Akwa Ibom Lawmaker Onofiok Luke has said human capacity development should be the focus of the next government in Akwa Ibom State given the industries and infrastructure that have been put in place.

The member representing Etinan /Nsit Ibom/ Nsit Ubium Federal Constituency was speaking at the Epiphany Summit 2021 organised by Akwa Ibom Youth Congress.

He said that efforts must be made to prepare the youths of the state to meet the human resource needs of the industries on the ground and the proposed Ibom Deep Seaport.

“The next phase of the development of the state is human capacity development,” Luke said in Uyo on Wednesday. “How do we build the capacities of our young people to play big in the industries that have been put in place?”

“Go and make research about Ibom Deep Seaport and ask for the manpower that is going to be required for Ibom Deep Seaport”, Luke added.

The lawmaker warned about the consequences of not planning for the growing youth population.

He said, “we are talking about human capacity strategy so that development of Akwa Ibom State can benefit the majority of Akwa Ibom people otherwise there is a looming danger”.

“This population of the young men of Akwa Ibom State if we don’t engage them it will be a big problem to us tomorrow.”

He commended the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel for his effort in improving secondary healthcare with the renovation of several hospitals across the State. He said a healthy society is necessary for development.

“The next face of healthcare delivery in the state is the capacity development of our youths to deliver services for a functional primary health system,” Luke added. “And this we can do by upgrading our schools of health technology to colleges and equip them.”

The summit drew youths from different segments of society and had several guest speakers.