Priscilla Akpanettot
The business of marketing and projecting Akwa Ibom State has been described as a task for every citizen of the State by the Senior Special Adviser to Governor Umo Eno on Brand Management and Marketing.
The Brand strategist said this when the Conference of Online Publishers in Akwa Ibom (COOPA) engaged him in their annual Media Chat on Wednesday, September 15, 2023, at his Office.
The Governor’s aide who was responding to questions on how he intends to market the State, vis-a-vis the ARISE Agenda argued that every member of the State community had a responsibility of making the brand known.
“Projecting the Akwa Ibom Brand is all of our responsibility. We’re using whatever channels that are available to tell the Akwa Ibom story and present her in positive light to the rest of the world, because there is really no society that is developed on its own. Development has always been a function of different components, including people coming in from different parts of the world, so there can be cross-fertilization of ideas and opportunities to learn from others”, he stated.
“As Akwa Ibomites, we need to talk about the positives. We need to talk about the things that make us unique and not being the ones who deride our state. The truth is, Akwa Ibom State is the only state that we have”.
“Akwa Ibom is a place that money can afford to go to. Even when we can say that there is no place on the face of the earth that is completely crime free, those of us who live here know that comparatively, Akwa Ibom is a place a lot of people would rather be, from a security point of view”, he submitted.
Speaking on the present administration’s steps toward economic development, Edem averred that the Governor was on track the ARISE Agenda.
“We’ve seen a steady trajectory of government. We’ve seen the style that Pastor Umo Eno has brought into government, how he has demystified government and brought it closer to the people”.
“We have seen a very responsible and responsive leader in Pastor Umo Eno. We are hopeful that with God on our side and with the cooperation of all of our partners and the people, we’ll be able to see the light at the end of this very long tunnel”, he assured.
On the Governor’s intervention to reduce the effect of subsidy removal on citizens, he noted that Governor Umo Eno has been both proactive and reactive, in his response to the people’s plight; evidenced in the recent flag-off of the distribution of palliatives at Government Warehouse in Ikot Ekpene Udo, Nsit Ubium.
“We are hopeful that with the proper governance that we know Pastor Umo Eno is ready to run, in not too long a time, the challenges imposed by fuel subsidy removal will be a thing of the past”.
“There is a Leadership and Entrepreneurship Centre which is… going to be bring about different hubs that will give people an opportunity to practice what they learnt in the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Centre, and build a business from there. The government intends to encourage them by also patronising them”.
“The Governor himself is an entrepreneur. He has spoken about the fact that those who will benefit from his government are those who are ready to work, not people who beg for a living or wait for handouts”, he stressed.
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Adviser expressed gratitude to the State Governor for finding him fit to be at the fore of marketing the State.
“We are already hoping that we’ll be able to do enough to justify the confidence of he who appointed us and more importantly, to meet the expectations of Akwa Ibom people who voted this government into power”.
“Mine is not an office that works in isolation. We have a relationship with other MDAs of government because all of us basically, we are working for the people and we want to leave a positive impression on the minds of the people. So my office has that task of ensuring that whatever it is that constitutes the Akwa Ibom brand is projected and marketed”, he said.
