Chairman of Akwa Ibom Council of Chiefs, and
Oku Ibom Ibibio, Dr. Solomon Daniel Etuk, will be a special guest at the 17th Virtual National Convention of Ubium Development Association in USA (UDA) on Saturday, July 24.The theme of this year’s Convention is
Promoting Diaspora-Ubium People Partnerships for purposeful and sustainable community development, with a sub-theme,
Everyone Has a Role to Play.
The theme is consciously designed to underscore the role of the Akwa Ibom traditional institution as a catalyst for promoting individual and group participation in community development.
The monarch who is also a member of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN), is expected to share his perspectives on the strategic importance of members of the Akwa Ibom Diaspora and their pivotal role and involvement in the development of the homeland.
Oku Ibom Ibibio and Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Council of Chiefs, Nteyin Solomon Daniel Etuk have called on stakeholders in Akwa Ibom State to come together and bring out far-reaching positions that would be presented at the forthcoming constitution amendment exercise in the country.
Ntenyin (Dr.) Etuk, who is the Chancellor of the Akwa Ibom State University, said this when he received the Ibibio Elders Forum, Ibibio Academic Roundtable, Ifim Ibom Ibibio, Akwa Esop Imaisong Ibibio, amongst others, at his palace in Ikot Ukobo, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of the State on Monday.
The monarch noted that the constitution amendment exercise is an important process aimed at achieving an acceptable constitution for the country.
NDDC
A couple of weeks ago a faction of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) based in Abuja invaded the office of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godswill Akpabio and disrupted the normal flow of work there. They were saying with placards that they do not want a Sole Administrator for the NDDC. What they want is for the Board to be put in place. Why they went to Akpabio’s office is baffling because such decisions are taken only by the President, not the Minister.
The Minister can make recommendations; he can have his say but the President will have his way. Perhaps they were subscribing to the African prescriptive proverb that the best way to talk to the deaf is to talk to his brother. The inbuilt wisdom here is that the brother knows the formula for getting the message to him despite his deafness. But the issue of putting a board in place for the NDDC is not new and the IYC members are not the first to raise it. It is a legitimate issue on which all of us are on the same page