By Anietie Ukpe
Governor Udom Emmanuel has walked through fire and water...and he is still soaring higher. Riding the tide of public love and goodwill, he survived a political conspiracy of Ruritanian dimensions to become the governor of Akwa Ibom State. He has weathered the cyclone of propaganda unleashed on him and his administration by an increasingly desperate opposition. An opposition frustrated by their inability to impede his momentum. When he engaged Akwa Ibom people during the campaigns in the build-up to his election, his in-depth knowledge of the communities of Akwa Ibom State regaled those who listened to him. Like the men of Issachar in the Bible, he had an understanding of the times and he knew what Akwa Ibom ought to do; and he has proven this by finding strategic solutions to the politico-economic and socio-cultural challenges of the Akwa Ibom Community.
Keeping his head when most in his shoes have lost theirs and blamed it on the national economy, Akwa Ibom State has been advancing while the nation is in recession. How Emmanuel manages to keep the state in this orbit of progress and development is testament to his awesome skillset as an accomplished investment banker, and should be the subject of a global economic workshop. Leaving Zenith Bank as an executive director to serve Akwa Ibom State as the Secretary to the State Government and thereafter as elected governor, he is already pointing the way forward for Akwa Ibom people through life-enhancing programmes, projects and policies. His laudable achievements today, after only two years, give Akwa Ibom people hope for tomorrow; indeed they give me faith to dream. And like the dream of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. woke up America, this dream shall wake Akwa Ibom up to the fullness of her potentials. 101
