Akwa Ibom Indigenes Kick As Gov Umo Allocates N1.3bn To Construct Fence for Unity Park
AKWA Ibom State Indigenes have raised the alarm over allocation of a whooping sum of N1.3 billion in 2025 budget for the construction of a perimeter fence for its 20,000-capacity Unity Park in Uyo, the state capital
This is contained in the state government’s 2025 budget and listed as the 26th item on Page 261 of the budget is ‘Perimeter fencing of Unity Park’.
In the 2023 revised budget, this project got a N40 million allocation, but a year later, the allocation shot up by over 3,000%.
It was found out that, by contrast, this budget, listed under the state’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, has a provision ‘For Construction of a 20,000 seating capacity Amphitheatre, VIP Lounge and three units of General Toilets’ at N1.85 billion.
This would mean that while these two projects would cost a combined sum of N3.15 billion to construct, almost half of that sum would go into fencing it alone.
The move has drawn criticism from several social media users.
On Saturday, Inibehe Effiong, a lawyer, took to his X page to criticise the state government’s decision, sharing pictures of the fence alongside his words of dissent.
"This is the so-called fence at Unity Park in Uyo that Governor Umo Eno, who claims to be a “pastor”, budgeted N1.3 Billion for its construction .
"The fact that politicians in Akwa Ibom are able to walk around the streets freely without fear says a lot about the docility and complacency of our people."
Also reaching, an Indigene Iniobong Akpan, based in Uyo, said: "It is outrageous. Every year they will put that Unity Park in the budget and this year alone they have allocated over N1bn just for fencing. This is just criminality and a waste of public funds."
