I have two important things on my mind this morning. The first is the condition of the roads in Uyo. After a one-week visit, I noticed that many roads in Uyo require urgent repairs, reconstruction and rehabilitation. Most of those roads were constructed by the Victor Attah administration and some by the military governments that preceded it. They are long overdue for a complete overhaul. During my stay, I also received messages from friends and those who read my column, asking me to find out why the state government is not working on the internal roads in Uyo. 

Moved by these messages and what I saw myself, I sent a message to the governor yesterday, asking if something is being done to fix the roads. Within one hour, Pastor Umo Eno responded: ‘’Thank you so much my brother. We have issued contracts for the repairs and rehabilitation of roads in Uyo and for the reconstruction of the Uyo Village Road. The rains have disturbed a lot, but we will follow up’’.

Good to know. I’m pleased that the Eno administration is following in the tradition of keeping our city roads in a good shape. The state has been blessed with a good network of roads for which we are well respected by the rest of the country. We cannot afford to drop the ball. Obong Attah gave us the ring roads; Akpabio expanded the city with dual carriageways linking Nung Udoe; Abak and Ikot Ekpene, in addition to remodeling the town. The expansion of the Airport Road by Gov. Udom Emmanuel has turned out to be a worthy investment. 

The expansion of Uyo Village Road into four lanes will further add to the beauty of the town. The large expanse of land on the side of the Uyo Village Road should be turned into a park! I recall that Obong Nsima Ekere had pledged in his election campaign in 2019 to build a high brow housing estate there. That's also an option Gov. Eno may consider.

But the government needs to do a lot more in the area of refuse disposal. There are still heaps of refuse at street corners in Uyo.

I understand from press reports that Gov. Eno met with the new 31 Local Government Chairmen and Chairwomen this morning and told them to buckle up for the tasks ahead. I don’t have the specific marching orders he gave to the LG chiefs, but here are my own agenda for them:

A). They should immediately submit a three-year development plan to the state government, through the office of the SSG, indicating their action plans on the development of their LGAs. Such action plans should contain specific plans on agriculture, infrastructure; primary education and other areas. For agriculture, the chairmen should agree to train young people in farming and allocate farmlands for them. Each LGA should be given targets on the quantity of food to produce each year. This should include livestock, poultry and fish farming.

B). For infrastructure, each LGA should submit to the state government, the total number and length of rural roads that they would construct.

C). The Local Govt chiefs should also submit proposals on how they will combat crime in their domains, working with the security chiefs in those areas.

D). In terms of personal conduct, the chiefs should live modestly. They should be compelled to live in their areas and should not move out unless with expressed permission from the governor. They should also sign up on how to conduct themselves appropriately. This is not the time for public officials to spend public funds buying expensive drinks at night clubs!