By | Daniel Etokidem
It is a story of one of the many disruptive reforms initiated by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno.
It’s a story of financial prudence over profligacy, time management over wastage and delay, quality assurance and delivery over poor project execution, proper monitoring over inefficiency, efficiency over laxity, getting value for money over inflated quotations, standardized evaluation over assumptions and working with empirical data and facts over opinion, biases or prejudice.
On October 9, 2024, the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, SSG, Prince Enobong Uwah, in a press release announced the appointment of Mr. Aniefiok Udo Johnson as Executive Assistant/Chief Delivery Advisor (EA/CDA) to the Governor.
The appointment and the nomenclature of the office was exclusively unique yet strange in the political lexicon of the state because before now, no one heard or such an office or title- .Executive Assistant/Chief Delivery Advisor (EA/CDA) to the Governor?
In the press statement signed by the SSG, Prince Enobong Uwah said the appointment was;
“To ensure the smooth and seamless execution of the policies and vision as encapsulated in the Governance Blueprint, The Arise Agenda, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has approved the appointment of Mr. Aniefiok Udo Johnson as his Executive Assistant/Chief Delivery Advisor (EA/CDA).”
“The newly appointed Executive Assistant/Chief Delivery Officer, will among other responsibilities as may be delegated by the Governor, primarily supervise the workflow processes of the Office of the Governor to ensure proper alignment with the goals and targets of the Administration.”
“He is also tasked with the responsibility of managing the Governor’s schedule by prioritizing issues and engagements to achieve optimal and most efficient utilization of the Governor’s time and attention.”
“He is expected to carry out key leadership functions in policy development and coordination, strategy, priority and goal-setting and ensure effective deliverables.”
“He is expected to set up Delivery Units to track the implementation of the goals of the Administration.”
“The Executive Assistant is expected to assist the Governor in building and deepening extensive networks and mobilize international partners, especially multi-lateral donor agencies in support of the programmes, goals and targets of the Administration.”
“Mr. Johnson, holds a Masters of Arts Degree in International Relations, Dublin City University, Ireland and has decades of experience working in national and international development settings. He takes up the appointment from a senior United Nations role as Chief of Staff (Director), Office of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, United Nations complex, Nairobi, Kenya.”
“His appointment takes immediate effect.”, the statement read.
Similarly, on the 3rd of March 2025, the SSG also announced the appointment of Six (6) more Delivery Advisors to the Governor, a move many perhaps never saw the vision behind the policy conceptualization.
They included; Dr Itanwan James: Senior Citizens Center, Prof Augustine Umoh: Health, Hon Orman Esin: Transportation, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet: Education, Sir Charles Udoh: Tourism and Dr Ini Adiakpan: Delivery Advisor/State Coordinator, Nigeria for Women Project.
Throwing more light on it the Commissioner for Information, Hon Elder Aniekan Unanah while shedding further light on the Government’s intentions through a press release clarified that;
• Delivery Advisors are seasoned professionals with deep institutional knowledge of the projects they assigned.
• Delivery Advisors (DAs) will provide tangential oversight on specific projects because they understand every aspect of each project, from initial conceptualization through to full implementation to ensure that the Governor’s numerous initiatives across the State are successfully executed.
• Their role is designed to complement the work of the commissioners, ensuring there is no conflict of interest.
• Governor Umo Eno is fully committed to leveraging this expertise to see projects through to a successful conclusion, reaffirming his dedication to delivering tangible results for the State and its citizens.
What then is the governance philosophy behind Governor Umo Eno’s Delivery Unit and what are its impact on governance towards realizing the cardinal objectives of the ARISE Agenda?
Role of Delivery Unit/Advisors in Project Delivery
To Gov. Umo Eno, serving Akwa Ibom people is a task that must be done without excuses which is why he conceptualized the Delivery Unit, a sort of Special Purpose Vehicle, established in October 2024, led by the CDA.
This implementation task force is separate from the day-to-day bureaucracy of the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service which provides further checks and balances on anything and everything that concerns contract award, project monitoring, and evaluation.
With a robust step by step delivery and monitoring mechanism, the Delivery Unit, further split into senatorial district units, ensures;
- No project is abandoned because funds for all projects are available, affordable and accessible even before flag off of each individual project thus eliminating or eradicating possible man made impediments;
- Institutionalized Delivery Routines as each Project Delivery Advisors (PDA’s) are assigned specific projects and the task of daily monitoring and preparing of progress reports lies upon their shoulders and these PDA’s are experts who are proficient and knowledgeable in their specialized field.
And to show leadership, Governor Umo Eno meets two days monthly in meetings of the Delivery Advisory Committee meetings where all ongoing projects are reviewed between the Government, Contractors, Host Communities and relevant stakeholders in a bipartisan ambience where partisanship or ethnicity is relegated and the oneness of Akwa Ibom elevated.
Most importantly, the establishment of the Delivery Unit by Governor Umo Eno ensures no project is flagged off without the necessary design, in house vetting that ensures the cost of contract award is in line with market reality thus eliminating inflated cost and wastages which helps the government save more money to initiate more life saving, strategic and people oriented projects in line with the mission and vision of the Governor’s ARISE Agenda.
To further ensure the timely completion of projects executed by his administration, the Governor on Friday, January 10, 2025, inaugurated a 14-man Project Delivery and Monitoring Team for the three Senatorial Districts. The Uyo Senatorual District team is headed by Engr. Charles Okorie, SSA on Technical Matters, Eket Senatorial District has Engr. Ime Akpan while Engr. Aniefiok Usoro heads that of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, with a mandate to provide an update on every project done by any Ministry, in the Senatorial District that they are allocated and be reporting directly to the Executive Assistant to the Governor and Chief Delivery Advisor.
This assignment, he added, does not replace the usual monitoring role played by ministries and agencies responsible for each project.
According to the Governor, the essence of the Projects Monitoring and Delivery Team is to ensure timely completion of projects in line with his promise to provide good governance and deliver dividends of democracy to Akwa Ibom people.
The Governor who further issued utility vehicles to each team to aid their activities, urged the team which included professionals like engineers, quantity surveyors to ensure their report is accurate and contractors follow the specifications.
This therefore is one of the “Trade Secret” of Governor Umo Eno and why his administration has been able to cut cost and save more money to undertake numerous projects simultaneously without borrowing, a rare feat worthy of emulation by other states.
