By Prof. Charles Obot
The quotation “I’m a simple man. Grew up in a small town. Came from humble beginnings. No silver spoon.” By Robin S. Sharma aptly paints a picture of Pastor Umo Eno– the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
This quotation is expounded and expanded in detail in a book entitled ‘And it came to pass”, written by Mr Anietie Usen.
In the foreword of the book, His Excellency, Mr Udom Emmanuel declares that the Book has “revealed so poignantly what I told him one morning when he appeared to have been so affected by the barrage of negative and manufactured lies about his capacity, competence and integrity, that he appreciated the opportunity God had given, through us, to anoint him as my successor, but that he had come to ask that I kindly withdraw his name and replace him with another person.”
Dr Ubong Umoh- An Associate Professor of Military History in his ‘historic’-spoken word artistic rendition of the preface acknowledges that the Book shows how the radar of ‘destiny identified a street trader… how a church interpreter eventually earned the divine task of interpreting the vision of the State…”
Writing the prologue entitled “The Path to Destiny”, the Author of the book, Mr Anietie Usen says that the Book “Is an unusual book about an unusual man on unusual events that can be traced to only God and no one else but that same God.” The prologue straddles between an autobiographic and biographic narrative.
Almost everyone has what can be described as the “Red Letter Day”. So is Pastor Umo Eno.
In his own case, his own red letter day was Sunday January 30, 2022. On this day, “a high level stakeholders’ caucus” meeting summoned by His Excellency Udom Emmanuel held on Sunday January 30, 2022. It was at that meeting that His Excellency, Mr Emmanuel announced Pastor Umo Eno as his successor.
As expected, the endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno was seriously and viciously attacked by many members of his own political party-the PDP, as well as theopposition Parties in the State. Pastor Umo Eno not only became a beneficiary of people’s goodwill, but also a victim of transferred animosity.
The elevation of Pastor Umo Eno from an Executive Director of Agriculture Investment in the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation (AKICORP) to become Commissioner for Lands and a member of the State Executive Council marked the beginning of his journey to the Hilltop Mansion.
When Governor Udom Emmanuel delegated his powers of signing Certificates of Occupancy (C. of O.) – the traditional exclusive right of the Governor- to Pastor Umo Eno, the Commissioner for Lands, it became obvious to people with the gift of political discernment such as Prince Ukpong Akpabio where the mantle was swinging to. This was openly confirmed by His Excellency, Mr Udom Emmanuel during his meeting with his “kitchen cabinet” on December 26, 2021 in his country home.
Every Governor desires to finish strong. That is why the “Completion Agenda” of Governor Udom Emmanuel included his succession plan. To achieve this, “strategic thinking, strategic planning, and strategic execution” were required. Therefore, trusted brains or brain trust was indispensable. This is where Barrister Emmanuel Enoidem (now S.A.N.), Prince Enobong Uwah, Chief Paul Ekpo and of the “modern father” of Akwa Ibom State – Obong Victor Attah ticked all the boxes.
No matter the enormous power of his incumbency, Governor Udom Emmanuel needed the support of many people. The first public endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno to become Governor of Akwa Ibom State was the “historic seal of approval inside Governor’s Lodge on Sunday January 30, 2022.” The second took place the next day still in the Governor’s Lodge during a thank-you visit by some members of the “inner circle of the governor.” It was at this meeting that Governor Udom Emmanuel in his personal capacity and not as part of the stakeholders endorsed Pastor Umo Eno as his successor.
The third in the series of endorsement was by the Prelate Emeritus, Dr Sunday Mbang, surrounded by other elderly Priests and church founders in his personal chapel at his Shelter Afrique residence.
There were also endorsements by groups and prominent individuals across the State, including the entire Akwa Ibom State Executive Council, House of Assembly, 31 Local Government Chairmen, Chief Senas Ukpanah, among many others.
Every Governor in modern democracy must emerge through the ballot box. Elections are regulated by Electoral Law. The new Section 84 (8) of the Electoral Act 2022 had an unforeseen political consequence. The new section excluded, perhaps unintentionally, “statutory delegates” of political parties which included members of the National and State Assemblies as well as other elected and political appointees from voting during party primaries.
In reaction to the new Law, one of the governorship aspirants took the State PDP to the court and cited a court order by the Federal High Court in Abuja to maintain “Status Quo Ante Bellum” on the PDP Ward Congresses to elect ad-hoc delegates.
In his letter to the State Chairman of PDP, one of the governorship aspirants- Senator Bassey Albert, conveyed his inability to take part in the scheduled primary election.
Part of the Electoral process is the Primary election. The PDP governorship election took place on May 25, 2022 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium popularly known as the Nest of Champions.
The first victory of the day was the news that the Federal High Court in Abuja had thrown out the request by lawyers of Senator Bassey Albert to cancel the then ongoing congresses on the grounds of contempt of the court. Instead, the court adjourned the case to June 1, 2022. The court stated unequivocally that it did not issue such order. Moreover, that Senator Bassey Albert did not even request for any injunction against the Congress.
The second victory of the day was the election of Pastor Umo Eno as the PDP governorship candidate, with 993 votes. In his acceptance speech, Pastor Umo Eno pledged never to sacrifice the trust and faith the delegates had reposed in him. In that speech, Pastor Eno said that his transition from grass to grace is a story of hope and inspiration for all Akwa Ibom people, He added that: “My story is your story… If I overcame, you too can.”
On winning the PDP’s governorship ticket, the clear pointer and consensus was that the running mate would hail from the Oron axis of the State, since the last time an Oron person occupied the Hilltop mansion was between January 1992 and November 1993 in the person of His Excellency, Chief Etim Okpoyo who was running mate to His Excellency Obong Akpan Isemin.
Against Governor Udom Emmanuel’s earlier inclination, the running mate to Pastor Umo Eno was a product of prophetic vision by a respected Pastor who resided outside Akwa Ibom State. As seen in that vision, the guidance provided by the man of God eventually manifested. That is how Senator Akon Eyakenyi became the running mate.
This was confirmed at a meeting of “PDP movers and shakeholders” in Government House. Incidentally, the families of Pastor Umo Eno and Senator Akon Eyakenyi had been long-standing friends. Some years earlier, the latter was the former’s boss during Obong Victor Attah’s regime.
The choice of Senator Akon Eyakenyi as running mate was as divine as that of Pastor Umo Eno as PDP governorship candidate.
During the inauguration of the PDP governorship campaign council, Governor Udom Emmanuel said that the exercise was a serious spiritual exercise. He quoted copiously from the Holy Bible and repeatedly declared that God would give PDP victory. He said his successor would emerge by the inspiration of God, obviously alluding to the process through which Pastor Umo Eno and Senator Akon Eyakenyi emerged as governorship candidate and running mate respectively.
In his speech entitled “My Contract with Akwa Ibom people”, during the flag-off of his governorship campaign on November 8, 2022, Pastor Umo Eno unveiled his manifesto christened ARISE AGENDA. ARISE is an acronym for: Agricultural Revolution, Rural Development, Infrastructural Maintenance and Advancement, Security Management and Educational Management.
The flag off of the governorship campaign in Uyo Senatorial District could be termed “A campaign to remember”.
At that event, Pastor Umo Eno reiterated his pledge to Akwa Ibom people to pursue Agricultural Development and build on the great foundation and good works of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
During the rally, a large number of members of the opposition party decamped to the PDP.
The campaign at the Eket Stadium witnessed a perfect blend of the spiritual and the secular. It was an occasion during which the PDP governorship candidate-Pastor Umo Eno “waxed completely spiritual and practically ascended into higher realms, from where he showered a variety of spiritual blessings on the ‘congregation’ of his supporters.”
Pastor Umo Eno could be described as one of the few persons who did not come into politics with personal political enemies. In spite of that, he faced an “Avalanche of legal onslaught.” The first legal salvo unleashed on Pastor Umo Eno was by his friend and colleague in the State Executive Council, Mr Akan Okon, over allegations of documents forgery. By the last count, Pastor Umo Eno had been dragged to the courts 46 times, seven of them to the Supreme Court. Pastor Umo Eno won all the 46 court cases.
The nature of some of the suits filed against Pastor Umo Eno required the inputs of forensic experts. Subpoenaed to testify in support of Mr Akan Okon- the plaintiff the forensic experts turned out to be quacks and imposters.
From what transpired in the witness box, “it was clear to the Court that Akan Okon had fallen into the hands of a fake WAEC which supplied him with fake WAEC results of Umo Eno; that he used in prosecuting Pastor Umo Eno. He had also fallen victim to a fake NGO known as AADN, which wrote to a fake WAEC for Pastor Umo Eno’s WAEC results.”
One of the documents which was the basis of allegation of forgery by Mr Akan Okon against Pastor Ump Eno was the voter’s card. The plaintiff claimed to have access to INEC’s database through Google and did not find Umo Eno’s name there. Responding, the INEC lawyer-Emmanuel Eze Esq, told the court that the only way anyone could access the database of INEC is through hacking.
WAEC which was subpoenaed by the court to tender the WAEC certificates of Pastor Umo Eno did so in compliance with the Subpoena Duces Tecum Court order.
All the courts dismissed the cases brought before them by Mr Akan Okon against the three defendants including Pastor Umo Eno, the State PDP and INEC for want of merit with cost against the plaintiff. The 45 cases in which Pastor Umo Eno was the defendant are listed on pages 164-173 of the book.
Politics can be described as a form of soccer where there are more players than those playing in the field. This is vindicated by a situation where an aspirant who did not take part in the officially recognised PDP governorship primary got his name listed in INEC website as the Akwa Ibom State PDP governorship candidate. He went further to secure a court order to discountenance the outcome of the duly recognised and approved PDP primaries. As in other court cases, Pastor Umo Eno won.
There was another ‘hand of Esau with Jacob’s voice’ at play. A former employee of Royalty Hotels owned by Pastor Umo Eno filed a criminal case against his former boss. The case was stealthily prosecuted without court processes neither served Pastor Umo Eno directly or through substituted means.
In Nigeria’s elections, winning or losing in one’s home speaks a lot about a politician’s acceptability. On becoming the PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Umo Eno visited his village– Ikot Ekpene Udo, for a thanksgiving programme held at the village primary school. It was a case of a prophet who is honoured in his own town. Everyone expressed ecstasy over the homecoming of their son– the incoming governor.
One endorsement that meant a lot to Pastor Umo Eno was the one by Rt. Hon. Barr Onofiok Luke, a former strong contender for the office, inside the palace and presence of Ntenyin Solomon Etuk– the paramount ruler of Nsit Ubium, the Oku Ibom Ibibio and President General of Akwa Ibom Traditional Rulers’ Council.
Pastor Umo Eno, by virtue of his calling, easily connects with the less-privileged. Consequently, widows of legionnaires as well as Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD) also endorsed Pastor Umo Eno as the PDP governorship candidate. Being an offspring of a deceased police officer, Pastor Umo Eno pledged his commitment to their welfare on becoming the governor of the State.
As a human being with sensitive feeling, Pastor Umo Eno experienced despair as a result of the impact the false allegations of forgery had on him and his nuclear family members. Meanwhile, his trusted allies had independently investigated and confirmed that those allegations were not only false, but deliberately malicious.
In the governorship election held on Saturday March 18, 2023, Pastor Umo Eno won with 356, 348 ‘valid votes to emerge governor, more than the combined votes of the other 17 political parties, in spite of all the ordeals he went through.
In the build up to the election, there were prophecies about who would become Governor Udom Emmanuel’s successor. Some did not come to pass and the ones that came to pass about Pastor Umo Eno as the next governor are recorded in the Book.
The term “godfather” is a prominent term in Nigerian politics. His Excellency, Mr Udom Emmanuel eminently earns that credit. Behind the disarming simplicity of His Excellency, Udom Emmanuel lies a lion’s heart–the courage to take tough decisions and see them through or implement them. Yes, he demonstrated this in many instances, including the emergence of Pastor Umo Eno as his preferred successor and attested to by many people who worked very closely with him.
Governor Umo Eno’s first official assignment was the swearing in of Prince Enobong Uwah as the secretary to the Akwa Ibom State government. The second thing he did on his first day in office was to see off his predecessor- His Excellency, Mr Udom Emmanuel to his country home in Awa, ONNA Local Government Area.
To chart a more glorious future for Akwa Ibom State, a three-day Akwa Ibom Dialogue was convened during which experts and specialists converged at the Five Star Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort. Participants at the dialogue which cut across political partisanship and economic backgrounds brainstormed the then draft economic blueprint of Governor Umo Eno with the acronym ‘ARISE AGENDA.
As a “Governor Unusual”, Governor Umo Eno paid a condolence visit to one of the bereaved Pastors of the Salvation Army killed in a road accident in Edo State on their way back from their church conference in Lagos.
The Governor and his team also inspected the Dakada Global Oil Palm Company, formerly known as Akwa Palms located at Etebi Idung Asan in Esit Eket Local Government Area. He also visited Ibom Power Plant.
It did not take long after his election for Governor Umo Eno to win the “hearts of friends and foes.” Political friends and competitors as well as the ordinary person laud Governor Umo Eno for being “a rare breed among politicians. He sees himself as a servant leader. He has no air of superiority over whoever is around him. He relates with everyone in genuine difference.”
In the epilogue of the book written by Governor Umo Eno himself, He explained the context of the use of the phrase “And it came to pass.” In his words, “it speaks about soothing situations, relieving situations, comforting, uplifting and encouraging circumstances… it came to pass therefore means that a landmark event actually happened.”
Professor Charles Obot, Department of Film and Multimedia Studies, University of Uyo, Uyo.
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