Akwa Ibom
Umo Eno Commences Payment Of 80,000 Naira Minimum Wage With Arrears

Umo Eno Commences Payment Of 80,000 Naira Minimum Wage With Arrears
The governor of Akwa Ibom State pastor Umo Eno has authorized the commencement of payment of 80 thousand Naira minimum wage in the state this month, effective from November 2024.
Following the submission of the report by the Committee on the Implementation of the New Minimum Wage/Personnel Verification, headed by the Head of Service, Elder Effiong Essien, Governor Umo Eno, PhD, has authorized the commencement of the payment of the new minimum wage of 80 thousand Naira to 45 thousand duly verified public service workers, beginning at the end of this month but backdated to November last year, as he had promised.
Receiving the report at Government House, Uyo, Governor Eno thanked the Committee for the great work they did and requested the Committee to extend similar work to the retired workers Pension Schemes.
“Let me thank the Committee for taking the time to deliver on this assignment. As I receive this report today, my understanding is that before now, we had a staff strength of 55,120. Out of that, 52,177 persons turned out for the verification exercise, so we still have an outstanding of 2,943 personnel who did not show up while 6,193 have issues with their verification.
“Having received this report today, I will be signing this off to the Office of the Accountant General, Auditor General, and the Director of Budget to come up with the memo that they are ready to implement.
“For those who have been cleared—about 45,984 of them—we should be ready to pay the minimum wage at the end of this month, effective from November 1, 2024.
“The Civil Service forms a critical mass of employees in our state government. Since we came on board, their welfare has remained a key priority, and we will continue to do so. I believe this will help ameliorate the harsh economic environment we have found ourselves in, and I hope, by the grace of God, slowly, we will find our way out of it very soon.
“For the people who are yet to be verified, we will give another 30 days. After that, we will end the exercise. If they don’t show up within the time specified, we will take it that they are not civil servants, and their salaries will be stopped.
“We want to extend our hand of fellowship to the organized labour in the state and ask them to work with the government, as we all have a responsibility to Akwa Ibom State. We have done a lot to engender good government-labour relations. Since we came on board, we have paid over 47 billion in gratuities from the over 97 billion backlog we met since 2012, as well as several palliatives to the workers and people of Akwa Ibom State.”
The Governor said he has accepted the recommendation of the Committee that the verification exercise should be done on a yearly basis. “I have received your recommendation that this exercise should be done on a yearly basis, and I think we will do so.

Umo Eno
“Another area we will run verification is the pension payments. If what we uncovered can happen with serving personnel, then you can imagine what may be happening where people have unfortunately passed and are still being paid. We need to quickly carry out the verification exercise in that area too. So I am not dissolving the Committee now; we will extend the life of the Committee for another month.”
The Implementation Committee on the Minimum Wage was set up by Governor Eno last December to ensure a smooth rollout of the newly announced 80 thousand minimum wage. It had as Chairman, the Head of Service; Chairman, Civil Service Commission; Chairman, Local Government Service Commission; Permanent Secretaries;
Ministries of Finance; Department of Establishments, Labour, and Manpower Planning; Solicitor General/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Permanent Secretary and Accountant General; Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission; Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service; Director of Budget; State Chairman, Joint Public Service Negotiating Council; Secretary, Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council; State Chairmen, Nigerian Labour Congress; and State President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
Akwa Ibom
Umo Eno Commissions Model school In Oron, Charges Shool Heads On Maintwnance Culture

Umo Eno Commissions Model school In Oron, Charges Shool Heads On Maintwnance Culture
Umo Eno commissions model school in Oron, charges shool heads on maintwnance culture and directs head teachers to live in school
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has charged heads of schools and other institutions to ensure preservation of government infrastructures within their custody and to ensure that the intended benefits of government investments in the sector are delivered to the targeted beneficiaries.
He also tasked headmasters and headmistresses of model primary schools built across the State to utilize the live-in facilities to enhance their care for the pupils, and protection of the facilities in line with the aspirations of his administration’s ARISE Agenda.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the Model Primary School, Uko-Oyukim in Oron Local Government Area, Governor Eno said a special education monitoring team was about to be activated to monitor the model schools, warning that any headteacher found not living on campus or whose school facilities are not well managed would be replaced.
He, therefore, tasked the Akwa Ibom State Infrastructure & Assets Management and Maintenance Agency to step up their vigilance over the educational facilities, adding that he was willing to bring to bear his private business experience as a hotelier, where he would work round the clock to ensure every guest enjoys utmost comfort, to make Akwa Ibom children receive the best from government investment in the education sector.
“Very soon, we are setting up education monitoring teams, and the team will help us ensure that all of these facilities are intact. They will monitor all these schools we are opening, from the washroom to the classrooms, all the facilities, the curriculum and of the work they are doing.
“The Headmasters or Headmistresses will also ensure that non of these facilities are destroyed. We must continue to maintain the standard. I am setting up a Governor’s Monitoring team, but they will work with the Honourable Commissioners to ensure that they give us the right information.
“If we come to your school, particularly our schools that are remodelled, and we find out that the standards are dropping, we will change the head Master or Mistress immediately.
If we come to the school and discover that you are not living on the school compound, we will send you back somewhere else.
“We can not use your money to put this edifice in place, only for it to go down in few months,” the Governor stated.
Speaking on behalf of Oron stakeholders, the Deputy Governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, described the emergence of Governor Umo Eno as God’s blessing to Akwa Ibom State and particularly thanked the Governor for accepting to be used to extend God’s love to Oron people.
According to Senator Eyakenyi, Governor Umo Eno’s value for education which fueled his drive to pursue and obtain a PhD has been demonstrated in his identification of primary education as being fundamentally imperative and therefore investing in giving Akwa Ibom children a good start up.

Umo Eno Commissions
The Commissioner for Education, Professor Ubong Umoh, presenting an overview of the project, commended Governor Umo Eno’s model primary school initiative, maintaining that such underscores his administration’s dedication to transforming the educational landscape thereby fostering academic excellence and social development.
He said the Uko-Oyukim Model Primary School, designed to accommodate 495 pupils in 19 fully furnished classrooms on a 25:1 pupils to teacher ratio, was fully equipped with library, early childcare development facilities, solar-powered ICT laboratory, modern sick bay, spacious auditorium, dedicated staff quarters, seperate gender-specific sanitary facilities, with comprehensive human kinetic facilities that enhances education and sports development.
Pupils of the school, little Miss Happiness Antai and Master Godwin Asuquo, conveyed the feelings of the school community through a special address and a ballad which expressed the gratitude of the pupils, teachers and their parents to the Governor for the kind gesture he has extended to them through the state-of-the-art facilities.
Akwa Ibom
Umo Eno Flags Off Oron Maritime Hub Project, Sets Deadline For Completion

Umo Eno Flags Off Oron Maritime Hub Project, Sets Deadline For Completion
Umo Eno flags off Oron maritime hub project, sets deadline for completion. The reconstruction of the Oron Marine Jetty, an aquatic produce commercial hub, ferry terminal and leisure resort, will be completed by September this year.
The project which is meant to rekindle sea line trade activities and reinvigorate the ease of marine transport services in the coastal area, was flagged off on Wednesday by Governor Umo Eno at the Oron.
Performing the ground breaking exercise, Governor Eno said the project currently provides daily jobs for over a thousand locals here and appealed for support to the initiative.
“You can be rest assured that we will fulfill our part of the bargain to the contractor. And we look forward to coming here between August and September, because we want to wait to receive the ferry, so that we can commission all on the same day. I’d like to take that ferry to Calabar that day, and also come back.”
“We will not have the financial muscle to construct railways without the support of the federal government, but we will construct our waterways, put ferries on the waterways, and that will be our pride and our joy.
Governor Eno lauded Rear Admiral Etop Ebe, Superintendent of the Naval Shipyard, Port Harcourt for his commitment to the realization of the first passenger cruise ferry for the Jetty, saying that contract for the second ferry will soon be awarded.
The Governor added that, “the Nigeria Navy is going to train about 15 engineers that will ensure that they man the workshop so that we can have proper maintenance.”
He said it was divinity that has brought Admiral Ebe to head the Nigerian Naval shipyard at this time.
“And you know that being a son of the soil, God has given you the opportunity to put your name and signature in gold, that you were part of this project.”
Governor Eno described the project as the turning around of the economic fortunes of the people of Oron Federal Constituency, in line with his campaign promises.
Recounting his other projects in the federal constituency to include the ongoing 14.5 kilometers Nsit Atai-Okopedi dual carriage road, handled by HENSEk, the 11 kilometer Oron-Uya Oro Road, handled by Amitec, the Unyenge Road, that leads to the seaport, the Effiong Esang and Ukpong Streets and the 2.9 kilometer Road in Urue Offong/Oroko Local Government Area, which was commissioned last year.
“With your support, we will do more, because we are determined to take development to every nook and crannies of our state. And we are determined to ensure that we end the rural – urban migration.
“That’s why we’re developing all of these rural communities. So please, I’d like to appeal to the youths, to please continue to cooperate with the contractor, so we can finish this project on time.”
“While we know that the federal government will come to our aid, and continue to support us in railways, in highways, and will also support us in our quest for the Ibom Deep seaport, and support us to also get money to work on our ecological site.”
The deputy Governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi who lauded the Governor for his love to her people recounted that in the past, Oron was known for being an economic nerve center in the country.
Mrs Eyakenyi maintained that the marine project will catapult the area back to its past glory.
The project contractor and Managing Director of JMK Construction Company Limited, Mr Faysal Harb thanked the Governor for the confidence in his ability and promised to complete the project in the next six months.

Umo Eno
The Commissioner for Works, Prof. Eno Ibanga, gave an overview of the project to have steel shore protections, four jetties, a terminal, cool room, and warehouse, a 5,500-square-meter car park that will accommodate at least 200 cars with internal road networks and a recreational center that will attract tourists, with 100% security guaranteed.
Prof. Ibanga thanked the Governor for initiating the project, assuring that he is working closely with the Delivery Advisor Mr. Orman Esin to ensure its timely completion.
Former Commissioner of Transport, Orman Esin, who is the delivery advisor for the project, and the clan head of Idua, Chief Asuquo, appreciated the Governor at the event while Rear Admiral Ebe who commended the Governor for deliberately setting out to develop the entire State, promised to deliver the passenger ferry as required.
Highpoint of the event was a vote of confidence unanimously adopted on the Governor, following a motion moved by House of Representatives Member for the federal Constituency, Hon. Martin Esin, and seconded by Hon. Kenim Onofiok, House of Assembly member for the area.
Akwa Ibom
Akwa Ibom Senator Applauds Umo Eno On A.R.I.S.E Entrepreneurial Equipment Support Scheme

Akwa Ibom Senator Applauds Umo Eno On A.R.I.S.E Entrepreneurial Equipment Support Scheme
Akwa Ibom Senator applauds Umo Eno on A.R.I.S.E entrepreneurial equipment support scheme. Senator Aniekan Bassey of the Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District has commended Governor Umo Eno on the successful launch of the A.R.I.S.E Entrepreneurial Equipment Support Scheme.
Describing the initiative as a groundbreaking effort to empower small businesses, the distinguished Senator emphasized its potential to boost productivity and create sustainable job opportunities across Akwa Ibom State.
Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, Senator Bassey lauded Governor Eno’s commitment to human capital development through strategic empowerment schemes, maintaining that the A.R.I.S.E Agenda is a transformative blueprint for economic growth.
According to Senator Bassey, “the newly launched scheme, which provides essential business equipment to budding entrepreneurs, will significantly enhance small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), fostering innovation and self-reliance among citizens.”
Speaking further, the Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial Senator further emphasized that he has, through his pet project, the RHAB-YESS Foundation, aligned his empowerment initiatives with the A.R.I.S.E Agenda to complement the Governor’s vision.
He reiterated his dedication to supporting entrepreneurship and economic development in Akwa Ibom State, particularly in areas of youth and women empowerment.

Akwa Ibom Empowerment
“Governor Umo Eno’s A.R.I.S.E Entrepreneurial Equipment Support Scheme is a testament to his administration’s commitment to grassroots economic development. This initiative will undoubtedly provide small business owners with the necessary tools to enhance productivity and contribute meaningfully to the state’s economy.
Through RHAB-YESS Foundation, we will continue to play our part in supporting young entrepreneurs and ensuring the success of this noble vision,” Senator Bassey stated.
He urged beneficiaries of the scheme to make the most of the opportunity by leveraging the equipment received to expand their businesses, create employment, and contribute to the overall economic advancement of the state.
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