Gov Eno Meets President Tinubu On Key Areas Of State, FG Partnership

By Bassey Nkponam
UYO

The Akwa Ibom State government has reached a new phase
of partnership with the gov- ernment of the federation to advance its investments in the areas of agriculture, avia- tion and the blue economy.
The partnership was the hallmark of discussions in a meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Akwa Ibom State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, at the State House, Abuja.
The state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, made this known Wednesday, while briefing Government House corre- spondents at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, on his return to the state, saying the meeting was necessary as he used the opportunity to present the good wishes of Akwa Ibom people as constituents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the President and to brief him on the progress of key projects in the state which are of national interest.
Eno said he had briefed the President on the progress of the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at the Victor Attah International Airport, feats so far recorded by Ibom Air, needs for the Federal Government’s sup- port to advance the Ibom Deep Seaport project, and the need to revamp the Akwa Palms project.
He made known that Tinubu was impressed with the explanations that the state airline, Ibom Air, is run purely as a private invest- ment to ensure effective op- erations and optimum effi- ciency, and had promised to
assist the state in key projects and programmes which, he noted, had poten- tials to enhance the eco- nomic fortunes of not only the state but the entire na- tion.
“We talked about the MRO which is about 98 per cent ready and we have to part- ner the Federal Government. The honourable minister of aviation will be visiting soon to ascertain the state of completion. We talked about help for Ibom Deep Seaport
because the state alone can- not pull that through. We need federal might to support us. We talked about help for the Dakkada Global Oil Palm, formerly known as Akwa Palm.
“Of course, we also talked about the progress of Ibom Air. The President asked a few questions about the Ibom Air and you could see that he is a business man. He’s a hands-on person and he’s always on point.”
The governor who
stressed the state’s advantaged location along the tropical zone and the need to revamp the oil palm industry, explained that Akwa Ibom is an oil palm zone and the assistance of the Federal Government could drive the full value chain of the agricultural pro- duce, which can be exported to secure foreign exchange for the nation besides the various economic benefits to the state.