By Essien Ndueso
During the recently held Sun Newspaper Man of The Year Ceremonies at Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos, one lady was singled out and honoured for a rare act of courage, honesty and discipline. In fact when Mrs Elizabeth Akande, a staff of the Civil Defence Corps mounted the rostrum to receive the Nigerian Hero Award, she was clearly an unknown figure. But when her extra-ordinary feat was reeled, she instantly became a toast to all present.
Mrs Akande had in the face of mounting threats and intimidation rejected a bribe of N500, 000, which was offered to compromise her and enable electoral fraud in her polling unit. No amount of intimidation or manhandling, could force her to succumb to that ignoble act during the 2011 general elections in Oyo state. For someone whose annual salary may be less than N250,000, everyone agreed that this was quite a rare attribute. To present the award to Mrs Akande, it was not surprising that the organizers of the event chose to select Mrs Ekaete Unoma Akpabio, an epitome who has not only exemplified good attributes as a caring mother to Akwa Ibom people, but has been on the forefront of advocacy for promotion of sound moral values in the society. An elated Mrs Akpabio stunned the gathering by donating two million naira to the awardee, thereby opening the door for several other donations to a pleasantly surprised Mrs Akande, who received the award in company of her husband.
Akwa Ibom people have generally been considered blessed to have a Governor with attributes synonymous with effective leadership. A leader whose vision for a greater Akwa Ibom is unparalleled, and whose unstoppable and undeterred interest in the welfare of the people he governs is legendary.
Indeed several people from within and outside the country have testified to the tact and maturity with which Chief Godswill Akpabio has handled the affairs of governance in Akwa Ibom since assumption of office in May, 2007, which is evident in his lofty policies, programmes and projects, generally considered as the best for a people who overwhelmingly gave him the mandate to govern.
However, it is the holy Bible that says in Proverbs 31:10 “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies”. In Akwa Ibom State, She is endearingly re-christened ‘the Mother Theresa of Our Time’ and some say she is the embodiment of that proverbial woman who stands boldly behind a successful man.
As first lady of Akwa Ibom, she has lavished her position with the scarce costume of kindness, and has given life to compassion. But her emerging roles have exposed her real identity, indeed Mrs Ekaette Unoma Godswill Akpabio is the Mother of all Mothers in Akwa Ibom State.
As a mother, her care for Akwa Ibom children is awesome, but her love for the women is extraordinary. Be it in advocacy, intercession, education, crusades, empowerment or enlightenment, her records are unparalleled.
And when it was time to create awareness for the voters’ registration exercise, she took that of women personal, traversing the length and breadth of Akwa Ibom to speak to the women in a language they understand. So, the active involvement of women of Akwa Ibom State in the re-election of Chief Godswill Akpabio in the last general elections was predictable given the efforts of Mrs Akpabio who was widely christened as Campaigner in Chief by friends and admirers of the Governor.
She is well loved by the women of Akwa Ibom for her acts of generosity through her pet project the Family Life Enhancement Initiative, exemplified in her dogged fight to ensure maternal and child survival; Intervention programmes for prison inmates, regular support to orphanages and rehabilitation centres in the State, and established an ultra modern reform centre for delinquent children in the state.
She has also been applauded for various micro-credit schemes and equipment for women’s empowerment; she has also provided various aids to physically challenged persons in the state; and the big one – building of over 50 bungalows for widows across the state.
Another of such ways is through her concept, the Green Brigade Programme which she flagged off in partnership with the State Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources in Uyo.
The beneficiaries numbering over 2,000 youths and women were engaged for the programme to compliment the efforts of the Government in providing a clean and healthy environment.
To show that she was not mincing words in her commitment to the success of the programme, Mrs Akpabio stunned Uyo residents by personally cleaning the surrounding roads in company of wives of the deputy governor and other top government functionaries.
Similarly, the wife of the governor was on hand at the Ibom Hall Grounds in Uyo last December, where several women were empowered to venture into mechanised farming through Women Agro-Entrepreneurship Development Programme (WAEDEP).
The project according to the wife of the governor was initiated to improve on agriculture which is a driving force of the state’s economy.
Under the programme, 4, 500 women across the 31 local governments in the state were enrolled for training in agro-production and agro-trading and subsequently empowered with an interest-free loan of N250,000 each to start off or expand their agro-enterprise at the end of the training period.
Mrs Akpabio said that investments in women and children were very important because of multiplier effects they would have on the economy and the populace.
It is not out of place that Eka Esit Mbom’s lofty programmes for women has gained national and international acclamation. This is evident in the recent hosting of the first national women retreat attended by the wife of the President Dame Patience Jonathan and other eminent Nigerian women in Uyo. It is no longer news that Governor Akpabio has transformed Akwa Ibom through his lofty programmes of free and compulsory education, free and improved medical care, a new International Airport, Ibom Power Plant, an ultra-modern e library, 250 new roads, concentric flyovers, a modern leisure and business resort-the Tropicana Entertainment centre, agricultural development and youth empowerment schemes, thereby telling a story of a new destination;
What may be considered news however is that Mrs Akpabio, has solidly stood behind her husband, showing tremendous support and encouragement to the promise keeper.
Mrs Ekaete Akpabio, is therefore a testimony of Helen Rowland’s postulation that “A good woman inspires a man to greatness.”