Akwa Ibom State has picked up $6,206,745.42 through the World Bank assisted State Action on Business Enabling Reform (SABER) Programme, a reward for its performance in transparency, budgetary management and good governance under the 2024 assessment, Governor Umo Eno announced during the July edition of the state’s Monthly Covenant Service at Government House, Uyo.
Eno tied the award to a broader pattern: it follows closely on Akwa Ibom’s emergence as one of Nigeria’s top performing states in the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies Governance Performance Index, and he said both recognitions confirm the state is on the right development path under his administration’s ARISE Agenda, which he described as requiring deliberate planning, consistency and patience rather than quick wins.
The governor used the occasion to run through several other developments. Ibom Air has resumed international flights from Uyo to Accra, Ghana, currently operating on Thursdays and Sundays, with Eno expressing hope that additional routes will follow as passenger numbers grow. The state has also procured 50 new Compressed Natural Gas buses for public transport, with the first batch of 20 already delivered and the remaining 30 to follow, and drivers set to undergo training before deployment begins. On youth development, Eno reaffirmed plans to establish Youth Development Centres across all 31 local government areas to make skills acquisition and empowerment programmes more accessible locally, a push he linked to the planned amendment of the NYSC Act aimed at making young Nigerians more productive nationwide.
Eno also promoted the state’s tourism sector, describing the current period as Akwa Ibom’s harvest season and pointing residents and visitors toward attractions such as Arise Park and the ARISE Resort. On a more cautionary note, he warned media practitioners, social media users and the wider public against spreading unverified information, describing the practice as harmful to society and urging offenders to stop or face legal consequences, before thanking church leaders for their prayers and closing with an acknowledgment that sustained development requires both good governance and divine guidance.
