The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, has floated a social welfare programme tagged ‘ARISE initiative’ aimed at supporting the elderly people across the state.
This was disclosed in a statement on Monday by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr Ekerette Udoh.
According to the CPS, the governor launched the programme on Sunday at the All Nations Christian Ministry International, Eket, saying the initiative was in line with his administration’s plan to build a centre for the elderly “who have laboured for the state for many years and deserve to be honoured and taken care of, while alive”.
Eno, who appreciated the gesture by the President’s wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, through the Renewed Hope Initiative where N100,000 was given to 250 elders across the state last Thursday, added that the state under his administration would continue to adopt and support good initiatives such as this, and other programmes that would benefit the generality of Akwa Ibom people.
“Let me state again that even though I am a member of the PDP, I have made up my mind to work with the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, he said.
He explained that through the ARISE Initiative, N50,000 would be given to each of the 500 elders to be selected across the state by the Local Government Transition Chairmen who would carefully carry out the selection process.
The governor tasked the transition chairmen to ensure the programme was carried out with the highest level of transparency so the impact would be felt by as many people as possible.
