A KING AND A PRIEST

Udom Emmanuel waxes spiritual as he inaugurates the PDP Governorship Campaign Council in Uyo

Every single speech that you would have wanted to hear from me today has been delivered by the PDP Governorship Candidate, Pastor Umo Eno. I am therefore here strictly for a serious spiritual exercise and I need your rapt attention.

If you have ever wanted something good for this State, I think you will listen to me attentively. I would not have suspended every national engagement that I had to be here today if this event was not important even to generations of Akwa Ibom yet unborn. The problem we are having in Nigeria today is that we have always ignored the foundation of issues and expect that we can build something on nothing and expect it to stand. So this is an occasion to lay a foundation that is very significant. But before I go any further, let me appreciate the presence of our Deputy Governor, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, our governorship candidate and his running mate, our party chairman and all our distinguished senators, our entire party structure, members of the National Assembly and our elders. I am so grateful to be here and what trips me most is that this is the creme de la creme of politics in Akwa Ibom State.

Let me now begin by saying that I concur on everything the incoming governor has said. Some investors spoke to me recently (I think the SSG was there with me) and I said to them: the person coming after me is 100 times better than me. I believe that by now, those who did not believe before are beginning to believe that the person coming after me is 100 times better than me. I’m not saying so as flattery; I am saying so because I know what I am saying is true. Let me also say here that only 11 people go to play for a team in a football match…So, please let those who were not selected into this campaign council and committees show some understanding and recognize that it is totally impracticable to put everybody in the campaign council and committee…Let’s move in the spirit of sportsmanship that only 11 footballers can come out to play but trust me…we will get the support of 7.9 million Akwa Ibom people…for the benefit of the people.

Standing here, I am not going to speak any word of my own…Every single word I am going to speak will not come from me but will come from the leadership book that we all have. The first point I want to make is in Joel 3:9-10 (Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong!). That is what we are doing here…If you also check what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 8:16, he said: “Thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus the same concern for you”. This is the same concern I have for the people of Akwa Ibom State. Thanks be to God who put into the heart of all Akwa Ibomites that same concern for the generation yet unborn…that yes, we all rose up to build a stronger and more sustainable economy for our people and above all, we all rose to maintain peace in our land.

 I also want to assure our people that we can never ever be shaken, which is also what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3. He said that: “Ye be not shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (That day is 2023 when the entire Akwa Ibom will vote for the PDP). Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition”. No such (son of perdition) shall govern our State, except (the one chosen) by the inspiration of the Almighty God.

Let me also assure the entire campaign structure, especially the leadership of the campaign, that if you check in Isaiah 29:22, it says: “Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.” DG of Campaigns, it is not now that we can be ashamed. PDP has never been ashamed in Akwa Ibom. Is it now? Is it during your time as a council member? God forbid! It is not possible, not in your time. And I want to say as a prayer also, that in Gen. 24:12 (in the New Living Translation):  “And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.” That is our prayer as we inaugurate this campaign council. We join our hearts and voices to say: “Oh Lord God of our master Abraham, please give us success”, because no matter what we do…the Bible says “by strength shall no man prevail”. It is only God that can give us success.

I want to reassure you and pray that no matter what happens, God will give us success. I will end my prayer for you as a Campaign Council in Psalm 66:3. It says “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.” Through the greatness of God’s powers shall our enemies submit themselves to us. I pray that as we have inaugurated the council today, everybody will go to work.

 I want to also appreciate the comment made by the DG that the campaign shall be issue-based. All those who know me very well know that I have never mentioned any other political party on a platform by name. You will never hear me both at the state and national level do that. I have never stood on the political platform to mention anybody’s name. The issue is not about that person. The issue is about what we are after and that is the soul of Akwa Abasi Ibom State. Mentioning that person’s name can only make that person popular for nothing. There is nothing that person can do. It doesn’t work that way. The Bible says “many are the devices in a man’s heart but nevertheless, it is the council of the Lord that shall stand. The battle is not for the strong nor the race for the swift…It is not of him that runners nor willeth but it is God who shows mercy. So, it doesn’t add any value mentioning any opponent on the podium during your campaigns. Stay away from all that. Face the issues. Tell the people what you are going to do to move this State forward? That is what we should concentrate on. How are you going to build on what we have on the ground already?

 I playfully told someone today during a discussion that KE MMÖNG ANEM KE CUP (water is only ‘sweet’ in a cup).

 The day you are thrown into the river, you will discover that water is something else…It is easy to criticize …and make campaign promises.

But when it comes to public service, when it comes to governance, it is completely a different thing altogether…This thing goes beyond noise-making…Someone should be able to tell you “I have run a shop successfully before you offer him a multinational company to run. This is because the principles of management are the same. Well, it is not me that should determine that but if God says that this is the man we should give the ticket to, who am I to say no… So, I must yield to the will of God because this thing you call power, you cannot determine who God wants to give it to.

Please, let us see how we can join hands together and see how we can move forward. Going backwards does not bring any progress. It is going forward that brings progress; forward ever and backward never. I stand here once again to bless this campaign council that you will succeed. God will be with you. There will be no motor accident. May there not be any bad news. May there be no evil report. The God that has assigned us will go with us. We pray that God will go before us. He will go behind us. He will be with us. He will lead us. As we have started today by reading and activating His Word, may God watch over His Word to perform it; in the Name of God the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Excerpts from Governor Emmanuel’s speech