Ntufam Elijah Iyak, fondly called Udoeka, a formidable grassroots mobilizer and founding member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Ikot Ekpene, is the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He shares his thoughts with Ibom Telegraph on the sustainability of government projects, politics of Ikot Ekpene, Ufan Udo Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society and sundry matters. Excerpts:
You are the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on SDGs. What do you do and what has been the achievement of your office?
SDG is just a transition of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We achieved so much with the MDGs and now we are trying to make it sustainable. That is just what it is, sustainable development. So, everything that we are doing now, in line with the MDGs 17-Point Agenda, is to try and do things that are sustainable. It is not enough for us to drill a borehole in a community and nobody owns it. As you travel around the state, you will find thousands of boreholes scattered all over. So, the framework of this phase of the developmental goals, the SDGs, is geared towards sustainable development. Shortly, we are going to hold a stakeholders’ meeting on Water and Sanitation. Communities must come to own these boreholes and other projects that are placed in their locality. It might interest you to know that some of these abandoned boreholes do not need more than N30,000 to get them reactivated. For some, it could be the switch gear that is faulty or the pump and other minor faults. But because nobody owns it and we see it as Government property, it is functional to the extent that it is working. We did over 50 boreholes in our previous phase of work and as we speak all the solar pumps have been stolen. This happened because nobody was looking out for those pumps. So, as we go into this stakeholders meeting in the next few days, we will see how we can get communities to come and own government projects that are domiciled in their domain. We must educate our people to know that whatever project that is situated in their community by government is theirs and they must protect them.
Again, one of the things we are doing is a pilot programme of public toilet in Ikot Ekpene and shortly it will be all over the state. Once it is completed, we will hand them over to some people for proper monitoring and maintenance. That is the sustainability that we are talking about.
In what way have you been able to use your office to ensure that some of the major projects of the Udom Emmanuel’s administration, like the syringe factory, are sustained?
The model for those projects, if followed to the latter, makes it sustainable. Those entities are not working like a typical government business, they are private sector driven. The bottom line is profit maximization. That Syringe Factory is the biggest in the whole of this sub-Sahara. Are you telling me that after producing that much number of syringes, the business will get careless and lose the market share that it controls? So, it is sustainable because it is not just about government, it is private sector driven.
You were one of the few persons that believed, projected and promoted the brand “Udom Emmanuel” prior to 2015 election. Today, you are not just an aide to the Governor but one of the kitchen cabinet members. What is your assessment of Governor Udom Emmanuel?
I will not be able to assess him because he is my boss, but I want to be very honest with you. In my association with him and coming to work for him, I have learned a few things and one of the cardinal things that I have learned from him is humility. His humility is humbling for me, that a man who has achieved so much in his personal capacity and who has come here to serve could be that humble.
Secondly, his ability to manage us through this time is a lesson in the act of management of money. He has shown commitment to service. On the day he declared, he said “I declare to serve the people of Akwa Ibom State.” I can say he has done that. I have traveled around this country and I have sat with focal persons in charge of SDGs from other states of the Federation, I have heard the challenges they have and I can authoritatively tell you that Governor Udom Emmanuel has done exceedingly well. For me, he has kept to what he promised us that he will do and I have learnt a few noble virtues of how to be a leader from him.
The emergence of Mr. Unyime Etim as Chairman of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Council was a big surprise to Akwa Ibom and many fingers pointed in your direction as one of those that made it happen. What role did you play in that success?
I am a party man. I have been in PDP since it formative days, so I am a true party man. So, for me, if the system throws up a candidate, as a leader at my station, I think the proper thing to do is to support the candidate. He may not have been my preferred candidate, but dynamics of politics will always play out. And let us not forget that all of the people in leadership, God puts them there for purposes. For me, I think the most important thing, when you have arrived at this God given leadership position, is to ask God to bring His purpose in you to fruition. So, it does not really matter what the permutations were, what we did as good party men was that the dynamics of politics threw up Hon. Unyime Etim, the Executive Chairman of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Council, and so we had to rally our supporters and mend fences. This was one position and we had about 15 contestants to it. For me, politics is not a do-or-die affair. Somebody is bound to win. So, the dynamics of politics threw him up and with God on his side, he became the nominee of the party. For God’s sake, as a good party man, we put our resources together to ensure his success at the poll.
Again, politics is about the people and so it pricks my imagination when I hear about this APC hullabaloo. Though I like to behave like Coca-Cola and you will never hear them talk about Pepsi-Cola, but you know when people make too much noise and you come to the grassroots without a glimpse of them, you must state the fact. In Ikot Ekpene, politics, and by extension PDP as a performing party, is a religion. If there is a distortion in that arrangement, it is the people of Ikot Ekpene who can say we are not happy with this and that. But when it comes to politics, it is a religion in Ikot Ekpene because for every 10 persons you see in the area, eight are members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP); one could be sitting on the fence and the remaining one can be a member of the other party.
So, we did the local government election and we won on the ground. It was simple because if you are closer to your people and you are taking programmes of government to them, you can be sure of their total support. Let us bring it down to the things we are doing in the state and benchmark. Go to Ikot Ekpene and show me one thing that has been attracted to the area by the APC. Everything you find there is done by the state government and thanks to God for the Godswill Akpabio’s year. Most of the major roads to business districts of Ikot Ekpene were done and then government is doing other things like the proposed new market in Ikot Ekpene. We have distributed seats to schools and also made the environment conducive for learning and all that. So, we have something that we can tell the people about. So, put elections on ground in Ikot Ekpene any day and any time, PDP will win; let’s forget about election violence which they are known for. If you say you are popular, why do you want to bring violence into the elections? I tell you, vote will count in the forthcoming elections and people should get this into their heads. Take governance to your people so that on the day of the election, they can reciprocate.
If the government of Udom Emmanuel has achieved these much through your office and other agencies without the public knowing, why is there a seeming lack of public notice about them. Does it not show a weak public information profile of the government?
Government is about collaboration and we have ministerial duties. The Ministry of Information and Strategy is doing a whole lot. I can tell you that because I relate with them. We send most of the things we do to them and I believe all of us in government should help the Ministry of Information and Strategy to promote the programmes of government through a proper narrative instead of promoting ourselves. It is not enough to take these things to the media space, there should be a proper narrative and I believe that the agency of government that is equipped to do that is the Ministry of Information and Strategy. So, I think that all of us in government should collaborate with the Information Ministry because they understand the narratives and the marketing because when you talk about the media, it is also an avenue for us to market what we are doing in government and if it is not properly packaged, we may not achieve the desired results.
Yesterday, I was with the Commissioner for Education, that of Information and Strategy and the Special Assistant to the Governor on Inter-Ministerial on a visit to the soon to be commissioned Nigerian Navy Military School in Oruk Anam. The essence was to update these Ministries, particularly the Information Ministry, with what we have done before the commissioning date. We also went to the Nigerian Command Science Secondary School in Etinan. They have seen what is on ground and they are in a better position to package this information and send them out for the world to see. The party is doing so much in the promotion of government programmes and ideals and if other government agencies would toe the line of the party in collaborating with the Information Ministry and key stakeholders, the sky will be our limit.
The Governor has kept to his campaign promises to the people of Akwa Ibom State, I can say that, and I have good reasons to say this. As you travel round the state, Uyo, for instance, has over 40 internal roads. From where we are now (Ewet Housing Estate), you do not need to get to 4-Lanes to get to Oron Road, just turn right by Concrete Hotel and you are on Oron Road. I think as agencies of government, we should pass this information to people who are better equipped for proper dissemination.
During a visit to the PDP State Secretariat, Governor Udom Emmanuel was quoted to have said “though zonings will be strictly adhered to, there will be need to streamline in most cases.” What do you think he meant by this statement?
We came from the Ward to State Congresses and we adhered to zoning, which is the cardinal principle of this administration, and we had peace and rancour-free primaries. We had the local government elections, still adhering to zoning, and we did not have internal party squabbles and in places where there were small misunderstandings, they streamlined it. That is what the Governor meant. So, to streamline, in this context, means to do the right and proper thing. Look at the Governorship; it is zoned to Eket Senatorial District. Uyo Senatorial District did two terms under Obong Victor Attah. Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District did two terms under Chief Godswill Akpabio and then, naturally, it has gone to Eket and for God sake, if you are not just trying to rabble-rouse, people in Uyo will know that after the forthcoming election it is naturally their turn. Let me also give you something that you can leave with. In all of what was done in the last Governorship election, did you see anybody from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District come out to contest? But leave it open and you will see that this state will be in turmoil, it will become the survival of the fittest and it will not produce the harmony that we have.
The people of Uyo are expectant and they know that after the second term of Governor Udom Emmanuel, the Governorship is coming to Uyo. It gives the other zones time to prepare and come up with their best. So, for me, zoning should be sacrosanct. The streamlining aspect of it is that there will always be rabble-rousers; it is not for one man to say I am right against the wishes of the people and what is already laid out. If zoning has never allowed for a second term in your area, for God’s sake, why do you want to jump in and want a second term? That is for me. I stand by what our leader has said. Zoning is sacrosanct, there will be streamlining so that there won’t be rancour. The internal democracy of the party has worked because we have adhered to this principle. The principle allows for society to operate in harmony.
Recently, you donated 10 brand new Mini-Buses to Ufan Udo Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS). What actually informed that action?
I am a member of the Ufan Udo Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society like every other person. It is a private initiative that is put up by like minds. They have come up with a programme, #IStandWithUdom, and I am supporting them with that. They have so many reasons to stand with Governor Udom Emmanuel and it is not about fanfare or politics. Governance should not be about that. You can even see it in the manner of our leader, the Governor, that he is not a fanfare man. Everything he says he will do, given the window that he talks about it, he does it. So, for me, members of the Ufan Udo Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society are right in celebrating the Governor through this initiative because it will take governance closer to the people.
The target is 50 Mini-Buses and in this God given position, I will continue to support initiatives like this, not only in Ikot Ekpene. We are also doing things in other local government areas of the state. We are here to serve humanity. Our aim is to reach out and touch humanity because poverty does not know local government; it is a problem of humanity. For the vehicles we have given out, we have also put up a mechanism that will take care of any major mechanical issue. It is not just enough that we put the vehicle in your hands and leave you. Something can happen that the beneficiary cannot afford. The model for the Ufan Udo Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society is a sustainable model. All the beneficiaries went through thorough driving school training. Putting all these in perspective, you will agree with me that with the forthcoming elections, PDP will still win in Ikot Ekpene and in Akwa Ibom.
