Without being immodest, Godswill Obot Akpabio CON is a household name in present-day Nigeria—both in the homeland and the Diaspora. At 60 years old, it can be rightly said that he came, saw, and is conquering.
Despite his humble background and uncertain future, the ‘little boy’ from Ukana Ikot Ntuen in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State has persevered through life’s challenges to carve out a niche.
Senator Akpabio clearly demonstrates God’s benevolence toward a mortal man. He rose from humble beginnings to become the quintessential personality now coveted by society’s elite.
Despite his very challenging beginning, when getting as low as N10.00 to offset his school fees was very difficult, the support and sacrifice of his late mother, Madam Lucy Obot Akpabio, ensured he graduated from the University of Calabar as a lawyer.
Subsequently, he became one of the Directors at EMIs Communication, a company that introduced wireless telephony, which metamorphosed into the GSM we now enjoy.
His foray into politics can be said to be divinely inspired. As a successful lawyer and businessman who was making waves in Lagos State, he was called from his home state, Akwa Ibom, to take up an appointment as a member of the State Executive Council headed by former Governor Architect Victor Attah.
He accepted the offer because he saw it as an opportunity to contribute his quota to developing his home state. During his over six years of membership in the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council (SEC), he headed three very important ministries and outstandingly made his mark in each of those ministries.
His membership in the SEC undoubtedly provided him with ample opportunities to acquire leadership experiences while gaining firsthand information about the people’s needs and yearnings. Armed with this knowledge, he decided to run for governor when the time was right.
He emerged as the candidate of his political party after a hotly contested primary, defeating over 40 other aspirants for the governorship ticket. He also won the governorship election with a landslide.
Obong Godswill Akpabio assumed office as the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State on May 29th, 2007, and was re-elected in 2011. His eight-year tenure could be described as the state’s golden era. He was highly motivated and zealous for the speedy development of Akwa Ibom State. In one of his public comments, he said, “I am approaching the development of our dear state with anger.”
Akpabio came into office determined to leave Akwa Ibom State better than he met it. Before he left office in 2015, Akwa Ibom was already a positive reference point in the community of states. He built the best stadium in West Africa. The State House of Assembly later christened the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium to recognise his uncommon achievements.
Among many other outstanding achievements during his eight years as governor was the establishment of the e-Library Pipe Jarking Flood control system; he constructed and commissioned the first concentric flyover in the state, thousands of kilometres of roads and the introduction of free, compulsory and qualitative education for all school-age children resident in Akwa Ibom while also ensuring free medical care for pregnant women, children and the aged.
He ensured that the Victor Attah International Airport, which he met at the site-clearing level, became fully functional. Having installed the internationally required landing and lighting system, that airport has one of the longest runways available in Nigeria’s aviation industry. He also witnessed the first landing and take-off of local and international flights before he left office in 2015.
Akwa Ibom State under Akpabio was a massive construction site because of his many development initiatives and policies. Not only so, but he also turned numerous “boys into men” and “girls into women” through multifaceted empowerment and human capital development programmes, having destroyed the house boy/girl syndrome that held sway before his tenure as governor.
The state’s unprecedented development in his eight years as governor earned him the nickname “The Uncommon Transformer.”
In recognition of his scintillating and landmark performance, his people in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District (aka Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District) unanimously agreed to send him to the Nigeria Senate as their representative. His election was in appreciation of his years of selfless service that transformed Akwa Ibom from a mere pedestrian to a destination state in Nigeria.
Despite being a rookie senator in 2015 and because of his outstanding leadership qualities, some rules and protocols of the Red Chamber were automatically suspended to enable his election as the Minority Leader of the Senate and leader of the opposition. Shortly after that election, those rules and protocols were restored with a declaration that such should never be allowed to happen again.
In the Senate, he swiftly adopted a nationalist stance, aligning himself with the people, even against the wishes of his political party. As the leader of the opposition, partisans expected him to stand against anything good or bad brought to the floor of the Senate by the ruling party. But he became the statesman stabiliser of power play in the red chamber, even when there were moves to discredit and bring down the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
In August 2018, Akpabio quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his revered position as opposition leader to team up with President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He, Akpabio, became significantly instrumental in ending the defections of many APC senators to the PDP.
These and many more achievements by Senator Akpabio during his public service career shine brightly as a tribute to his 60 years of God’s grace and purpose-driven life.
Akpabio is a highly detribalised public officer. He pays little or no attention to the state of origin of anyone who crosses his path. It is on record that, as Governor, Senator, and Minister of the Federal Republic, many of his aides come from outside his local government area and state.
In 2019, Akpabio was appointed as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA) by President Muhammadu Buhari. Many positives have accrued to both the MNDA and, by extension, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
First, his work plan was to ensure that the region remained peaceful while stakeholders were frequently engaged in ways to develop the region.
As supervising Minister over the commission, Akpabio ensured that the yet-to-be-inaugurated board of the NDDC met the people’s yearnings and aspirations for effective service dispensation. Under his leadership, the Commission initiated and completed a forensic audit of its activities to strengthen its position. The forensic report has since been submitted to the Federal Government, and some of its recommendations are currently being implemented.
As Minister of the Niger Delta Ministry, Akpabio bequeathed to the region a 13-storey and an eight-storey building at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Fifty-two projects in the nine Niger Delta states were completed and commissioned, including the Police SPU quarters in Port Harcourt and the over-1000 bed-space hostel by the Commission at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, while the electrification project in Ilaje Ese-Odo, Ondo State, was on the verge of completion and inauguration before he voluntarily resigned his position as a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in pursuit of a higher national calling.
Other completed projects under Akpabio’s headship of the Ministry are the Skill Acquisition Centre (SAC) comprising 38 buildings at Agadagba in Ondo State, the cassava processing plant at Usugbene Irrua, Edo State; the health centre at Amauzari community in Isiala Mbano local government area, Imo State; health centre at Odi in Kolokuma/Opokuma local government area of Bayelsa State; land reclamation/erosion control works at Nsit Attai local government area in Akwa Ibom State; health care centre at Eworkpe, Emede in Isoko South local government area of Delta State; Umudike-Umueze-Umuoyere road project (phase 1) in Rivers State; mini water works at Ikot Effiong in Akasoko Clan (Idundu/Anyanganse Ward), Akpabuyo local government area in Cross River State; boreholes and reticulation in Ndulu-Amaoba, Oboro Water Project at Ikwuano local government area in Abia State, among numerous others.
In May 2022, Senator Akpabio voluntarily resigned his ministerial appointment to run for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on his party’s platform, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Just like he sacrificed his revered office of Senate Minority Leader for national unity and peace, Senator Akpabio once again did an uncommon thing—he voluntarily stepped down from the presidential race. He called on all his delegates across the country to vote for Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he described as the man with the requisite mission and vision to succeed the incumbent president and continue from where he would anchor in 2023.
That selfless decision of the former minister no doubt triggered further support for the eventual winner with the mass withdrawal of other aspirants for Tinubu.
Here is wishing the Uko Akwa Ibom a happy 60th birthday and many more fruitful years in good health, enabling him to do more for his people, particularly in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria as a nation.
*Udom is Chief Press Secretary to Senator Godswill Akpabio.
