Umo Eno’s Happy Hour: When Valentine Came Early

Aniefiok Macauley

Except for close friends and associates, many do not know where he resides in Uyo. On a daily basis, he treks from his house to a location to catch up a keke.

Somewhere around Ibom Plaza, he stops, takes a walk and waits at the side of the ever busy entrance to Wellington Bassey Way where phones of different types and accessories are on display for sale.

He then takes a bus to drop him at the judiciary headquarters and treks through the entrance gate of the Government House main gate before the eagle eyed security operatives to his destination in the office of the Secretary to State Government.

Like Bambulu in the play “This is our Chance” who without a laboratory produced vaccine for snakebites through his inventive genius, he has no car of his own, but drives the bests of luxury cars, mostly brand new with legendary professionalism of a Chauffeur.

With all humility and decency, he has, over the years “chauffeured” important visitors from the Victor Attah International Airport to Government House and back to the airport and would wait till the last of such a visitor has boarded the aircraft.

Owing to his dedication to duty and approach to what he knows how to do best, the man whose name is Ubong Udoaka met his day of glory on February 6, when he “Arose” to a rapturous recognition and applause by no less a personality than the man that could aptly be described as Mr. Compassionate, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, Ph.D, Governor of Akwa Ibom State when he emerged the Best Civil Servant in the office of the SSG.

Apart from a receipt of one million naira, the governor added a brand new car to him. Besides, if he had any doubt about his ability of how he would be fueling the car, that fear was immediately allayed by his council chairman, Hon Gideon Uwa who pledged to fuel the car for one year. To Ubong, no Valentine’s gift would have been greater than this.

Ubong was not the only one who was drenched by the ‘rain’ of blessing of that day. A day before February it rained and thundered in far away Delta, Edo and Rivers States but without a drop at least in the beautiful capital city of Uyo.

The rainfall we lacked on the 5th of February came in much impactful style , form and manner when governor Umo Eno sent down the financial rain on the roof of 400 Female youths with N300 million , N25 million to 50 winners of Arise home Farms, N32 million to 32 winners of Best Civil Servants, N20 million to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize placed winners of the 2024 Governor’s Cup competition as well N155 million to 31 Local Government Areas who participated in the 2024 Christmas Unplugged 2.0 celebration.

Governor Umo Eno, in his remarks at the event tagged “Nite of Grants and Empowerments” held at the 20000 capacity amphitheatre at the Unity Park, explained that the event underscored his administration’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship, food security through agricultural ventures, celebrate excellence, passion for good works and the spirit of healthy competition among Akwa Ibom people in their various fields of endeavours.

The Governor stressed that his administration remains committed to gradually moulding and building Akwa Ibom into a destination of choice saying, “We are gathered to reaffirm commitment to food security and agricultural sustainability through our various initiatives.

“We are gathered to empower and encourage small and Medium scale enterprises, ensuring they leverage their skills and creativity to stimulate economic growth and personal development.

“We are here to celebrate passion, excellence and the spirit of healthy competition, whether through sports, service delivery or entrepreneurship. Tonight, we are here to celebrate what Happy Hour represents: rewards for hardworking, talent, creativity and industry. When you put in the work, you should also take the time to celebrate your effort.

“We are here to celebrate a milestone for our young female youths that have have just graduated from the Leadership and Entrepreneurial school. You have always been our cheer leaders, but tonight we are your cheerleaders. That’s why we are here tonight. We are here to celebrate that.

“We are here to celebrate Akwa Ibomites. We are here to celebrate you who have decided to arise to our call that everyone can own a farm, even if it is a home garden,” the governor said.

The Governor further assured that his administration will not relent in his effort at making the people the centre of governance, upholding the principles of accountability and probity and ensuring transparency, inclusivity and fairness in implementation of policies and programmes.

“We are a peaceful, hospitable and blessed State with one of the finest cuisines in the nation. Our road network is among the best in the country and our Ibom Air continues to set a standard in aviation excellence. So we invite the world to come, invest, live and thrive in our State,” Governor Eno said.

To Idongesit Bassey Edet, one of the Female Youth Beneficiaries, “ it is only God that can bless Governor Umo Eno for remembering someone like her.”
According to her “where would I have gotten money to pay for that kind of Entrepreneurship training?
“ We were taught how to manage ourselves and our businesses, we were also trained on basic book keeping and customer satisfaction”.

On what she intends to do with the grant of N750,000, she said “ I am a tailor, I will expand my business by buying more sewing accessories and materials for sales to make more profit.

Another Beneficiary from Itu Local Government Area, Dorcas Nsima Eniang , a caterer said the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme afforded her the knowledge of both personal and product branding to attract customers.

She said she will use her grant to open a restaurant where she would employ two or people and continue from there. Eniang further prayed for the governor for long life and more money to replenish where he got the money from to give the grants.

While setting the tone for the event, the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Enobong Uwah said when the governor promised a Happy Hour during the campaigns, many misinterpreted it to mean sitting in bars and beer parlours to drink to stupor. He noted that the event was a celebration of entrepreneurship, skills and innovation. Like Uwah said, the sentiment echoes “Let the Happy Hour begin”.

Macauley, a journalist writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State