Governor Attah hoists one of many "good governance" awards he has received.

When Governor Victor Attah assumed office in 1999, Akwa Ibom was the seventh poorest of Nigeria’s 36 states, a destination only for those looking for cheap domestic help. There was no reliable electricity supply, no potable water, almost no telephones, and a road system that was virtually impassible.

Governor Attah has since turned what looked like a land without hope into an ambitious model-state that many federal programs are based on.

GOOD GOVERNANCE: Africans have traditionally held low expectations for their politicians. Governor Attah is a new kind of leader, believing that prosperity is a product of people working together. Setting an example of incorruptibility, he is showing the world that Nigerian leaders don’t have to be corrupt to govern. One by-product is that foreign investment is pumping up the state, and Akwa Ibomites can see their money being spent on their future. Political unrest has been minimized. Tellingly, none of the oil-related kidnappings or sabotage have taken place in his state.

RESOURCE CONTROL: Shortly after his election, Governor Attah brought about a showdown with the federal government over oil revenues. Fighting all the way to the Nigerian Supreme Court and

An African masterstroke: Ibom Plaza.

National Assembly, Governor Attah secured 13% of oil revenues for his state. With the first well-stocked treasury in Akwa Ibom’s history, he set out to build a new land.
ROADS: Roads are the lifelines of commerce and development. No matter what a region makes, if it can’t get to market, it sits and rots.
"Road infrastructure presented a major challenge," says Governor Attah.
Erosion had created gullies that were "impassable even in the dry season." Akwa Ibom had a total of 8,996 km of road network. Only 12 percent were tarred and passable all year round.
With a goal to create 750 km of motorable roads by 2007, Governor Attah dedicated 48 billion Naira (about U.S. $372 million) for Akwa Ibom’s road system.
His work on Akwa Ibom’s road system led to one of the most successful projects; the Ibom Plaza traffic roundabout, the crown jewel of Uyo.

The independent power plant project is the key to the state’s development.

POWER PLANT: Anyone thinking to utilize the African national power grids should be prepared for the usual brown-outs and failures. In Nigeria, the national system is only 25-50 percent functional.
For investors and manufacturers, brownouts and outages are not an option. Even local agriculture needed an extension of the electrical grid. There would be no admittance into the 21st century without real power.
So Governor Attah and his commissioners took the decision to build an independent power plant.
It has been a painstaking, tedious process, filled with setbacks that the governor proved himself equal to. What another leader would have done against the inevitable setbacks in big-bucks projects is hard to imagine. When the Chinese and American investor groups suddenly backed out, the state government stepped in and raised the necessary funds. In August 2004, tenders were invited from 18 reputable companies for the first phase construction. Less than 6 months later the bids were filled.
The initial output of 70 megawatts is due to come onstream in December 2006. One of the chief players is General Electric. Final output will be approximately 685 megawatts, of which Akwa Ibom will use under 100. The rest will be for sale. Basically, the project pays for itself, powers the state, attracts lucrative business ventures, and turns its own profit besides.

Ground was broken in March for the Uyo branch of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

FINANCE: In keeping with his ideas of keeping Akwa Ibom friendly for the world financial giants, Governor Attah has broken ground for the Akwa Ibom branch of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, a move designed to anchor the new Uyo "financial district." The area is expected to be home for several area banks, and thus put Uyo on the financial map. Local access to financial trading is also a motivation; In 2004, the state economy received an ‘A’ rating by Global Credit Rating Company, a sovereign rating company.

AIRPORT: The airport is a key step in Governor Attah’s ambitious development plan for the state,

Developer’s plan for the airport and maintenance center under construction.

and is seen of fundamental importance to developing key sectors of the economy, such as tourism.
He has created the climate for the $300 million international cargo airport and an aircraft maintenance facility, the first in West Africa. It is expected to serve the large aircraft maintenance needs — long a problem in Africa — of as many as 33 African airlines, as well as meet the region’s growing air cargo demands. The facility will be capable of all levels of aircraft maintenance, including literally rebuilding an aircraft from the frame up.

HOTELS: A major expansion both for Starwood group hoteliers and Akwa Ibom State, a five star golf resort is being erected along a sleepy river in the African forest. Featuring 120 rooms, a spa, gaming

Akwa Ibom’s new 5-star hotel and championship golf course, scheduled for completion in February 2007.

and local folklore and helicopter pads. Targeting Nigerians — "very keen golfers," says Hassan Ahdab, vice president of Starwood’s Operation, Africa and Indian Ocean Division — and oil expats, a project like this would have been unthinkable under previous administrations.
Providing the proper backdrop to those who bring in big investments, the hotel could not exist without the power plant and the roads and all of the other infrastructure improvements, as well as the safety and good will of the populace. It will bring the rich and provide work for the poor.
All of these enabling factors can be attributed to the Attah administration.

HEALTH: Between 1999 and 2004, Government spent N5.8 billion (USD $45.3 million) on the renovation of 55 hospitals, polyclinics and health centers in the 31 local government areas. The government has spent another N2.57 ($20.1 million) to build three new general hospitals in Abak, Ini and Okobo. It also has implemented ambitious polio and typhoid immunization programs, and an HIV/AIDS program.

State agriculture ministry officials work with farmers to increase production.

RURAL RENEWAL: Asked to describe his greatest personal challenge, Governor Victor Attah replied, "How to balance things. The two things you have to balance are investment in and for the future, and providing food now."
In 2000, approximately 40 percent of those living in less developed countries were in urban areas. The percentage of urban Africans said to be living in very poor conditions is huge, over 78%. At the same time, their land is rich, bursting with palm products, cassava, pineapple, plantina, banana, rubber and cocoa.
One of the governor’s priorities is the reversal of urban migration, and he has come up with a number of programs to entice young people to forgo the flash for a career with a history. With the roads improvements, there is actual access for farmers to markets. He has devised agricultural schemes, often based on microcredit, to make farming a viable occupation.
This is one of the reasons that Professor Charles Soludo, governor of Nigeria’s central bank, said that "Akwa Ibom is one of the states the others should learn from."

State agriculture ministry officials work with farmers to increase production. The mobile computer lab (top) and the classrooms (below) are parts of the Victor Attah Digital Opportunities Center in the Science Park.

SCIENCE PARK: Governor Attah wants to lead his state into the globalized high tech 21st century with the right tools.
The purpose of the science park is to guide the state’s economy through the transition to a science and technology based economy by 2010. A primary aim of the science park is to attract foreign investment in information technology and communications industries.
The center contains a number of classrooms with current technology computers to teach computer skills and extend computer knowledge into the economy.
Later, the science park will house research and development centers for activities related to the petroleum industry. Agriculture, biotechnology, health, and pharmaceutical projects offer other opportunities for the future.
The park’s most notable achievement so far is the securing of an agreement with two Chinese companies to build a cellular telephone assembly plant on science park grounds.

EDUCATION: Brain building has to start early. There’s no point to a science park if the freshmen can’t read. Governor Attah’s investment in all facets of education, from equipping school libraries to replacing school furniture has been already justified by improved student performance. The number of students passing university entrance exams with at least five credits at one sitting has gone from one percent in 1999 to about 30 percent in 2003.

WATER: The state government has committed a total of N15.5 billion ($121 million) to expand the provision of potable water throughout the state, going from 10,000 cubic meters (1999) to 200,000 cubic meters a day currently. The plan covers some 300,000 households, and will be expanded in the future to cover all of the state. In rural areas, a water scheme has grown throughout the 31 local government areas with about N1 billion ($8 million) invested so far.