He was also Governor of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria from May 29, 2007 to May 29, 2015.
He is the son of Chief Obot Akpabio and Madam Lucy Obot Akpabio (née Inyangetor) of Ukana, Ikot Ntuen in Essien Udim Local Government Area.
He lost his father early in life and was raised by his mother, who inculcated in him the values of hard work, discipline and honesty.
He was educated at Methodist Primary School, Ukana, Essien Udim LGA, Akwa Ibom State; the prestigious Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; and the University of Calabar, Cross River State, where he obtained a Degree in Law.
He was called to the Nigerian bar in 1988. While at the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, he was appointed the General Senior Prefect.
In the University of Calabar, his charisma endeared him to the students and he was elected the Speaker of the Students’ Parliament.
From the record, Godswill Akpabio’s grandfather, Okuku Udo Akpabio, was the 1st Warrant Chief in Ikot Ekpene province.
His uncle, Dr. I. U. Akpabio, was the Minister of Education/Internal Affairs in the then Eastern Nigeria. Justice Nsima Akpabio, his cousin, was a senator in the Second Nigerian Republic.
He is a Christian of the Catholic faith. Godswill is married to Ekaette Unoma Akpabio, the founder of Family Life Enhancement Initiative (FLEI), a non-governmental organization providing a platform for redirecting the focus of development efforts on the family as a strategy for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Akpabio and his wife have four daughters and a son.
Senator Akpabio had a brief stint as a teacher and as an associate partner with Paul Usoro and Co., a leading law firm in Nigeria. He also worked with EMIS Telecoms Limited, a pioneer fixed wireless telecommunications company in Lagos, Nigeria.
In 2002, he rose to the position of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company. In this position, he helped in shaping the future of the burgeoning telecoms industry.
He had earlier served as the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Telecommunication Companies in Nigeria, (ATCOM), while a director of EMIS.
In 2002, he was appointed Honourable Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources in Akwa Ibom State. Between 2002 and 2006, he served as a Commissioner in three key ministries: Petroleum and Natural Resources, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, as well as Lands and Housing.
In 2006, he aspired for the governorship of Akwa Ibom State in a hotly contested primary election and defeated 57 other aspirants to emerge the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). His campaign with the slogan, “let God’s will be done” received mass support and was elected Governor in 2007.
The advent of Godswill Akpabio as Governor of Akwa Ibom State on 29 May 2007 marked the beginning of the state's transformation.
Government policies and programmes in virtually all sectors of the economy have impacted positively on the lives of the people since Akpabio’s inauguration as the third democratically elected governor of the state, making a turnaround for good in the story of the state.
These strides have been referred to by the people of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large as “Uncommon Transformation” and earned him the sobriquet, “The Uncommon Transformer”.
He was re-elected for a second term in office as Governor of Akwa Ibom State in 2011base on his record of performance.
In 2013, he was elected Chairman of the newly formed PDP Governors Forum.
In 2015, he contested and won the Senate seat of the Akwa Ibom North West (Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District to represent the district in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Running under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he polled 422,009 of the 439,449 to defeat Chief Inibehe Okorie of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who according to report recorded 15, 152 votes to be declared elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He was nominated for the position of the Senate Minority Leader by the South-South caucus of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), ratified by the caucus of the PDP in the Senate and announced by the Senate President as Senate Minority Leader on 28 July 2015. The PDP lost the majority to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the 2015 general elections.
He is an effective leader that possesses personal qualities that make people look up to him and make them want to follow him. These qualities include honesty, integrity, compassion, empathy and a strong sense of responsibility.
He is a Senator of character that inspires others to want to be like him, and he makes the task of leading others easier.
Senator Godswill Akpabio can communicate a vision of a project, this is a critical factor in getting others to understand goals and implement strategies.
His creativity helps to vividly paint a mental picture of how a project can be initiated and sustained, this enable other people to understand their role in the project.
Senator Godswill Akpabio possesses positive attitude, this positive attitude goes a long way toward energizing others and inspiring them to do their best work.
Harsh, negative energy is not associated with him, since these factors cripples motivation and prevents others from concentrating on the task at hand.
He is a positive leader that encourages others, provides solutions for problems and creates an atmosphere of success for all.
Senator Godswill Akpabio possesses ability to delegate. This enable him made boys became men, ladies became women, and men became leaders. His ability to delegate is a learned skill that is critical to getting his plans into operation.
Fundamental to this skill is the understanding of other peoples' strengths and the ability to allow them to make decisions on their own.
Senator Godswill Akpabio exhibits strong administrative and political skills which ensure that projects go smoothly.
He clearly understands the steps involved in implementing his goals and have the ability to explain these steps to others.
This skill is particularly important in communicating both upward and downward in the system, providing others with concise information in a clear, understandable form.
Senator Godswill Akpabio is Intuitive. Intuition is the ability to gain information by means other than direct communication.
This quality extremely helps him to get a sense of his believers’ ability to manage assigned tasks and gain knowledge about the overall progress of governance.
He is strong in a number of areas that inspire others to do their best work. He makes positive effect on everyone around him.
Senator Godswill Akpabio believes in a vision. Whenever he sets a vision, and he get people to believe in that vision and work as a team towards attaining the vision.
The vision is something that everyone aspires to, in everything that he does. He finds people who support the vision and who will help spread the word.
He is excellent in oral and written communications, and he knows when to use which form. He knows how and when to tailor his message based on the audience, and breaking down communication barriers.
He is an active listener and has empathy which is a core component of leadership. Sometimes, he used the word I don’t to mention to describe his achievement.
He reacts with stability. As a great leader, being even keeled is critical. He does not jump to conclusions when dealing with issues so that he make fact-based decisions, when he is in the middle of a crisis, he is not to be too busy pointing blame instead of solving the actual problem and communicating with the outside world. His core lovers and team emulate his behavior.
Senator Godswill Akpabio is a leader, when he was the Governor of Akwa Ibom State; he surrounded himself with great lieutenants. He built a team of can-do people who provided him with the support that he needed at that time.
Any time he found a team of naysayers, he sees reason to find a new team. He inspires his team and gets people to change their behavior as a way to achieve the team’s desirable results. Passion is infectious. Your team will feel it and will emulate it. Be passionate about everything that you do.
He can identify his natural talents. He is better and experience in governance, this lead to his outstanding performance in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
As a great leader, he knows what his gifts are and seek to develop them. He also knows his limitations and avoids being compromised by striving to make sure he improves that aspect of his game.
He make sure that people that move with him have a clear understanding on what is required to succeed, and knows who are the key decision makers and influencers.
He develops and share key performance indicators (KPIs) with his team so that they can be on the same page, and that they can develop KPIs within their groups that support his higher-level KPIs.
He understands that he does not know everything and he is constantly striving to learn. He admits to his mistakes. Doing so enable him builds trust and respect. He adapts his leadership style to any situation as different situations require different types of leadership styles.
He possesses a strong moral compass. He operates with transparent integrity, at all costs. He demands brutal honesty from his team and his vendors. This is non-negotiable.
He is a leader with charisma and has an easy time charming people to believe that he is a strong leader since he instantly gains the trust and respect of the people.
People feel very comfortable with him as he makes everyone feel that he is an important person who the leader has spoken with.
People want to follow him. However charisma is not a must have. Although having charisma is important, it does not mean that leaders without charisma will fail but it plays a role in success.
He always wins because he believes he can win. His mind and outlook have an incredible impact on his performance.
All great leaders have a can-do, unstoppable attitude, which contributes to leading, which contributes to self-image, which contributes to winning, and so on and so forth.
He makes sure to not let that improved self-image turn into arrogance, and this could lead to underestimating his opponents and losing and even alienating the people around him
He is a discipline man. People who lead a lot are often very good at self-discipline. He can develop a plan and follow it, and maintain motivation and will power.
He often devotes large amounts of time to improving himself in relation to excellence at whatever he pursues. As a great leader, he has study old strategies and new and practice against them.
Becoming a senator is not about charisma or chance. It is about having the skills and experience necessary to lead, motivate, influence people in good and bad times and perform.
Although there are many skills that make someone a leader, here are key traits that make Senator Akpabio a great and a performing Senator.
Senator Akpabio has qualities or characteristics that a good political leader should have. Chai, Akwa Ibom State, you have a son.
Akparawa, Ano mkpo Inam, Great leader, Promise keeper, Great Transformer.
By Ekerette John Ekerete
SOURCE: PDP Online Supporters Forum
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