….. Pressing The Reset Button Of Akwa Ibom
“When you do your work, even if you don’t greet me, I’ll greet you. I’ll be the one to call you and look after you and your family, but when you don’t do your work and you come to the airport to line up and greet me or join the convoy, it becomes offensive to me.” – Gov. Umo Eno
By Aniekan UDOFIA
The above statement is an excerpt from the speech of the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, at the 3-Day Akwa Ibom Dialogue. It is not the first time the governor has made very direct impacting statements, rather it is becoming common of the Umo Eno led administration to make statements that give a clear direction of where the government is headed.
Week in week out Umo Eno continues to make statements that can pass as a collector’s item and leaves many to wonder if this is the once exalted office that the occupants seemed like demigods, reverence and adored by many politicians who will only get the attention of the occupant of the office through servitude. Constantly, Umo Eno demystifies the office of governor and clearly makes it a place of service and a privilege accorded by the collective sovereignty of the people.
With the magnitude of public service and job to be done, one is left to wonder how government officials still find time to attend every event or place the governor shows up. On a serious Monday morning where the governor has just returned from a trip outside of the state, the masses are harassed off the major road to the airport, over the mad rush of convoy of vehicles of government officials racing to the airport to receive the governor, while files in their offices lie down for weeks and months unattended to.
In the Akwa Ibom State, there have been serving commissioners who rarely go to the office, and their ministries look like aimless sites with even no power supply. Generators are off, and you will hear that the commissioner has not been to the office, so there is no need to put on the light. The offices revolve so much around them, even when they show little or no interest in ensuring that they bring innovation to the ministry.
Who created the culture of commissioners and public officials as entourage of the governor at public functions? This culture has reduced governance in Akwa Ibom State to mere sycophantic enterprise. What business has the Commissioner for Education at a construction site where the governor has gone to ascertain the progress of work? What business has the Commissioner for Agriculture at the inauguration of a power sub station? There has been gross misplacement of priorities amongst government officials.
The task before the governor is huge. Many of these people have been accustomed to the old ways of doing things. Many of these government officials view their appointments as compensation and working tool for the next election. They have earned several reappointments not necessarily for the competence or skill set they possess. Little wonder that on appointment as commissioners, the next thing some of them seek, is political leadership of their wards, local government, or others. The tag of political leader is more important to some of them than the responsibility of the office.
Umo Eno administration seems to be one that will be driven by performance appraisal. 100 per cent of the commissioners from the previous administration may have returned to the cabinet, but it is almost certain that most of them will not be able to fit into the new administration. We may witness an avalanche of resignations in the months to come should some of them choose the path of honour or we may witness sack of commissioners because Umo Eno seems to have zero tolerance for poor performance. There are commissioners who simply have not justified their appointments, it only took the magnanimity of the governor for them to join the bandwagon of returnees to the cabinet. How long they will survive with their lack of creativity and innovation is what can be predicted.
Umo Eno has pressed the reset button of Akwa Ibom State. Sanity is gradually returning to governance. Public office holders now know that their duty is not to serve as shadows of the governor but to get the job done. What manner of man is Pastor Umo Bassey Eno? The months to come will continue to reveal this new sheriff in town.
