2023: ‘Pastor Umo Eno Came Prepared’- Former Council Boss
Former Chairman of Ikono Local Government Area, Hon. Itoro Columba, has said that the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, has the disposition of one who is better prepared to be governor in 2023.
Hon. Columba, who is PDP’s flag bearer for the House of Assembly seat for Ikono State Constituency said this, Wednesday, September 28, 2022, when he featured as guest on Peace Voice, a Maintain Peace Movement (MPM) sponsored programme on Inspiration 105.9 FM, in Uyo.
The former council boss, while being quizzed by host of the programme, Mr. Ekomobong Peter, noted that Pastor Eno is the answer to the prayers of those who yearned for a home-grown governor and one who understands the plight of the people.
“When you translate ‘Dakada’ to English, it means ‘Arise’. It is more divine than a coincidence that we are on the verge of having a governor who is going to leverage on the Dakada philosophy with a different acronym. This time it is Arise.
“Pastor Umo Bassey Eno has decided to put all of those areas of deliverables that he intends to bring to the table for Akwa Ibom people into the Arise Agenda. It speaks to the fact that this is a man who has come prepared,” he noted.
While stressing the need for the reengineering of the minds of young people in the state, Hon. Columba charged the youths to find something doing to put food on their tables irrespective of how small.
In his words; “I was Chairman of Council and I know some women that I gave N20,000 seed money to and it is amazing how they have transformed that little money. That’s the same amount of money that someone can finish in a single drinking spree. That’s why the Ibom Ignite Conference is really germane. We need to reengineer the mindset of our young people.
“I remember I used to do a number of empowerment programmes. We used to identify passion, we train you on the skills that you have passion for before we could kit you with some starter packs. With all that we went through, you realise that when you present starter packs to some people,they sell them off at giveaway prices.”
In a similar vein, a legal practitioner, Barr. Ewa Okpo, lamented that some young persons in the state have abandoned the honourable path of hard work and embraced idleness.
He said; “when we say Arise, we are not saying arise and go into crime. We are saying arise and do something for yourself. If you think government does not care, do something, challenge government and see if government will not surprise you.”
Barr. Okpo, a staunch supporter of Pastor Eno who is also an entrepreneur, said that people sometimes make it difficult for government to assist them as they do not have anything doing.
“At least I have been in government circle for about 10 years now and I have seen that government can be sometimes helpless. They want to help people but they don’t know how to go about it. We had this challenge when we used to do PDP Business Quest. You give people money and go back 5 months later and you won’t see anything,” he said.
