibom, I am sure you will bring same rigor to the transformation of the Niger Delta region".
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his vision and understanding in putting a square peg in a square hole with Senator Akpabio's appointment.
The American based entrepreneur maintained that people, private individual or groups, not the government are responsible for creating jobs and developing communities saying "our over-dependence on government for these development has been a wrong paradigm that needs immediate shift. With your capabilities, you will be able to put out this encouragement and provide a congenial climate for business development and job creation".
While wishing Senator Akpabio and the Federal Government much success in all endeavors in the coming years, Ukpong identified key involved areas that would make immediate impact in the Niger Delta region to include:
*SOLVING THE POWER PROBLEM
Here, Ukpong made case for Dutch Innovation, suggesting that the Dutch, Germans, Canadians, Australians or anyone else that can solve the power generation problem by using innovation and renewal forms of energy be brought to the region, saying "once the State/Region has a reliable and functional supply of electricity, industrialization can take off from there. Our people seem to ignore the elephant in the room, which is delivery of electricity before businesses can grow to scale. They seem to believe there are ways to industrialize without steady electricity, but there simply isn’t. It is a core prerequisite which generators do not solve".
*AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT
Ukpong also made case for Mechanized Farming with Zimbabwe Expertise and Research urging the Minister to "designate an area the size of Kansas, for large scale mechanized farming, wholly operated by the experience of world class Zimbabwean farmers. These are people that have the best farming expertise in the world and can employ thousands of our people with well paying, highly skilled, farming and animal husbandry jobs".
According to him, "the farms would have a mission of packaging and exporting food to generate revenue. The State would literally be the breadbasket of the region, exporting food to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and other States in the federation.
The farms would be independent of government, codified by law, and therefore eligible for funding and partnerships from outside agencies. The farms would be affiliated with the department of agricultural science at the major universities in the State and Niger Delta.
Education and research would be a key tenant of the farm’s mission statement. Exotic flowers would be cultivated year-round in commercial quantities as an alternative to going to South Africa to get them as they do today".
*RECREATIONAL CENTERS
This encompasses fitness facilities since a healthier population is a happy population. Here, Dr Anietie Ukpong suggests establishment of state-of- the-art recreational facilities in each of the ten (10) federal constituencies on a pilot basis, then deducting money at source, fund at least one state of the art facility in each local government area of each State in the Niger Delta.
He maintained that "funds for maintenance would be appropriated one year in advance and placed in an account operated by an impartial third party or escrow account. Inspections of each facility would occur once a month, and facilities with a passing grade on cleanliness, would receive additional funding and bonuses for the management team".
*TRANSPORTATION
The Akwa Ibom born American entrepreneur suggested High Speed Rail through creation of a rail network linking the major cities in the Niger Delta region. He noted that "one should be able to go from Uyo to Port Harcourt by train in 45 minutes, or Calabar to Benin in less 90 minutes, saying this would ease traffic congestion on the roads and minimizes the risk of accidents. It would enables economic activity at the train stations and towns along the way. It creates employment opportunities. It is a more efficient, cheaper means of transportation".
SOLUTION FOR SANITATION
Here, Ukpong urged the Niger Delta ministry, through the new minister to pay for Trash saying "the government should have trash centers, where they pay people by the pound/kilogram, for bringing in trash off the street. Since our people are highly motivated by money, it is likely the streets of major cities in the Niger Delta will be clean due to this incentive. Imagine someone unemployed who knows he can make a quick buck by cleaning the streets. You will find that people will be fighting other people to collect trash from the streets due to financial incentives.
Our people are motivated by money, so this simultaneously creates a mass network of trash collectors who are also gentrifying the cities and towns.
Public Toilets – Clean public toilets should be mandated in every town in the Niger Delta, with each one being spaced 2 km apart, like in Kigali. Bonuses and incentives will be provided to the workers who keep them clean.
Basic things such as tissue paper, soap, paper towels and hand sanitizer will be available free of charge. If any of those items is lacking at any time, the person or persons in charge of that bathroom will be summarily dismissed, and possibly flogged in public. The public must have confidence in in their public bathrooms as safe, healthy place to do your thing in comfort and a clean environment. The bathrooms will have a baby changing stations, and there will be an area for nursing mothers to breastfeed their children in a decent, dignified way, versus the current practice now of breastfeeding in public. Any person caught urinating in public, day or night, will be fined N500,000 for a first offence, plus 15 lashes in public. There should be no reason to pee in the gutter when you have clean public bathrooms.
Rest Areas – There must be a rest area every 50 km on Niger Delta roads. These rest areas will be clean and safe, with enough security in the area such that you can even sleep in your car without worry if you desire. The rest areas will have decent places to eat and discard rubbish. This will improve the travel experience of the people on long journeys and eliminate the need to go to the bathroom in the bush on the roadside".
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