A socio political group under the aegis of Ibom Advocates for Peace and Development has berated the Executive Director of Projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Victor ANTAI, over his reckless comments against the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, the state ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the government of Akwa Ibom state.
Mr Antai had in a rally with his people in Eket local government area alleged that Pastor Umo Eno and his Party PDP are using poverty as a weapon to ensure that the people remain incapacitated to challenge his administration.
Antai is said to have further condemned the recently established Bulk Purchase Agency founded by Pastor Umo Eno to help the indigents members of the public fight hardship.
However the group in a press conference on Wednesday in Uyo addressed by its National President, Comrade Enefiok Udofia described the allegations made by Mr Antai as a display of ignorance, venom of frustration and suffering from myopia.
According to the group, “He is not the first to toe this road; those who embarked on the journey before him fell inside their political pit, and Antai will not be different for planting the seed of the fruit that destroyed his father. We owe Akwa Ibom people and indeed the world the responsibility of letting them know that the drumbeats of Antai’s naked dance is from a familiar forest”.
Describing Antai’s utterances as standing the truth on its head, the group said they are dumfounded that a man selected by providence to attract projects to his State, through the NDDC, has eyes but cannot see.
“While we are concerned that he has abandoned his office to become the state Rebel leader, our concern is that he has refused to see and acknowledge that whatever money received by the State has been well utilized for the development of the State and prosperity of the people” they added.
The group averred, “Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has disappointed Mr Victor Antai and his cohorts, who tarried, fasted and prayed for the administration to fail so that they wax songs and beat the drums. It is this frustration that has forced Antai to expose his prayer point and figment of his imagination.
“How can this Antai not see that the ARISE Agenda of Governor Umo Eno’s administration is not a fluke? This is an administration that has massively intervened in roads and general rural development projects across the State, the most recent being in Antai’s enclave. The governor has deployed the State’s resources to construct roads most of which are either ongoing or had just been flagged off”.
They further highlighted, “Governor Umo Eno is equally passionate about healthcare development of the State, especially in the primary healthcare sector which he started shortly upon assumption of office.
“Education is also a sector that is receiving adequate attention from the government of Pastor Umo Eno, where model primary schools are springing up.
“Is Antai not also aware that Governor Eno has removed Akwa Ibom State from the incisors of gully erosion through reclamation projects that have turned danger into dazzle? Blind men do not see, especially when blinded in the eyes and the heart.
“The governor is investing in the aviation sector as can be seen in the completed infrastructure and facilities at the Victor Attah International Airport, of which the federal government has commended Akwa Ibom State on, describing it as the State’s well kept secret.
They added, “Antai should bury his face in shame for wrongly accusing the State government of impoverishing the people. The government has shown enormous commitment to ensuring that Akwa Ibom people live well through the various empowerment programmes embarked upon by the government, within this comparatively short time in his tenure so far.
Antai’s embittered ignorance is even more pronounced in his criticism of the temporary measure of the government to mitigate hunger especially for the poor and vulnerable members of the society through the food security programme of the Bulk Purchase Agency. Obviously, he is also ‘Antai’ poor? Did he expect a kind and passionate leader like Governor Umo Eno to look elsewhere while his people groan in hunger? Governor Eno is cannot be anti-poor people; he is different.
The governor has said it over and again that the food purchase arrangements is not a permanent solution but a stop gap arrangement, urging everyone to return to the farm.
His good policies in agriculture can be witnessed in the aggressive agricultural programmes and activities through the ministry of agriculture and rural development.
“Ibom Model farms, a replica of the renowned Songhai Farm Limited in Porto Novo, Benin Republic is taking shape.
“It will be like the Garden of Eden where everything Akwa Ibom needs will be planted or processed. Antai has not heard? Or is the blind man also deaf?
“Until he mentions the former governor of Akwa Ibom State who is still in charge of the State, we cannot rush to assume the person for a State that has had leaders both as military or civilian governors.
“But we commend Governor Eno for displaying cordiality to all former governors of the State including the one that openly opposed and campaigned against his emergence as Governor.
“Good enough, Governor Eno is answering his father’s name in governance, and not tied to the apron strings of anybody despite the respect he has for all of them.
“That is why we are calling on Victor Antai to apologize to Akwa Ibom people for his deliberate misinformation of the people just to create enmity for the governor.
“But we are happy that Akwa Ibom people are wiser, and know a sincere leader when they see one.
“This accounts for the love they have for Pastor Umo Eno”.
They maintained that Mr Antai has woefully failed to cultivate hatred for the governor and described him as a deserted lone ranger who has sort to shut his eyes and heart to the good deeds done by the incumbent governor for Akwa Ibom people.
