EARCOM tasks Akwa Ibom LG chairmen on rural development

Transition committee chairmen across the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom State have been tasked to focus more on rural development and fast-tracking the ARISE Agenda  of Governor Umo Eno.

A commissioner on the Board of EARCOM, Sir Ubong Ekefre, said this while lauding the chairperson of Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of the state, Lady Mercy Bassey’s accomplishments in 100 days in office.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the chairperson has graded many rural roads across the local government area, renovated and upgrade the health centre at Ikot Inyang Okop, distributed of education materials to public schools, distributed improved agriculture seedlings and cassava stems to farmers, water project at Ikot Ibianga, provision and registration of JAMB forms for eligible students across the council.

Ekefre, a former chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Akwa Ibom State chapter said this while featuring on a radio programme tagged EARCOM Hour in Uyo on Saturday.

He further said that EARCOM’s impending tour of local government areas is to assess how well they are doing in aligning with the ARISE Agenda of the state governor.

On her part, Lady Bassey thanked the state governor for giving her the opportunity to serve the people, stressing that with five women as transition committee chairmen, over 18 women as vice chairmen, while many women are members of the various transition committees, the governor has demonstrated that he is a gender-friendly leader.

Bassey added that it is more beneficial for them to live in their respective communities so as to feel the pulse of the people, saying that this will give them the opportunity to know what the people need most.

While commending Mrs Patience Eno for her pet project ‘Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), she said is a paradigm shift from that of her predecessors, for being all encompassing to include care for the boys, men and the elderly, not being exclusively about the girl-child/women.

In a related development, the Executive Chairman of EARCOM, Dr Dorothy Thompson, has revealed that the commission is set to tour the local government areas in a bid to promote grassroots participation in the ARISE Agenda and sued for cooperation from transition committees with the commission for the common good.

Thompson expressed support for the governor’s assent to the Bulk Purchasing Agency Bill, consistent effort to offset backlog of gratuities of retired civil servants, repositioning of the Ibom Deep Seaport Committee and the Housing for the poor initiative, adding that Governor Eno is focusing on delivering good governance.

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