By Odo Ogenyi, Uyo
A renowned Cleric of African Church and advocate of good governance Rev. Richard Peters has eulogised the outgoing Governor of Akwa Ibom, Mr Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom for his eight years of visionary and result oriented leadership.
According to him in an address termed, “thank you is not enough” the Cleric said, “Thank you is in order, because the last 8 years have not been business as usual. Leadership was truly defined and professionally served. Gov. Emmanuel brought an end to laziness and wasteful spending. An average Akwa Ibom youth through the Dakkada initiative became self-reliant.
“They were not seen hanging around politicians to get peanut when they have what it takes to own a peanut factory. Money was not thrown on highways to show how generous the governor was, rather, he invested in people through various human capacity development initiatives.
“Today, these people are entrepreneurs with others working in their establishments. Thank you is in order.” He said.
The Cleric also recalled that most of the projects embarked upon by Emmanuel were greeted with criticism by some naysayers stressing that it could naturally discourage a leader, especially as they were not constructive regretting that the projects were criticized with petitions and deliberate efforts to thwart their implementation through legal and some unconventional channels.
However the good governance Advocate expressed happiness that governor Emmanuel being a leader who understands governance and people, overlooked all the distractions and forged ahead to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
“Today, those projects once criticised are standing as lasting testimonial to effective representation and good governance”. He intoned.
He further highlighted that Leaders like the Governor deserve appreciation from people within, irrespective of political affiliations and interest pointing out that his efforts have been greatly recognized within and outside Nigeria and had attracted so many awards of recognition to the state.
Reeling out the milestones of the outgoing Governor amidst two major global recessions which greeted his administration and shattered the global oil bench mark in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic that grounded many world economies, the Cleric cited Ibom Air which has become a reference point in Nigeria’s aviation sector with a fleet of seven aircrafts, including five Bombardier 900 Series and two Airbuses.
He also thanked the governor for the numerous Ring roads opened by his administration to enhance free flow of vehicles in the state especially the new 10 lane road and further expansion of the Airport road.
“One need not to bother mentioning the wonders of Udom Emmanuel in the health sector, education, agriculture, sport, women/youth empowerment, rural development, infrastructural development and the level of investment in the Ibom Deep Seaport Project, among others. It will take a day or two to mention all the achievements of this administration in the last 8 years, and thank you is not enough”.
Peters explained that the Governor’s outstanding performance propelled the landslide victory of Pastor Umo Eno in the last governorship election in the state.
“The rejection of other parties was a “thank you gift” by Akwa Ibom people to the PDP government and the state governor. This incidentally made pastor Umo Eno a gift of gratitude from Akwa Ibom people to the governor. His labour of love and sacrifice was not in vain, as the people stood by the governor to deliver PDP in the presidential/national assembly elections, as well as the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.
He has remained the most prudent governor in Nigeria in terms of management of resources, financial transparency and people-friendly leadership whose footprints will linger in the sand of time.
The Cleric said he is elated that Gov. Udom Emmanuel has fought a good fight, finished his course stressing that a crown of gratitude awaits him on May 29, 2023, when he will draw the curtain on his administration.
