Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has announced Ime Uwah’s appointment as the sole administrator of the revived paint company, now called Ibom Paints.

The governor said that with his declaration of a State of Emergency on the factory, there will no longer be a board for the paint factory to allow for its sustained, smooth operations.

While inaugurating the factory at Ikot Ekan, Etinan, on Wednesday, Mr Eno said, “I have declared a state of emergency on Ibom Paints with the appointment of a sole administrator, Mr Ime Uwah.

“There will be no more board and board members, but a sole administrator.

“He will run this factory because in the last three months he has produced results, and I have looked at the account with records of profits, and so we will have to continue in that trajectory.

“This is Akwa Ibom’s funds, so we can’t dig a hole and throw it into. In addition to that, this is a legacy and we must sustain it.”

Mr Eno assured that his administration will continue to partner with the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation (AKICORP) to ensure the success of the paint factory and other businesses under their supervision.

He announced a new pickup truck for the paint industry and ordered all government contractors to patronise Ibom Paints.

The governor commended the MD of AKICORP, ImoAbasi Jacob, for fulfilling his promise of revamping the facility and urged all to support its growth.

Mr Jacob gave an overview of the paint factory and explained that the Akwa Ibom State Government had bought the Peacock Paints factory over and renamed it Ibom Paints.

He recounted how Governor Eno mandated AKICORP to restore the factory and that, after concerted efforts, a monumental waste was recovered and transformed into a thriving business outfit.

“We are here to celebrate resilience and a man who saw beyond the troubles of what we see today. Our work was mainly refurbishing, recovering and restoration.

“We went through the entire production line and salvaged it. We brought the bypass and new production lines. We had to put in new lines that comply with modern-day manufacturing technology, retool, and invest in new raw materials,” Mr Jacob said.

“We have a pile of raw materials that can take us six to eight months production without any disruption. We had to introduce quality assurance.

“We are glad to mention that this factory is certified by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria. We are undergoing NESREA certification, which will be done in no time. We have also involved rebranding.

“We designed a new brand, a new logo and maintained the state colour because we want to send a signal to the rest of the world that the Ibom brand is a brand to meet.

“We have also put in place a robust digital system that will allow us to run this factory without legacy problems of the past. We have put in place enterprise resource planning to allow us to monitor the accounts produced online in real time.

“We have also put in place a robust security management system that allows us to view the movements of goods in the factory

“We have discovered that there is a huge production line that can allow us in the next phase to do industrial paint work, to produce marine paint for coating in the oil and gas industry and even car paints,” he added.

Mr Jacob commended Mr Uwah, who is also the governor’s senior special assistant on entrepreneurial development, for his services, and the stakeholders in Etinan for their cooperation.

Earlier in their remarks, the Chairperson of Etinan Local Government Area, Uko Umo, the political leader of Etinan, Kenneth Okon, and the House of Representatives member for the Etinan Federal Constituency, Paul Ekpo, and the House of Assembly member representing Etinan, Ekpo Ufot, praised the governor for his purposeful leadership.

They thanked the governor for the various government projects in the area and for appointing people from the area to political offices.