WITH three days to the governorship elections, issues bordering on gender and zoning have once again taken the centre stage in the politics of Awa Ibom State.
Rising from a rally in Uyo recently, stakeholders in the state’s political landscape endorsed Senator Helen Esuene as their preferred candidate to “take the people of the state out of the doldrums of uncommon poverty and unemployment to the next level of industrialisation and massive employment.”
The stakeholders, elders and youths are rooting for the first female governor in the state and Nigeria in the person of Esuene. They have thus resolved that, “the state needs a person with a diligent approach to move the state away from the traditional style of leadership that waits for jumbo allocation from the centre monthly before anything can be achieved and that person is Senator Esuene.”
At the Uyo rally, the players said the time had come for a woman to take over the mantle of leadership in the state given the current state of affairs “that needs one with the heart of human kindness and the doggedness of an astute business czar and Senator Esuene easily fits in.”
The State Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Professor Ekeng Anamdu, said since the federal lawmaker joined the party, things had changed positively and “by the special grace of God, we are having this mega rally of our great party, the Labour Party, with thousands of members determined to ensure that Senator Helen Esuene becomes the first female and the next governor in Akwa Ibom State and the party has a platform to tackle oppression of the masses and make even the spread of development across the state.”
He said continued: “Never before in the history of our state, have we witnessed a large crowd of men, women and youth volunteering and scrambling for membership in the Labour Party as it is today. This is what it should be, given our national experience, in the past 15 years, particularly in the area of employment and economic development.
“The Labour Party is the needed platform for grassroots development in our state. Of all those who aspire to become governor, our governorship candidate, Senator Helen Esuene, is the only employer of labour. She employs a work force of over 500 Nigerians, so she knows where the shoe is pinching”.
Speaking in the same vain, the National Chairman of LP, Alhaji Abdullahi Abdulsalam, said he was surprised at the level of poverty in the state despite the fact that Akwa Ibom is one of the richest states in the country in terms of oil and gas activities.
His words: “The kind of development we hear is on paper, but I can assure you that our candidate, upon winning this election, will create jobs, make the market environment attractive even to graduates, encourage the production of food, not agriculture on paper, make education qualitative.”
Equally throwing his weight behind the candidature of the serving senator, a top politician in the state and former governorship aspirant, Dr. Idongesit Udokpo, said, “I have come here to give this solidarity message in favour of Senator Helen Esuene. I accepted to do this because, for the election of the governorship of Akwa Ibom State, we must first and foremost consider experience and I have personally considered experience. My definition of experience is Mrs. Helen Esuene, a woman who has been a governor’s wife since 1968 in the South Eastern State, has been a top civil servant, a Minister and a Senator.
“I recall when we had Mrs. Helen Esuene as a wife of a governor, she showed humility, she showed leadership, followed the husband attentively and we recognized that there is a wife of a governor. In many fields she displayed her quality, which stood firm as shining example for women.
“Senator Esuene has come to do the correction, a total correction of the mess, cleaning up of Akwa Ibom State and rejuvenation of flow of confidence of Akwa Ibom people.”
Udokpo added that “a woman in politics is good enough when the woman who has experience is involved. That is why my speech today is anchored on experience. Senator Esuene has an experience that is deliberate and focused that can be used for the transformation of Akwa Ibom State; an experience that can be used to coordinate Akwa Ibom State and take it to the centre of self-sufficiency. She has experience of taking us to the centre, even in her personal life; you will see what she has done. I call on all Akwa Ibom people to support her ambition to be governor, women arise and support a woman, and men arise and give it to a woman”.
On his part, the Coordinator of Uyo Senatorial District of the Ibom Consultative Assembly (ICA) and the Coordinator of Senator Helen Esuene in Nsit Ubium, Otuekong Inemesit Koffi, expressed total confidence in her principal as governor come May 29.
He said: “I believe in her because of her level of consistency. When you are talking about industrialisation, everybody in this state agrees to the fact that this state should be industrialised. So we believe strongly in her as the only one that can move this state forward. She is the only one that has the highest level of experience in terms of practical things. She is the highest employer of labour as far as individual entrepreneurship is concerned; she has been able to provide food on the table of a lot of families. She is not someone that believes in flamboyant spending, but believes in giving people fish and teaching people how to fish. So, that is why we believe in her.
“The message I have for Akwa Ibom people is that we should learn to be civilised. We don’t vote party or gender, but we vote somebody that we know. We know that this woman is a performer and we believe in her and we know she can deliver. For her to be the third highest employer of labour in the state apart from the state government and Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), stands her out. You know you don’t hand over a state to an apprentice. Apprentice, not because you are not educated. You can be educated but you must be able to have an idea about industrialisation. Industrialisation is in practice. Senator Helen Esuene has an experience of her companies, small-scale and big-scale functioning companies. So you don’t give this state to somebody who assumes that he knows”.
Also, the former State Vice Chairman of the PDP and Obong Iwaad, Chief Mbong Mbong, pointed out that, “since the creation of Akwa Ibom State, it has been controlled by men in terms of leadership and governance. We have witnessed in the past couple of years where Akwa Ibom money is being siphoned unnecessarily by outsiders. We thank God for this one (Senator Esuene) who has come to sacrifice for the state. She is not coming to build a new mansion to live or drive limousine any longer”.
“In terms of her credibility, experience, it is our belief and the belief of Akwa Ibom people that if by the grace of God she becomes the governor, Akwa Ibom money will remain in Akwa Ibom State for Akwa Ibom people. So, that kind of siphoning to other parts of Nigeria while Akwa Ibom remains poor will not take place in her time. That is why we are supporting her because she has a good political experience and the credibility. She will bring peace and empowerment to the youths, men and women and that is why we want to try her”.
Responding, Esuene, while promising that her administration set a three-point agenda covering wealth creation, qualitative education and functional health care delivery if voted into office just as she pledged to close the gap between the rich and the by introducing programmes that would favour the down trodden in the state.
The governorship hopeful lamented that over 80 per cent of indigenes were living in poor conditions without proper homes while a few own estates in parts of the country.
“It is unacceptable that there are people in the state who own estates in various cities, yet there are up to 80 per cent who don’t have a roof over their heads here in Akwa Ibom State. I intend to narrow this gap by creating jobs and giving workers incentives”, she assured, adding that “the gap between the rich and the poor in Akwa Ibom state is very wide and is increasing by the day. It is this disparity that my administration will try to reduce when elected governor of the state.
“My government will take deliberate and conscious steps to increase and strengthen capacity for the working class. We will run an administration where a poor man will be encouraged to rise above his limitations. Labour Party is a party for the working class and down trodden and will continue to support the wishes and aspirations of such people to grow and contribute their quota to the growth of the society by ensuring that their capacities are strengthened”, Esuene stressed.
The Labour Party in Britain, the LP standard bearer said, was created as a result of protests by the working and middle class because of uneven distribution of the common wealth. “So, when I become governor, the Labour Party in Akwa Ibom State will ensure that owing teachers and other workers’ salaries become a thing of the past,” she added.
The senator also promised to provide pipe borne water, invest in agriculture, ensure food security, improve educational facilities, create clusters where artisans and craftsmen will benefit from government’s training and provision of facilities to improve the quality of their products to attract more money.
As part of running an all-inclusive government, Esuene said that professional bodies, religious organisations and traditional rulers would be involved in the administration of the state.
The federal legislator assured that her government would not impose leaders on the people, rather it will allow them elect their leaders and representatives.
She maintained that “holistic human capital development would be on the front-burner of my government with immediate, medium and long term plan. Hard work, creativity and entrepreneurship will be encouraged and appreciated, while government will partner with the key operators in the various economic sectors to develop our inert natural potential for creation of wealth and food security
“It is time to have a feminine touch in the governance of the state. I have been tested and have not been found wanting in carriage and delivery in the various public offices that I have held. I shall manage your funds judiciously. I shall run an inclusive government where men, women, youths, elders, the professionals as well as the traditional institution shall be active players,” Esuene pledged.
