Mr. Akan Okon and his wife, Mrs. Queen Okon, on Thursday 21st April during Mr. Okon’s formal declaration for governorship of Akwa Ibom State.
By Abasifreke Effiong, Uyo.
A governorship aspirant and immediate past Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Akan Okon said that achieving power for all, expansion of industrial development, development of renewable energy, and making agriculture the fulcrum of economic development and job creation are some of the things he intends to do as Governor of the State.
Mr. Akan Okon, a governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom State has urged the people of the State to give him opportunity to serve the State in 2023, saying that he will give the best services and leadership that the people deserve.
At his formal declaration on Thursday, 21st April, Mr. Okon said he has understudied all the sectors of the States as commissioner and better understands the needs of the State and the people and will work assiduously to create shared prosperity.
Mr. Akan Okon who has served as Commissioner for more than seven years and has supervised six ministries under two administrations is anchoring his campaign on the theme, “Value-added leadership for shared prosperity.”
“I have served meritoriously in different ministries under the administrations of His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio and His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel. I understand the workings of government. As part of my desire to continue to offer quality services to our dear State, I intend to harness the accrued technocratic experience to ensure good governance in the State.”
“After extensive and painstaking consultations with critical stakeholders across the length and breadth of our State, it became clear that the time has come to put myself forward to be used by God through your collective goodwill to begin the journey to place our dear state on a pedestal that will ensure incrementally unending progress of our dear State and people.”
“Today, my mission is clear: I present myself to serve you as your next Governor, and I am humbly soliciting for your support. I am poised to offer value added leadership for shared prosperity. I stand before you today to formally declare to contest the 2023 governorship election in our State on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)”, he declared.
Mr. Okon said his he will offer the state good and effective leadership anchored on honesty, effectiveness, loyalty, professionalism, diversity, inclusiveness, integrity, excellence and transparency.
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“We have articulated a realistic plan of action and our core values are encapsulated in the acronym, HELP-DIIET which translates into Honesty, Effectiveness, Loyalty, Professionalism, Diversity, Inclusiveness, Integrity, Excellence and Transparency.”
He said he will vigorously pursue the goal of achieving power for all households and will invest in agriculture, which he stressed will be the fulcrum of his economic development agenda.
“In our development objectives, we will place high premium on investment in power generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. We shall explore alternative ways of ensuring that the Power generated from Ibom Power Plant serves our need by vigorously pursuing the policy trust of the government aimed at ensuring power for all.”
“We shall invest massively in agriculture through Research and Development, to ensure food security and food sufficiency for our people. Relevant infrastructure will be provided for this purpose.”
“In specific terms, agriculture will be the fulcrum of our economic development where we have competitive advantage. We intend to make the agricultural sector generate 80 percent of the total employment through the various value chains.”
Mr. Okon said serious attention will be paid to the development of renewable energy and the deployment of climate-friendly technology to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture and the environment.
He added that he will expand the scope of the State’s industrial base and investments beyond what the current administration has done, by utilising identified opportunities in aviation, maritime, information and communication technology, real estate, food technology, and medical technology.
The aspirant said he create more industrial layouts and create an economic development office that will provide information and guidance to support small business owners.
“We shall establish Akwa Ibom State Economic Development Office that will be driven by a Small Business, Entrepreneur & Innovation team otherwise known as Ibom Business Entrepreneur Centre (IBEC) which will provide information and guidance to support entrepreneurs and small business owners to start and expand their businesses and create jobs. I promise that we will create more industrial layouts and clusters across the State. This, no doubt, will lead to the spread of more MSMEs in the State and the promotion of high quality Made in Akwa Ibom goods”, Mr. Okon stated.
Mr. Akan Okon who is an investment banker supervised the establishment of the state-owned airline, Ibom Air; the construction of the 21-storey smart building; and well as the approval of the updated business case and license for the construction of Akwa Ibom deep seaport and industrial city.
