A COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED BY THE AKWA IBOM LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT NETWORK (AILDN)
Umo Eno’s Governance Paradigm: Elitist Indulgence and the fate of Sustainable Development in Akwa Ibom State
OVERVIEW
The Akwa Ibom Leadership and Development Network (AILDN), at its policy roundtable held in Uyo on November 1, 2025, undertook a comprehensive evaluation of the governance trajectory of Akwa Ibom State under the administration of Governor Umo Eno, with particular attention to its developmental orientation in the education and health sectors, road infrastructure, spending priorities, and their long-term implications for sustainable growth.
- Background and Context
Upon assumption of office, Governor Umo Eno proclaimed that he came with the “Finisher’s Anointing” to “connect the dots” and consolidate the developmental achievements of previous administrations. This pronouncement raised public expectations that his government would deepen people-centered governance and pursue inclusive, sustainable, and innovation-driven development.
However, two years into the administration, empirical data and governance outcomes across sectors reveal a widening disconnect between policy rhetoric and development realities. The state’s development indicators suggest a drift toward ceremonial governance and elite-centered development – a governance model impressive in optics but deficient in institutional strengthening and sustainable economic transformation.
- Key Observations
- Education Sector
Governor Eno’s major focus to construct 31 Model Primary Schools (12 reportedly completed and 19 ongoing) and 3 Model Secondary Schools – one in each senatorial district – appears commendable on the surface.
However, in a state with about 1,160 public primary schools, 244 public secondary schools, 7 technical colleges, and 1 special education center, most of which are in varying states of disrepair, this initiative is symbolic rather than systemic.
Constructing a few model primary schools is NOT a remedy for the deep-rooted digital illiteracy and infrastructure deficits within the public secondary school system. This real problem becomes aggravated as most secondary school students with less than minimal computer literacy are now required to undertake national certificate and university qualifying examinations on digital and online platforms.
While the national education system is transitioning toward full digitization – encompassing online admissions, assessments, and administrative processes – Akwa Ibom’s public secondary schools remain structurally dilapidated and technologically obsolete.
Governor Eno’s education initiative thus represents an ill-conceived, misdirected and fragmented, off the curve intervention, rather than a strategically integrated and functional education reform framework.
- Health Sector
Similarly, the government’s plan to establish 31 Model Primary Healthcare Centres – with about 10 to 17 completed or ongoing -constitutes a piecemeal response to a systemic crisis. The state’s 425 Primary and 42 Secondary Health Institutions continue to grapple with inadequate infrastructure, obsolete equipment, workforce shortages, weak healthcare delivery systems, and chronic underfunding.
The recent reactionary declaration of a State of Emergency in the Health Sector and follow up Interventions should be supported with the strategic policy framework and institutional logistics needed for sustainable transformation, and systemically coordinated to achieve desirable health outcomes.
- Infrastructure and Roads
Road infrastructure across the state has deteriorated alarmingly. Major arteries and streets in Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Eket, Oron, Ikot Abasi, Etinan, and Abak are characterized by potholes, failed portions, flooding, and erosion gullies.
The persistent neglect of these critical assets – despite substantial budgetary allocations – reflects fiscal mismanagement, administrative irresponsibility, leadership insensitivity, and governance inefficiency.
- Administrative and Fiscal Management
The proliferation of Implementation Advisors, Special Aides, and Delivery Committees and Advisory Consultants, many of them populated by former commissioners, was initially rationalized as a means to enhance project execution. In practice, however, it has generated administrative overlap, bureaucratic congestion, and fiscal inefficiency.
This redundant structure has diverted scarce resources from critical development sectors to political patronage networks.
- Spending Priorities and Governance Culture
The administration’s expenditure pattern reflects a concerning bias toward exclusive indulgences -marked by extravagant hospitality ventures, cheer-courting handouts, and luxury political consumption.
Such elite-centered fiscal behavior undermines social equity and widens the gap between the ruling class and the citizenry. This trend underscores a misaligned development philosophy that prioritizes optics over outcomes, and political comfort over public welfare.
- Conclusions and Recommendations
The Akwa Ibom Leadership and Development Network expresses deep concern that the current governance model lacks a coherent and implementable framework for inclusive and sustainable development.
Unless urgently recalibrated, Akwa Ibom risks cross-sectorial stagnation, increased inequality, and the erosion of developmental gains achieved by previous administrations.
Accordingly, the Network calls on Governor Umo Eno to;
- Recalibrate the state’s development strategy toward system-based reforms anchored on strategic planning, institutional efficiency, and development-based policymaking.
- Reduce political patronage and administrative redundancy by rationalizing appointments, streamlining advisory structures, and enforcing fiscal discipline.
- Foster inclusive governance by engaging past leaders, indigenous intellectuals, professionals, Akwa Ibom Traditional Ruler Council, civil society, and the media in meaningful socio-economic policy dialogue and participatory planning.
- Strengthen transparency, accountability, and public financial management to rebuild public trust and attract credible investments.
- Adopt a participatory development model that empowers local communities, strengthens grassroots governance structures, and genuinely aligns state programs with citizen priorities.
- Final Position
It is both dangerous and regressive for any democratic leader to govern imperially in a republic. Governor Umo Eno must go beyond symbolic simplicity and cosmetic empathy to embrace genuine collaboration, participatory governance, and visionary leadership.
Akwa Ibom deserves a development paradigm that reflects its human capital, natural endowments, and innovative potential — a model grounded in inclusivity, accountability, transparency, and strategic commitment to sustainable development.
The Akwa Ibom Leadership and Development Network (AILDN) remains committed to promoting people-centric and development-based governance and will henceforth conduct periodic performance reviews of the administration across other sectors – including the economy, environment, agriculture, and youth development – to ensure policy accountability and sustainable progress.
Issued by:
Akwa Ibom Leadership and Development Network (AILDN)
Uyo, Akwa Ibom State
November 1, 2025
