May 23, (THEWILL) – A Professor of economics at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Chris Ekong, has asserted that the state has no economy, hence, it is the worst hit by the prevailing national economic inflation.
Ekong, who is one of the Governorship hopefuls of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, however, described the industrialisation strides of the present administration in the state as grossly overrated.
The University Don made the assertion during an interactive session with selected journalists in Uyo at the weekend, challenging the state Government to publish the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from the acclaimed industries within the last seven years of the present administration.
“There is a difference between an industry and a shop. What we are witnessing in this state is very heartbreaking.
“Industry is not about opening today for groundbreaking and closing tomorrow. If they are sincere, they should tell us their equity participation, how many people they employed, their turnovers, and where they sell the products.
“Even the recently commissioned coconut refinery, Akwa Ibom has no equity participation. If it has, let them show us. How can they plant on salty soil? I don’t know who gave them such an idea”, he said.
He bemoaned the level of deception the present government has employed to swindle the state, recalling that the CCTV cameras, where over N10 billion was budgeted for, is not seen nor heard of any longer.
The Governorship hopeful said he is throwing his hat into the ring to redeem the state, by righting all the wrongs against the people of the state in all sectors of the economy, if voted into power.
He said, “A deep look into the economy of Akwa Ibom State over the last seven years indicates serious misalignments that have veered the economy off its gauge.
“To return Akwa Ibom State economy to the standard gauge that was designed for her by early patriots and visionaries, very serious and strategic retooling and realignment must be undertaken.
“To achieve the strategic retooling and realignment of the Akwa Ibom State economy, a cocktail of strategic economic policies that will seek to promote a market-based economy that is propelled by the public (government) will be adopted.”
In the area of industrialisation, Ekong noted that his government will particularly focus on raising feasible industries and no more lip service to the people.
“I will encourage cottage industries by working with and emboldening known local technologies with understandable technological augmentation to increase output and efficiency, while reducing input cost and man-hours used in production.
“I will particularly focus on palm oil-producing mills already run by women cooperatives, cassava processing mills and animal feeds processing mills, among others.
“I will further build cottage industrial clusters, especially among operational activities in the informal sector, like artisans, providing alternative power resources,” he added.
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