•Akwa Ibom State governor, Pastor Umo Eno
On Friday, January 10, 2025, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State put together what is perhaps another Nigeria’s First. It was a Valedictory dinner to celebrate outgoing commissioners of the State Executive Council a few hours after he dissolved the cabinet.
The occasion was an emotional roller coaster for all, including the traditional rulers, political bigwigs, the clergy, and the families of the outgoing commissioners.
Many felt tears rolling down their cheeks, and many fought hard to hold back their glistening without success. The occasion, put together in the ornate State House Banquet Hall, set a gold standard on how to disengage and demobilise good political appointees.
Before the creme de la creme of the state, Governor Eno made public service look worth the effort, unlike what usually seemed to end as a thankless job. Traditional dancers, religious singers, musicians, and other entertainers were all in place to add colour and say job-well-done to the departing Exco members, in a programme that was aired LIVE on major national television stations.
The high point was Governor Eno’s tribute to the departing commissioners. His words were a soothing balm for the outgoing commissioners.
“Earlier today, we held a Valedictory Exco meeting, where, in an atmosphere of conviviality and love, I thanked all the members of the Exco for their service to the state, and assured them that, though the end of their current service to our state may have come to an end, it may however signal the beginning of other layers of service they may still be expected to undertake in the service of the state and our people”, Governor Eno said.
His speech on this night of decency and statesmanship reminded many of the dictum that, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice”.
The power of thoughtful communication laced with empathy and compassion is perhaps one of the greatest strengths of Governor Eno.
The gift of public speaking that Governor Eno commands is a very important quality in leadership.
Have you watched the movie titled “The King’s Speech”? It is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. In the movie, King George VI had a stammering problem that he tried to overcome. In the heat of World War II, which threatened to consume his country, he needed to sensitise, inspire, and mobilise his countrymen and the army.
To build hope, instil courage, and elicit fortitude, a speech therapist, Lionel Logue, weighed in and helped King George VI. He ended up making the most remarkable speech that roused his country to steely resolve as he successfully led the nation through World War II.
This movie reminds me of Governor Eno. Anietie Usen, the ace journalist and senior aide to the governor, in his book titled, AND IT CAME TO PASS, (the story of how God turned a local pastor overnight into a governor), had written about the then candidate Umo Eno’s last campaign speech on January 27, 2023. He spoke in front of a packed audience of the Nigerian Labour Congress in the Labour House, Uyo. “Nobody was left with a dry eye in that hall. He reminded me of Martin Luther King, Jnr. It was passionate, persuasive, powerful, and soul-stirring. Nobody could sit down at a point. Standing behind him, I said to myself, maybe this gift has to do with his pastoral influence”, Usen said.
Usen was also in the Exco Chambers of Akwa Ibom State with the governor when he dissolved the cabinet on Friday, January 10, 2025. He wrote the same day, January 10, 2025, about the DIGNIFIED EXIT and leadership skills Governor Eno displayed in the long awaited dissolution of the cabinet he inherited from his predecessor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel. Listen to what Governor Eno said in the Valedictory Exco Session: “If it were on the basis of non-performance, I will tell you the truth, none of these commissioners would go. They all have done well, and that’s why the ARISE Agenda has succeeded”.
That graphic report by Usen went viral and shared multiple times by various publications and social media bloggers.
Usen said the governor managed the dissolution of the cabinet so skilfully to the point that it was a member of the outgoing cabinet that moved the motion for the cabinet to be dissolved and the motion was supported by another outgoing commissioner. Udeme Nnana, a journalism scholar and founder of Uyo Book Club, described that report on DIGNIFIED EXIT as “the stuff of a Reporters’ Reporter”.
It all boils down to the total surprise that Pastor Umo Eno has turned out to be as a governor. He is politically savvy, even in his track record in leadership recruitment.
Three of the former commissioners spoke at the Valedictory dinner. They were Monday Ebong Uko, the former Dean of Commissioners, Ini Ememobong, the erudite former Commissioner for Information and Ini Adiàkpan, the irrepressible Commissioner for Women Affairs. They all spoke in glowing terms about Governor Eno.
Said Ememobong: Your Excellency, you have brought honour to us in a way that has moved us all to tears”.
