Akwa Ibom SSG, Umana Okon Umana in a unique face-to-face meeting with facebook friends, likens succession politics to a game of football

                               The SSG, Mr. Umana Okon Umana addressing his facebook friends

By Nse Peter

The Secretary to the Government of Akwa Ibom State (SSG), Mr. Umana Okon Umana spent more than five hours in the evening of last Saturday, 23 Feb, holding a novelty face-to-face interactive meeting with his facebook friends, mostly youths from different parts of Akwa Ibom State.

The meeting which took place at the Banquet Hall, EMJMM Hotel & Suites in Uyo, arranged under the platform of Friends of Umana Okon Umana On Facebook, was chaired by a media guru from Akwa Ibom State, Akparawa Michael Bush. Mr. Henry Akpabio is the co-ordinator of the group.

Senator Anietie Okon, Sir Val Attah, the international president of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Mkparawa Nse Ubeh, the NLC chairman in Akwa Ibom State, Comrade Unyime Usoro were among the dignitaries at the event.

                                                                The crowd at the event


Umana Okon Umana who was obviously amazed by the over 3,000 capacity crowd within and outside the hall, seemed very much at home. He smiled, shook hands and had close chats with some of the youths, before settling down to answer questions from them on the affairs of government in the state.

“The administration of Governor Godswill Akpabio is doing much to tackle the infrastructure question which is the very foundation to industrial development and wealth creation; for instance, without access road to where Sunshine (Battery Industry) is, you can’t start talking about reactivating it,” the SSG explained, when asked about what the state government was doing about job creation.

The SSG told the youth that he was excited to meet face-to-face with them for the first time, though he has been interacting with them online. “What an honour to have such committed and patriotic friends as you all,” he quipped.

He advised the youths to show commitment and try as much as possible to make positive difference wherever they are given any responsibility, whether in schools, work places, church, family or government, as that is the mark of leadership. “In Akwa Ibom today, we can talk about so much difference that the current administration is making, and that is leadership,” says Umana Okon Umana.

Umana Okon Umana refused to answer questions about 2015 politics in state, as he kept telling the youths that the evening was completely a social one, until one Akrasi Ukpo from Ibeno stood up to say that he believes Umana was the best person to take over from Governor Akpabio in 2015, but that he (Akrasi Ukpo) needed strong reasons to go back home and promote Umana against an Ibeno man who is seeking to become governor.

“I haven’t declared that I’ll run for governorship in 2015. But since like other sons of Akwa Ibom, I also have the right to comment on topical issues, let me give you my perspective,” the SSG said.

“If the Akwa Ibom Project were to be a football team, and our captain was Gov. Godswill Akpabio, and I was one of the experienced players who always made the first team, and I played in the mid-field. I always positioned myself to receive passes and to give passes to our captain to score goals. Now, if our captain has to be pulled out for whatever reason, will he take the captain arm-band and give it to someone among the spectators? Of course, he will give it to another experienced player in the field. So, if that experienced player is me and should the arm-band come to me, would I say ‘no’?”

And the enthusiastic crowd responded with thunderous cheers and clapping of hands. It was a standing ovation for Umana Okon Umana.