Akwa Ibom News Online Commentary

The poor have no influence on policies that affect them. Empowering the poor must therefore be a key factor for alleviating poverty.

Government should re-orient rural development strategies by transferring targeted resources for those who remain in poverty to complement the focus on growth and access. The government should target the delivery of some services and resources for an example to reach poor areas and communities living in poverty especially in the rural population. Within these areas, communities or villages that have no electricity, road network among others should be preferred for targeting. The government should re-orient her rural development strategies towards giving pre-eminence to rural electrification schemes and road constructions by increasing the funding, implementation and supervision of such projects.

Rural electrification scheme is the process of planning, directing, organizing, executing by transmission and distribution of electrical power through systems of primary and secondary distribution networks to rural areas for private and commercial consumption, and constants.

Government should have a comprehensive list of all communities or villages with and without electricity. Emergency should be declared on this area.

The effort of Akwa Ibom State government on Rural Electrification project is highly commendable. The same strategy should be adopted on road construction and other poverty alleviation strategies.

Each Local Government Council should be directed to forward to the state government their electrification and roads construction planned projects for two years. This should cover mostly villages or communities without electricity and good roads. Government should then know which villages, he should direct attention to. This will guide the state government to know which villages or communities he should direct MPP, NDDC. and the federal ministry of mine and power and other agencies to deal with.

I hope with these steps, within the first two years of adopting this rural electrification and road development strategy, much impact will be felt and the Rural Area Economy (RAE) will improve and the rural drivellers will be empowered economically. Electricity and good roads is powerful magnet for rural economic growth and poverty reduction strategy. Firmly committed to reducing rural poverty and rural development delivery in the rural areas of Akwa Ibom State, the Akwa Ibom State Government and its partners has done much but should work to improve rural livelihoods through this Community Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (CEEDS).

Ekerete John Ekerete

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