Yesterday, at close of work, I decided to drive by the much-talked-about pencil and toothpick factory at Ekom Iman, Etinan, Akwa Ibom State on a fact-finding mission and for the procurement of a carton of pencils for an outreach. I was in the company of a few colleagues.
The Administrative/Utility Manager who identified herself as Nsisong Umoh gave us a warm welcome. I introduced my team and our mission.
She assigned the Line Manager by name Christopher to take us through the process.
Generally, the staffers were very professional and welcoming.
We started from the raw materials section and took time through the process down to the final stage. I even took part in wrapping the pencils and fixing the cleaners(I should get paid for that too😂), it was an awesome experience. I must say that we were awed by what is happening within Akwa Ibom State.
In the end, I placed my order.
As much as I could have just bought any kind of pencils from the market for the planned outreach, I chosed to patronize our own to boost our IGR.
I was made to know that they had a pending order of about 600 cartons of pencils to deliver in a matter of days.
Until today, I had refused to join the conversation about this establishment because as a researcher/broadcaster, I needed to arm myself with facts order than speculations.
This establishment may not be able to employ upto a million people at the start, but with what I saw on ground, the future is bright for our state. This is a step in the right direction.
On the controversial 'Made in China' wrap, the Line Manager explained that this particular pencil is in the 'fancy' category and there was nowhere to buy the wraps in Nigeria and the whole of West Africa hence the choice of China. However, other pencils are inscribed 'AKEES Pencil...'
To me, no matter the criticisms about the 'Made in China' wraps, until someone in Akwa Ibom State sees a business opportunity in this, it's meaningless. When there's someone producing such wraps within Akwa Ibom State without being patronized by the government, we can at that point start bashing.
My recommendations:
- Manpower should be increased to meet the growing demand for the products.
- Management should deploy global best safety standards to avoid casualties at work.
- Create a vibrant social media presence and feedback mechanism
On the whole, this li'l light of ours will only shine as much as we let it. This is a commendable step by the Udom's administration. Engr. Ufot Ebong and his team are doing an amazing job. #BuyMadeInAkwaIbom
Udeme Okono
Counselling Psychologist/Broadcaster
