Akwa Ibom State government has indicated it’s readiness to step up investments in the aviation sector with the acquisition of additional Aircrafts and establishment of Aviation Training Institute to boost operations of the state airline, Ibom Air, and drive the vision of making the state an economic hub in the sub-saharan region.
Governor Emmanuel gave the indication during his interaction with officials of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), who were on a courtesy visit at Government House, Uyo, Thursday .
He announced that modalities have been put in place for the setting up of a full fledged privately owned aviation school that will train personnel in the aviation industry by next year, explaining that expansion of the taxi way at Victor Attah International Airport is to provide convenience for landing of light aircraft when there is rehabilitation work that may affect the main runway.
The Governor pointed out that his administration is vigorously pursuing the development of the state especially the three-gate ways comprising aviation , land and marine .
Hear him, “we just look at our state and see that we can actually develop the three- gateways at the same time. That is why every minute you hear us talk about Ibom Deep Seaport because we have a natural draught which we are trying to develop.
“…in terms of road network, I think we have the best road network in this country , we hope to do a lot more and in terms of air, we are trying to also create a hub here and we hope that not too long from now we would add at least two new aircraft to the fleet” .
The Governor said that through collaboration with professional bodies like ICAN and the support of the Federal Government as well as the people of the state, a lot more will be achieved in the state development and particularly commended ICAN for sustaining professional standards in it operations .
Earlier in his remark, the leader of the delegation and Chairman Body of Presidents of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, congratulated Governor Udom Emmanuel on his victory both at the election and the Appeal Court.
Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, who represented the President of ICAN, Mazi Nnamdi Okwuadigbo, stated that the victories confirmed the confidence reposed on him by the people of the state and described Governor Emmanuel as a leader equipped with the capacity to make Akwa Ibom State the toast of other states.
Ijewere lauded the development strides of Governor Emmanuel especially in the Aviation sector which has seen the emergence of Ibom Air, the commercial airline in the state.
According to him : “Akwa Ibom has become the first State in Nigeria to float a commercial airline which is added to other success-stories of your administration including the revamping and digitalising of the health sector, transformation in the agricultural sector, remodeling of a number of power substations amongst several others”.
Mr Ijewere solicited collaboration of the State Government in organizing in-house trainings for accountants, auditors and tax practitioners in the State Civil Service and other staff in allied functions and canvassed support for ICAN members.
The ICAN officials used the occasion to condole with Governor Emmanuel over the death of his father, Late Mr. Gabriel Emmanuel Nkanang, praying God to give him and the family fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
