Udom Emmanuel
By Imoh Etimudo
Charles de Gaulle once wrote: “Nothing great is done without great men. And the great men were great because they willed it.” This is a universal motto for leadership of distinction. Take General Murtala Ramat Muhammed for instance, he chose the path of greatness through leadership, and stenciled his name eternally in the hearts of Nigerians
When Murtala Muhammed came charging furiously into the political firmament of Nigeria astride a Trojan horse, Nigerians were naturally skeptical. In a matter of weeks, Muhammed convinced Nigerians that a good and purposeful leader could make a difference. And Muhammed changed the attitude of Nigerians to everything, from perception of the nation to their duty to the country.
By the time the assassin’s bullet felled Muhammed six months later on a Friday morning, he had won the hearts and heads of all Nigerians, and even if Dimka’s voice had come early in the morning without the blessing of a Bacchus, Nigerians were not ready for him. A good leader simply needs the platform and a short time to exhibit the shinning qualities that drip in his blood from head to toe.
Put another way, everyone is a distance runner. Next stop? The gates of heaven. There, the rich and the poor will meet their maker, each to render his own account of what he made of his life. A perfunctory sorting of the list and the sheep, saved and free, saunter through the pearly gates. The gates clang in the face of the losers. This clearly captures the reality of a typical political process which ends in elections, churning out winners and losers. Those who win bear the torch of the salvation of the society.
There is only one way to salvation, be it in religion or in politics. That is the way of the truth. Other ways –muddy and murky as they are – exist just to thicken the cloud of confusion. They are neither the way nor the truth. The highway to “heaven” itself cannot be overcrowded. It is not a Lagos street of traffic jams. Akwa Ibom Governorship is not a Lagos road.
How then will we know the truth? By their fruits, bitter to the tongue and biting to the system, we have known them. By their yesterday, we can see and tell their tomorrow. Leopards do not change their spots. It is the time to open the book of books and reward sons of men according to their works, in public or private life, in government and outside government.
That is why, of all the speculations of interests in Akwa Ibom’s Governorship race, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel stands out. With his vast professional connections and high-rising achievements, Udom, unarguably, is a political masterstroke. To buttress this point of view, this essay shall wield facts the way a skilled surgeon handles the scalpel. Before then, let us take a short break.
Akwa Ibom State owes Governor Godswill Akpabio a mountain of gratitude. Akpabio has used visionary leadership to book a ticket in the history books of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large. It is an uphill task to attempt enumerating the ubiquitous achievements of Akpabio. It is visible that the governor has given his people a song of victory. Victory over poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and infrastructural decay. The song of victory comes with that rolling, mellifluous sound. So pleasing to the ear, and so agreeable with the mind. A long peel of sweet sound that tings gently at the hear-strings of Akwa Ibom.
In the words of Richard Nixon, former President of the United States, in his seminal book, Leaders,fortune favours the brave, and history is made by a confluence of circumstances and leadership. The leader must be alive to give substance and meaning to opportunities. Akpabio lived up to this bidding in his era as the governor of Akwa Ibom State. Very importantly, he has laid a solid foundation for the industrialization of Akwa Ibom State. But if after all this Akpabio has achieved, we still recycle the old brigade and plant a governor who should go into permanent retirement from politics, then it will tantamount to putting the State in reverse gear, and we will fly backward.
Let Akwa Ibom be weary of those with the propensity of exploiting their position to amass wealth for themselves at the detriment of the masses. That way, we will be scorching the snake, and not killing it. Akwa Ibom is nobody’s political fiefdom.
Welcome back to Udom Emmanuel. With his rich background in the finance sector, he will ensure that the on-going vision of a new Akwa Ibom State is not forced back into the Golgotha of broken dreams. Udom will ensure that our State functions with the efficiency of a 17-karat Swiss wristwatch. Great ideas will crystallize into self-reliance, astonishing civilization and fear and respect of Akwa Ibom by outsiders. Udom’s magic will be industrialization. He will use industrialization to hoist Akwa Ibom on the totem pole of the wealthy. Akwa Ibom, in Udom Emmanuel, thy Kingdom of full industrialization is at hand!
This can only be achieved by master of innovative management and a renowned apostle of excellence like Udom. He is a man who sees excellence not just as an objective but as an article of faith, a way of life. His record in the banking industry brightens with a glowing testimony to a man gifted in fighting against the odds. Is it such a universal talent that Akwa Ibom should sacrifice on the altar of men with egregious antics of duplicitous hucksters squandering billions of naira just to become governor? This will take our State to the causality ward because they will always tinker with our financial health (God forbid). Then, let bad politics remain in it crutches.
Udom’s amiable personality, discipline and strength of character, disarming smile and solid intellectual base make him a political asset of the century. More so, as a stickler for excellence and thoroughness, Akwa Ibom is guaranteed of an astronomic economic growth. This, he will achieve through industrialization.
Industrialization is modern man’s god. Udom Emmanuel will be the Chief Priest of this god of progress and development. Industrialization moves mountains, performing the miraculous feat of transforming little, backward nations into instant economic power. A Japan with claws and tentacles; a South Korea waving little flags of arrival and the conquest of gratuitous relegation. That is the story of the Asian Tigers including Taiwan and Hong Kong. That will be the sweet story of Akwa Ibom State under Udom’s watch.
This will sustain the uncommon transformation because any development that is not sustained is as good as never existing. Akpabio has laid a solid foundation for industrialization of the State. First, by the provision of infrastructure as no industry can stand where basic infrastructures are on wheel chair. Second, and very importantly, Akpabio has commenced work at the Ibom Industrial City with special interest in the Deep Seaport. Udom’s mandate will be to ensure that the steam and flame of Akwa Ibom’s industrialization torch does not dim but remains aglow. Udom shall make sense, industrialization sense.
Of course, industries will generate employment, effect the transfer of technology and expand the frontiers of our economic development, and thus cut our State’s path to greater greatness.
Industrialization, every society desires it – this great, ultimate solution to every society’s myriads of economic and developmental problems. It makes sense that it be worshipped as an intermediary between man and that invisible but benevolent father given to dispensing rewards in ways that confuse and deepen the mystery of his being. There is always a logical progression in the affairs of man. Industrialization fits the bill; Udom Emmanuel has the pin code.
In the end, Akwa Ibom will pick the fruits of the industrialization – enhanced living standards, more money, greater personal and general comfort and our ability, and even right, to dominate others. A potent way to seek the companionship of this benevolent Frankenstein economic leap is to pray Udom to the saddle from 2015.
As a former captain of money industry, he has a big, healthy opinion in predicting modern economic behaviour, and timely pour oil on troubled economic waters. Such expectation and hope are too delicate to put in the unpredictable hands of sing-along politicians. They are singing along because we are in an open market-place of contending political ideas. In the end, the most rational and convincing will carry the day, a justification of the introductory allusion to judgment day and salvation. Till then, Edmond Burke’s reflection on the French Revolution is our guide. He said, “He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.”
Therefore, in the heat of Satanic political games and deafening sound of empty promises, Udom Emmanuel’s age-long, time-tested virtues of visionary leadership and imaginative husbandry of human and natural resources shall remain the secret of his triumph. His success shall be the success of Akwa Ibom State, whose toga shall be hoisted on the totem pole of wealth and greatness through industrialization. A great man on the saddle! A political masterstroke!
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