Working With My Mother Prepared Me For Leadership – Helen Obareki 

UYO
The coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Akwa Ibom State, has attributed her successes in office to the many lessons she learnt while serving as Personal Assistant to her mother, late Pastor Patience Umo Eno. 
Lady Helen Eno Obareki, who stated this on Saturday, July 5, 2025, at the MORE Leadership Academy’s Mid Year Retreat and Graduation Ceremony, which took place at the Ibom-LED Centre, Uyo, described the loss of her mother as the most uncertain occurrence in her life, one that threw her into a position she never expected but was prepared for. 
Speaking on the theme: “Start Now: Prepare to Conquer the Uncertainties of the Future,” the First Lady designate recalled that even though her announcement as coordinator of the Office of the First Lady came as a shock, she had built the needed capacity through experience and learning over the years to function in the position.  
She further encouraged participants at the event not to view life’s uncertainties as setbacks but as an opportunity to create their desired future. 
  “Being my mother’s Personal Assistant was a learning curve for me. It was those moments that prepared me for where I am today. Everything that she taught me that I argued with and we fought about are the things I am grateful for now.
  “Dwelling on your past or where you are currently, ensures that you are going to miss what the future brings. It is important to understand that uncertainty is not your enemy. As a matter of fact, the fact that the future is uncertain gives you a blank canvas so that you will be able to paint whatever greatness it is that you desire,” she stated.   
Delivering a lecture at the event, Pastor Femi Lazarus noted that leadership is not about perception but about the person, values, choices and character; also, that understanding the true essence of leadership is the starting point for any meaningful transformation.
Lazarus stated that it is a collective responsibility to raise, equip and release leaders who will function with wisdom and purpose, the kind that will transform and serve as blessing to the nation.
He charged the graduating students to go beyond being leaders by certificate, to being grounded in character, integrity and intentionally rooted in values and responsibility.
While conducting the induction of graduands into the Academy, the chancellor, Barr. Morgan Ekanem, charged them to go out and make a difference and never to fail their generation. 
Ekanem encouraged them to become successful, not only in material things, but be carriers of solutions and stand as positive examples in their families and communities.