Dignified Exit for Umo Eno Cabinet – THISDAYLIVE

By Anietie Usen

The atmosphere in the Exco Chambers was festive. If there was any feeling of trepidation, it was not visible. What was glaring was a team of commissioners and other cabinet members pumping hands, backslapping, hugging, laughing out loud, and posing for photographs in groups of five, 10, 25, and more or less.

It was a celebratory mood and ambience to admire. No tension whatsoever. All Cabinet members were well-dressed in suits and gowns of many colours. The commissioner of Works and Fire Service, Professor Eno Ibanga, stood out with his white suit and white shirt and a mixed grey and white tie to match. The scene was a replica of the send-off party of school days where students are recognised and celebrated for their excellence and achievements, with a crowd of State House photographers jostling for the best possible shots.

The tempo of the photo shoots rose to a new level when the deputy governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, stepped in to join the photo ops. There was no doubt this class of Exco members were satisfied with the service they had rendered to the State, some dating back to a decade in the cabinet of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

At 12:12 noon on the dot, Governor Umo Eno himself stepped into the Exco Chambers. Everywhere went quiet as Exco members hurried back to their seats. A hush enveloped the Chambers. The atmosphere became subdued. The noise faded away.

The National Anthem took over, followed by the Akwa Ibom State Anthem:[”Let us rise Akwa Ibom State to the faith of greatness…Forward ever! Backward never! Serve the land with unity and love”].

Before the Exco members took their seats, the Governor handpicked Dr. Mrs. Enobong Mbobo, the Commissioner for Water Resources and Sanitation, to say the opening prayer. A young woman with a shining pentecostal upbringing and pedigree, whose father was also a Commissioner during Governor Victor Attah’s Administration, Mbobo did not disappoint. The only thing she left out of her prayers was to speak in tongues. Anyway, “nothing spoil,” as they say it in the local parlance.

All was now set for Governor Eno to dissolve the cabinet. That the cabinet would be dissolved this afternoon was not a surprise to anyone. The Governor, in the last Exco meeting held on December 30, 2024, had dropped more than a hint to that effect. Reaching out to the slender tabletop microphone on his Exco Chamber table, the Governor first joked about the unusually large number of stick microphones of media houses on his table. Prominent were microphones of ARISE NEWS, TVC, AIT, Channels TV, NTA, AKBC, ADBN, Planet Radio, to mention a few.

Then the Governor doubled down with another joke.” Okay, I am changing my mind now. I am not dissolving the cabinet again”, he said to the laughter of all that were in the Exco chamber. Thereafter, he began to address the issue at stake squarely.

It is one issue that had dogged his steps right from his first day in office, 20 or so months ago, on May 29, 2023. He had even been roundly criticised, especially by the political class, for not appointing a new cabinet but relying on the cabinet and boards of his predecessor for too long.

But Governor Eno is a wise, very deliberate and very considerate man. He kept reminding his known and unknown critics that the same cabinet stood by him and worked hard for him during his governorship campaign and it was not fair to remove them so quickly instead of rewarding them after he ascended the throne.

From that point, he, as a Pastor, began to pray for the best way forward, deserving of men and women who were also his friends and colleagues in the cabinet of Udom Emmanuel, when he was the Commissioner of Lands.

Today, January 10, 2025, one year, seven months and 12 days after he became the governor, Pastor Umo Eno gave his inherited cabinet a dignified exit.
“We are having a valedictory Exco today and then we’ll have a valedictory dinner in the evening for this Executive Council”, he said in his opening sentence.

“Government is a continuum…One of the things we have decided to do differently is to be more decent. Usually, people hear it on the radio that the Executive Council has been sacked or dissolved, but I feel that this Exco is my Exco, too. They are my brothers. They are my sisters. They are my friends, and if we have succeeded at all, these Exco members in this Chamber have contributed to that success. So I feel we should honour them” he said.

Then he made what was probably one of his strongest statements of the historic occasion. “If it were on the basis of non-performance, I will tell you the truth, none of these Commissioners would go. They all have done well, and that’s why the ARISE Agenda has succeeded”, he said.

However, he went ahead to explain and justify his decision to dissolve the cabinet, speaking albeit in parables. “Any good coach will, in the course of a football match, change some players because he is preserving them for a bigger match day ahead and doesn’t want them to get injured”.

According to the Governor, every important league match has a season. The season must come to an end. Another season would begin. The team, old and new, must keep playing so that the entire team can do well, stay on top of the league table, and win the championship for all their support base.

“We know that by the grace of God, they [outgoing commissioners] are all still part of the government, and I will continue to work with them in different capacities. I trust also that anytime any of them is called upon as a citizen of the State to render any service, they will be able to render such service with all of their heart”, the Governor said in what is regarded as one of the best soft landings of public officials in the State.

Strikingly, the motion to dissolve the Executive Council was moved by one of the outgoing commissioners and supported by another outgoing commissioners.

It all boils down to the total surprise that Pastor Umo Eno has turned out to be as a Governor. He is politically savvy, even in his track record in leadership recruitment.

Three of the former Commissioners spoke later that night at the Valedictory Dinner. They were Monday Ebong Uko, the former Dean of Commissioners, Ini Ememobong, the erudite former Commissioner of Information and Ini Adiàkpan, the irrepressible Commissioner of Women Affairs. They all spoke in glowing terms about Governor Eno.

Said Ememobong: “Your Excellency, you have brought honour to us in a way that has moved us all to tears”.

It is expected that some of the old cabinet members would make the list of the new cabinet, while others will fit into various departments and agencies of government based specifically on areas of their core competencies.

☆Anietie Usen is a multiple award winning journalist.