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EDITORIAL: Harsh Economy: Gov Eno's SMEs Billions Missed The Target

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Pastor Umo Eno, Governor of Akwa Ibom State .   Akwa Ibom has long been described as a civil service state. For decades, the dominant narrative has been the same: government is employer, government is provider, government is safety net. While other states were building clusters of thriving small businesses, ours remained fixated on payrolls, appointments, and handouts.  That template was not broken under the immediate past administration. Despite the overhyped “Dakkada” mantra, what mattered most was the number of graduates absorbed into the civil service, not the number of viable enterprises birthed. Some industries were announced with fanfare, but many could not outlive the administration that commissioned them. At the end of the day, the economy remained import-dependent, consumption-driven, and largely propped up by monthly allocations. It was against this background that the present administration of His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno, promised a shift. To his credit, the Gov...
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Special REPORT: :The tears of Ibotio: How Government Secondary School Ibotio died and took a community’s future with it

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  Science Lab. Uboho David, Inido Abaikpa & Bassey Blessing  In Ibotio and Ndon Ibotio, two oil-bearing villages in Ikpa ibom clan, Mkpat Enin local government area, there is a grief that does not make the news. It is the grief of watching your fathers’ legacy rot away. It is the grief of a once-proud boarding school that produced Akwa Ibom’s best, now reduced to one leaking classroom, palm trees growing through laboratories, and cattle grazing where students once marched during inter-house sports. Surviving classroom  This is the story of Government Secondary School Ibotio, formerly, Ibotio and Ndon Secondary School. This is the story of a community that feels forgotten, blacklisted, and buried under 16 years of broken promises. Eteidung Engr. Sunday Gaius Bassey of Ibotio still remembers when the school was the pride of the area.   “When I was in secondary school age, our parents built that school. It was fully boarded, with everything. It was one of the n...
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EDITORIAL: Ibom International Hospital: When AKSG thinks like an investor

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  For too long, Nigeria has watched billions of naira leave our shores in search of healthcare. Families contribute, communities rally, and patients travel to India, Turkey, the UK, Germany, and the US — not because we lack doctors, but because we lack facilities built to last and equipped to treat.   The Ibom International Hospital, IIH, is an attempt to change that story. From what the project team has laid out, it is different in one fundamental way: it is being conceived, built, and managed as an *investment*, not as another government project destined to die in two years. The biggest advantage of IIH is its philosophy. The developers started by asking questions government rarely asks: What do the people actually need? How will this hospital operate after commissioning? How will it pay for itself? That led to an end-to-end model — from ideation and financing to construction and post-commissioning operations. A 350-bed capacity was chosen deliberately, because that is ...
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Female Ministers wrap up 2026 Conference in Uyo

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  •••Participants charged to remain steadfast in God  Blessing Bassey  A non-denominational gathering of pastors’ wives, female ministers, and women in Christian ministry has concluded its 2026 conference in Uyo with a call to remain steadfast in God.  The Female Ministers Conference held last weekend at New Point Hotel, along Atiku Abubakar Way, Uyo.  Speaking at the event, the International Coordinator of the Female Ministers Conference, Engr. Pastor Bola Adeoye, said the conference was convened to strengthen the confidence and steadfastness of women in ministry.  She traced the origin of the organization to the vision of the late Rev. Sola Achudume, wife of the General Overseer of Victory Life Bible Church International. According to Adeoye, Rev. Achudume founded Royal Ladies International over 20 years ago. The umbrella group later birthed sub-groups, including the Female Ministers Conference.  “The mandate is to strengthen, equip, and furnish the ...
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AKHA Backs Nteogwuijah for Second Term After Oversight Visit

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...Commends Eastern Obolo Chairman’s “Results-Driven” Leadership The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has endorsed the performance of Eastern Obolo Local Government Chairman, Rt. Hon. Samuel Nteogwuijah, and urged stakeholders to support him for a second term.  The endorsement came during an oversight visit by the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on Sunday.  Committee Chairman, Rt. Hon. Mfon Idung, described Nteogwuijah as a results-driven leader whose administration has converted council resources into visible, people-focused projects across the riverine LGA.  Inspecting key projects, including the ongoing construction of the new Eastern Obolo Local Government Secretariat, Idung said the works reflect prudent management, visionary leadership, and a genuine commitment to grassroots development.  “The Committee deliberately scheduled this visit because the administration now has tangible achievements to showcase,” Idung said. “We are satisf...
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Congress: A'Ibom APP Gets New Exco -Akaiso returns as State Chairman

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Dr Kingsley Akaiso, State Chairman APP The Action Peoples Party APP, Akwa Ibom State has elected new State Executive led by Hon. Dr Kingsley Akaiso as chairman during her 2026 state Congress.  The State Congress which took place last Sunday at the Party's secretariat, #90 Obio Imo street, Uyo, was widely perceived as peaceful and transparent At the Congress all the eleven State Working Committee members were returned  unopposed through a consensus . Speaking , the Congress Chairman, Pastor Ekomobong Akpan thanked members of the party for their commitment, and lauded them for not allowing the exercise to tear the party apart.  Pastor Ekomobong Akpan who is a former State Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Akwa Ibom State council, extolled the monitoring team of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for witnessing the Congress without bias, stating that democracy will remain the most potent channel  for good governance.  In his accepta...
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EDITORIAL: Soaring Rents and Growing Homelessness In A'Ibom

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Nothing, absolutely nothing  prepared Nigerians for the skyrocketing rents since 2023.  Unlike food shortages that most Nigerians are able to handle by returning to their farms, it is impossible for Nigerians to do anything about cost of building materials and rents. Prices  of building materials which have gone above the roof are manufactured by big companies and regulated by the government; so, they determine the economic dynamics. The reasons for this high cost of rents that is rendering families homeless is directly connected to the rising cost of building materials. No matter the excuse of the government,  Nigerians cannot accept the high cost of building materials and the accompanying huge rents . In the view of The Eyes Portal newspapers, it is totally unacceptable for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to care for nothing that Nigerians cannot afford rents or build their own houses. It is surprising that the government is superintending over a ...
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