By Omen Bassey
Hon. Orman Esin is a rare politician and a wonderful man as far as I'm concerned.
My relationship with him has been a subject of confusion and speculation among people who see politics as war. Read post as shared after the cut...
Despite the fact that we are covenant brothers by virtue of worshipping
in the same Church and submitting to the same spiritual father, Rev.
Ntia I. Ntia, I was never close to him throughout his tenure as Local
Government Chairman. In fact, I had occasions to disagree with him.
After the 2015 General Elections, a section of the Oro political class
decided to boycott the activities of Oron Union and Hon. Orman Esin was supposed to be a member of that group.
November last year, as I attended the monthly meeting of Oron Union,
Uyo Branch, I saw an unusual face. He didn't just attend the meeting, he
hosted it. Members ate and drank at his instance.
I got to know that he
attended the October meeting which I couldn't attend as I was in the
President General's entourage to the Calabar Branch.
Then came a
discussion on the Dinner Nite/Fund Launch for Oro House, Uyo. There were
strong suggestions that the event should be postponed so that available
funds could be channelled to something else.
Orman Esin disagreed
sharply and undertook to ensure that the event didn't just take place
but that it was successful. Interestingly, by this time, he was a
former Local Government Chairman and not yet a Commissioner.
That
gesture was greatly appreciated by Oro people resident in Uyo and I was
personally impressed. After the meeting, we exchanged phone numbers and
agreed to work together in the interest of Oro, our different political
inclinations notwithstanding.
We never called each other until I
received a text message by the planning committee of the Fund Launch
inviting me for a meeting in his (Hon Orman Esin's) house to concretize
plans for the event.After the meeting, he engaged me, the President of
Uyo Branch, Dr. Barr. Asuquo Anwana and Uye Michael Uyeh Akadakhaene for hours in his parlour.
I listened to him recount his experiences and share his ideas on what
he felt should be done to pull Oro together and fast track its
development. I couldn't fault his passion and patriotism. He instantly
earned both my respect and admiration.
Of course I had no idea that he
would be appointed a Commissioner. All that mattered was that he
demonstrated love for the land of his birth.
The event was
hugely successful and a substantial part of the credit went to Hon.
Orman Esin.The announcement of his appointment as Commissioner came
after the event. So, I didn't have any problem identifying with him as a
true son of Oro and Akwa Ibom State.
As Commissioner, I'm aware
of his spirited efforts towards ensuring the resumption of ferry
services in the Oro- Calabar route and the construction of a standard
jetty at Esin Uffot.I pray these efforts translate into concrete
realities for the socio-economic benefits of Oro and Akwa Ibom State.
Hon.Orman Esin is very selfless, energetic, generous, patriotic, hard
working, innovative and passionate. He is working very assiduously
towards setting up structures and reforming the operations of the State
Ministry of Transport. He is business- like in his approach to work as a
Commissioner.
Unlike some myopic politicians, he believes in
the vision, objectives and aspirations of Oron Union.He believes that we
can't destroy the Union founded by our forebears in 1925 and claim to
be serving Oro.He also believes that politics/political party
affiliations should neither breed disunity nor create enmity and hatred
among Oro people.
As he marks another birthday, I wish him many more years of robust health, divine favour, peace and prosperity in Jesus' Name.
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