Patience Umo Eno: Enduring Legacy Of A Golden Mother

Tony Udoh and Gabriel Efo

Death, according to Richard Puz, leaves a heartache no one can heal. This is even more applicable when the deceased, like the departed First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor (Mrs.) Patience Umo Eno, was dearly loved, and passed on at a seemingly young age.

However, Abraham Lincoln, and other philosophers including Adlai Stevenson, Edward J. Stieglitz, and Edward Barrett Warman, succinctly capture it saying, “And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count; it’s the life in your years.”

The news of her sudden and traumatic demise sent unpleasant shivers down the spines of many. It came as a rude shock- a nightmare that felt unreal, leaving her family, loved ones and indeed the entire state in a state of crushing sadness, aching sense of emptiness and despair.

As rightly acknowledged by different sympathisers both within and outside the state, Pastor Patience Eno was a visionary leader, a committed Christian and a devoted philanthropist, always beaming with smiles. While her demise leaves an immense void, her remarkable achievements and selfless spirit will continue to inspire and uplift this generation and the ones to come.

While holding sway as the state’s First Lady, Pastor Patience Eno served with compassion, empathy and focus, leaving positive impacts on the lives of many. Her generosity, wisdom, and infectious enthusiasm was very inspiring.

This article highlights some of the impacts she made in her short reign as wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Being her first public function, the First Lady, on Saturday, July 15, 2023, gathered hundreds of youths from across the state at the Government House Banquet Hall, Uyo, for a seminar on entrepreneurial success.

The event was not only to mark the 2023 World Youth Skills Day, but also the First Lady’s way of encouraging entrepreneurship amongst young people in line with the ARISE Agenda, the policy document of the present administration.

Again, in what many described as the Queen’s visit, the First Lady, on Saturday, July 22, 2023, paid an unscheduled visit to the post natal ward of St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, where she reached out to nursing mothers and their babies with financial support and gifts.

Not only did the Governor’s wife share cash and gift items to the new mothers, she also offered to clear the medical bills of those whose stay in the hospital were unnecessarily extended for failure to settle their accumulated medical bills.

“I was hopeless. I didn’t know where such money was going to come from. I am a stylist but I don’t have a shop. My husband is a keke operator. We have been going through hard times. It was difficult to raise such amount of money. I thank Her Excellency for coming to the hospital and I thank her for her love and kindness to me. May God bless and keep her,” Mrs. Emem Emmanuel, one of the beneficiaries, had said.

On Friday, August 4, 2023, Pastor Patience Umo Eno, gathered nursing and expectant mothers at the Government House Banquet Hall, for a one-day workshop on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding. The event was to mark the United Nation’s 2023 World Breastfeeding Week with the theme ‘Enabling Breastfeeding: Making A Difference for Working Parents’.

The Governor’s wife took advantage of the opportunity to give out cash and gift packs to the participating nursing and expectant mothers.

The Conference Hall of the Pope John Paul Family Life Centre/VVF Hospital, Mbribit Itam, on Friday, September 1, 2023, was filled with somber faces while one Blessing Ekanem, a young girl who suffered from obstetrics injuries and in admission at the hospital, told her story.

Pastor Patience Eno, in company of female political leaders, had visited the health facility to present medical equipments to the hospital on behalf of the Esop Ibaan Akwa Ibom, Dallas, USA.

Twenty-year-old Blessing told the visitors how she got pregnant at the tender age of 13 and the ensuing ordeal of enduring through seven re-constructive surgical operations in the last seven years. In tears, the young girl said that she was still not fit and needed more help.

Moved by compassion, the Governor’s wife offered to take care of all the medical expenses required for a complete operation. She also extended the goodwill to others with similar challenges in the hospital.

The First Lady also visited juvenile offenders in the custody of the Childrens Correctional Centre where erring juveniles are camped for rehabilitation and re-integration into the society, as well as the Divine Children’s home. At both places, she took out time to share words of encouragement with the children there and also distributed food items and other gifts to them.

The Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), pet project of the First Lady was launched on February 20, 2024, with eight thematic areas including; Maternal and Child healthcare, Enhancing literacy and learning, Improving environment health, Women empowerment, Fight against disease, Care for elderly, Care for persons living with disabilities and Gender-based violence prevention and response.

Under Maternal and Child Healthcare, 163 mothers and 257 children were touched by either financial support or free medical care.

Under Enhancing literacy and learning, 12,000 students/pupils in 99 schools across the state were given free school uniforms, sandals, books and other learning materials.

Through the Women Empowerment thematic area, 250 widows were empowered with business grants and starter packs.

Under Fight Against Diseases, the Governor’s wife, through GIFA sponsored health awareness across the state. It is worthy of note that during one of the health outreaches, a young boy who was very ill was rescued and taken to the hospital where he was treated. Today, the boy is back on his feet and in school.

GIFA also led awareness against gender based violence in churches and schools across the state. Two families that were in shambles were rescued in the process.

The Governor’s wife gave financial support to people living with disability in the state.

The First Lady, through her pet project built and commission a processing mill in Ini Local Government Area for a family as well as executed a water project in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.

Under Care For Elderly, over 4,000 senior citizens in the state have so far benefited from the Arise Initiative for the Elderly, a programme designed to cater for elderly people through cash support and free medical care.

Though she passed on at the age of 57, it is not the years in her life that count here; the life in her years is counting, will continue to count and remain indelible in the anals of history.

Pastor Patience Eno’s remarkable life serves as a testament to the power of dedication, compassion, and kindness. May her philanthropic efforts continue to uplift and empower those in need and may her legacy inspire many to strive for greatness.

.Udoh and Efo wrote from Uyo, Akwa Ibom