Thump Up for Pragmatist

What prospect there is for Akwa Ibom State under the administration of Governor Pastor Umoh Bassy Eno? I must say the future holds promise and not balanced on a knife edge, rightly so because Gov.Eno, perhaps of his divine calling, isn’t in the least a pretender. He is an articulate pragmatist who exudes confidence and a type that can scarcely wait to get his teeth into a new course or hum and how in taking decisions. He embodies everything I admire in a leader, including his sense of humour, and is such an exuberant personality you can’t afford to give a passing glance.   

Questions as to whether he fits the bill and can provide the state with the right leadership it deserves as Nigeria’s most economically vital state shouldn’t arise. He has put his cards on the table and whether he fits the bill by having a rare ability to meet the challenges of 21^st century or call the shorts, is beyond question. He is already going great guns to give impression that he is determined to make a difference also that his election is not a gaffe but an inspired one for the good of the state.

This is great! For the first time in the history of the state a pragmatist is at the helm. But is it to suggest past governors weren’t as pragmatic as challenges facing them individually may have wanted them to be, but scarcely anyone with his type of passion. More than that is the fact that he is competent and a man of indefatigable industry, meaning that, in a couple of shakes, the state might start undergoing transformation only his type can stimulate.

Perhaps it is too early to attempt at appraisal of his effort so far with any measure of objectivity. But the fact that the governor is already working hard to hit the ground running, makes such early appraisal necessary at least if nothing but to draw a lesson that it is virtuous to start well because how well you start in a project determines how successful it will end.

It goes without saying the governor started well to almost suppose in one hand he saw his victory coming on the other he may have been taught on the art of statecraft before he appeared on the political scene. Otherwise it is amazing how quickly he takes decisions. It isn’t out of the blue his declared action plans immediately after his election.

The people are happy, secure in the knowledge that he prepared well to govern and he make informed choices that hinge on good governance, as well as credibility as a leader.

Since he came on board ship of power as the chief captain, public mood in the state has swung from despair to hope. I understand the people are no longer wearing a despairing look but hopeful that the governor, with a reputation for honesty, will match his word with action.

Certainly he will, regardless of the dire straits in which the state relatively is. His word may remain his bond, because he does things in a businesslike fashion and with military precision as if he had had a martial career.

Little wonder when his election victory was announced, everyone cheered and nursed optimistic expectation of accelerated development. A vast majority of the people jumped to the street in jubilations, singing victory songs and dancing to local tunes. They celebrated and expressed their enthusiasm Gov. Eno would most likely not disappoint them to further leave them in despair. It is best to state that they took the right decision in voting him to power.

He has since settled down to serious business, and evidence indicates he is on the fast lane to demonstrate his resolve to succeed soon. It seems at the heart of his agenda for the state is strong, healthy workforce. This follows the unusual prominence he gives State’s workers evident in his radically a new idea of happy hour- a once in a week free lunch for State’s workers-declared in the aftermath of his election victory which has attracted wider commentaries as well as generated unusual joie-de-vivre among a broad swath of the people, in particular, among State’s workers who are the direct beneficiaries of it.  I understand it cuts across board, including the rank and file.                 

This is interesting. But is it breaking with tradition or to make a splash? Whatever it is, I think it has merit. It is a central dynamic of productivity rise. In other words, it represents a significantly important incentive to boost productivity of State’s workers as well as their morale. Or who wouldn’t like to double his effort amidst such a once in a week free meal offer, which translates into a nominal saving for the State’s worker also dependable silver bullet to stomach rumbles at workplace.

All the same, some have argued it amounts to breaking the bank or run up a bill to sustain and dismissed it as ill-advised. I hold a contrary view. I see it as what to die for at the same time to commend the governor. If nothing it means to you, it means that the governor is with human touch and on the uptake. He shows he may have been nurtured in a liberal milieu.  Only an intelligent governor as he is with a strong sense of result will consider it as necessary to provide a once in a week free meal for workers to boost their morale by extension their productivity.

At first, I thought it was one of those romantic ideas a typical African leader is good at churning out in quick succession to bolster his image until informed it has since taken off in earnest. How happy I was not only in learning about that but also that the governor is a man of his word.

Workers in the state may have no excuse to lower productivity or to feel hostile toward his administration. Again if you ask me, it is the best that has happened to the state, especially when it means a small saving for the State’s worker. Infact, commonsense dictates that you feed the horse to make it fitter for any role. At least, question of stomach at workplace has been reasonably taken care of to demand all double their effort.

I thump up for him! He has scored his first spectacular success. Apparently, I feel exhilarated not only by that but also by his open door policy, which allows all, including silent majority or the lower orders, with something useful for the state to see him one- on-one, twice each week. 

Who had thought the society’s small fry would stand a chance of meeting with their governor one-on-one. It is a polar opposite of an existing order, which restricts such privilege to big boys. Otherwise you either are a big time contractor with a firm grip on the Nigerian factor when it comes to contract deals, a party bigwig, relative or even an old friend to be allowed the privilege of seeing a governor in Nigeria one-on-one.

 Both it and happy hour, as good as they are, have endeared the governor to the people. For instance, during my recent visit to the state to sound out people’s opinion about him, I realized, unsurprisingly, that he had already gone stellar with both policies. Anywhere I turned to in the state, during the course of that visit, it’ s Gov. Eno the chief topic of public discourse with some even referring to him as the sole hope for the state.

The policies have reinforced confidence. Take the free lunch, which has a universal appeal. According to the Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of need, food is classified as prime basic need of man to be met first to then graduate to the next need level within the same need hierarchy. One can best appreciate his intelligence in this context.

I applaud him for inventing new idea and wish his counterparts in other states would follow his lead to also grow in popularity among their peoples. Nothing in life can more make a leader prominent than he has the interest of the people at heart as he seems to have through his twin populist policies of open door and happy hour, both of which have won plaudits even from his critics.

Gov. Eno is a very remarkable character, charming, personable and intelligent. He says things with shrewdness, humour and tolerance. He is charismatic nevertheless humble.  This has helped him to foster a sense of community, which is illustrated by such a cordial relationship that he has cultivated between him and the State’s legislature that it is difficult to imagine anything to come between them or cause a collision course. Meanwhile, both tiers are said to be working together, harmoniously with understanding.

To say nothing of his effort at reaching out to stakeholders in the state, namely the Royal fathers, intelligentsia, professionals, religious leaders, women leaders, business community, the Media, etc. This is good but how better it is depends on how often he engages them. It is not enough reaching out to them. They should be deeply involved. This is crucial because they form a critical part of larger society also are such a fundamentally important group to influence public opinions.

Meanwhile, he has successfully formed his team, made up of seasoned indigenous technocrats, after a little delay owing to a decision to search high and low for honest types to make his list.  Nevertheless, he has since charged them to work as a team and to be guided by his strategies.  Given that he is a man of great industry, full of great ideas, he may likely not fail the people by performing below expectations.

He recognizes the reality of high expectation on him. But the good thing about it is that he is least the shiftless type who shillyshallies in taking decisions thus might pull out all the stops to live up to his campaign promises.

However, as much as he wants to succeed quickly, I offer a few suggestions to aid him. First, he should stress on the highest commitment possible by all, second, to emphasize on team spirit and third, to prioritize all sectors, Education, Health, Works, Agriculture, Transport, etc. for inclusive development.

To create employment and expand the State’s economic horizon, he should consider the possibility of introducing economic policies that provide for enabling environment for investment to thrive in the state. Such economic policies must be attractive enough to cause potential investors, both local and foreign, to start beating a path to the state in order to explore new investment opportunities. In addition, he should prop up small businesses in the state through grants and soft loans.

His effort so far has shown nothing besides how to deliver basic services and build relevant infrastructure should be his priority. But he needs to explore new avenues of boosting the State’s Internally Generated Revenues, IGR, for enough resources to achieve this. Akwa Ibom State, yes, by statutory allocations, is rich, the richest in the country today. However, how not realistic, especially under the precipitous decline on statutory allocations, is the idea it can provide all things without supplementary resources from maybe IGR source. It then means that he may have to reform the state’s existing fiscal policies in line with the need for additional resources to address concern.

While he endeavors to give the state the much needed shot in the arm, most important of all is to keep a tight rein on government spending, restricting it only to things that have direct bearing on development as well as on improving the people’s wellbeing.    

Nigeria, as we have come to realize sadly is at her worst economic time. In other words, she is at a moment of great economic crisis, how to come out of it isn’t by wasteful spending but by judicious use of whatever resources at one’s disposal.   

Would the governor be all that an intelligently shrewd spender to be less anxious? Most certainly he will hence unnecessary to feel the state has had its chip. There is nothing about him to worry about. He has the competence and is said to be very honest which shows he may run a transparent administration at the same time an inclusive government in which all sections, the Ibibios, Annangs, Orons, Ekets, etc. are treated equal with none to get the shaft or feel hard done by.

But this might demand he threads cautiously or that be tactfully diplomatic enough with a strong sense of justice to run a mile. In a country as Nigeria, the stakes are usually high when one tries to move away from petty sectional interest to serve the interest of all. In his case, however, there is no need to cry foul. He might less likely to be disposed to any temptation to concentrate development on a particular section to the exclusion of the rest sections. Thus, I do not see him as going to descend so low to a level of attempting to compromise his egalitarianism or becoming a sectional champion. He is still true to his principle as reflected by the speedy, transparent and evenly manner that he has been going about the distribution of subsidy palliatives and other opportunities in the states.

Gov. Eno, to the best I can describe him, bears the hallmark of an achiever. If under the relatively short period of less than a year in the saddle, he is making a remarkable progress, no less a go-getter he is. Or how do you describe a governor whose administration is already impacting on the state despite limited resources that put the skids under the plans of other governors in Nigeria?

It has led me to believe that how best to transform the state may no longer remain a theoretical question, more so that he has one exceptional quality that is rare among his equals, assiduousness. Because of his religious upbringing which taught him the value of hard work, his outlook on work centers on diligence. He believes in hard work. Therefore, coupled with his integrity, the state can count on him to stir it deep down on a path of sustainable development even through thick and thin.

Certainly, the governor is up to the mark. While he grapples with the urgent task of transforming the state, the overriding imperative is for the people to be right behind him. That is the beauty of democracy!            

                                        By Steve Ibem

                              Ibem is Author/Biographer

                                 And Media Consultant