TheHILL | FEATURE | AUGUST 6.
Senator Effiong Bob, against what detractors may want people to believe, is an unassuming, honest, time conscious and focused person.
He respects constituted authorities and does not talk carelessly and recklessly. At all times, the interest of the state is paramount in his mind.
In the words of His Royal Majesty, Edidem Ime Dickson Umoette, Senator Effiong Bob “is a calm and amiable fellow, who makes honesty and meekness his watchword”.(Akwa Ibom North East magazine, April – June, 2009).
This position was corroborated by the then member representing Etinan Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Hon Aniedi King when he said; “my assessment of him as a person is that Distinguished Senator Bob is a very transparent, honest, knowledgeable, hardworking person who knows the intricacies of national politics. In fact, he is an embodiment of honesty and simplicity”. (Akwa Ibom North East magazine, March – May, 2008)
Senator Effiong Bob respects constituted authorities. As the Chairman of the Akwa Ibom Caucus in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2011, he abolished the Abuja Front and Home Front syndrome by ensuring that the National Assembly members work in close harmony with the state government at home.
According to him; “I never believed in the so called Abuja and Home Front. Every indigene of the state has a duty to support the government of the day. Personally, I have obligation from God and man to do so”. (Akwa Ibom North East magazine, March – May, 2008) All his political life, he has devoted to fullfilling this obligation. Respect to constituted authorities is in his DNA.
That is why when some people rose up to insinuate that he was confrontational with the state governor, we simply assumed that they were talking about a different Effiong Bob.
This is because the one we know that is Distinguished Senator Effiong Bob, two term Senator of the Federal Republic, can never be confrontational with a sitting Governor.
From his days as member of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, he had always worked for the development of the entire state. It was as a result of his levelheadedness that he was elected Deputy Speaker of that Assembly. In fact, his honesty and sense of loyalty, good interpersonal relationship were responsible for his retention as Deputy Speaker when another impeachment of the Speaker was executed. The condition for the exercise to succeed was that Effiong Bob must retain his position as Deputy Speaker. That is what humility and reasonableness can achieve.
Let seekers of elective offices refrain from character assassination, crude attack on personalities but should focus on issues. Issues are what drive the development of a society, not blackmail for the purpose of dragging people’s names in the mud.
Recently, Senator Effiong Bob proposed a thirty-year development plan for the state. People should brainstorm on the workability or otherwise of this proposition for the development of the state. In the same breath, he acknowledged the benefits that will accrue to the state from the industrialization programme of the Udom Emmanuel administration and recommended that the programme be sustained in view of its benefits. Here are where the focus should be, not putting forward destructive publications. Isn’t it proper to talk about how to preserve the prevailing peace in our state? Is peace and security not corollary to society’s growth and development? These are issues that should engage our minds as we head towards 2023.
However, as Senator Effiong Bob consistently says, power belongs to God and He gives it to whom He pleases. When you take an overview of the life of and circumstances surrounding Senator Effiong Bob these past many years, you will discover that it is an exploration of the possibilities of the human spirit over circumstances.
In his foreword to the book SENATOR EFFIONG BOB: ODYSSEY TO SENATE, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba OFR, SAN wrote; “I do not know of any politician who has had to endure the cocktail of travails as Senator Bob has had to in his elections. The good news though is that the story always ends in triumph over adversity; in victory”. (Victor Effik, 2012) We are of the opinion that the learned SAN was right, and that even this one will end with the triumph of good over evil – in victory.
