Completion Agenda: Steering the wheel of Udom Emmanuel’s administration
During the build up to the 2019 general election when the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel was seeking re-election for a second term in office, he came up with a Completion Agenda slogan. Even after his successful re-election, the slogan did not fade out of use, especially in public functions within the state.
The slogan, Completion Agenda, as we learnt, was to remind him of various projects that he started during his first term, especially in the areas of road construction and industrialization. It was like a check -mechanism- sort of ; to remind and also compel somehow a serious sense of duty and commitment to Akwa Ibom project.
However, a few years after his re-election, many of those projects that were sloganeered are yet to be completed, and the completion agenda slogan seems to have been substituted with a new slogan- the succession agenda.
It is disheartening that while some of the projects are ongoing at a snail speed, some are yet to receive the Governor’s attention. Particularly among them are the Vehicle Assembly Plant project in Itu, the Coconut Refinery project in Onna, International Worship Centre project, the Eket Remolding project, the Eket Stadium project, the Abak 10 Road project, the Ukpom- Pepsi- Hospital Road, the Ring Road project, among others.
While the governor has consistently said that these projects will be completed and put to use before the end of his administration, we have, however observed that the projects may not be completed with barely 14 months to the end of his administration, as attention has now been focused on his succession agenda, a substitute to the Completion Agenda.
It is pertinent to point out that the cost of the succession agenda has taken it toll on the governance of the state as the government wants all party faithful and critical stakeholders to adopt the preferred successor. This is, in itself, very diversionary and resource sapping, hence, one begins to imagine the possibility of completing even half of the already commissioned projects.
In the light of this, therefore, while we wish the governor well in his succession plan, we also call on him to march action with words and ensure that the various projects embarked upon by his administration are completed in line with his much talked about completion agenda.
Also, some of these projects, especially the road projects, if left uncompleted, could pose serious danger to motorists and other users.
Posterity will only remember him for good if he is not distracted by the forthcoming general election and the succession agenda, that has permeated the nooks and crannies of the state. Akwa Ibom people await to savour the true sense of governance.
