'I Want More Tractors In Farms Than SUVs On Roads'

I am not that governor that will expect SUVs on our roads to outnumber the tractors in our farms, Governor Udom Emmanuel has said.
He said agriculture and industrialization remain the panacea for sustainable wealth creation and economic revitalization in Akwa Ibom State.
The governor himself, a financial analyst, who stated this during the media parley marking the state anniversary celebrations in Uyo, decried the current deplorable economic state of the nation, noting that his administration was poised to immediately deliver the state from the hard times it is facing.
 Emmanuel identified industrialization and agriculture as the major driving tools that will build a strong economy for the state, and promised to faithfully engage a plan of action that will be beneficial to the citizenry.
To him, the current state of the economy in Nigeria is as a result of neglect and lack of political will to deal with the root cause of inflation in the past.
“Nobody actually did something that would create sustainable employment for the people. A country of over 160 million people, there are a lot of things that we could have done… even people who had made so much money, they didn’t invest the money in Nigeria.
"People preferred in those days to drive 80, 40 cars. A country where you see more of the V8s on the streets all over the country more than the number of tractors in the farms can not make progress," he said.
“We need to actually retrace those steps, and that is why we are here. I am not that type of governor that will encourage the number of V8s on the road to be more than the number of tractors in the farms.
"Because if we don’t conquer food, if there is no food security, there is nothing like development.”
The governor added that he was not distracted by the criticisms of die-hard leftists, and their claims that the industrialization plan was a sham way of diverting the resources of the state and enriching himself.
He rather called on the people of Akwa Ibom to support the dream and see it come to fruition.
Emmanuel begged communities not to hinder the spread of progress and development by way of stopping contractors with court injunctions.

A the governor said that most of the projects contracted under his administration were being funded through public-private partnerships as the resources made available to the state were very lean, and asked Akwa Ibom people to be patient as the many groundbreakings initiatives for industries will yield fruit in the near future.
“We are operating under a very hard time, there is serious paucity of funds, but with that, we are still trying to make things happen.
"If you check what is happening across the country, you will come home and then appreciate God for what is happening in Akwa Ibom State… you have a governor who will never see what is good and withhold it from you,” Emmanuel added.