Gov. Umo ENO Advocates Policy Continuity For Sustainable Development
By evangelist.com.ng Edition Sunday July 9, 2023.
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has attributed policy summersaults in the country to lack of continuity by successive administrations, a practice he said has caused serious challenge and setback to national growth and development.
The Governor stated this while addressing participants of the Senior Executive Course 45, 2023 from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, during a courtesy call on him at Government House, Uyo, last Friday.
He opined that policy continuity and pursuit of a national agenda were among the trump cards of prosperous nations, and therefore, challenged the Institute to consider failure by successive administrations in Nigeria to implement the policies of their predecessors as an important area of research, as it directly affected the country’s development.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, the Governor noted that in spite of the Institute’s efforts as a foremost policy formulation centre, and a key contributor to the all-round development of Nigeria, there has been a disconnect between policy formulation and implementation in the country.
According to him, “it is imperative that the end of policy should be holistic, sustainable national development, veritable economic growth and above all, improved standard of living for the people”.
Governor Eno who lauded the Institute, as a key contributor to the all-round development of the nation, explained that it has remained a quintessential policy think tank for both the public and private sectors of the Nigerian polity.
“Yours is one of the few consistently successful institutions in our country. The success story of the National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), is a testament to the fact that it is not altogether a hopeless situation in Nigeria”.
“We might have experienced under-achievements in certain important areas, but there are also some bright spots to celebrate”. Governor Eno said.
Pastor Eno, gave the assurance that the his Government would stem rural-urban drift through aggressive rural development, job creation and empowerment of youths with relevant skills.
The State Chief Executive added that the pursuit of food sufficiency, revamping of healthcare system, attention on education sector and protection of lives and property would not be treated lightly.
He posited that in achieving these, the State Government would welcome ideas from individuals and institutions such as NIPSS, noting that with teamwork and partnership, proper results would be achieved in the development of the state and the people.
The Governor therefore, called on the Federal Government to intervene in areas affected by climate change and thanked the team for choosing the state for the tour.
Addressing the Governor, the leader of the team and director of research, NIPSS, Professor Dung Pam Sha, said that as the nation’s foremost think- tank, the institution aimed at developing top- class technocrats to conceptualise and track implementation of innovative and dynamic policies, which were critical for national development.
With this year’s theme” Industrialization, energy security and climate change” , he said that the team would come up with a report at the end of visit. He appealed to the state government to send representatives to witness the presentation of the report in November this year.
Professor Sha said that they had toured Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Ikot Abasi and relevant MDAs related to the theme of the study and were satisfied with the efforts by the state government and the World Bank in tackling erosion menace In the state.
While charging Akwa Ibom people to continue to live in peace and unity to achieve more development, he mentioned that the team was amazed by the level of development recorded in the state.
