Inside the ARISE Agenda

Inside the ARISE Agenda A compelling & audience-friendly magazine show that signposts gains/mileage of the ARISE Agenda

21/11/2025

:
Commissioning of General Hospital, Ukanafun & 2.2KM, Access and Internal Roads by His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno, Ph.D, Governor of Akwa Ibom State.

BEFORE THE OPPOSITION TURNS GOVERNOR ENO’S BEAUTIFUL MEDLEY INTO A WAR SONG- Samuel AyaraIt is another trip to the next ...
19/11/2025

BEFORE THE OPPOSITION TURNS GOVERNOR ENO’S BEAUTIFUL MEDLEY INTO A WAR SONG

- Samuel Ayara

It is another trip to the next election cycle in Nigeria, and conversations about what to expect are beginning to take on heated perspectives; even lightweights are already posturing as if they have it all in their political bags.

The uncertainties in this bumpy trip will continue long after the last ballot is cast and counted.

Blame it on how fast we are breaching moral and social codes, and even twice more on our quest for canonisation once we feel a system no longer feeds our sail. Whatever inclinations our conviction is premised on, ‘Politics Nigeriana’ holds a rare mastery in sieving contenders from pretenders.

In Akwa Ibom State, the build-up is already charging with proclamations of allegiance, even when the Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has shown commitment to an ‘Akwa Ibom United’ deal that should discourage fixation on the next election, when there are conversations about the next generation to deal with.

Bearing no repetition, Governor Eno has made it clear that political ambitions should be fueled by commitment to the greater good of the State rather than egocentrism.

Heeding the Governor’s call has brought to bear a rare strand of politicking, where antagonists of yore now look away from whatever they held against one another; they now meet, transact business, and relate without recourse to the political tensions that once deprived us of our shared humanity.

From the weeks and months before the June 6, 2025, big announcement, that saw the Governor's progressive movement to the All Progressives Congress, it was crystal clear that the Peoples Democratic Party was headed for a turbulence that promised no safety.

The post-2023 elections left the PDP constantly teetering on the edge of a centrifuge of irritable push and pull.

Party bigwigs left their offices for various courtrooms amid claims and counterclaims. This cannot be the ideology that propelled the massive following it once enjoyed, but at the centre of this are men determined to thin the once robust party for whatever they can count as gain.

Away from the warmth of his relationship with President Bola Tinubu and the sustained appreciation of the strategic economic reforms of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the federal government, Governor Eno’s readiness to partner with Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, rather than grandstand, was cast in stone.

Whether it was to re-write the sour history of Senator Joe Wayas and Governor Clement Isong’s avoidable animosity when this part of the world last had the opportunity of producing a Senate President, or show gratitude to a party that rewarded the state’s contribution to Nigeria, Governor Eno’s admiration for the APC is never under wraps.

Sandwiched between the Governor’s commitment to entrenching the progressive ideals of his new party and resisting the thought of discarding the baby with the bath water is his studied peaceful mien, which culminated in the Akwa Ibom United narrative. A position reached not out of weakness, but enlightened state interest.

While a sweeping majority of the people saw the promise and followed the direction Governor Eno pointed out, he declined the option of imposing his preference on anyone. This explains why no elected official of the government is in any way persecuted for not joining the Governor.

However, it must be noted that the instruction for his appointees to follow his lead or throw in the towel was never cryptic. He meant it then, and justified same in the assertion that as appointees, he would not repose confidence in anyone who does not believe in his leadership. This justifies the reason some appointees earlier in the journey resigned.

With the progressive movement smoothly sealed by the subsequent handing over of party structures in the state to the Governor, what has become more laughable is the hastily assembled voices of dissent in an unbalanced, rough mix of value and nuisance that is daily becoming a valid lesson in how not to go low.

Please tell me the justification of blaming the Governor for the crisis in a party he is no longer a member of? While it is the responsibility of every organisation to conduct its internal processes, it must be noted that no sane government would look away while anarchy approaches, especially in a State like ours, reputed as one of Nigeria’s most peaceful.

Regardless of our persuasions, what we serve the Akwa Ibom electorate must be free of fear and bile. Calling to mind why the recent media twist by some dramatis personae in the unfolding narrative must be adequately addressed.

At this stage, we must resist every attempt at name-calling and other antics that do not make for reasonable conversation. It is against this backdrop that political bookmakers should rein in their media handlers against provoking what could ultimately be beyond their control. No one has a monopoly of madness.

We were in this state in 2019, when ‘Warsaw saw War’. Most of those who orchestrated the playbook did not actually witness the far-reaching effects that those of us from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District braved—some of our badges from that electoral spill, years after, have remained our bragging rights.

Coming to APC should, ahead of the big day, warn those opposed to the Akwa Ibom United force that they are up against something very potent. The energy that made the PDP formidable had long dissipated into a movement poised to return President Bola Tinubu, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Governor Umo Eno in 2027.

In seeking ways the government can better serve the people, regardless of the political platform we choose, we must, going forward, mind the recklessness of insulting the person and office of the Governor in the name of advancing political differences. Let us stick to the issues and avoid mudslinging.

The next election will come and go, and candidates of the APC, by the party’s sweeping popularity, will emerge as winners.

The post-2027 joke would be on political actors who burnt their bridges. 2027 more than vituperations should meet us fixated on deepening the course of partnership between the ARISE Agenda and the Renewed Hope Agenda in Akwa Ibom State’s best interest.

Samuel Ayara writes from Ibong Otoro in Abak LGA.

18/11/2025

: Swearing-in of the New Head of Civil Service Akwa Ibom State, Mrs. Elsie Anietie Peters at Banquet Hall, Government House, Uyo.

13/11/2025

:
Public Presentation of the book, "The Humble Boss", The Official Biography of Elder Effiong Essien, 6th Head of Civil Service of Akwa Ibom State.

GOVERNOR ENO & HIS TRANSFORMATIVE BREATHE OF FRESH AIR AT AKBC - Samuel AyaraTen years ago when I arrived the newsroom o...
08/11/2025

GOVERNOR ENO & HIS TRANSFORMATIVE BREATHE OF FRESH AIR AT AKBC

- Samuel Ayara

Ten years ago when I arrived the newsroom of the Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC), as a Reporter, I was certain there was a future I had to chase.

Nothing in my imagination suggested that very hopeless and nauseating days were ahead of my experience nor did I receive any promise of paradise, save the amazing people I met who were ready to guide my walk.

So much at the time was lacking. But again, what we lacked in resources and equipment were sufficiently made up for in the optimism and resolve of the staff members to see out their mandate of informing, educating and entertaining the public.

This mandate at the time even stretched beyond Akwa Ibom State and as far as Cameroun.

Passage of time saw us deeper in the valley of hopelessness, things went from bad to worse; broadcast equipment got out of range such that a visiting retired staff of a leading South African broadcast media outfit once observed that staff of the corporation were performing magic, broadcasting with such calibre of hardware.

As if the situation was not bad enough, Nigeria’s epileptic power stretched its strangulating hold on the struggling outfit and in no time, the already lagged hardware had either gone obsolete and could no longer support the magic it was thought to once perform or had run out of the borrowed steam that for days on end kept it off the airwaves.

No mention should even be made of alternative power. The generators at the time I arrived had already seen better days, and the energy from the transmitters required more than a solar farm to go past two hours.

Tuning off for our teeming loyal viewers and listeners narrowed the broadcast window and thinned the corporation’s visibility, as the ensuing market place competition almost swallowed it.

Throughout the painful long days that condemned viewers and listeners to empty screens and dead air, Government never stopped trying its best at getting the corporation back on track, but all efforts came to nothing and AKBC’s fortunes continued to dip.

There were mornings people staggered between sleep and braving extreme discomfort to arrive early enough for commencement of the day’s broadcast only to be greeted with situations far beyond them.

There were days public opinion summarized us far less than we were worth. What many people never knew then, and perhaps now were the thunder attacks we braved and disappointments we put behind to show up like it was all good.

Some people at a time even blamed a series of deaths among staff members to lack of protection from either the rampaging radiation, frequent thunder attacks or frustration.

Years before I joined the service and all these years, the only light at the end of the tunnel (sic) remained the constancy of listing the construction of a permanent corporate headquarters for AKBC in the annual budget of the state government.

It was so recurrent that its mention lost any known relevance in our bulletin, as no one saw it coming in this lifetime.

It only took an incurable optimist to cheer when Governor Umo Eno, in 2023 ahead of the Governorship election promised to turnaround the fortunes of the State-owned broadcast media house. Those that lived through the yesteryears of failed promises and pessimists who thought the situation as irredeemable, simply laughed the idea to scorn.

Fast forward to March 2025; the listing of AKBC corporate headquaters as a priority project of the administration for the year became the closest attempt at livening things hope.

Until Wednesday, November 5, 2025, every day kept the people on the edges of their seats wondering when this would happen.

It was hope at last, when Governor Umo Eno, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Enobong Uwah, finally signed a contract for the AKBC integrated Project with the Media Guru Consultant, LLC, Dubai, for a transformation that would repurpose and reposition the outfit.

Beyond living his conviction as a promise keeper, what stands Governor Eno out in this deal is his choice of who handles what. While an indigenous firm U&K Engineering takes care of the civil construction component, the choice of Media Guru Consultant, LLC, Dubai, as consultants is based on their over 22 year experience in delivering more than 100 end-to-end turnkey projects across over 20 countries.

A cursory probe into the list of their past clientele include Continental Broadcasting Services (TVC Communications), Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, Abu Dhabi Media Corporation, Spice Television, QTV, and Doordarshan (India’s National Broadcaster). This choice opens the window to longheld conviction that Governor Umo Eno neither plays politics with projects nor promises what he would not deliver on.

The burst of excitement from the media community and corresponding gratitude extended by the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations as well as media-based Labour and Trade Unions only attempt to convey the sentiments of the media community in appreciating how far Nigeria’s Most Media friendly governor could go in rewriting the story of a brand so terribly written off.

While the public looks forward to the re-invention of their once cherished television and radio broadcasting station, it is believed that the only appreciation the staffer’s can show the Governor and the entire people of the State is a commitment to scaling-up on their deliveries and performing like days of yore.

As the world awaits the eventual delivery of this masterpiece and the promise it holds for the future of broadcast media, Governor Eno in reaching out this deep to rescue Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation has etched his name in hearts that would generations after him savour its media offering.

More than the next election, Governor Umo Eno has acquitted himself as a leader who prioritizes value.

Among the numbers that would be privileged to walk through the doors of opportunity he seeks to create by this laudable stride, either as staff or viewing and listening public, would be lives and dreams that like the corporation, would be twice transformed.

Samuel Ayara, a broadcast journalist and Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic Media writes from Ibong Otoro in Abak LGA.

05/11/2025

‼️ *WATCH* !‼️

*EXCERPTS OF THE AKWA IBOM STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 5th NOVEMBER, 2025.*

EXCERPTS FROM THE ENLARGED AKWA IBOM STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2025The Akwa Ibom St...
05/11/2025

EXCERPTS FROM THE ENLARGED AKWA IBOM STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2025

The Akwa Ibom State Executive Council was presided over by the Governor and Chairman in Council, His Excellency, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, Ph.D.

In attendance were the Secretary to the State Government, Head of Civil Service, Honourable Commissioners, Special Advisers, Permanent Secretaries, and Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments.

In his opening remarks, His Excellency, the Governor, welcomed members and attendees; urging all to continue to demonstrate dedication and commitment to the successful implementation of the ARISE Agenda.

RESOLUTIONS:

1. The Executive Council considered and deliberated on the 2026 Budget Proposal and approved a budget size of ₦1.390 trillion for onward transmission to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly for consideration and passage. The proposed budget is anchored on deepening dividends of the ARISE Agenda, focusing on agricultural development, rural development, infrastructure expansion, security, education, tourism growth, healthcare, economic diversification, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability.

2. The 2026 fiscal plan emphasizes the completion of ongoing flagship projects, job creation through MSME support and tourism promotion, improved transportation through CNG buses and ferries; enhanced transparency, fiscal discipline, and human capital development, particularly for women, youth, and vulnerable groups.

3. Council considered a memo from the Secretary to the State Government conveying approvals of the Finance and General Purpose Committee (FGPC) on various projects and ratified an upward review of the total project cost for the Aviation Village. The review covers the dualization of access and internal roads, concrete paving, outfalls, perimeter fencing, gatehouse, electrical works, entrance tower, and residential estate within the Victor Attah International Airport.

4. The Executive Council ratified the FGPC approval for the consultancy, design, procurement of broadcast equipment, and system integration for the Akwa Ibom State Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC) Television and Radio, awarded to MediaGuru LLC, Dubai.

5. Following a report by the Commissioner for Health on the ongoing implementation of the State of Emergency in the Health Sector, Council directed the immediate deployment of re-engaged retired health workers on contract to various health facilities across the State, and also directed the Ministry of Health to urgently commence work on eight General Hospitals, 29 Primary Healthcare Centres, as well as the Molecular Diagnostics/State Public Health Laboratory and Isolation Centre. The Governor in Council further approved Tuesday, November 18, 2025, as the new date for the commissioning of the General Hospital, Ukanafun.

6. In a determined effort to recover prime State properties used in asset swap for the recapitalization of the State owned Anchor Insurance Limited, Council approved the release of ₦4,150,000,000 to the company in exchange for multi-billion-naira properties in Lagos and placement to strengthen its capitalization. The Governor in Council directed the immediate appointment of a reputable estate valuer to assess the properties and mandated Akwa Ibom Property And Investments Company, APICO and Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation, AKICORP, to work towards converting such assets into wealth for the State.

7. Council received reports from AKICORP on the state of health of State-owned financial institutions. The Governor in Council directed that the management of each of these institutions be invited to make presentations before the Executive Council at subsequent meetings.

8. Following a presentation by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice on proposed Executive Bills, including, the Domestication and Harmonization of Taxes and Levies Bill and the Akwa Ibom State Property Tax Law in line with the recently enacted National Tax Act - Council approved that the three bills be transmitted to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly for consideration and passage. Council also received a briefing from AKIRS on the new tax law and their implications for the State.

9. In closing, the Governor in Council commended and appreciated the Head of Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien, for his meritorious service to the State and a distinguished career in the civil service, wishing him success in his future endeavours.

10. Council also received with deep sadness the news of the passing of Reverend Emmanuel Ossom, one of the State’s respected senior clerics, and directed members to pay a condolence visit to the bereaved family and pray for the peaceful repose of his soul.

The Executive Council meeting adjourned at 6:10PM

Rt. Hon. Aniekan Umanah
Honourable Commissioner for Information
November 5, 2025

01/11/2025

WATCH:
AKS Budget & Economic Planning Commissioner, Nsikan Linus Nkan, Speaks on Fiscal Discipline & Accountability Under Governor Umo Eno, Part II

01/11/2025

: November Covenant Service - Thanksgiving | Theme: Jehovah El Roi | Genesis 16:13-14.

01/11/2025

: November Covenant Service | Theme: Jehovah El Roi | Genesis 16:13-14.

01/11/2025

WATCH:
AKS Budget & Economic Planning Commissioner, Nsikan Linus Nkan, Speaks on Fiscal Discipline & Accountability Under Governor Umo Eno, Part I

31/10/2025

Exposé on EÈKPEDE Initiative

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