By Osondu Ahirika
Approaching his second anniversary as Governor of Akwa Ibom State, I imagine that, many are still fixated with discerning, what manner of a man His Excellency, Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel is.
There is a litany of guesswork going on as people labour to decipher how he runs the state and his philosophy to state craft.
Enmeshed in these inquiries myself, I have come to terms and herenow share my findings on the measure of the man he is.
'Measure of a Man', by the way, is the title of an autobiographical book that has sold over one million copies by Dr. Gene Getz, an authour of over sixty books, and pastor emeritus at Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas. It is that title that I borrow, as a subtitle, to relay my arguments on the subject of this essay.
I read a letter or two by some folks on social media, addressed to Governor Emmanuel, where it was canvassed that, he has not doled out monies to party chieftains.
Those we love to call, 'political nkakads'. A local lingo for, those who live on political patronage and claim Politicking as a 'professional career', with no other known business address.
The sentiment these writers try to pass is that, Governor Emmanuel is- Tight-fisted. Reluctant to spend. Hesistant in giving. frugal and wary in dealing with money matters.
For his office, that passes for a virtue, and more so, in this era of recession. It could have been a disaster to have a governor who spends money like a drunk in a beer palour at such a time as this.
I have suffered to learn that Governor Udom Emmanuel does exercise circumspection on money matters and that is where his acknowledged skill of financial acumen – as an investment banker lies.
When he hosted the Press family in a media chat on September 22, 2015 Governor Emmanuel made a profound remark. In his words, “Money is a coward and it doesn’t go to where it does not feel secure.
You can’t find money where you can’t find security or assurances of Safety". Simply put, Governor Emmanuel is trained to be uncanny, or even intuitive in his dealings when it concerns money.
That surely says a lot, coming from a man who is a seasoned banker and investment manager. He sees money strictly from the purview of profit and loss.
Folks, Governor Emmanuel is not miserly. Indeed, he is liberal with money, but only when it is wisely applied, and justifiably expended.
To have him throw money at your proposal, the value chain accruable to that investment must not be in doubt. That quality also rules his professional trait, which influence, cannot be severed from his current office.
To earn the confidence of his generosity, there must be no appeal to easy money, which we call, 'awoof', in street parlance.
When commentators presume that, the so-called 'core-politicians', are being relegated by Governor Udom Emmanuel, this misconception also emanates from an incorrect reading of his style and philosophy.
Let us fix this false assertion and why it emerged in the first place.
Truth is, Governor Emmanuel has shocked many by the total absence of a desperation or sense of urgency in chasing a second term agenda. It is unusual and even strange that, as we speak, he isn't groveling before power clusters, panting for endorsements.
Pundits averred, when he dissolved his cabinet on October 15, 2016, that, he would opt for a 'wartime' new cabinet. By that, they meant, put together a team that will prosecute his 2019 second term bid with core politicians making the cast. Alas, when on November 25, 2016 he forwarded a list of 20 as new Commissioners,
Special Advisers to the Akwa Ibom State Assembly for confirmation, the projections were deflated.
Governor Emmanuel went for service delivery rather than politics. He chose a coalition peopled by professionals and technocrats.
Is it that he has sidelined the politicians as irrelevant to his course? Hell no! The methodical Udom Emmanuel I am attuning to, has those, we love to call politicians, strategically, where he wants them. Its time for governance and when the time for politics comes, I see him do the needful.
Let me quickly add the lessons that cabinet reshuffle taught me about his methods. Governor Udom Emmanuel, is independent minded, brims with confidence and loathes being stampeded.
See how he staved off the pressure of lobbyists and influence peddlers after he dissolved the cabinet.
We all thought he will announce a new cabinet the next day, in one week or at most two weeks. As we made noise and speculations, Governor Emmanuel activated the mute mode. When we were purged of our permutations and push, he made his move.
Eventually, nobody saw it coming as he brought on board, new talents that shocked our sentiments but stoked our expectations. He didn't play our ball, nor anybody's game. It was the vintage measure of Udom Gabriel Emmanuel charting a pathway to his goals.
His fusion of forces in this administration underpin his avowal to pursue political inclusion. The recent unprecedented interface with former governors and deputy governors that served the state in the time past at the Hilltop Mansion, and his meeting with his virtual opponent in the 2015 Guber elections, Obong Umana Okon Umana, for official interaction, attest to his conviction that, Akwa Ibom State is one family. That is hardly the way of a do-or-die politician.
Governor Emmanuel has his soft underbelly, and every man does. He can be extremely vulnerable to
criticism.
When he recommissioned Peacock Paints in Etinan on September 5, 2015, well within his first 100 days in office, Governor Emmanuel dared critics to write what they may about him, vowing to be inattentive and disinclined to their antics.
However, the governor does yield to emotional sensitivity and atimes, gets deeply hurt by unfair criticism.
On August 20, 2015, Governor Udom said in a chat with newsmen, "...People can attack the governor the way they like, please let them not write things that will actually scare away the investors we are bringing".
Read between the lines, and you see a man who cares about his hard earned reputation.
He so jealously guards his name and integrity. He is so mindful of his rating and relationship with his people. Reason, he has made those Freudian slips to rein in his maligners.
Where he used the term, 'Idiots', to slam his traducers during the annual solemn assembly to rededicate the state to God on January 2, 2017, one could sniff how wounded, the governor feels by the all-out and relentless onslaught of blackmail and propaganda by the opposition controlled media against his person and administration.
His moodiness while addressing the, many times, very unhinged barrage of criticisms aimed at his person, tells a story of unhappiness and disconsolation over the deliberately twisted half truths or outright lies against him.
When he spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ekerete Udoh, to dismiss the charge that, he labeled Akwa Ibom people as, 'stark illiterates and lazy', Governor Emmanuel said, “It is utterly mischievous for someone to write such a fabrication.”
Through his Dakkada creed, the governor stated in part, ''I rise to the faith that Akwa Ibom was created to be great.
I rise to the faith that Akwa Ibom is destined to be great", and has thereto, already articulated his world view of the average Akwa Ibom person.
I continue to admire Governor Emmanuel as he deals with the rage of harsh and unsparing propaganda war waged against him. Each passing day, he recoils into the shell of a developing thick skin for all the tar brushing going on.
Its the most challenging battle he is confronting on the political turf, where the enemy merely shoots on sight and takes no prisoner.
He has come to terms with the fact that, every man in high office, must of necessity imbibe the art of remaining focused in the storm and decline from engaging in the wrestling of pigs'.
I am persuaded, the best way to maintain a pleasant working relationship with Governor Emmanuel, as with most bosses, particularly, for those working closely with/or angling to obtain favours from him, is, to be perceptive to his moods and emotions in the inclement atmosphere our local politics has become.
The error we so oft commit is to compare him with his predecessor and now Senate Minority Leader, His Excellency, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio.
He may not exude the populist aura of Akpabio, but he does wield the charisma that connects with his people at a near filial level.
The inherent sense of responsibility and sobriety with which he wears the office of Governor, inspires and drives the sense of mission, no one can deny, he functions with.
Even Vice President Yemi Osibanjo endorsed in all sincerity what he measured of Governor Emmanuel. From a personal assessment, he said the governor is - "a fired-up and development oriented man."
As 2019 approaches, where there will be the choice to trust him yet again with a renewed mandate; and the darts of opposition become more perverse, it will help for us to begin to weigh in on the new narrative and expand the conversation on what measure of a man is Governor Udom Emmanuel.
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