The Secretary to the State Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, has stated that plans are underway for the Akwa Ibom State owned and operated Airline, IbomAir to commence international flights.

He emphasized that this development owes to the high demands by Cameroonians to fly directly into Nigeria rather than flying to Lome(Togo) before connecting a flight to Abuja or Lagos.

Briefing newsmen at the end of the last State Executive Council Meeting for 2019, the SSG said that based on the high demand, the IbomAir will soon begin scheduled flights on Cameroon-Nigeria route.

He revealed that Cameroon to Uyo, Abuja or Lagos was within the approved routes of Ibom Air, adding that the airline will connect Douala with Abuja, Lagos or Uyo in its flight operations.

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“As you can see, the International Terminal Building of our airport is coming up very soon; we are going to have our international terminal ready for international flights before year 2020 runs out,” he added.

He said the executive council meeting also reviewed the year 2019 in retrospect, and according to Dr Ekuwem, among the deliberations, was minimizing truancy in the civil service to enhance productivity.

He disclosed that the State Civil Service is to be fully automated using Information And Communication Technology (ICT) for optimal performance and enhancement of productivity of the workforce.

“There will be an increase in the number of road construction, next year, we will have a smart Akwa Ibom State, an intelligent state and this means computerization and ICT based automation of operations within the state civil service.

“Today, we took a decision that human resources (HR) and asset management, productivity of staff, performance, assessment, recruitment, employment, growth, retirement, pension and gratuity within the state civil service will be one click away. You know what that means, we will save time”, he explained.

The SSG noted that Governor Udom Emmanuel has remained undeterred and focused in the socio-economic development of the state which he said was evident in the massive road infrastructure, inauguration of industries, investment in the power sector which would provide electricity to all by 2021, investment in aviation sector especially, the IbomAir, flag-off of the reconstruction of Ibom Blue Sea Science Park, 21 Storey Intelligent Building, and many other projects.