Benjamin Okoko - The People's Governor By Dan Etokidem
It has been famously observed that people make history but not under the circumstances of their choice. To this must be added the fact that peculiar circumstances always throw up peculiar individuals to do the bidding of history.
No one will deny the fact that more than ever before, Akwa Ibom is at a very delicate crossroads. New faces, confident and charismatic leaders are desperately needed to salvage the state. This is where Hon Benjamin Okoko comes in, a Governorship aspirant whose ambition to lead us come 2015 is like a hurricane fire sweeping through the caribbean coast line with unprecedented and enthusiastic optimism from all Akwa Ibom people.
Urbane and quietly cultivated, Benjamin Okoko, a man of amazing grace and courtly civility has been under intense pressure to throw his hat into the ring for quite sometime now. After many months of a search for a suitable successor, the people have finally said, yes, at last, here is a champion they can follow into battle and be assured he would not sell them to either save his skin, or to serve his political pleasures.
No people have ever forged ahead without first understanding their problems and envisioning a desirable future and, armed with a confidence borne out of self-knowledge, create meaningful and lasting ways for themselves. As the 2015 elections draw near, it is an indisputable fact that the expectations of Akwa Ibom people are very high, yet the limitations are monumental. This is where sagacity comes in.
If we must avoid a situation we get a grossly ill-equipped and manifestly unprepared to govern us, we must as a matter of urgency, embrace and rally round the Benjamin Okoko's candidacy which is a unifying force and binding pillar. Unarguably, he symbolises once again, the triumph of good over evil,truth over falsehood, reason over folly, popularity over impunity, and above all, the people's power. With Benjamin as Governor, Akwa Ibom people are rest assured that there is hope. This is so because light will replace darkness, truth will replace propaganda,justice will prevail, tribalism will be banished,leaders will be accountable to the people, the leaders will be under subjection to lead by example, our graduates will find jobs irrespective of where they come from or who they know, quota will give way to merit and brain-drain will give way to brain-training. We have to reconcile reason with truth so that the argument that will follow may be truth and just.
If vibrancy, foresightedness, popularity and other charismatic qualities used in choosing a leader is to be sort, then Benjamin Okoko is the best answer for the state come 2015. In 1999, it was Benjamin marching to victory at the PDP primary. He was persuaded by the people through his party to allow Uyo Senatorial district complete their term. He obeyed promptly,cheerfully and willingly to the admiration and consternation of many. That singular act catapulted him to the height of a true statesman. What the temporary disappointment did not take away from him was his patriotism,his good intention for his people and his commitment to the realisation of the Akwa Ibom project under Governor Attah whom he gave all the support he could, unlike some politicians who would have taken a political matter emanating from the primary to court for legal interpretation. He simply accepted his fate, believing that destiny can only be delayed but certainly cannot be denied. This is a great lesson to the younger generation. He had the right to still run for Governor then but he also realised he also must exhibit the honour to step down as requested for the sake of the greater good.
History teaches us that only a few people, sometimes just an individual is needed to change the course of direction of humanity. Today, Benjamin Okoko has become the most coverted bride sought by all stakeholders as the state search for the People's Governor enters a final lap. Truth is like oil,no matter how much water you pour on it, it will always float. As we approach 2015, we need men of stature to rise to power and help harness and harvest the visions of the founding fathers and the demands and ambitions of the present and future. The key ingredient necessary to sustain democracy and engender peace and stability requires leaders to understand and canonise their people's manifest destiny,inspire and imbue the populace with a sense of mission, and establish a long bridge between the noble past, a great present and a lofty future. Benjamin on his part has responded with courage and tenacity to this clarion call. As a visionary leader, Benjamin has a vision of the manifest destiny of the state and is ready to place himself in a position to bond with that vision, and be in turn ennobled by that vision and destiny. This is a man whose philosophy is premised on the belief like Martin Luther rightly observed that an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. This explains his selfless and detribalised disposition.
Benjamin Okoko sees politics as service and not about amassing wealth. "Men like Ahmadu Bello, Awolowo, Ghandi, Mandela, Azikiwe, Nkurumah, are noted more for what they did for humanity than for the wealth they accumulated",he will readily admonish.
The time has therefore come for us to look not mournfully into the past, it returns no more. Let us instead wisely improve the present, and go forth into the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart, believing in the vision and dreams of Benjamin Okoko to take us to where we want to be. He knows the hills and have gone through the valley and is acquainted with the challenges and therefore ready to take us to the promised land. This is a man who has a clear idea of what he wants and believes others should come round to the logic of his convictions.
He sees democracy as a contemporary legacy of progress and liberation. He believes that a great nation can be built out of any state if the available human resources are motivated to enthusiastically offer the necessary sacrifices for progress and civility. He believes that the future of our state lies in laying a proper foundation on probity, transparency, justice, and decency. He has an analytical mind. His ability to gather the brightest and the best into his team will not be hamstrung by limited exposure or lack of depth. Benjamin knows that in politics, winning an election is only the beginning of a long, hard, and uncertain journey. This explains why he values friendship, cultivating, maintaining and nurturing a perfect and cordial relationship with people from all segment of the state and country. This way,he exploits inter-governmental and inter-personal relationship that is needed to galvanise and accelerate socio-economic programmes and policies for the benefit of the people.
Benjamin believes in issues based politics. This reflects in the way he debates issues with the erudition of a scholar and transacts his business with the acumen of a technocrat. A polyvalent intellectual and some what of a multiple personality rolled in one. Characters of this temper radiate a sort of magnetic force. They are the symbol of the end to be achieved, and the very incarnation of hope.
While other aspirants may not be credited with a wit of their own sensibility, a phrase of their own creativity, a policy of their own genius, an action of their own impulse, a manoeuvre of their own gallantry, the same cannot be said of Benjamin Okoko who is always searching for fresh ideas,always hoping for new initiatives, in him the notable intellectual meets the exceptional politician. The man of ideas meshes seamlessly with the man of action producing a perfect symmetry.
Quick on his feet, tirelessly improvising,brilliantly manoeuvring, constaantly outflanking, tactically adventurous. While his friends and many of his contemporaries are pleasantly surprised, his critics are stunned by the swiftness and precision of his ascendancy. How could this have happened, they ask in disbelief. Indeed, we are dealing with a political phenomenon.
Like a natural aand complete footballer, Benjo is at home any where in the field, defending with fluency and going on the offensive with fluidity. If total football is the nearest thing to intellectual soccer, with total politics we come to politics as both political and intellectual mobilisation.
The Ikot Abasi born politician is coming with a revolution. But wait a minute! What"s your own idea of a revolution? The best revolution are reforms that over long period of time becomes revolution. Little wonder his vision is a massive and rapid industrialisation policy that will create jobs and generate wealth among the people. He is not aspiring because of the oil money. He believes a state or nation without natural resources but an intelligent people will prosper far more than a nation with abundant natural resources but shallow minds.
Many develpoed countries of the world have no oil. Ample evidence of this lies across the world. Many of the developed countries (like Japan) have no or inconsequential deposits of natural resources. What has made the difference and will continue to make the diffrence is human capital development. In America, the desert State of Nevada, hosting the famous city of Las Vegas is richer than Texas, an oil state. What made the difference across the Atlantic was the resolve of the people of the State of Nevada not to look down in search of natural resources, but to look up to their natural brain power, which they have used to create immesurable wealth.
The prosperity of the Western region was without the black gold. The US, despite the oil reserves, imports oil. It has the largest economy in the world because of its leadership innovation, entrepreneurial brio of its people, a sense that wealth is a product of what is in the head and not in the ground. This explains why Benjamin has in his vision a comprehensive master plan to fast track diversifying our state economy to reduce our dependence on oil alone as source of revenue through the development of the non oil sector,create a viable atmosphere for young entrepreneurs to come up and boast investment opportunities,among others.
The fact remains that in all spheres of human endeavours, a nation and a people must always forward its best foot if it were to make any showing in the comity of nations. A people must constantly showcase its great exemplars if it must cultivate a cult of heroic examples. What you plant is what you harvest. Come 2015, Benjamin Okoko is the right choice as we search for a successor that can lead the state and its people into a hopeful dawn.
Author: Dan Etokidem is a Journalist and Public Affairs analyst based in Uyo. His Phone no. is 08064344222
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| Hon. Benjamin Okoko |
Urbane and quietly cultivated, Benjamin Okoko, a man of amazing grace and courtly civility has been under intense pressure to throw his hat into the ring for quite sometime now. After many months of a search for a suitable successor, the people have finally said, yes, at last, here is a champion they can follow into battle and be assured he would not sell them to either save his skin, or to serve his political pleasures.
No people have ever forged ahead without first understanding their problems and envisioning a desirable future and, armed with a confidence borne out of self-knowledge, create meaningful and lasting ways for themselves. As the 2015 elections draw near, it is an indisputable fact that the expectations of Akwa Ibom people are very high, yet the limitations are monumental. This is where sagacity comes in.
If we must avoid a situation we get a grossly ill-equipped and manifestly unprepared to govern us, we must as a matter of urgency, embrace and rally round the Benjamin Okoko's candidacy which is a unifying force and binding pillar. Unarguably, he symbolises once again, the triumph of good over evil,truth over falsehood, reason over folly, popularity over impunity, and above all, the people's power. With Benjamin as Governor, Akwa Ibom people are rest assured that there is hope. This is so because light will replace darkness, truth will replace propaganda,justice will prevail, tribalism will be banished,leaders will be accountable to the people, the leaders will be under subjection to lead by example, our graduates will find jobs irrespective of where they come from or who they know, quota will give way to merit and brain-drain will give way to brain-training. We have to reconcile reason with truth so that the argument that will follow may be truth and just.
If vibrancy, foresightedness, popularity and other charismatic qualities used in choosing a leader is to be sort, then Benjamin Okoko is the best answer for the state come 2015. In 1999, it was Benjamin marching to victory at the PDP primary. He was persuaded by the people through his party to allow Uyo Senatorial district complete their term. He obeyed promptly,cheerfully and willingly to the admiration and consternation of many. That singular act catapulted him to the height of a true statesman. What the temporary disappointment did not take away from him was his patriotism,his good intention for his people and his commitment to the realisation of the Akwa Ibom project under Governor Attah whom he gave all the support he could, unlike some politicians who would have taken a political matter emanating from the primary to court for legal interpretation. He simply accepted his fate, believing that destiny can only be delayed but certainly cannot be denied. This is a great lesson to the younger generation. He had the right to still run for Governor then but he also realised he also must exhibit the honour to step down as requested for the sake of the greater good.
History teaches us that only a few people, sometimes just an individual is needed to change the course of direction of humanity. Today, Benjamin Okoko has become the most coverted bride sought by all stakeholders as the state search for the People's Governor enters a final lap. Truth is like oil,no matter how much water you pour on it, it will always float. As we approach 2015, we need men of stature to rise to power and help harness and harvest the visions of the founding fathers and the demands and ambitions of the present and future. The key ingredient necessary to sustain democracy and engender peace and stability requires leaders to understand and canonise their people's manifest destiny,inspire and imbue the populace with a sense of mission, and establish a long bridge between the noble past, a great present and a lofty future. Benjamin on his part has responded with courage and tenacity to this clarion call. As a visionary leader, Benjamin has a vision of the manifest destiny of the state and is ready to place himself in a position to bond with that vision, and be in turn ennobled by that vision and destiny. This is a man whose philosophy is premised on the belief like Martin Luther rightly observed that an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. This explains his selfless and detribalised disposition.
Benjamin Okoko sees politics as service and not about amassing wealth. "Men like Ahmadu Bello, Awolowo, Ghandi, Mandela, Azikiwe, Nkurumah, are noted more for what they did for humanity than for the wealth they accumulated",he will readily admonish.
The time has therefore come for us to look not mournfully into the past, it returns no more. Let us instead wisely improve the present, and go forth into the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart, believing in the vision and dreams of Benjamin Okoko to take us to where we want to be. He knows the hills and have gone through the valley and is acquainted with the challenges and therefore ready to take us to the promised land. This is a man who has a clear idea of what he wants and believes others should come round to the logic of his convictions.
He sees democracy as a contemporary legacy of progress and liberation. He believes that a great nation can be built out of any state if the available human resources are motivated to enthusiastically offer the necessary sacrifices for progress and civility. He believes that the future of our state lies in laying a proper foundation on probity, transparency, justice, and decency. He has an analytical mind. His ability to gather the brightest and the best into his team will not be hamstrung by limited exposure or lack of depth. Benjamin knows that in politics, winning an election is only the beginning of a long, hard, and uncertain journey. This explains why he values friendship, cultivating, maintaining and nurturing a perfect and cordial relationship with people from all segment of the state and country. This way,he exploits inter-governmental and inter-personal relationship that is needed to galvanise and accelerate socio-economic programmes and policies for the benefit of the people.
Benjamin believes in issues based politics. This reflects in the way he debates issues with the erudition of a scholar and transacts his business with the acumen of a technocrat. A polyvalent intellectual and some what of a multiple personality rolled in one. Characters of this temper radiate a sort of magnetic force. They are the symbol of the end to be achieved, and the very incarnation of hope.
While other aspirants may not be credited with a wit of their own sensibility, a phrase of their own creativity, a policy of their own genius, an action of their own impulse, a manoeuvre of their own gallantry, the same cannot be said of Benjamin Okoko who is always searching for fresh ideas,always hoping for new initiatives, in him the notable intellectual meets the exceptional politician. The man of ideas meshes seamlessly with the man of action producing a perfect symmetry.
Quick on his feet, tirelessly improvising,brilliantly manoeuvring, constaantly outflanking, tactically adventurous. While his friends and many of his contemporaries are pleasantly surprised, his critics are stunned by the swiftness and precision of his ascendancy. How could this have happened, they ask in disbelief. Indeed, we are dealing with a political phenomenon.
Like a natural aand complete footballer, Benjo is at home any where in the field, defending with fluency and going on the offensive with fluidity. If total football is the nearest thing to intellectual soccer, with total politics we come to politics as both political and intellectual mobilisation.
The Ikot Abasi born politician is coming with a revolution. But wait a minute! What"s your own idea of a revolution? The best revolution are reforms that over long period of time becomes revolution. Little wonder his vision is a massive and rapid industrialisation policy that will create jobs and generate wealth among the people. He is not aspiring because of the oil money. He believes a state or nation without natural resources but an intelligent people will prosper far more than a nation with abundant natural resources but shallow minds.
Many develpoed countries of the world have no oil. Ample evidence of this lies across the world. Many of the developed countries (like Japan) have no or inconsequential deposits of natural resources. What has made the difference and will continue to make the diffrence is human capital development. In America, the desert State of Nevada, hosting the famous city of Las Vegas is richer than Texas, an oil state. What made the difference across the Atlantic was the resolve of the people of the State of Nevada not to look down in search of natural resources, but to look up to their natural brain power, which they have used to create immesurable wealth.
The prosperity of the Western region was without the black gold. The US, despite the oil reserves, imports oil. It has the largest economy in the world because of its leadership innovation, entrepreneurial brio of its people, a sense that wealth is a product of what is in the head and not in the ground. This explains why Benjamin has in his vision a comprehensive master plan to fast track diversifying our state economy to reduce our dependence on oil alone as source of revenue through the development of the non oil sector,create a viable atmosphere for young entrepreneurs to come up and boast investment opportunities,among others.
The fact remains that in all spheres of human endeavours, a nation and a people must always forward its best foot if it were to make any showing in the comity of nations. A people must constantly showcase its great exemplars if it must cultivate a cult of heroic examples. What you plant is what you harvest. Come 2015, Benjamin Okoko is the right choice as we search for a successor that can lead the state and its people into a hopeful dawn.
Author: Dan Etokidem is a Journalist and Public Affairs analyst based in Uyo. His Phone no. is 08064344222
Benjamin Okoko - The People's Governor By Dan Etokidem
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