Excerpts of Pastor Umo Eno’s speech during recent consultation to fathers in Faith
I have been catering for a small Church called All Nation Christian International and today, it has pleased God to bring me from the backside of life, from catering for a small church in Eket to catering for Akwa Ibom State. It is the will of God and it is with all amount of humility that I accept this clarion call that destiny has placed upon me. A time comes in life when destiny calls on you and you cannot say no. I didn’t come to Akwa Ibom to become a Governor of Akwa Ibom State even though I was the governor of Royalty Hotels in Eket which was prophetic. I believe it is the will of God and the destiny that God has assigned me for. All through life, God has already prepared me for a time like this.
I came into Akwa Ibom in 1995 and established Royalty Hotels, we started doing business in 1997 and since then, we’ve seen the hands of God we’ve grown from five rooms we started with to a conglomerate. We have been able to employ over 500 staff and we pay them monthly. Our monthly bill is about N25million
I understand how to start small and I understand how to grow big. So, we are going to help our youths to start small and grow big with whatever they can do with their hands, the mechanics, the artisans, ICT experts, anything they can do with their hands. Just as we started small in our land, not in Lagos, not in Abuja but here in Akwa Ibom state and the result is open for everyone to see. We will build our youths from small to become big. We will do this through SME. We are going to consolidate what the youths are currently doing. We are going to create employment. We are going to create jobs. Small and medium-scale enterprises will begin to spring up in Akwa Ibom. This is a promise to you. The Agric Business sector of the economy will grow. Already, the present administration has done a lot in this sector of the economy but we are going to create a lot of Agric settlements. We are going to do this in all the local governments by developing what we can do best and what God has blessed us with. We have cassava, yam, plantain, etc. we are going to encourage you on a large scale. We are going to do a complete value chain in agriculture. We’ve already compiled the list….
My story may not be that of a man with a huge cv. I grew up as a young little boy in a police barracks living in the community like every other Nigerian. We did not know the ethnic group we come from, when we deal with the Hausas, Yorubas and the Igbos, when we deal with Pastor, Christians, non-Christians, or Moslems. It was a communal environment. That is where I was raised up. I understand the language of Community. I do not have segregation in me. I do not respect where people come from. I do not choose people by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I will be fair to all.
