THE SITUATION IN THE OTHER ROOM

By Osondu Ahirika

The Other Room can either be exciting and a paradise on earth or a boring, lonely, tense and isolated one.

World Mental health day: Inside Africa's worst mental health facility.

Emmanuel Hospital is located at Eket Local Government area of Akwa Ibom State. The hospital is one of the few general hospitals in the Country with a specialized care centre for persons with mental health challenges.

Police Story!

POLICE STORY

By Osondu Ahirika

Each time I watch as surviving families of Policemen slain in active duty get cash grants to help alleviate their suffering, my heart bleeds.

Lenses360 Fiction: FINDING BAE by courage MBON

EPISODE 2

I smiled as I stepped into the reception. I read that somewhere I can’t really remember; maybe online or in one of those books that taught how to be the ideal new staff in any organization.

Daddy G. O and the "One hour women"

Many years ago, on my 25^th birthday, my dad surprised me. He remembered my birthday!

HAWKING OF HERBAL PREPARATIONS : Doctors call for ban

   

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The Nigerian Medical Association has called on the government of Akwa Ibom State to prevent the hawking of herbal preparations which the traders claim to be a cure for all diseases. Dr Aniekeme Uwah, Chairman NMA AKS and members of his executive made this advocacy at the end of its 2016 annual general meeting and scientific conference held in Uyo. 

DAKKADA: AN INVITATION TO GREATNESS!

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By Aniekeme Finbarr.

As you read these lines, you may have  come across the Dakkada signage, logo, billboard, television commercial, radio jingle, hand bill or a short video clip trending on the social media . You may also have an idea what it intends to
achieve or you may be completely lost as to why the new catch phrase in town is 'Dakkada'. Which ever part of the
divide you belong, the purpose for which the idea was conceptualized is served. The Dakkada Initiative is the brain
child of the Akwa Ibom State Government with Governor Udom Emmanuel as its progenitor. Dakkada is a clarion call
by the leader of the state, announcing the new day and awakening the citizens of the land to a new era of development and spiritual rebirth.

Dakkada, which means stand up, arise, can be likened to the morning bell, the alarm clock or the alerting sound of the
cock, when it crows in the morning. It invites every Akwa Ibom son and daughter to rise to the faith of greatness, to rise to the faith that in this state named after God Almighty, everything is possible. It is an invitation to abandon the negative tendencies of religion, tribe, gender and language in the dark shelf of history and embrace the amazing opportunities that abound everywhere.

Dakkada is a loud reminder that Akwa Ibom State is blessed with abundant natural and human resources. It reminds us that mother nature has blessed us with 7,081 square Kilometres of arable land, waters and one of the most intelligent set of people in the country. It reminds us of our moderate climate, our beautiful ecological landscape endowed with a wide variety of agricultural, petroleum,
mineral, marine, and wildlife opportunities. #Dakkada tickles our consciousness to the fact that in Akwa Ibom State, you
will find some of the most friendly and hardworking Nigerians, a state where living expenses are comparatively
affordable and where leisure and entertainment are available in an avalanche of options.

Dakkada is not just about standing up. It is about going higher, breaking new grounds, conquering more territories. It is a philosophy that pinches every Akwa Ibom man and woman to ask himself or herself, "Am I there yet?" "Have I reached the peak of my career?" "What is it that I ought to
do that I have not done to be the best?" Dakkada challenges everybody, even the government to be alive to its sacred
duties and to keep to its part of the social contract. A few people may argue that they have already been "standing" in
their fields of endeavour. Dakkada challenges you today, 'How far have you gone?' 'How much further can you go'?
Dakkada is asking you today, 'Are you a footballer, Have you scored as many goals as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Then you still have a lot of goals to score.
Dakkada is asking the business man, 'Have you made as much profit as Aliko Dangote or Bill Gates? There is still
much more money to make. Dakkada is asking the Akwa Ibom lawyer, Have many cases have you won? How much
impact have you made on the legal profession? Wouldn't you rather beat the records of Sir Udo Udoma or rise to the
pinnacle of the profession like Paul Usoro SAN? Dakkada is talking to the banker today, How much capacity have you
built? In how many years do you think you can equal the record of Chief Clement Isong as Governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, or rise to become an Executive Director of a bank like Udom Emmanuel?

Dakkada is asking that young man in the street, How long will you depend on, "Sir, anything for the boys" for a living?
You have to get up every morning and tell yourself, “I Can Do This”. You cannot just sit there waiting for things to happen to you, you have to get up and be your own hero. Dakkada is inspiring Akwa Ibom's youthful population to excel. The days of dependency on crumbs and hand outs
are over. Once the passion is right, nothing is impossible. It is a new dawn of human capital development and wealth creation. Dakkada urges, Dakkada inspires, Dakkada challenges. Dakkada is friendly. Dakkada could be annoying too, especially if you have become so comfortable
in your slumber. Dakkada talks to your conscience. It whips you to size. When you stay in bed beyond the night, dakkada sprinkles cold water on you, urges you to rise.

Dakkada inspires the good student to read, make good grades, excel, make marks in life. Dakkada encourages the public servant to embrace the Protestant work ethic andserve with integrity.
Those who criticize Dakkada are the very people this initiative was conceived for. Dakkada urges you to rise above sentiments, to rise above partisan politics. This is no time for ethnicity and tribe. Dakkada says Akwa Ibom State
is already too small to be sub-divided. The world is moving fast, we must drop these baggage and move with the rest of
the world. Dakkada stirs us like the first verse of our national anthem, Arise O compatriots.
More than anything else, Governor Udom Emmanuel has come with the creed of greatness, his Dakkada campaign,
calling on the people to arise to the faith of greatness, spiritual rebirth, moral transformation and reorientation.
The Dakkada call is a call to rise to the faith that with God, all things are possible; a call to rise to the faith that we can
rise beyond biases, ethnicity, religion and gender; a call to rise to faith of our human and intellectual resources; to
chart a new course for the present and future generations of Akwa Ibomites. Dakkada is a call on the people to rise to
greatness, because that Akwa Ibom is destined to be great. Akwa Ibom State is on a march to greatness. Akwa Ibom is
rising to the strenght of its potentialities. Akwa Ibom is offering hope and presenting opportunities for its people to
excel; our state is creating the needed conducive environment for its citizens and visitors to live and do business. This is a clarion call. Rise to greatness, my
people. Akwa Ibom #Dakkada

ANIEKEME FINBARR  is the Special Assistant to the Akwa Ibom State Governor on Public Affairs.

16 Years A Slave: The Akwa Ibom "CHANGE" Story. By Arc. Ezekiel Nya Etok

The story of AKS is one that is not well known even by the indigenes of the state.
Today AKS is one of the states of the federation to be reckoned with. It has not always been so. In the past, you could, without thinking twice, say "abadie" to any 'okada' rider or newspaper vendor in Lagos or most of the state capitals, and expect a response. You could also guess the name of a househelp in any home, to be "Okon", or "Ekaette" and chances are that you would be right.

Not so today, not so. As a matter of fact, today, if you walked into where goodies being shared are in short supply and you were identified as an AKS man, you are almost sure to be excluded because they will say, "You guys are enjoying in your state!" Our level don change!

That is not exactly my issue here.
To come to the above position, we needed to forcefully register our presence on the national scene. First was Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah, the immediate past
governor of the state, whose name OBJ dreaded to hear. For a very good part of the 8 years that he was in office as the
governor of AKS, he had a rusty relationship with OBJ who was then the President. For as many years, we gained next to nothing with respect to 'Federal Presence' in the state. Instead, Gov Attah had to play the 'nice guy' to the power
brokers. The end result was that our state became known as the 'Pay Master'.

Every note from the Presidency found its way to AKS. Every known traditional ruler, influential politician, everything and
anything that needed financing for and from the party, found the bank in AKS. Like it or not, while the resources were
'flying out', we, as a state, suddenly became very important and relevant.

Then came Gov Akpabio. While Attah and OBJ slept in different rooms (or even houses), Akpabio and GEJ were
quite cozy in the same room (I would have preferred 'on the same bed' but for the risk of being misunderstood).
Nothing's changed!! Rather, to be a good friend of MrvPresident, Gov Akpabio had to continue the kindness and generosity of his predecessor, and became the new 'Pay-Master'. While we were the toast of the nation, internally, we were dying in silence, and enslaved with our resources.
While the notes from VILLA were flying in, our young people were having their eyes soaked with soap right inside the
middle of our financial waters.

Today, all thanks to the APC victory at the centre, 'Change' has come to AKS.
Today, we are free from the stranglehold of the center. Today, the fate of the state will be decided within the state.

Gone are the days when the centre helped us to start trouble so that they can 'help' us to settle it. Gone are the days and
years when every fight between our governor and his people was a national concern. There will no longer be streams of emissaries from VILLA to our Hilltop Mansion.

Free at last, free at last, thank God, we are free at last!!! First, we paid a great price to gain national relevance. Then we paid more price to consolidate. Luckily, while
consolidating our position on the national scene, Gov Akpabio laid massive infrastructure for investments and
industrialization.

Finally, today, we have engaged a first class Investment Expert as CEO. AKS is no longer just a state, it has become a hybrid between a state and a corporation, a 'Staporation', and Udom the new "Governing Director", of the state.
It is in the light of the above that we advise the APC to humbly accept the result of the elections. As it is today,
even if the elections are to be repeated ten times with all the staff of INEC sent to the state, the result will not be any
different with respect to the direction of choice.

We have embraced this "Change" and will not change again to avoid dizziness.
We have been liberated from the "pay-master' role, and will not return to it for anything in the world. We have finally
decided to take our future in our hands, and as a federating unit of a federation, we are ready to do what Lagos has
done in the last 16 years to remain one of the most prosperous states. With Rivers, Delta, and AKS off the pay- masters' list, Kano and Lagos should now take their turns of honoring the stream of 'notes' from the Villa. The result of the just concluded elections is therefore not the
rejection of any candidate, but the embrace of THE REAL 'CHANGE'.

We were 16 Years A Slave, and now 'Change' has come, and we have embraced it with both hands. We are now free. Free to develop our land with our resources, free to keep our
resources within our territories, free to harness the potentials of our land and build our youths, free to look inwards and the centre to let us be. Let us embrace this 'Change' for the next four years and
have a basis for objective comparison.
Free at last, Free at last,
Thank God, We are free at last!!!

Arc NYA-ETOK, Ezekiel.
Nigeria.