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By Etim Etim

If all goes well, Gov. Umo Eno will inaugurate his new cabinet next week; and take them for a retreat in Lagos two weeks after. I have been quite curious about how the governor selected the team and I spent the better part of last week talking to those who should know. Personally, I know only a handful of the nominees; but a lot of the people I spoke with told me that the governor is very proud of the caliber, competence and capacity of the team he has put together.

‘’Each nominee is personally known to the governor and all of them were deeply involved in his election. They worked for his election in their various capacities and in their own corners; he knows them all – their capabilities, strength and weaknesses’’, said a well-placed person in government who should know. I was told that Gov. Eno picked each person himself, and did not rely on a recommendation from anybody; not even his immediate predecessor or any of our former governors. In fact, in one or two cases, some candidates who were under serious consideration for appointment were later dropped because it turned out that some stakeholders lobbied the governor on their behalf. ‘’His Excellency did not just want to be influenced or lobbied. He selected his team his own way and he wants to be held personally responsible for their successes and weaknesses.

On the spread of the new cabinet, I understand that each senatorial district has nine commissioners. The reason Eket has two nominations is because the governor was too keen on bringing Paul Bassey into the team, and so, ‘’even if Paul Bassey were from Atlantic Ocean, he would have made the team’’, according to inside sources. Paul will head the newly created Ministry of Sports Development because ‘’His Excellency considers sports as a very important sector that should be headed by a renowned professional like Paul’’. Paul would be expected to develop and grow various sports in the state; not just football, into a big industry.

In addition to Sports Development, a few new ministries such as Youth Development and Bureau of Cooperatives have been created. By removing Cooperatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and making it a standalone ministry (to be named Bureau of Cooperatives), the governor is hoping to make cooperative societies the linchpin of his rural development. There are many benefits of cooperatives such as improved purchasing power for members; access to credit; risk sharing; increased income, in addition to a wide range of social and environmental benefits.

‘’If you give a cooperative society a grant of N10 million, for example, for on lending to its members, the members will make use of the money and repay the loans much more efficiently than non cooperative members’’, said an agricultural economist, Dr. Samuel Ekong. So, in the new dispensation, rural development and cooperatives will go together, while agriculture will stand alone. Agriculture and its value chain is a big industry that would be expected to seriously promote increased food production in the state.

This is Umo Eno’s new team, carefully selected by him to help him achieve the 17 focal points of his ARISE Agenda. I wish them the best as they serve the state in the next four years.