Facts over Fiction: Exposing the empty Rants against Governor Umo Eno 

Facts over Fiction: Exposing the empty Rants against Governor Umo Eno 

By AmanamHillary Umo-Udofia

In recent days, social media has become a playground for a troubling wave of misguided activism driven more by sensationalism than substance. Leading this decline is one Local Man News, an online content creator whose latest outbursts against Governor Umo Bassey Eno’s administration expose not only a reckless disregard for truth but also a deep-rooted obsession with political mischief.

From branding the Governor with incendiary remarks to outright dismissing verifiable social programmes as fiction, Local Man News has again proven that the loudest voices are often the least informed.

Let’s stick to the facts. The claim that the ₦2.1billion conditional cash transfer of ₦75,000, covering three months to 28,000 beneficiaries drawn from the National Social Register across the 31 local government areas of the state “never happened” is not just false but a patent lie.

The initiative is a Federal Government Social Investment Programme under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), implemented in all 36 states, including Akwa Ibom. Beneficiaries were drawn from the verified National Social Register, not party lists or WhatsApp groups. Disbursements were made through digital channels that are fully traceable, auditable, and accountable.

To deny the existence of this programme, even as other states implement the same initiative under the same framework, is to expose oneself as either willfully ignorant or deliberately dishonest.

Even more laughable if not outright pathetic is the claim that the recruitment of 3,000 civil servants is a scheme to harvest Voters Identification Numbers (VINs) against the 2027 general elections. For clarity, VIN is one of several identity-verification tools used in the portal. It complements the National Identification Number (NIN) to validate applicants’ identities and ensure they are genuine residents of the state.

In a government pushing for stronger digital governance and civic responsibility, requiring VIN is not just reasonable, it is a smart and transparent policy to track data vital in formulating development processes. To reduce such a thoughtful measure to a conspiracy theory is, frankly, peak ignorance.

In perhaps his most offensive and dishonest claim, Local Man News says Governor Umo Eno has “not empowered Akwa Ibom people.” One wonders if he lives in the same Akwa Ibom where over 1,200 youths have been trained and equipped with startup capital through Ibom-LED or that his delusion blinded him from the payment of ₦50,000 to 60,000 youths

Or the same state where the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC) has trained its first batch of 151 youths in technical and vocational skills, with a second batch already underway. Should we ignore the 2,000 MSMEs empowered through the ARISE Equipment and Support Grant, or the 77 brand-new minibuses and 31 cars distributed to enhance economic inclusion?

What about the construction of over 205 ARISE Compassionate Homes and vulnerable households reached through the government’s free food distribution programme and Arise Initiative for the Elderly or the payment of over ₦76 billion to settle inherited gratuities and arrears owed retired primary school teachers?

These are not gimmicks. They are policies with real outcomes, real beneficiaries, real stories, real change. If Local Man News cannot see them, it’s only because he’s too busy manufacturing alternative realities from the comfort of his smartphone.

His recycled accusation that “₦38 billion has been received monthly with nothing to show” only further betrays his inability to differentiate between loud politics and quiet, people-centered progress. What he stubbornly refuses to acknowledge but the people of Akwa Ibom see daily is that Governor Umo Eno has chosen impact over optics.

Model Primary Schools and Model Primary Health Centres are being constructed across the state with Model Secondary Schools under the pipeline. Rural roads are opening up access to far-flung communities with adequate attention also paid to road infrastructure in the urban areas. Elderly citizens are being taken care of and most importantly – human capital is being prioritized like never before.

Not every achievement needs to take the form of a towering monument. Sometimes, the most meaningful progress is the kind that lifts people silently. That is what Governor Eno’s administration is doing – building quietly, consistently, and sustainably.

It is also troubling that a section of Akwa Ibomites seems perpetually invested in projecting only the negative – real or imagined, while ignoring the obvious developmental strides made not just under this administration, but across successive governments. These perpetual ill-informed critics are loud on social media, yet silent when confronted with verifiable data.

From education and healthcare to infrastructure and social empowerment, Akwa Ibom has evolved significantly. To pretend otherwise is not only dishonest but deeply unfair to the many citizens, technocrats, and visionaries who have contributed to this ongoing transformation.

When compared with other sub-national governments, Akwa Ibom stands tall as a model of consistency, peace, and people-oriented governance. Its extensive road network, sustained investment in education and healthcare, safety reputation, and well-managed social programmes are not coincidences, they are the product of intentional, structured leadership.

It’s time we, as Akwa Ibom people, learn to tell the full story – not just the parts that serve our biases. Let’s celebrate our progress, challenge our imperfections with maturity, and resist the lazy culture of outrage that thrives on ignorance.

Truth is sacred. Influence is responsibility. If Local Man News truly wants to evolve from a peddler of confusion into a credible voice, he must first learn the basics: verifiable research, accurate reporting, and a working knowledge of public policy.

Until then, he remains what he currently is a clout-chasing alarmist, firing blanks from the sidelines while real leaders do the hard work of governance. He would do well to focus on creating useful, well-researched, and grammatically coherent content, rather than stringing together clumsy sentences to spin lies and pollute the public space.

AmanamHillary Umo-Udofia, PhD, is a Special Assistant on Media to the Akwa Ibom State.