Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Science and Technology has expressed bitterness over the persistent campaign of calumny against its Commissioner, Professor Nse Essien, by one Mr. Ubong Nsekpong, and consequently called him and his cohorts to order.
A press statement signed by the Head of Information Unit in the Ministry, Mr. Joseph Robert, said “Our attention has been drawn to yet another article authored by one Mr. Ubong Nsekpong titled, ‘Prof. Essien And His Vain Threats,’ and populated in the social media. This article is coming few weeks after a similar derogatory article written by the same Ubong Nsekpong titled, ‘Ministry of Science and Technology Under Prof. Essien: My Fear For The Future,’ an article which was populated online and published in some locally based newspapers in the State.”
“The Hon. Commissioner for Science and Technology, Prof. Nse Essien, the Permanent Secretary, Engr. Richard Ekpe, the management and the entire staff of the Ministry take serious exception to the denigrating and disdainful efforts of Ubong Nsekpong to write off the superlative performance of Governor Udom Emmanuel in Science, Technology and Information Communication Technology (ICT) through the Ministry in the past three years, even when he is a direct beneficiary.”
“Ordinarily, we would have waved all these off as scripts written by a “hungry journalist” seeking relevance, especially having gone through his background. We feel strongly obliged to react in order to correct the falsehood peddled by the author in the public domain. The response will help to put the records straight, especially with regards to the performance of this administration in the area of Science, Technology and ICT.”
“Against this background, we resolve to state as follows: (1.) That Mr. Ubong Nsekpong who is parading himself as a journalist is not a journalist but a stringer who is merely trying to eke out a living through devices of blackmail. Our verification shows that he is not a registered member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, the umbrella body for professional and practicing journalists in the State. (2.) That ever since Prof. Nse Essien assumed duties in the Ministry, Ubong Nsekpong has been supported financially by the Commissioner at various times that he approached the Commissioner for assistance to address some of his personal challenges. The Commissioner only recently refused to yield to the several unethical methods Ubong Nsekpong has adopted to continue to extort money from him. (3.) That Ubong Nsekpong has been a beneficiary of the various training programmes of the State government in ICT, one of which was being a trainee in the Web Development and Visual Designing training organised by the Ministry for 2050 youths of the State in collaboration with Hotels.ng in September, 2017. It is unthinkable how a trainee has suddenly become an ICT expert and consultant that wants to provide guidance to the government on how to drive its ICT development programmes in the State. (4.) That the Hon. Commissioner in the Ministry, Prof. Nse Essien is a rounded scientist, an astute administrator and a University don who is in a familiar terrain and since his assumption of duties has been committed to harnessing all available human and material resources in the State to interpret and execute the vision of Governor Udom Emmanuel in Science, Technology and ICT in line with the five points development agenda of the present administration. Therefore, he will not be distracted by the antics of any self-seeker like Ubong Nsekpong. (5.) That His Excellency, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has invested enormous resources in developing infrastructure in Science, Technology and ICT since assumption of office, with glaring results and achievements aimed at making Akwa Ibom a smart State and building the capacity of our citizenry in this sector,” the statement stressed.
“We hereby enjoin ICT professionals and stakeholders and indeed the general public to discountenance the malicious articles, barefaced lies and falsehood of Mr. Ubong Nsekpong, as they are self-seeking and failed attempts to throw dirt on the outstanding performance of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration in Science, Technology and ICT for reasons best known to him. The Ministry will not succumb to threats and blackmail which constitute a distraction to the fulfillment of its statutory mandate. We wish all Akwa Ibom people a Happy Democracy Day Celebration and more exploits in the Science, Technology and ICT sector,” the statement concluded.
