The Commissioner for Information, Hon. Aniekan Umanah, has said that Akwa Ibom State Government has spent more than N20 billion on direct empowerment programmes for youths and women in the state over the past three years.
Umanah disclosed this while representing the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, at the Daily Times Centenary Award, tagged “Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future,” where Eno was honoured as the Best Governor in Nigeria’s South-South region.
According to the commissioner, the empowerment programme was part of the administration’s broader focus on human capital development and investment in the people, covering youths, women and small business owners across the state’s 31 local government areas.
He added that the government had also expanded its youth development programmes, with more than 2,300 youths trained under one of the initiatives at a cost of N1 million for each beneficiary, while another programme, Ibom-Led, provides training and financial support to youths and women.
“There’s a massive training and empowerment of our youths. Empowerment that’s gone over $20 billion has been put in direct empowerment to the people where small businesses get up to five million Naira residing in their local government area with equipment support and monitoring to help them.
“And then we also have the youth development and youth support where you have up more than 2,000 youth trained at Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC), where the government spends a million Naira on each of them.
Over 2,300 at the moment, a million Naira each. And then you have the other layer, which is at Ibom-Led, that’s training of youth, women, and so on, and empower between N750,000 to one million naira, depending on what they’re doing.
“So the administration is big on human capital development. That’s why the index is growing, and so it’s about the people.”Then compassionate interventions to help the people. Look at the ARISE Compassionate Homes.
That’s where building houses for the poorest of the poor, who are either homeless in the communities. And if you see what they look like in images and pictures, and His Excellency considers that one of the greatest legacies, taking care of those very poor.
“The elderly, they earn a stipend, 50,000 monthly, 600 of them every month. Over 13,000 have already benefited, and then there’s an elderly citizen centre.” Umanah said.
The commissioner said the administration had also invested heavily in education and other forms of social intervention, disclosing that N6.8 billion had been spent in three years on examination fees for pupils and students sitting for WAEC, NABTEB and other examinations.
He said N1.9 billion was recently released for bursaries, with the payment increased from N20,000 to N50,000 for students.
He further disclosed that the state government had spent more than N2.2 billion since August last year to support National Youth Service Corps members serving in Akwa Ibom by providing an additional N20,000 allowance, while more than N13,000 elderly citizens had benefited from a N50,000 monthly stipend.
The commissioner said the administration had also recorded significant progress in infrastructure, healthcare, education and tourism, citing the construction of 31 model schools and 31 model healthcare centres across the state’s 31 local government areas, alongside a 350-bed international hospital and other projects within the state’s medical and tourism ecosystem.
Umanah said the administration had recorded more than 95 per cent accomplishment across its five pillars and 17 focal areas within three years, adding that the achievements had strengthened public confidence in the government.
“There’s just a lot going on in Akwa Ibom. And that’s why the people are clamouring for the re-election of His Excellency the governor,” he said.
At the centenary event, Umanah also praised Daily Times for its contribution to Nigeria’s media development over the past century, describing it as “the baker of everything that represents the Nigerian media today.”
He, however, urged media organisations, particularly print publications, to embrace digitisation and artificial intelligence, warning that “the days of static paper publication is gone” and that digital transformation was necessary for the industry to remain relevant.
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