We’re enslaved by Akwa Ibom Airport MD, Uwem Ekanem -Graduate employees weep

Things are no longer at ease at the Akwa Ibom State Government-owned Victor Attah International Airport as workers cry foul over poor welfare and dehumanization.

Diaspora Digital Media gathered that Uwem Ekanem, Managing Director, Ibom Airport Development Company Limited, has operated a despotic style administration at the helms of affairs at the airport.

In a gross violation of the 70,000 Naira minimum wage implementation by the Akwa Ibom State Government, Ekanem has stuck to paying 30,000 Naira salary to janitorial staff most of whom are janitorial and contract staffers in other departments.

“Ekanem has subjected us to untold suffering, reducing some of us to beggars at the airport, we depend on handouts from benevolent passengers and visitors to survive,” a depressed janitorial staff leaked.

Another said: “Despite our qualifications and good conduct, Uwem Ekanem keeps dismissing our pleas to be ratified as permanent employees at the airport. He has no milk of human sympathy, dishes out queries for minor issues and even insults at will.”

To keep them at bay, preventing from using plenty years in service to bargain for permanency of their jobs, Ekanem allegedly forces the aggrieved employees to submit fresh application letters per year. Once submitted, he replaces one’s previous application letter with the latest, in order to present the person as a fresh employee.

Our sources said the embattled MD is also fond of accusing Governor Umo Eno and immediate past Governor Udom Emmanuel of refusing to increase the subvention sent by the Akwa Ibom State Government to the airport.

Another staff, however, exonerated the MD from the allegations, instead putting the blame on the state government.

“The state government is favouring the staff of Ibom Air, and neglecting us as the airport staff. The shuttle bus in a very dilapidated state, same bus has been in use since 2011. We sometimes use personal funds to pay our way to and from work. The MD is not the problem,” the staff said.

When contacted by this newspaper, Ekanem rebuffed commenting on the issue.

Calls and messages sent to his phone lines went unreplied.

Meanwhile, Young Progressives Party (YPP), Akwa Ibom State chapter, has expressed “serious displeasure are deeply disturbed and outraged by the shameful and dehumanizing treatment of staff under the management of Ibom Air, specifically the Ibom Airport Development Company Limited.”

The party’s Acting Publicity Secretary in the state, Akan Asuquo, said “the N30,000 salary is not just an insult but a scandal.”

“That a reputable state-owned company under the leadership of Uwem Ekanem, Managing Director of IADCL, would subject hardworking Akwa Ibomites to such humiliation is both wicked and unacceptable. It is a tragic betrayal of the very people whose sweat and sacrifice keep the engines of that organization running.

“We condemn in totality the insensitivity of this administration to the plight of workers. We pass a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE in the current leadership of Ibom Air and call for the immediate sack of the MD, Uwem Ekanem. His continued stay in office represents a clear opposition to the “Arise Agenda” of the governor, and he must not be allowed to remain a clog in the wheel of progress.

“Furthermore, we express serious bitterness and disappointment at the sluggishness of Governor Umo Eno in addressing the welfare of civil servants and state employees. Leadership is not about church pulpit sermons; it is about responsive governance and people-centered policies.

“It is high time the Governor moved beyond words and implemented proactive measures to protect the dignity, rights, and wellbeing of every worker in Akwa Ibom State,” YPP said.

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