A/Ibom Gov in closed-door meeting with Buhari

As the Federal Gov­ernment inten­sifies efforts to­wards ending the Niger Delta militancy, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State yesterday held closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari during which secu­rity in the region featured prominently.
Emerging from the meeting at the State House, Abuja, the governor de­clined to give details of the discussion but harped on the need for Nigerians to join hands for the progress and unity of the country.
Explaining his mission to the seat of power, Em­manuel said “I think it is part of my responsibility to let the president know from time to time how things are being done and how we are faring.
“We discussed some is­sues bordering on security and unfortunately, every­thing discussed under se­curity is covered.”

Asked if a solution to the restiveness in the Ni­ger Delta, of which Akwa Ibom is part, has been fi­nalised, he replied: “I don’t know whether you want me to redefine that word restiveness but permit me to also say, you are still pushing me to discuss se­curity which we don’t dis­cuss on camera.
“Spare me that today but rather than calling it restiveness, I will say ev­erything we discussed is about the well-being of Nigerians - how can we make their situation bet­ter. I think that is the way I look at it.
“Whether you look at it from security, infrastruc­ture, any angle, that is the ultimate. At times, I move from what do I set to achieve to how do I want to do it? I think that is the way I look at it.
“What have I set to achieve, at the end of the day, it is the interest of ev­erybody that we are work­ing for.”
Responding to ques­tion on whether he made any specific request to the president, Emmanuel said the talks centred more on feedback.
“Not really a request but feedback. At times feed­back could even be more effective than request be­cause feedback is neces­sary for further actions and the rest of things you want to do.
“But I also want to use this platform as well to say that we are all running one project, which is Project Nigeria. If we are running Project Nigeria, all hands must be on deck to move the country to the level we all expect and dream of.
“I think that that is the essence of the whole thing. I keep letting everybody know that at this point, it is a time everybody must join hands together to work for the whole coun­try,” he stressed.