AND THE ANGEL SAID UNTO THEM, FEAR NOT: FOR I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY WHICH SHALL BE TO ALL PEOPLE.” LUKE 2: 10

BEING THE TEXT OF THE CHRISTMAS DAY BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. UDOM EMMANUEL, GOVERNOR, AKWA IBOM STATE, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, DECEMBER 25TH, 2020

FELLOW AKWAIBOMITES

My wife, Her Excellency Dr. Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel, and I extend to all residents of our dear State our best wishes for a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We appreciate the spirit of love, hope and joy that this blessed season of love brings to our State in particular, the Nation and the world at large. In our Father’s benevolent gift of His beloved Son to the world, peace and goodwill were released to men and women everywhere.

The lessons of that night of Christ’s birth should not be lost on us. That there was no room for God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ at birth, did not stop him from fulfilling His mission as the Messiah and Saviour of the world.

So, let this season remind us that the circumstances of our births are not strong enough to stop us from fulfilling our mission on earth. Let the humble beginning of Jesus Christ in the manger be a constant reminder that with faith we can rise above the circumstances of our birth and be a blessing to our dear State and nation.

Compatriots, let us honour this season of love by meditating on Christ’s message of God’s steadfast love, tender mercies and saving grace, which has brought hope and joy to the world, and has inspired the faithful to love God and put their trust in Him. His simple message of love has also become the strongest thread that binds humanity together in a garment of brotherhood. Let us, therefore, resolve in this season to love one another and let the emotions of love guide all our actions.

This year was like bumpy ride on a gallop-filled rural road. But God kept His word in Isaiah 43:2 “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

We passed through the scourge of the pandemic and it did not overwhelm us. We witnessed looting and arson from the EndSars, and it did not consume us. We have a lot to thank God for, as this year draws to a close. As the Bible enjoins us let us, in the New Year, “forget those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before us, press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Fellow Akwaibomites, let us press forward by doing all we can to stay alive and beat the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic. As you may already know, we are currently experiencing the second wave of the pandemic, but as we had succeeded in stemming the rate of infection when it first hit our shores, I ask you to join hands with us again to beat this second wave.

The use of facemasks, social distancing, regular hand washing, hand sanitizers are protocols that have worked in reducing infections. Let us remain committed to applying these protocols. If we adhere to these simple but effective rules, there may be no need for us to impose another lockdown, but if we observe that these rules are flouted, then we may have no other option than to put the State under lock -down. We have put in every conceivable tool to manage this pandemic and our gallant medical professionals have been in the frontline, managing and stemming the spread of the virus. We owe them them eternal debt of gratitude.

When in 2018, we brought in 13 ventilators and other advanced and modern medical supplies, some people had sneered at us in the media, some went to the extent of saying the equipment were phantom or non-existent. When we also constructed the 300 bed Infectious Disease Control Centre Centre at Ituk Mbang and equipped it with medical facilities that rival the best in the world, some people also took issues with us and questioned the propriety of the construction of the centre. Today, our investments in healthcare sector have shown that you can’t go wrong by being proactive. Our State has stayed above the curve and has been able to manage this pandemic and other infectious diseases very effectively.

In spite of the challenging year that 2020 has been, with God, we have been able to achieve a number of milestones in the execution of our Completion Agenda. Ibom Air has become a roaring success, a source of pride to us all as Akwaibomites. God has answered our prayers for sustainable industrial base. Earlier this year, the Federal government approved for us the Oil and Gas Free zone which is a huge step in our industrialization agenda. A little over a week ago, the Federal Executive Council finally granted us the approval to commence work on the long awaited Ibom Deep Seaport Project.

Let me on behalf of the Government and the grateful people of Akwa Ibom State; thank President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR and the Federal Executive Council for granting us this wonderful gift. The Ibom Deep Seaport will change the economic dynamics of our State and indeed the entire South South and South East respectively and launch us towards a period of unparalleled growth and development. This is a great achievement for our State and our people and I thank God that He used my Administration to achieve this historic milestone.

This is not a speech to reel out our scorecard, but permit me to commend our youths for embracing agriculture and tapping the enormous benefits therein. Last week, I received a text from one of our journalists, a guy with a huge social media following. He told me that he heeded the clarion call I have been making for our youths to embrace agriculture. He said he went into the production of cucumber and two years after, he reported that he has made so much money he never contemplated making as an online journalist. He was full of praise for what we have done in unleashing the revolution in agriculture as a means of creating jobs and wealth. I urge you to follow the lead of this journalist and get involved in this great and rewarding revolution that is sweeping across our State.

Our industrialization agenda remains on course, in spite of the challenges we have faced in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week, I commissioned the tissue factory, which is derived mainly from our dried bamboos at our Dakkada Cottage Industrial cluster in Itam. As the world opens up and normalcy returns, we hope to attract more industries to our State and boost employment and wealth creation opportunities for our people.

A little over three weeks ago, we received at the full State Executive Council ((EXCO,) the reports and recommendations of the Professor Hilary Inyang led Strategic Education Roadmap 2020-2030. We hope to, as a matter of urgency, adopt and implement the recommendations. Just as we tackled to national acclaim and admiration the issues in healthcare delivery, we hope to, declare an emergency in our education sector. We must get our children to be ready and equipped with the knowledge and skills to be competitive in the technology driven world of the 21 Century market economy.

As I said during my recent interactions with journalists in the State, we hope to apply whatever resources that would be available to us, to complete most of our infrastructural projects and prepare our State for continuous growth and development.

I urge our youths to continue to keep the peace and shun anti-social tendencies. We still maintain our zero tolerance for those who may wish to disrupt the peace we have enjoyed in this State. Please do not try our resolve.

My dear Akwaibomites let me illustrate the key elements of love and goodwill to all which this season of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ represents. On Christmas day, 1914, in the Western Front of the First World War, German and English soldiers who had been fighting and killing each other before that day, emerged from their trenches to share the joy of Christmas together. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged gifts and played soccer. This incident remains the most powerful testament that love knows no boundaries, no ethnicity and no divisions. Commenting on this incident, German Lieutenant Kurt Zehmisch recalled, “Thus Christmas, the celebration of love, managed to bring mortal enemies together as friends.”

We pray that this celebration of love will not only bring mortal enemies as friends, but will also cause some of our people who are still in the trenches of tribalism, ethnicism, petty-mindedness, and other vices, to emerge from the foxholes and join us to build a State which would be defined by faith, love and brotherhood. Let us be reminded that Christmas is only Christmas when we celebrate it by sharing gifts with our neighbours and shining the light of love to everyone.

We advise those who desire to stoke the embers of division and cause unnecessary tensions because of their ambitions to allow the wheels of governance to move gingerly forward. We pray that joy; peace and hope will fill the heart and soul of every Akwaibomite as we savour the joyous commemoration of our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Let me end this speech by quoting from Luke chapter 2 verse 10 “and the Angel said unto them “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

My dear Akwa Ibomites, let us remain hopeful and not be afraid because what the Lord has in store for this State in the next year and the years to come, will gladden the hearts and minds of us all! Let love, hope and brotherhood continue to bind and shape our engagements with one another.
God bless Akwa Ibom State.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance!

Akwa Ibom Dakkada
Ami mme dakkanda

hmm ok