LEADERSHIP AWARDS: GOV. UDOM EMMANUEL TASKS NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS ON ETHICAL JOURNALISM

The Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Udom Emmanuel, in his speech at the Leadership Awards on Wednesday October 7th, in Abuja charged Nigerian journalists to shun biases and rise to greatness.

In his speech, the governor congratulated Leadership Newspapers, saying: "It is not easy to have a paper with a philosophy that they have, for God and our country Nigeria. That philosophy is a philosophy of unity, a philosophy that can bridge the gap between biases."

"Today, we are all here because we also believe that as a country political parties are just platforms that you get into governance. The elections had been won and lost, it's time to deliver on dividends of democracy. So, we all have to look forward to governance, and a great partner we have in good governance is information dissemination.

"Leadership Newspaper is one paper that you will not find the error of extremism in reporting, sensitizing the public unnecessarily. I love their balance in reporting and political columns because you will have something to pick. That doesn't mean that we don't like opposition. Opposition must prevail in order to keep you on your toes."

"If you are a man and don't have somebody watching over your back, who criticizes when you go wrong, you will be leading others, even yourself to a place where you will not actually appreciate at the end of the day. We love constructive criticisms, we also love to be criticized because we don't know it all as leaders."

"The group of governors that you see, both inside and outside this room, are governors that will deliver dividends of democracy to this country, a platform, especially, when you are getting into reclaiming Nigeria a pathway."

"A pathway of reclaiming this country starts with the people, leaders that we are putting in place and also with everybody contributing."

"That is why in Akwa Ibom state, we “Dakkada” – a new philosophy. The era where you have to sit back and watch is gone past. It is the era that you have to rise to your own greatness. An era that you have to believe in yourself and believe that what you have is all that you need in other to get to where you want to go to. It is an era that, even as a country, you also need to rise to the faith that Nigeria is a great nation of a great people with great minds, that we must rise above biases, we must rise above gender, we must rise above religion and we must look at the great country called Nigeria. We must work together to make sure we deliver that greatness.”



Click here to Watch

https://youtu.be/y-KJ52R9fJo

DAKKADA TV ...Rise to Greatness...

PRESS RELEASE QUALITY EDUCATION A TOP PRIORITY OF GOV. UDOM EMMANUEL -AKSG

Akwa Ibom State Government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring qualitative education at all levels in the State, particularly the  continued upgrade of infrastructure and facilities in public schools.

While decrying the spate of  conspiracy and blackmail against the State government on the state of educational infrastructure, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, disclosed that about 2,500 blocks of classrooms have so far been constructed and rehabilitated in about 1,162 primary schools and 244 secondary and technical schools across the State.

According to him, the intervention of the state government in public schools also include perimeter fencing of schools in high traffic areas, provision of laboratory equipment, school desk, workshops and supply of teaching aids and materials.

Mr. Umanah, while commenting on the situation at the St. Paul's Lutheran Primary School, Ikot Ibiok, said "the intervention of the state government in public schools is a continuous exercise." He added that already, Governor Udom Emmanuel had directed the Inter Ministerial Direct Labour Committee to take inventory of schools in need of rehabilitation and provision of facilities, with a view to tackling them in the next phase of interventions. He noted that "more than 90 per cent of public primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom are in top conditions."

Observing that though primary schools are direct responsibilities of the federal government, through the Universal Basic Education, he assured that "the State government will promptly address the situation in any identified school, in line with the infrastructure consolidation programme of  the Governor Udom Emmanuel administration."

The Commissioner noted that "government is aware that some people had been commissioned by political opponents to take pictures of schools awaiting intervention, with the sole objective of blackmailing government to score cheap political point, and challenged them to also take photographs of the thousands of school blocks that have been are in top shape, if they have any modicum of fairness in them."  He emphasized that Governor Udom Emmanuel remained focused on the delivery of his campaign promises to the people of Akwa Ibom, and will not allow the antics of the opposition to distract him.