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The recent announcement by Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, of a $1.4 billion agricultural investment in addition to the growing list of industrial establishments currently in operation should convince cynics and critics that his plan of making the oil-rich, South South state Nigeria’s industrial hub is neither a gimmick nor a pipe dream. There is evidence on the ground to encourage the belief that the announcement is not a political statement that was designed to seek support for an ambition (he wasn’t on a soap box).
In what was akin to letting the cat out of the bag, the governor told an ecstatic audience at the official opening of the Tropicana Shopping Mall in Uyo, the state capital, that the investment, which would span two countries, would change Nigeria’s agricultural fortune – one that would put smiles on the faces of Akwa Ibomites and make them walk tall with their heads held high.