COMPASSION AS A LAW

Akwa Ibom State government is giving significant attention to the care of the old, writes ANIETIE USEN

One of my best known mentors is Ray Ekpu, the renowned international journalist and 1987 World Editor of the Year. He is 76 years old now but still flourish with the memory of an elephant. 

I honour this man and his legendary friends, Dele Giwa, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed, who left indelible marks in the sands of global journalism. I have written quite a bit about them in my book AUDACIOUS JOURNALISM (2018, 706 pages) which is my definition of the brand of journalism that the rare quartet introduced in Nigeria with their iconic Newswatch Magazine. 

Recently, Ray Ekpu returned to Nigeria from Canada where, like most elite senior citizens, he went to rest his head at the insistence of his children. A natural storyteller, he told me a particularly heart warming story of his encounter in Canada that stirred my emotions. 

According to Ray, as he is fondly called by many, he felt ill in Canada and had to visit a hospital. On arrival, looking frail, he was asked how old he is and he said 76. To his surprise, he was told he did not have to pay a dime for medical consultations. For his age, medical consultation, whether you are a citizen or not, is free of charge. His mind raced back to Akwa Ibom, his home State in Nigeria, where Governor Umo Eno, has demonstrated an unNigerian passion for the care of the aged, sick and weak senior citizens. 

Ray Ekpu himself had experienced this Governor’s passion for compassion first hand in 2023. He had been ill for a while that year. One day, he had a phone call from a strange caller. The caller said his name was Dr. Ekemini John. Next he said he is the Personal Physician to Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State. The next information amazed the legendary editor. The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the caller said, heard somewhere that the editor was ill and had directed him, the Personal Physician, to fly to Lagos to see him and evaluate the state of health of the man who once made Nigerians proud with his pen. 

Said Ray Ekpu to me on that gesture: “This is a man that I had never met. He had never seen me but had compassion on me as an elderly man who had contributed a bit to our country and sent his Personal Physician to me. Oh My God. I fought back tears without success”. The incident left a lingering impression on the iconic editor. “Why this governor has impressed me endlessly is that he approaches development issues so differently in a humane way that is very unusual in our climate”. 

Ray Ekpu is not alone in his perception and impressions about Governor Eno. Last week Nigeria’s No.1 Media empire, owners of THISDAY Newspaper and ARISE TV, crowned Governor Eno as Nigeria’s Governor of the Year. The event was the forth similar awards within a few weeks from various nationally respected media authorities including the Leadership Newspaper, the New Telegraph Newspaper and the National Office of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos. 

It all boiled down to Governor Eno’s trademark empathy and compassion for the weak and poor; and his deep connection to the plight of the long suffering rural folks that bear the brunt of chronic leadership failure in Nigeria. He is, by any stretch of imagination, a Governor unusual, a creative leader, thinker and doer, whose innovative ideas, unique problem-solving skills has inspired the oil rich State on the Atlantic shores of Nigeria. 

In only 20 months as Governor, Pastor Eno has raised the issue of care for the aged, weak and poor to a height unheard of in Nigeria. He inherited N90 Billion of unpaid gratuities owed to aged, retired government workers. He hit his table and said the last person that should be owed due entitlements is a retiree. To date, he has paid out N47 Billion of gratuities, pension arrears and leave grants to retired primary school teachers, retired local government workers and retired state civil servants. 

In line with his economic blueprint known as ARISE Agenda, Governor Eno has undertaken to construct 400 homes for the homeless senior citizens in their respective villages. Nseabasi Umoekpo, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Humanitarian Affairs has already showcased to journalists 174 such homes, known as ARISE Compassionate Homes (ACH). 

The ACH consists of two furnished bedroom apartments, equipped with solar-powered electricity and boreholes for clean, steady and constant water supply. Ekerete Udoh, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor said each Compassionate Home is constructed at the “gross cost of ₦25 million, which includes VAT at 7.5% and WHT at 3.5%”. Hitherto homeless beneficiaries are further given N500,000 as seed funds to start petty trading in their rural communities, Udoh said. 

One of the beneficiaries of the Compassionate Homes is Bernard Asuquo, a 62- year- old, rural farmer with a festering leg injury. He was so poor, he was living in the village church with his four malnourished children in Atan Nto Abodom village, Mbiaso in Ikot Ekpene LGA. His wife had deserted him and he was practically at the edge of giving up on life. Then stepped Governor Eno into the scene during one of his trips into the hinterland. 

“I was heartbroken when I saw that man…I couldn’t just leave him in that same condition that I met him… I believe I was sent by God to the rural and weak people in this State”, the Governor told me. For Bernard Asuquo, the beneficiary, his rapid transformation was a miracle he had never dreamed of. “Sometimes I close my eyes and open it again to be sure I am not dreaming of this house… What did Akwa Ibom do to deserve this rare type of Governor?” he asked rhetorically. 

There is also a monthly Arise Elderly Party where 600 senior citizens drawn from all the 31 LGAs of the State are feted in the Banquet Hall of the Government House, given some basic health checks and N50, 000 allowance each. Governor Eno’s campaign to show compassion is waged on multiple fronts, for indigenes and non-indigenes alike, across political party lines. Youths, market women, street traders, disabled and the handicapped are all targets and beneficiaries of Governor Eno’s compassion. 

Two weeks ago, the Governor upped the ante on the care for the elderly. He laid the foundation for the ARISE SENIOR CITIZEN CENTRE, an ultra modern complex located on the State’s new Medical Corridor and designed as a recreation spot for senior citizens to mingle, enjoy, laugh, and thrive. The Centre comprises of 13 sections and a serene, picturesque landscape. 

The design comes with three warm and cozy lobbies for hearty welcomes; two recreational lounges for lively relaxation and conversation; a library with computer and internet access where book lovers among the old-times will connect electronically with their loved ones; the activity and recreational rooms; a chapel and counselling room; the chaplain’s office; arts and game rooms for board games and card games, where friendly competitions will thrive and laughters will be endless: fitness and wellness section that will ensure everyone stays as fit as possible. 

Other sections of the Centre include a clinic that will prioritize the health needs of the elderly; a supermarket for convenient shopping; a massive kitchen and a dining area, not to forget the multipurpose hall, a vibrant space for celebrations and dancing to the old school tunes. 

The Governor said the Centre is the brainchild of his late wife, Pastor Patience Eno, but unlike the European spec of Senior Citizens’ home, the Akwa Ibom model will not be residential because “we love to keep and care for our dear parents close enough in our homes”.

There is yet another dimension of care for the elderly, when they are gathered during the Christmas season for a very entertaining “Evening of Grannies”. During Christmas and Easter holidays too, Governor Eno compels political appointees and senior civil servants to return to their communities and care for the less privileged. “Go, show some compassion to the needy in your locality. Do your own little bit where you are. It is those little bits put together that will make the State a better place”, the Governor usually pleads. 

When he turned 60 last April, his first birthday as governor, he demanded all his supporters and friends who had birthday gifts for him to visit elders at home, orphanages and hospitals with the gifts and send him pictures of their donation. Some hospital wards and orphanages in the State were flooded with food items, dresses and medicinals as never before. 

“To all intent and purpose, this man is a humane leader who has turned compassion into the policy of his government” Nseabasi Udoeyo, a Ph.D student in the University of Uyo, said. To pursue that policy, he established the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in September 2024. 

But at the rate Governor Eno is pursuing, emphasising and prioritising inclusivity, empathy and compassion for the majority poor, Akwa Ibom State may be heading for an executive Bill in the parliament that seeks to make compassion a law of the land.

 Usen is a multiple award winning journalist and author