Free food in A’Ibom: Superficial, misplaced priority

Assam Abia

On Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Governor Umo Eno is to flag off the Third Phase of his ARISE Food Security Programme for the so-called “Vulnerable Households” in Akwa Ibom State.

The initiative, which is run through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and the Akwa Ibom State Bulk Purchase Agency, has already completed two phases.

According to government sources, the programme has reached over 477,797 households, covering a population of more than three million people, at a staggering cost of over ₦35 billion.

To term this as superficial and misplaced priority is an understatement. Such a colossal sum could be better invested as counterpart funding in critical industrial projects, such as a steel rolling mill, under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Chinese investors, who had come for negotiations in 2023, abandoned the talks because the state government showed little interest. That was a missed opportunity to secure a long-term industrial base for jobs, growth, and self-sufficiency.

In times of peace, governance should be about creating opportunities, not distributing handouts. Sadly, Akwa Ibom State has reduced itself to the role of a charity organisation, dishing out free food items as though we were in the middle of a war or famine. What may appear as generosity is, in truth, a dangerous distraction from the real business of governance.

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵. By turning citizens into passive receivers of handouts, the government is eroding the industrious spirit of the Akwa Ibom people. Rather than empowering them to work, farm, and create wealth, this policy teaches them to wait for the next round of giveaways. It is a shortcut to laziness, dependency, and a weakened citizenry.

A rice farmer from Ibiono Ibom, Obong Nathaniel Akpan, describes the government’s approach to food sufficiency as “mere lip service” without real policy execution. He called on the state to declare a state of emergency in agriculture.

“If the billions spent on free food were disbursed through cooperative societies for rice cultivation, with strict monitoring, Akwa Ibom could become the food basket of the region within two years,” he said.

Worse still, most of the bulk food purchased for distribution is sourced outside Akwa Ibom State, creating jobs and wealth for farmers in other states while our own remain neglected.

“Akwa Ibom is not at war. The billions wasted on purchasing, storing, and distributing food could have gone into industries, agriculture, or jobs. Instead of strengthening the state’s economy, the government is squandering resources on items that vanish in a day but leave poverty intact. This is not governance; it is populism at its worst,” lamented Mr Bernard Thompson, President of the Eket Federal Constituency Youth Vanguard.

Let us be frank, free food in peacetime is less about compassion and more about politics. It is a cheap publicity stunt designed to score quick applause while real development is sidelined. Worse still, such programmes are breeding grounds for corruption, through inflated contracts, diversion of supplies, and favouritism in distribution. In the end, the political class benefits more than the supposed “vulnerable households.”

There is no pride in queuing for handouts in times of peace. Akwa Ibom indigenes are hardworking and self-reliant; they do not deserve to be reduced to beggars in their land. True leadership should empower citizens to feed themselves with dignity, not train them to stretch out empty bowls for political grandstanding.

What Akwa Ibom needs is not free food but free minds, liberated through education, job creation, industrial growth, and agricultural investment.

𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Governance is not about sharing food; it is about building a future where no citizen needs government rice to survive. Governor Umo Eno should put the screeching brake on free food distribution in Akwa Ibom State.

Free food for the so-called ‘vulnerable households’ signals the government’s lack of ideas, thoughts, and policies on how to move the state forward.