If Governor Udom Emmanuel wanted a Stooge…!
By Osondu Ahirika
If His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel wanted a stooge for a successor, he would have bypassed Pastor Umo Eno. Indeed, if surrogacy was on his transition card, I repeat, Umo Eno, his erstwhile Commissioner for Land and Water Resources wouldn’t make the grade.
Let me put it more pointedly, if Governor Udom Emmanuel was a stooge in Office, then Pastor Umo Eno will be his stooge. If he wasn’t, then it is inconceivable that anyone should entertain such hyperbolic statement. You get it? If you don’t get it, I can’t help your faculties.
Fortunately, he never wanted a bootlicker to succeed him. Reason he settled for Pastor Umo Eno. He said so himself. If you didn’t hear him, let me quote him directly: “I never looked for a surrogate to do a third term, but rather, I was looking for a man of exceptional capacity, of peace and humility.”
I will give you reasons why Umo Eno will not be a stooge in Office and why Governor Emmanuel doesn’t even have need for surrogate.
Recall that this same insinuation was a yoke on Mr Udom Emmanuel’s neck when he succeeded Chief Godswill Akpabio in 2015. A section of the local Press in Akwa Ibom State had branded him a stooge.
Governor Emmanuel vehemently refuted the assertion. I recall that while fielding questions from Channels Television Sunrise Daily crew on Friday, May 27, 2016, as part of activities marking his first year in office, he(Udom Emmanuel), was assertive. He argued that not fighting with his predecessor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, didn’t translate to his being (Akpabio’s) stooge. He proved that point by posting a superior performance in the last eight years of being in charge.
I am persuaded Governor Emmanuel has been through this path before and wouldn’t wish his preferred successor to be afflicted with the same stigma. Just like he didn’t have a stomach to fight his predecessor, fighting his successor should be completely untenable. The envisaged cordiality between him and his successor, Pastor Umo Eno, shouldn’t be misconstrued as playing stooge.
One may re-echo Governor Emmanuel’s rhetorical poser to the Channels TV crew, “What have we gained in the past by(Governor) fighting with our predecessors?”. Nothing, but meaningless distraction which I concede Governor Emmanuel is not that petty to indulge in.
When Governor Emmanuel exercised his right of first refusal by declining to run for the Senate to represent Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, that was the clearest indication, this man is not hewn for political meddling or interloping after leaving office. That’s disingenuous pursuit of former outgoing Governor’s to go hibernate in the Senate, is the seed that sires the power struggle between them and their successors.
If Governor Udom Emmanuel wanted a stooge to succeed him, he wouldn’t have ceded the Senate ticket and zoned it out of his Eket Federal Constituency totally. He would have used that platform as a pad to hatch his future political schemes, that’s if he has any.
Thankfully, Udom Emmanuel is a man of character, pedigree and class. He has seen far beyond the nuisance of hovering or lurking around Hilltop Mansion after May 29, 2023 when his full tenure runs its course. He knows too well, perhaps more than all else, that in Pastor Umo Eno’s hands, Akwa Ibom is in for the best and assuredly safe.
In his Easter broadcast, he affirmed that viewpoint saying: “As I get ready to take a bow in the next month , I am eminently proud and assured that I will be leaving this State better than I met her, and in the capable, tested and steady hands of the Governor-Elect, Pastor Umo Eno, who, I believe will further carry the torch of peace, development, growth and unity of our dear people.”
Is that resume as submitted by Governor Emmanuel the portrait of a man who will be a stooge? Hell no!. You need to observe Governor Emmanuel radiate with pride, satisfaction and fulfilment each time he seats back to listen to Pastor Umo Eno speak. Check that out with body language experts and get a feedback of how honoured it feels that he indeed had this very Choice selected by the people.
Pastor Umo Eno comes prepared and rearing to hit the ground running with the ARISE Agenda. His time starts counting from May 29, 2023. If Governor Udom Emmanuel really wanted a stooge he would have settled for the likes of….. Still typing
#Ariseagenda
