Recently, the Akwa Ibom State Government decided to show its oily face in the enchanting skyline of Lagos by erecting an 18-storey edifice in Victoria Island. This edifice will sit on 2,191. 23 square metres of land which was purchased in the 90s but left largely fallow and underutilized. Now Governor Umo Eno has decided to breathe life into the land and make it a money spinner for the state. The facility is designed to have 32 residential units, luxurious four bedroom duplexes, a penthouse, multi-level parking that can carry up to 102 cars etc. Apart from Eno, two former governors of the state Obong Victor Attah and Udom Emmanuel were happy witnesses at the ground breaking event. So was the governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu. This project is a major milestone that will create employment and substantially improve the internally generated revenue of the state when completed.
Dr Umo Eno is trying to spin gold out of straw but criticisms are trailing this wise investment decision. Some ill-informed persons are saying that he should invest the money for this project in Akwa Ibom State and that there are many things that can be done with the money for the benefit of Akwa Ibomites. I am not an official of the state government but I believe that the decision to invest in real estate in Lagos by the state government is smart. It is a decision that the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation can defend effortlessly. The state government under Governor Udom Emmanuel had built a magnificent 21-storey edifice in the Banking Layout in Uyo. The building was commissioned by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in 2021. Up till now, that building is lying largely fallow. That is because Akwa Ibom is still largely a civil service state. The oil companies which were the main target of the building have chosen to stay elsewhere far away from Akwa Ibom. Building an 18-storey edifice in Akwa Ibom now would be a foolish venture.
Governance is not a slam-dunk affair. People must be carried along through ceaseless information dissemination by decision makers. Therefore Akwa Ibom State government officials must explain to the people the rationale for the government’s decision to build this high rise building in Lagos. Such an explanation to the people is not the equivalent of an appeasement process. It is democracy in action. When Winston Churchill was facing the tyranny of Adolf Hitler, Churchill said that an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.
I repeat that the investment is a wise one. The best places for real estate investment in Nigeria in order of high returns on investment are Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. If you invest in real estate in any of these three cities, you can never be wrong. The yields are enormous and the property values increase astronomically.
In Nigeria the cost of governance has gone up exceedingly now that the prices of petroleum products are sky-high and there is a more than a 100% increase in minimum wage. Even though the states are now receiving more money from the federation account, they still need more money than hitherto for seamless governance. So a substantial improvement in internally generated revenue (IGR) by all the states is necessary now more than ever before. The various protests that have occurred in various parts of the country since August are pointers to the fact that as a country we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the leaders in internally generated revenue for 2022 are Lagos (N651.2 billion), Rivers (N172.8 billion), Federal Capital Territory (N124.4 billion), Ogun (N120.6 billion), Delta (N85.9 billion), Oyo (N62.2 billion), Kaduna (N58.1 billion), Edo (N47.5 billion), Kano (N42.5 billion) and Kwara (N35.86 billion). Akwa Ibom is 11th in ranking with an IGR of only N34.8 billion. For the government of the state to do the heavy lifting, there must be a significant increase in its IGR so that it can meet its many obligations to the people. That is why the real estate investment in Lagos is smart.
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We have also learnt that the state government plans to build a four star hotel in Abuja. Anyone who builds a hotel in Abuja can never get it wrong because Abuja is a high destination city. There used to be a hotel at Akwa Ibom House in the Central Business District. Staying there was always a pleasure, the equivalent of paradise because the ambience was serene, the surrounding was neat, the people were pleasant and the food was good, always good, an affirmation of the expertise of the “Calabarians” in gastronomy.
My colleague Dan Agbese and I had an appointment in the Central Business District some years ago so we thought that the Ibom Hotel was the best place to stay. We headed there only to find the gate firmly locked, and the grass fully overgrown and the compound shabbily kept. The man at the gate said that the place had been closed down for a long time. We sighed and went away.
What this means for Governor Umo Eno is that building a beautiful facility is one thing. Maintaining it is another. Many government facilities and assets are very badly maintained. That is why people say that government has no business in business. But that is not the whole truth. In many countries such as United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Cyprus etc. government businesses work.
The other reason why the Akwa Ibom government must push for multiple revenue streams is that the Federal Government has over the years treated Akwa Ibom State shabbily. Even though Akwa Ibom is the leader in the oil and gas league, producing 34% of the country’s oil and gas assets, it has no federal presence in that sector. No refinery. No petrochemical industry. Nothing that has any relationship with oil or gas. Even the federal roads that lead from other states into Akwa Ibom are awful. Here are they: Umuahia – Ikot Ekpene Road; Aba – Ikot Ekpene Road; Azumini – Ukanafun Road and Calabar – Itu Road. Dr Umo Eno and Dr Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State are exploring how they can get these federal roads fixed.
My view is that any investment in any part of Nigeria that can bring extra revenue to the state is a worthwhile investment. Investment in other states does not mean that Akwa Ibom is being neglected. It only means that the government is fishing for more funds with which to develop the state, a state that is in transition to modernity.
•My advice to Governor Eno: carry on
