Mbomboyo Presents ‘In His Sanctuary’

Aniekan 'Mbomboyo', a leading gospel artiste in the Akwa Ibom is presenting a praise night tagged In His Sanctuary in collaboration with his album project, Recap Radical Change.

The event billed to take place at Church of God Mission Int'l, 8 Stadium Road, Abak on Sunday 21st February, 2010 by 5pm prompt will have live ministration by Evangelist (Mrs.) Ethel Odungide, Minister Mary Atainyene and Rev. Emmanuel Etuk.

According to feelers, the Worship Alive programme is expected to be a fire power event, an event you wouldn't want to miss.

Police Kid Launches Maiden Album

A fast rising music sensation in the state, Nsidible Udotung popularly known as Police Kid is set to launch his maiden album. The Album entitled “Police Na Your Friend” is to be launched on Sunday 21st February, 2010 at La Mems Hotel, Nkemba Street, Uyo by 3pm.

Expected at the event is Lion (Elder) Nse Ekefre who is billed to serve as the Chairman of the Occasion while the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Obong Okon Uwah is the Special Guest of Honour.

Pulse Glamour authoritatively gathered that top artistes in the state are set to perform at the event including Mista X-to, Akilo, Moses Armstrong, Sir James, Asteroid and others.

Peniel Studios Open In Uyo

A first class digital recording and entertainment outfit, Peniel Studios has been formally opened for full commercial operation in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

The studio which is the first of its kind in the state is undertaking the service of film/TV production and post production, digital photography and printing, events coverage, audio production and mastering, magazine publishing and other services.

The studio has digital professional equipment for films, music videos, and TV programme which includes HD cameras, music crane, Rugged NLE Suit, Dolly Track, Professional Light and Accessories.

Speaking at the occasion the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Pastor Anietie Ukpe said that it is a wake up call on all Akwa Ibom persons to stop depending on government for their survival but to be creative and to bring in bring new things to Akwa Ibom State.

The Governor's Aide maintained that over-dependence on government and politics has made many youths to engage themselves in social vices and criminalities which rob them from achieving their potentials.

He however thanked the Chief Executive of Peniel Studios for setting up standing of professionalism in the state which according to him will bring people from outside to do business in Akwa Ibom.

In his remark, the chairman of the occasion and Chief Executive of Politics and Business Today, Mr. Sampson Akpan said that Akwa Ibom has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the entertainment industry which was evident in the setting up of the studio.

He said that Akwa Ibom State has great talents that could be highly sought after by professional bodies, saying that lack of employment has driven away many young talents away from the state. He expressed confidence that with the digital equipment in place, young people will not take to kidnapping as a means of livelihood.

Responding the Chief Executive of Peniel Studios, Mr. Etiemana Eyo described it as a dream come true. He said that the studio is a new world of possibility in all digital production. He added that the studio had before now have good editors and professional hands, but what stopped them from working was lack of equipment.

He said the studio has what it takes to produce the best sound in all sound recording, video and movies production adding that they have the capacity to lift the entertainment industry to the next level, and also have the ultramodern facility for song and movies production.

The opening ceremony had in attendance the-who-is who in the entertainment industry and media professionals where some Akwa Ibom artists performed to thrill the audience with their usual likes.

Governor Godswill Akpabio And His Messianic Mission

Governor Akpabio has taken the bull by the horn, reminiscence of the fit recorded by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the western part of the Country, who, between 1951-1956, introduced the Free Educational system, which had greatly catapulted the Yoruba race in all spheres of human endeavour. In the same vein, his Excellency has introduced a free and compulsory education, a policy that has stood Akwa Ibom out among other states. Aside of the free books given, government also pays subvention on behalf of the pupils/students. This is in addition to the massive revamping of public schools. The effects would be that the house-boy, house-girl syndrome, often associated with our people is a thing of the past.

Another area where his Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, has recorded monumental achievement, is in his deliberate attempt of turning boys into men, through various appointments, thereby preparing them for future leadership responsibility. For instance, one of such appointees, Hon. Onofiok A. Luke, has metamorphosed into the Speaker of the Nigerian Youth Parliament at Abuja. This credit goes to his Excellency for laying the foundation.

His Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, is not relenting into turning the State into a robust and vibrant industrial and technology hub in Nigeria, and making the State an irresistible destination in West Africa, with the coming on board of the Ibaka processing free zone, industrial parks etc, which will definitely transform the State into an economic heaven, and in effect, would help to check youths restiveness in Akwa Ibom and Niger Delta, through massive and gainful employment of the youths.

Security is yet another area where his Excellency has invested so much, with a view to securing the lives and properties of its citizens. Security out-fit, like Aduma, is on ground, and well funded. The police had also benefited through the provision of vehicles fitted with the state-of-the-art equipment, all in the bid to guarantee continuous investment and prosperity of its citizens.

No wonder the issue of kidnapping, militancy and other forms of criminality are on the decrease in the State, and are politically motivated.

The transport sector has not been left out by the administration of his Excellency, as the government has provided buses, and taxi cabs to cushion the effects of the near-disappearance of the motor bike (Aka Uke) from the roads from 6:30pm. Your Excellency Sir, I hope in the nearest future more buses/taxis will be provided to cover more areas. For instance, I had to walk from Ewet Housing Estate where I visited a friend to my place at Aka Road by 8:15pm. Even where his Excellency may be contemplating outright banning of the motor bikes in the near future as it is done in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Umuhia and Owerri, I passionately beg his Excellency to empower the Okada men effectively with some of the tax cabs and buses, so that they can still be responsible to themselves, families and the State at large.

Other areas where his Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, is also investing the State funds are in the discovery of talents, through sponsoring of the yearly Akpabio's cup fiesta, which does not only draw participants from within the country, but also outside the country. Your Excellency Sir, we still need more of the Vincent Enyeama, Samuel Peters, Kingsley Udoh, among others. Akwa Ibom State needs an Olympic size stadium for which you had promised to build. Tourism has not been left out, as this has received a boost with the signing of the contract agreements between the State Government and the Silver Bird Groups, for the building of a World Class Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Center in Uyo, as well a digital library, under construction. All these will, no doubt, add to the ecstatic value and beauty of the city.

His Excellency the Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio has saved the generation of the Akwa Ibom children from extinction by rescuing them from the witchcraft accusation and setting up a rehabilitation centre at Eket, and by going further to award scholarship to these children to the tune of 10 Million Naira. The Child Rights Act has been passed to consolidate on these gains, this centre has attracted some British journalists to the State of late, with promises to assist the children in the centre. These children need more love now than ever before.

And for these wicked criminals who called themselves pastors of whatever with their devilish organization church/prayer houses. Please, if the only thing they have to offer and bequeath to the Akwa Ibom children is by branding them as witches and by going extra miles in killing those innocent children, they had better take a cue from what churches, like the RCCG, living Faith, Mountain of Fire and Synagogue Church of all Nations and others are doing in the South-West of the Country, where Schools, Hospitals and other life enhancing programmes have been set-up to better the lives of their people and children, instead of involving in criminal activities in the name of removing with crafting and unnecessarily putting the name of the State in bad light.

This must stop henceforth please, or they look for something else to do than subjecting these innocent children to pains and miseries. I suggest that severe punishment should be meted out to these fake pastors to serve as a deterrent to others.

I was almost tempted to think that with these monumental successes and superlative performances by his Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, that he had finished his first term. Little did I know that I have only succeeded in x-raying his Excellency's mid term score card. The question now is what will happen by the time the Governor would have finally extinguished the remaining years of his first in the development of the State. Then Akwa Ibom people should expect nothing short of an Eldora do.

I was discussing with a friend in the Church the other day, I told him I know why his Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, is performing. That, apart from courage, boldness and determination to serve his people, his first name “Godswill” also has a religious inclination, mbok or how else would I describe the name Godswill, which is the man, doing God's will for God's people in God's own state.

The National President of Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Olu Akeredolu, and the prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Makinde, specifically said recently that Governor Akpabio has justified the Mandate given to him by the masses in the April 2007, hence merit a second term.

The issues that is agitating my mind now is, and without mincing words, his Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, would like to render his selfless services to the people of Akwa Ibom again in 2011 for a second term. He needs all Akwa Ibomites' support as usual to be returned to the government house with or without neck-breaking campaigns. I think that his myriad of achievements should do the magic.

He would have ably justified the mandate given to him in his first term and honesty deserved an unchallenged second term in 2011 (Akwa Ibomites isn't it so?). I can bet anybody without sentiment that by the time the second term of his Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio, is exhausted, the State would have been turned into an enviable state in the comity of states in the nation, thus placing Akwa Ibom on the next level of development.
And to his Excellency, my prayers for him, his family, and the Akwa Ibom people is as recorded in the book of Deuteronomy 23:5

“Nevertheless the lord thy God would not hearken unto Ba'laam; but the lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee”.

And may the good Lord continue to bless Akwa Ibom State, as the angels chorused, Amen.
My vacation is Akwa Ibom State has been a fulfilling and most rewarding one, as I took time off to visit twenty (20) local government areas, hoping to cover the remaining eleven (11) local government areas, sometime this year during another vacation, God willing.

Kidnapping: While We're Waiting For God To Answer Our Prayers

Some part of this article was erroneously excluded in our last Tuesday’s edition. This has prompted a repeat of that piece. We are sorry for the mix-up.

The day was Thursday, February 26, 2009. Paramount rulers, clan heads, and village heads had converged on the expansive Ibom Hall in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, filling it to the brim. Abandoning their traditional engagements, the royal fathers, drawn from their different domains were converging to attend to an issue that has become one of the state's number one headaches-kidnapping.

The royal fathers were responding to an urgent call by Governor Godswill Akpabio as stakeholders in governance, to come and deliberate on how to keep kidnappers at bay in the state.
Despite the assembling of a crack Joint Task Force and code-naming it Aduma (meaning thunder), it appeared that more and more criminal gangs were increasingly attracted to Akwa Ibom by the day. There was palpable fear in the land and the intended high pitched voicing of that popular slogan “Akwa Ibom Ado Ok” seemed to be rendered in a tone that was hushed, suppressed and unsure.

Addressing the royal fathers at that meeting, Governor Akpabio expressed displeasure over the way youths in the state had allowed themselves to be misled into crime. He said government was “disturbed that some of our children are misled by events happening in states around us to think that they can make a living out of kidnapping”.

In a dramatic fashion, the traditional fathers rose in unison and rained curses on kidnappers and would-be kidnappers seeking to terrorize citizens and visitors. If you can recall, the monarchs led by the Chairman, State Council of Chiefs, Edidem Ime Dickson Umoette, cursed: “They would die. God would kill them… let them die in Jesus name!” The chant of “Amen” rented the air.

Recalling a Bible portion, the royal fathers told us that God also kills; hence He should deal with kidnappers.

Exactly a year on, that curse seems to have deterred no one as kidnapping has now even assumed a frightening dimension in the state and the bravado of these evil gangs in recent times is indeed worrisome.
For the past three weeks or so, the story has been troubling. There have been pathetic stories of citizens of the state who have been whisked away to unknown destinations only to return when huge ransoms have been paid.

Alarmed and desperate again, the government assembled Akwa Ibom women who all dressed in black, at the same Ibom Hall on Saturday to fire more curses on kidnappers, as well as their sponsors in the state; praying God to fortify the people and cleanse the land. This marked the end of a three-day fasting and prayer declared by the state government in honour of some women killed in the church (Qua Iboe Church) by kidnappers two weeks ago, when they kidnapped General Edet Akpan, the former Director General of National Youth Service Corps.

But while we wait on Almighty God to answer our prayers it would be wise to take a hard look at ourselves and apply the age-long wisdom of helping ourselves while He makes up his mind whether to rescue us from this growing monster or allow us wallow in self-pity.

We need to ask ourselves why Akwa Ibom has suddenly become the breeding ground for kidnappers. This is one question that has bugged the minds of many. Could it be the rising cases of unemployment or the proliferation of arms as a result of political patronage of miscreants who are dumped after elections or is it the result of moral decadence and the quest to get rich quick?

There's a strong urge to link the spate of kidnapping to the rising army of the unemployed and the prevailing poverty in the state. The widely acknowledged saying that an idle mind is a devil's workshop cannot be different when it is related to the present chronic unemployment level in Nigeria. There are uncountable able bodied men and women in Nigeria roaming the streets in search of jobs which do not exist. Out of frustration, coupled with mounting responsibilities to contend with, many have ventured into the dark and dirty world of criminality. Psychologists reason that a graduate who is unable to lay hands on something is psychologically bereft of any concept or ideas for survival.

The tendency to develop a negative attitude towards society and attribute his failure to society and to manifest his/her indignation towards society is very likely.

I stick to the school of thought that strongly believe that the proliferation of arms as a result of political patronage of miscreants who are dumped after elections is enhancing kidnapping. This likens the rot today to the scourge of armed robbery in the country in the early eighties. Then, Nigeria's journey into national and highly sophisticated criminal activities that was perpetrated could be traced to events following the end of the 30 month civil war. Many young able-bodied men who fought the war were discharged and sent home with nothing.

The schools they left behind were destroyed and there were no jobs to engage them and keep them busy. Consequently, many of the demobilized youths took to armed robbery on a somewhat lesser scale. They were armed with weapons, having acquired the skill and guns during the war. However, the coming of the oil boom in the seventies increased the level and scale of armed robbery so dramatically and massively threatened the country's security.

Today, the story is almost the same. This is the political off-season in Akwa Ibom. Therefore, the political thugs who have been abandoned by their employers after winning elections are now keeping themselves “gainfully employed” by snatching innocent people and relatives of those seen, rightly or wrongly, to be wealthy. And just as the coming of the oil boom in the seventies increased the scale of armed robbery dramatically, the stupendous empowerment of political office holders and their cronies have led many who are far away from these juicy government contracts to turn to kidnapping-to have their hands on the pie.

The flipside of the theory holds that these politicians and government contract beneficiaries flaunt so much wealth to the envy of those whose minds are always at work to do evil as a result of greed.

For those who are staunch in the believe that our kidnapping wahala is born out of tribal disharmony and a subsequent ethnic cleansing taking place systematically, I may be talking trash. But while we wait on Papa God to help put these suspected ethnic dividers to shame, we have to help ourselves and leave the rest to Him.

Since the declaration of death penalty as a way of curbing the crime by the House of Assembly which passed into law a bill termed “Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law”, with death penalty as punishment for offenders has not changed anything, we need to do more. In fact, things have worsened since the declaration of this sentence, instead of improving.

Could the problem be that we legalized death penalty, which the rest of the world have proscribed?

Reacting to Nigerian States making kidnapping a capital crime last year, Amnesty International had expressed displeasure. The world-famous human rights group insisted that extending the scope of death penalty to include kidnapping is a retrogressive step that does nothing to protect victims. The organization stated that the retention of capital punishment has failed to reduce armed robbery or murder in Nigeria despite the execution of more then 2,600 culprits since 1970.

Amnesty International had told our leaders that from their experience, the threat of death penalty is not an effective answer to violent crimes like kidnapping. They said the right and effective way to curb this menace was to strengthen the police ability to detect potential crime before they occur and prevent them. But nobody listened.

Although they continue to look helpless and hopeless against this sophisticated and brutal minority, the Nigeria police seemed to have hit the right button last year in the fight against this scourge when the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, proposed a draft bill, seeking the enactment of a law to order GSM companies in Nigeria to register the names and addresses of all GSM subscribes to help track callers who call and ask for ransom after kidnapping.

When queried why his men seem so helpless in this situation, Okiro had always maintained that GSM companies refuse police access to information of certain numbers on the ground that it would violate privacy law, and the companies might take the police to court. Entitled “A bill for an act to make it mandatory for all GSM companies to register their subscribers,” the bill which sought to make it a punishable offence for a GSM company to fail to comply, proposed closure of the company, or N1million fine if it fails to comply. The impending law will also punish a subscriber who fails to register his or her numbers within a given period.

Sadly, and in typical Nigerian fashion, no genuine effort has been made to make this feasible-bringing to the fore the ability and sincerity of government to eliminate this menace.

2010 Will Be A Year Of Blackmail- Gov. Akpabio

As the 2011 general election gathers momentum in Akwa Ibom State, and the battle for who will be the number one citizen of the state thickens, the incumbent state governor, chief Godswill Akpbio has said that considering the many influential forces that he will contend with to get his second term ambition, the year 2010 will be a year of blackmail, kidnapping, and killing in the state in an effort to undermine his administration and stop him.

The governor made this known to journalists in Uyo recently at the media interaction and called on all Akwa Ibom persons to be security conscious in the state, and join him in the fight against insecurity.

The governor who did not hide his feelings has named some top politicians in the state who are planning to cause mayhem and frame-up charges against the state government.

He mentioned the former minister of State FCT and an ex-senator representing Uyo senatorial district, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, as being one of the persons behind kidnappings and related problems in the State.

He said John Akpanudoedehe is also one of the contenders for the 2011 guber election, and added that he (Akpanudoedehe) and other top politicians in the state have conspired to destabilize the state and make it difficult for him (Godswill Akpabio) to get his second term ambition.
It can be recalled that immediately after the abduction of the (Rtd) Major General, Edet Akpan, the forum of concerned leaders of Ibibio people issued a communiqué carpeting the governor on the deteriorating security situation in the state, which the state governor said was the handiwork of the opposition to make the presidency declare a state of emergency in Akwa Ibom.

It could be noted that the governor was mad about the communiqué, and used the recent press briefing to describe the former governor of the state, Obong Victor Attah as somebody “who has fallen from the throne of honour to that of embarrassment”.

He said as a former governor, Attah should be an elder statesman, and should be an asset to the present administration rather than resorting to ethnic politics.

Jonathan: Gov. Akpabio Commends National Assembly

The State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio has commended the National Assembly for Empowering the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President pending when the ailing President Yar'Adua will recover and come back to complete his tenure in office.

The governor made the commendation recently in Uyo while exchanging views with newsmen on the significance of making the Vice President Jonathan to act for President Umar Musa Yar'Adua.

The governor said that Akwa Ibom people must thank God for the peaceful resolution of the politically disturbing situation in Nigeria and the way God has guided every person to make contributions, from NGOs, civil society organizations, Nigerian public, members of the National Assembly and the Nigerian Governors' Forum. He added that today, Nigerians have had an acting president who is taking full control of the affairs of government, and called on all citizens of the country to continue praying for the ailing President Yar'Adua to recover soon, and also pray for the acting president so that his policies will move the country forward.

The governor explained that the process was a very peaceful resolution, saying that even the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the European Union and the Americans commended Nigeria on the fact that since independence in 1960, this was one of the very few occasions that Nigerians were able to resolve a constitutional crises through a very peaceful means, saying that it is highly commendable.