Investing In Atlanta: Is Akwa Ibom Misfiring?

The news early in the week that Akwa Ibom State government is investing a huge sum of money in a property in Atlanta, USA, created a considerable distress among the citizens. For an administration that has no good record in economic investment, this was easily dismissed as another conduit pipe for money laundering. The details of the investment plan were sketchy and the amount of money to be invested was not disclosed, giving room for speculations. Many like me were worried that as the Udom Emmanuel administration was winding down, some government officials could be up to something shady. However, the only aspect of the story that was a bit clear was that the investment would be made in collaboration with a group known as Akwa Ibom State Association of Nigeria (USA), Atlanta Chapter, Inc, (AKISAN Atlanta), one of the 30 member chapters of AKISAN USA, the umbrella association of Akwa Ibom state’s indigenes resident in the United States. Widely known by its acronym, AKISAN USA, the group is a non-profit organisation aimed at, among others, promoting, encouraging and fostering unity among the citizens of Akwa Ibom State both in the USA and in Nigeria. All the governors of the state from 1999 had always attended AKISAN USA’s yearly convention during the summer months.

I quickly put a call through to the National President of AKISAN USA, Mr Itoro Akpan-Iquot, a software engineer and longstanding resident of Atlanta, whom I had known for many years. He told me that AKISAN Atlanta is planning to build a one-storey multipurpose facility, comprising a 1,000-capacity ballroom; residential quarters and a room for after-school activities for the neighborhood children. The building will also contain a restaurant that will serve Akwa Ibom food; a museum for Akwa Ibom crafts and artefacts and the governor’s quarters with a conference room for use by the visiting state governor. The total cost of the project is $10 million, of which the state government has agreed to take up a 23% equity, while AKISAN Atlanta will fund the remaining 77% ($7.7 million) from member donations; bank loans; private investors, including members of the Akwa Ibom community at large.

The government had, in August last year, signed an MOU with AKISAN Atlanta, indicating its seriousness in investing in the project. “Rentals in Atlanta are very high. Average rental for the kind of ballroom we are building is between $20,000 and $30,000 per event, excluding food, drinks and decoration. We project that our facility can make $200,000 a month’’, Akpan-Iquot enthuses, and it is enough reason for the government to put $2.3 million in it. He noted that the one-storey building is scalable, meaning that more floors would be added in future, and that guarantees more income for the association and the government. “I expect Akwa Ibom State government to have a return of at least $30,000 monthly on its equity,’’ he said.

AKISAN Atlanta acquired the property as far back as 2007, remodeled the building that was there into a small entertainment center. But now, the association wants to tear it down and raise something more luxurious. It would be known as Akwa Ibom House, and would provide an office accommodation to Ibom Air when it starts flying direct from Uyo to Atlanta, according to the President.

I listened attentively as the President made his pitch, mixing fluent English with native Ibibio. His father was a journalism professor at the Polytechnic Calabar (now Cross River University of Technology) in the 1980s, while he, the son, attended the University of Calabar for his first degree in Agricultural Economics. He is well spoken, courteous and mild mannered. I told him that although he sounds convincing, it should be clear that the administration in the state does not have a good record in property investment. “The 21-storey building they built and completed in Uyo has remained unoccupied for over two years now. It was not a well-thought-out investment. A few other projects it brought have floundered,’’ I interjected.

There have also been some phantom projects that have not come into fruition despite the huge sums of money spent on them. They include the toothpick factory; the dairy farm for which the government reportedly planned to import 200 pregnant cows from Mexico; fertilizer blending plant, among others. Will Atlanta be a success story?

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Gov. Udom Emmanuel has less than two weeks in office, and the government has a few important projects like the airport terminal building to complete. There is also the Ibaka Deepsea Port that the government has to get off the ground and it’s of enormous importance to the people. “I am not sure that the government has provided for the $2.3 million in this year’s budget. I guess that the final business decision on the Atlanta project will fall on the shoulders of the next governor, and I hope that this will not be a misadventure or misfire,’’ I told him. Akpan-Iquot is a diehard enthusiast of AKISAN and its ideals. He is the first US-born AKISAN USA National President and the first National President to be reelected for a second term in the association’s 36-year history.