Akwa Ibom @39: Eno Takes Stock, Sets Out Bigger Ambitions

By ARIT OTONG UBOK

AKWA Ibom’s 39th anniversary has become an occasion for more than celebration. In his 23rd September 2026 statewide broadcast, Governor Umo Eno used the milestone to take stock of three years in office, present his administration’s development record and outline what he described as the next phase of the state’s transformation.

The tone was deliberately personal. Eno spoke not only as governor but as an Akwa Ibomite addressing citizens at home and in the diaspora. Yet beneath the familiar anniversary language was a larger political and development proposition: that Akwa Ibom must move from infrastructure expansion to an economy capable of creating sustained employment, investment and shared prosperity.

Three Years of ARISE

Eno framed the ARISE Agenda as a “covenant of service” built around infrastructure, empowerment, protection and opportunity. He also presented the anniversary as a moment for accountability rather than triumphalism, acknowledging that whatever had been achieved remained part of a longer state-building process.

That distinction matters. Akwa Ibom, created on 23 September 1987, has passed through several political administrations, each adding layers to the state’s development story. Eno’s argument is that his administration is building on that accumulated foundation rather than starting from scratch.

His most prominent evidence is infrastructure.

According to the governor, his administration has undertaken, commissioned or continued work on more than 1,500 kilometres of roads and 43 bridges since 29 May 2023. Earlier, in his May 2026 third-anniversary address, he had cited more than 1,300 kilometres and 40 bridges, indicating that additional projects had been added to the programme in the intervening period.

The administration’s stated objective goes beyond road construction. Eno presented roads as economic infrastructure capable of connecting farmers to markets, children to schools, patients to healthcare and communities to investment.

Education as Long-Term Infrastructure

Education occupied another central place in the anniversary message.

The governor said the state had maintained free and compulsory education at the primary and secondary levels, disbursed ₦1.69 billion in tertiary bursaries and recruited 3,000 teachers, with further recruitment approved. He also reiterated the transformation of the Akwa Ibom College of Education, Afaha Nsit, into a University of Education.

The most personalised element came through the scholarship commitments announced for two students.

Uwakmfon Unwana Jacob is to receive a ₦30 million scholarship to study software engineering at Nile University, Abuja, while Dr Joseph Akpan, identified as the best graduating medical student at the University of Uyo for the 2024–2025 academic year, is to receive ₦160 million for postgraduate studies, according to the governor’s address.

These interventions illustrate the administration’s attempt to connect public policy with individual opportunity. But their broader significance will ultimately depend on whether such interventions can be matched by stronger educational institutions and employment opportunities for graduates.

Healthcare, Agriculture & the Social Contract

The administration also highlighted healthcare expansion, including investment in primary healthcare facilities and human resources. Eno said 258,000 people, including elderly citizens, had been enrolled in the state’s medical insurance scheme, while each local government area now has an ambulance service.

Agriculture is being presented as another pillar of economic diversification. The governor said 1,700 farmers had received grants, alongside plans involving oil-palm seedlings, farm inputs, equipment and model farms.

For vulnerable citizens, the administration cited more than 500 completed ARISE Compassionate Homes and the payment of more than ₦98 billion from approximately ₦111 billion in inherited gratuities and other obligations to retirees.

Those figures, if sustained, point toward an attempt to combine physical development with a social-protection component.

The Bigger Economic Bet

The more consequential part of Eno’s message, however, may lie beyond the list of completed projects.

The governor identified Ibom Air, the state’s international aviation ambitions, tourism infrastructure, electricity reforms and the proposed Ibom Deep Seaport as components of a broader economic strategy.

The state government has also established the Akwa Ibom Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Akwa Ibom State Electrification Agency following changes in the electricity sector, with the stated objective of improving supply and extending access to underserved areas.

Meanwhile, the Ibom Deep Seaport remains an important long-term proposition. In his May address, Eno said the Federal Government had approved certification and compliance processes for the project, which he described as central to the state’s future economic ambitions.

The challenge is that these projects require more than political announcements. They require financing, regulatory consistency, private investment, operational capacity and measurable economic returns.

ARISE 2.0 & the Test Ahead

That is where Eno’s reference to ARISE 2.0 becomes significant.

The next phase, as outlined in the broadcast, is supposed to move Akwa Ibom from infrastructure to industrialisation, from agriculture to agro-industrialisation, from skills to enterprise and from investment attraction to investment-driven prosperity. Tourism, human capital and knowledge-based development are also expected to become stronger components.

The governor therefore presented the state’s 39th anniversary not as the conclusion of an administration’s story, but as a transition point.

For Akwa Ibom residents, the real test will be whether the roads, schools, hospitals, airports, farms, electricity projects and proposed maritime infrastructure eventually translate into productive businesses, better jobs and improved household incomes.

At 39, the state’s next challenge is no longer simply to build more. It is to ensure that what is being built produces lasting economic and social value.

That is the harder chapter of the ARISE story.