Nigeria's Akwa Ibom State is building an International Conference Centre in 
Uyo the State capital, whose Main Hall will be named after ECOWAS as a tribute 
to the Organisation for promoting integration, peace and stability in the 
region.

State Governor Godswill Akpabio on Thursday 14th March 2013, told a visiting 
delegation of ECOWAS Commission including its President, His Excellency, Kadré 
Désiré Ouédraogo, Vice-President Dr. Toga McIntosh, Commissioners as well as 
Ambassadors of ECOWAS Member States, that the Hall would be equipped, among 
others, with facilities for simultaneous translation into 52 languages 
including those spoken in the country and the continent.

He described integration as an important vehicle for developing the region and 
realising its full economic potentials by deploying its vast human and 
material resource endowments, adding that Akwa Ibom would leverage the 
benefits for its own development. 

The Governor also briefed the delegation, which was in the State for a three-
day Retreat about plans by the Government to also avail itself of the ECOWAS 
platform to establish partnerships for the development of the State, citing a 
recent agreement with a Ghanaian computer company to set up in the State to 
boost job creation and transfer of knowledge.

In addition, the State is also building a Deep Sea Port to improve intra-
regional trade.

The Governor said the State was undergoing "uncommon transformation," and 
urged the visitors to become its “ambassadors” having witnessed some of its 
strides, particularly in infrastructure development.

Earlier, President Ouédraogo, who was visiting the State for the first time 
along with some other members of the delegation, briefed the governor on the 
purpose of the retreat and described as "exceptional" the achievements of the 
government.

"For us, the retreat is an opportunity to review our programmes as well as 
discuss and harmonise views on how to implement our priority programmes in 
line with the directives of Heads of State and Government," the President said 
during the meeting with the Governor, which was attended by the Speaker of the 
ECOWAS Parliament, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and the President of the Community 
Court of Justice, Mrs Nana Awa Daboya.

The 7th annual Retreat of the ECOWAS Commission, Community Institutions, 
Permanent and Special Representatives and Heads of National units, the first 
under the Commission’s present management, provides an opportunity to 
strengthen relations between the Commission and Member States in the 
coordination and implementation of regional programmes at the national level.