15th April, 2017
The ongoing syringe factory in Akwa Ibom state is targeted at manufacturing 400 million syringes yearly.
In line with the policy of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration to enhance capacity and manpower development, ten graduates in different engineering programmes from the state have been sent on a technology transfer scheme in Europe.
Emmanuel who announced these during this month’s Government House Prayer meeting at the Latter House Chapel of Government House, said the upcoming engineers departed Friday night for training in Vienna, to specialize in the production of several hospital consumables, one of which is the syringe.
He said so far, the biggest syringe factory in Africa which manufactures 95 million syringes a year is in South Africa and revealed that eight production lines for the Akwa Ibom – located factory had already been shipped and were expected to arrive the state by the second week of next month.
“We have seen something very special in Vienna, where you pick up some engineering youths of between 18 and 53 and make them come up with some engineering designs,” he said, adding that he was going to bond them to discourage anyone from absconding after the programme.
He lamented the slight setbacks recorded in his industrialization programme last year which were a result of the foreign exchange crises, saying, “we planned at N198 and N200 to a dollar, but the dollar went for above N500 and that shortened our plans. Even investors were reluctant to bring money into the economy, but by the special Grace of God, the economy is picking up and most of those things will stabilize.
The governor expressed the belief that with a lot of activities he had scheduled for between now and the third quarter of the year, more employment opportunities will be opened for the people of the state.
The governor urged stakeholders in the state to sensitize their people to support government investments and desist from acts capable of scaring away investors from their respective communities.
“Tell your youths in that there is no way one can make an omelet without breaking the egg, the land they have will remain valueless except we create value from it,” Emmanuel said.
He called on youths to desist from actions that would compel government to use force in executing projects in their areas, warning that he would not hesitate to relocate any project being antagonized, to another area.
He announced that consultants for the Coconut plantation and refinery project were currently in the state to inspect the coconut plantation and advise the government appropriately.
On the hitherto flooded portion of Nsikak Eduok Avenue close to Oron road, the governor said the commercial tricycle operators who usually washed their tricycles in the stagnant water, were disappointed recently after a heavy downpour when they realize that the water was nowhere to be found.
He said while it was expensive to channel the pool of water underground, his government had to make sacrifices that would make the state a choice destination.
Emmanuel stated that the only flood being experienced in the State capital was at the Babangida Avenue axis, and assured that his government was partnering with the World Bank to put an end to the challenge.
The governor, who also reiterated his resolve to remodel Eket and Oron, said the challenges of drainage in the two coastal towns were currently being tackled.