HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Udom Emmanuel the Great Governor
Mr Udom Emmanuel is a great governor and perhaps next to Obong Victor Attah since 1999. This is my subjective judgement and my reasons are germane.
Greatness can not be accorded in a vacuum. It must be earned, and such footprints of greatness left on the sands of time as enduring legacy applauded. The lives of great men are always purpose driven and not given to vain glory. The Scottish Statesman and essayist Thomas Carlyle nailed it aptly when he said, No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men. Sir Carlyle’s timeless ink was meant for people like Udom who touched down on the leadership scene three centuries after and became a positive dimension in Akwa Ibom history.
Governor Udom took over the staff of office in Akwa Ibom during a near gestapo era of insecurity. He exited the State from the ignoble era of fear and began to build a legacy of peace and hope currently enjoyed in the land. Despite the biting impact of the Buharinomics since 2015, the governor went further to set and enforce an agenda that is gradually moving Akwa Ibom from a core civil service consumer state to emerging production economy. I admire Udom mostly for his coherent history, intense focus, resilience and clear vision of greatness for Akwa Ibom of tomorrow.
On this auspicious day of his birth, I say happy birthday to him and more grace to his gentle elbow.
By Ufok Ibekwe
