By Peter Udiong
In an environment suffused with character deficit and ambiguous principles, his breed can almost be listed among the lost arts.
Ephraim Akparawa Inyang-Eyen, belongs to that tribe of Nigerians with a puritanical sense of being – men who say they mean and mean what they say; men of character and conscience; men with a sense of the community.
That, indeed, is the disappearing caste to which Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, the honourable commissioner for works, Akwa Ibom State belongs.
Today in this part, he is like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst mass junk, people with a good eye found castaway treasures. He is a man of the old order, forged in the sterner, traditional value mode.
“When we were growing up, civic duties and responsibilities, respect and honesty were the issues. We were concerned with principled life,” he once told friends.
Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, is without a doubt, a man schooled and practiced in propriety. He is not frivolous; he is not loud. He is serious, yet urbane; aristocratic, yet compassionate. He is a decent man.
A chemist of the pure breed and a statesman of an unblemished report, he devotes his life to leaving his environment much better than he met it. Whether in private or in public calling, he tried to do just that.
“I had the best of education and probably upbringing, but they are useless if they are not used to better the lives of other people.” Although his public life in the Nigeria Railway Corporation and Customs Service was no less momentous utilitarian.
He is one of those Nigerians who did so much for the country without consciously provoking newspaper headlines or manipulating their way to the spotlight or shamelessly courting public acclaim…..
To be sure, it was his impeccable career run as a chemist in Nigeria Railway Corporation settings that gave impetus to his public, national engagements as in the Customs Service. And the latter he accomplished with a sterling discharge.
Testimony: What could have instructed his appointment as the honourable commissioner for Works in Akwa Ibom State, the position of ‘cream’ and ‘climax’ of his career trajectory? To this, he said: “Had anybody seen me and my credentials, they would have known that I was pure and simple democrat.
Given the reaches of his name and the quality of his fame, it would have been logical, if we apply contemporary principle, that he would be materially rich.
But not so! He is not a rich man and he would tell you so, delightedly. Although he has no quarrel with riches or with rich men, he holds that there are higher, more valuable engagements than the strenuous pursuit of riches. Contentment! That is the word, and he wears it like a badge of honour.
“Contented with what I have, is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me. I admire my friends for their own achievements, I support them for their own achievements and then what is most important for me is the appreciation of others developing.
And what is the place of principle in Ephraim Inyang-Eyen’s universe? It is about everything. And according to him, it is a throwback to “the way I have been brought up.” He credits himself, evidently, for being highly principled and everybody who has dealt knows “that I am principled; that I will obey your rules, but I will have my say.
I’ll make sure that you understand my position and if I am now doing what you want, I am doing it as an obedient servant.” I had followed his exemplary life over the years and as a man of rare, yet interesting character and conduct, he will add tremendous value to the society.
He has a rich narrative, exemplary character and a good influence on many Nigerians. Commitment and passion for service, he submits, are the key drivers of leadership performance. He would not talk about himself, except issues.
That is not the kind of personality that commands popular appeal in our environment today; an environment filled with men and women of great conceits – narcissists.
Here is a man who has chosen to walk the ancient path in the season when the young elect beauty above ability and the old rate cash above character, here is a man who has remained on the least travelled and fancy road – a distance-runner on the bill of integrity.
Ephraim Inyang-Eyen is one of the few Nigerians who, undoubtedly, still hold the moral fibre of this country. In the jungle that Nigeria has now become, with all manner of predators strutting everywhere, there are still those individuals, thank God, that we can point to as beacons of hope – that, after all, everything is not lost.
A gentleman and one conscious of his company and mindful of his name, Ephraim Akprawa Inyang-Eyen, an intellectual of first class hue was said to have belonged to the elite club that has provided the Nigeria Customs Service with a lot of cerebral backbone for his policies and operations.
Born in Nung Nya in Ikot Ebiere, Onna local government area of Akwa Ibom State on November 25, 1965. The ex-customs officer turned politician holds MBA from University of Lagos.
The helmsman of the Ministry of Works, has rolled-up his sleeves and ready to roll-out the bulldozers to energise and interpret the vision of Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel of the oil-rich Akwa Ibom State in
infrastructural development, a key driver to industrialisation.
He understood extant challenges and had ideas of how to turn them around rather than one, who would learn on the job and take months to study where we are as a means of knowing what medicines to prescribe for the polity.
“Something about my pulse at this time precisely matches the pulse of Akwa Ibomites and the new administration and I am relatively calm, hopeful for the next eventful years, committed to change, and reflective on lessons learnt over past years.
Definitely, Udom Emmanuel will continue to win despite its many daunting challenges mostly the fiscal shocks from the huge drop in oil revenues. In this dispensation, the ambition and expectation is large and I have seen flickers of Akwa Ibom State’s immense potential, Ephraim Inyang-Eyen with a mark of true leadership is the real game-changer!
• Peter Using, is a journalist, wrote in via peterudiong@gmail.com
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