By Imoh Etimudo
There are enough lessons on leadership to learn from him. Everyday, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State is taking Nigerians through different topics in the study of good governance. His lessons sink because they come in practical situations. The most recent is the Governor’s ability and ingenuity to avert the nationwide protest from holding in Akwa Ibom State.
Hence, Governor Eno has not failed in the mathematics of good governance, and the mathematics of good governance has not failed him. He is multiplying the grains and subtracting hunger and hardship. Or how else can one explain the timely multiplication of the rice given by the federal government so that it can go round the people of the State? Hence, plus or minus, addition or subtraction, Governor Eno is doing well, with a report card in flying colours.
Why did the EndBadGovernance Protest across Nigeria not hold in Akwa Ibom State? Proponents of the protest decided to call for it because they believe things are not the way they are demanding for good governance. Then there is now way such protest should be held in Akwa Ibom State; one cannot be possibly looking for what the already has, even if not in the magnitude expected. But the convincing effort of Governor Umo Eno is much appreciated by Akwa Ibom people hence the decision to shun the nationwide protest. Akwa Ibom’s story is different, courtesy of a compassionate leader. Governor Umo Eno’s compassionate disposition stopped the protest because Akwa Ibom is making progress.
Granted that the State may not have reached the Eldorado yet, the passion deployed by Governor Eno to improve the living conditions of the people is enough to reject any protest because the people have seen his dedication, sincerity and and commitment which earns him deservingly, the sobriequet, Mr Compassion!
His virtue of compassion once again, found a timely expression recently. The protesters are looking for good governance. One way of showing good governance is to provide food for the people, among other things.
In Akwa Ibom State, Governor Eno is not just feeding the populace, he is implementing reliable policies in agriculture for sustainable food sufficiency. That sums up the thrust of his mandate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
But while they are yet to return from the farm, Governor Umo Eno ensured that food, particularly rice, was distributed to Akwa Ibom people in all the local government areas. From the shining city of Uyo to the creeks of Ibeno, the fields of Ini and the hills of Itu, like manna, rice rained on Akwa Ibom.
Beneficiaries at Nsit Atai and Ibesikpo Asutan were full of commendation for the governor for the transparency in the distribution of the food items, and thanked him for multiplying the 24,000 bags of rice sent by the federal government to make it 48,000 bags, where every gazetted village in Akwa Ibom State is entitled to at least, 20 bags of rice, targeted primarily at the vulnerable members of the society.
At Ibesikpo Asutan, the distribution process was smoothly performed with all the 79 villages getting their share, and thanking Governor Eno for the sustained show of compassion to the people.
Uruan Local Government Area equally benefited from the gesture of the governor as 54 villages received 1,080 bags of palliative rice. The transition committee chairman of the local government, Surveyor Iniobong Ekpenyong hailed the governor for being a caring father.
It was a carnival of sorts at IBB Avenue venue for the distribution of the rice in Uyo Local Government Area with women and youth leaders evidently elated.
Transition Committee Chairman, Dr Uwemedimo Udo said Governor Eno understands the language and plight of the people. The 76 villages of Uyo got their share.
Similarly, in Ika Local Government Area, a total of 1340 bags of rice and 134 bags of garri were distributed to the 67 villages of Ika. Chairman of the Transition Committee for Ika, Barrister Utibe Nwoko noted that the sharing had no consideration for political affiliation because Governor Umo Eno has proven that he is a governor for all.
At the massive Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, a total of 5,000 bags of rice and 500 bags of garri were distributed across the 250 villages of Ibiono Ibom, divided along the five zones of Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern and Central Ibiono Ibom to ensure fairness and orderliness.
Even the food basket local government area, Ini, was not an exemption in Governor Eno’s sharing of palliative food. The 98 gazetted villages of Ini Local Government Area benefited from the distribution, where the transition committee chairman, Comrade Inibehe Umah, royal fathers and youth leaders hinted of their withdrawal from the then planned protest because Governor Eno got it right in compassion which is a major pillar of good governance.
Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency received a total of 4,940 bags of rice and 494 bags of garri from Governor Umo Eno to cushion the effects of the harsh economy.
The palliatives were further distributed across the 87 gazetted villages in Ukanafun and the 160 gazetted villages in Oruk Anam local government area.
For Nsit Ubium, Governor Eno sent a total of 1,280 bags of rice and 128 bags of garri which were shared among the 64 villages of Nsit Ubium, where each village received 20 bags of 25kg rice and 2 bags of 25kg garri.
The story was not different in Essien Udom Local Government Area where 2,700 bags of rice and 270 bags of garri were received from Governor Eno and shared to the 135 villages in Essien Udim.
The 76 villages of Etim Ekpo and 98 villages of Abak Local Government Areas took delivery of 20 bags of rice and 2 bags of garri each as sent by Governor Eno.
Similarly, Etinan Local Government Area and Okobo Local Government Area took delivery of 2600 bags of rice and 260 bags of garri from the governor which is a duplication of the what the Federal Government sent to the State.
The 22 villages of Udung Uko also got their own share of the palliatives and distanced themselves from the planned protest.
The list is endless. Governor Umo Eno extended the gesture to the security agencies in the State, as a way to encourage them and boost their morale in the discharge of their duties
Akwa Ibom State is lucky to have a governor who is practical about good governance, and has shown clearly that dividends of democracy exists beyond the pages of newspapers and dictionary. The facts are on ground in Akwa Ibom State.
How then did the distribution of food helped in stopping the protest in Akwa Ibom State? Governor Umo Eno is not a fire brigade leader. He has consciously planned and is clinically executing policies that will enthrone sustainable good governance in the State. The compassionate part of the governor is not just a spontaneous activity.
Akwa Ibom people have seen his intentions and objectives in leadership. It was not just because the governor shown nicety merely to stop protest. He has shown that good governance is a process, and he had since commenced the process upon assumption of duty a little over a year ago. Protest is not part of the process, protest cannot stop the process.
His inclination to the betterment of the people is enough to convince and persuade the people that such a leader does not need protest to perform.
There were no protests before Governor Eno built model primary schools, there were no protests before the governor built primary healthcare centres, there were no protests before he paid pensions and gratuities to retirees or was there any protest before he paid workers in the State the 13th month salary.
Did the vulnerable members of the society protest before Governor Umo Eno built and littered the State with the Compassionate Homes? Or the free food distribution programme for the poor? These questions, too, ran through the minds of the people, and because the answers are reassuring, they agreed to shun the protest in Akwa Ibom.
Governor Umo Eno understands the language of the masses. He has pitched his tent on their side so far. He knows the language of leadership and good governance, and he is speaking to the understanding of the people. It is the language of dedication and compassion, it is the language prosperity and sustainable development for the good of the masses.
This language was complemented with the the Governor’s Mathematics of Compassionate where he multiplied the rice from the federal government by two so that it will be enough for his people to feed themselves while making them to be conscious that palliatives are like manna, they do not come every other day.
He used the appropriate formula for the mathematics, followed the correct steps and got the right answer. He is not just a governor, he is a solution to Nigeria’s problems. Can others replicate the Umo Eno’s formula?
Governor Umo Eno’s beautiful language and compassionate mathematics ended made protest irrelevant in Akwa Ibom State.
