By Kennedy Sampson
Constituents of Uyo/Uruan/Nsit Atai/Ibesikpo Asutan Federal Constituency are to expect better days ahead if Mr. Ikakke Bassey’s aspiration to represent them at the National Assembly comes to fruition next year. This is because the national assembly hopeful has lined up various plans in his blueprint that would help turn around the fortunes of the people.
Speaking with newsmen in Uyo yesterday, Ikakke Bassey, a development expert, decried the constituency’s “perpetual backwardness” despite about ₦26 billion having been allocated for Constituency projects since 1999 till date.
He believes that the funds were not properly utilized, citing widespread poverty and lack of development.
“There’s no need to contest if our representation was effective,” Bassey said. He blames poor leadership for the constituency’s plenum, with 71.3% of Akwa Ibom residents living in multi-dimensional poverty and 85% of youths lacking computer literacy.
“From 1999 to 2025, about twenty to twenty-six billion naira has been released to our representatives for constituency project, but we have not seen the projects, at least I cannot point to any. In a time where young people elsewhere are earning in seven figures because of digital skills, over 85 percent of our youths are not computer literate.
As we speak, 71.3 percent of people in Akwa Ibom are multi-dimensionally poor. No jobs, no skills, no opportunities, no enabling environment”, Ikakke lamented.
He further took a swipe at the failed representations saying: “The wheelbarrow and beans crater empowerment will only create more poverty for our people. You cannot receive over a billion naira annually for constituency project, then come back to buy 25kg bags of rice to distribute to 100 people across four local government and people clap for you. That’s an insult!
How about our youths learning and getting global certification on Product Management, Data Analytics, Product Design, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics etc – skills that earns young people these days up to 2 million naira monthly. Why not send them fo training in Oil and Gas? Why not select, train, and give them seed funding to start a business? Human Development requires intentionality”.
As parts of his plans for the people of the Constituency, Ikakke continued: “I am running to offer my people a New Blueprint. We will move beyond ‘stomach infrastructure.’ I will use my background in Business Development to create a hub for SMEs here in Uyo, connecting our local entrepreneurs to federal grants and global markets.
We will use data to identify exactly where our schools need roofs, where our health centers need medicine, and where our farmers in Uruan and Nsit Atai need access roads to get their goods to the market”.
He concluded that in line with his ‘greatness’ philosophy as reflected in his campaign team’s slogan: “Yak ndaha nnyin okpon ke Uyo Federal Constituency”, he wished that the status of the federal constituency should be be great.
