Many dictionaries define asset as anything useful or valuable. It could be an intangible like experience or a tangible like landed property or cash or even human resource. Specialist knowledge and even copyright are also assets. In the same vein, some sterling attributes are assets. Assets have also been expanded to accommodate even physical attributes and those who posses them flaunt them even as they have minimal contributions in the evolution and enhancements.
Barrister Emmanuel Moses Enoidem is not blessed with the asset of size in the vertical order. He is also not a beneficiary of our creator’s generosity of large frame. He is rather structured deceptively with what looks like a puny frame. And for those who judge strength from the enormity of size, Barrister Enoidem would be such persons undoing. Under the seeming puny frame lies steel that is resilient and resistant to pressure and the fancy of brutes and bullies.
Again whatever he has lost in terms of vertical advantage has been counterbalanced with the prodigious intellect that he is endowed with and which would be one of the assets isolated for analysis. Well, having lost out in size vertically and laterally, his Creator decided to endow him with such rich physical attributes that many may be forced to construe that its presence impeded vertical growth.
Emmanuel Enoidem’s youthful photograph bespeaks this flourish of physical values, a dashing youngman with urbane qualities. These attributes constitute asset of value. What it does is that it breeds in the individual confidence which is germane to self worth or self-esteem. Those diffident in self esteem and appreciative of this problem can estimate this asset of value correctly.
But our concern in this treatise is not to emphasize such a mundane thing like physical attribute but to mention in passing that it can help young people build their self value early if such young people are well guided and inculcated with discipline. But if they are left to their caprices, it could turn them to narcism which is a very dangerous trend espcailly to the young.
Emmanuel Enoidem’s physical attributes did not impinge on his purposeful life. Born into a very large family, he obviously set for himself the task of charting a course for the family. Even though he does not come near the first five in the family, he knew that somebody needed to bell the cat. And for anybody to lead, he himself must know where he is going conscious of the fact that no man can lead another until he can first lead himself. Emmanuel Enoidem had realized early enough that what he needed to posses to provide the touch light of liberation was education. This became the first asset of value that he personally identified.
According to the mother, Madam Esther Enoidem, Emma loved books. She said that he was always found with books which he prioritized beyond food. The mother said that he was always reading and expressed happiness that his passion has lifted him to great heights. Barrister Sunday Ukanga, a classmate of Emmanuel Enoidem from Primary 4 said this of him; “He was exceedingly brilliant. From Primary 4, he seized a proprietary right of being first, leaving my humble self and one Benjamin to jostle for second and third positions.” Barrister Ukanga recalled an incident where a teacher asked one of the pupils in class to use bicycle in a sentence and the pupil said, “My father is a bicycle.” Ukanga who was also a pupil in that class alongside Emmanuel Enoidem said that Enoidem as a pupil almost fought the boy, according to him for committing such grievous error in English. Barrister Ukanga also stated that Emmanuel Enoidem owing to his exceeding brilliance had endeared himself so much to the headmaster that anytime he was not in school, the latter would personally go to look for him to find out why he was not in school. He said Enoidem enjoyed special privileges because of his brilliance.
Indeed, Emmanuel Enoidem identified education as an asset very early. When he left for Secondary School in 1976, he went with the same zeal and zest. His classmates like Barrister Chris Okorie are lavish in their testimonies about Enoidem’s brilliance. And so like him or hate, you can not take away that fact. They posit that he was focused, studious and serious. He finished his secondary school education on record time in 1981. He proceeded to the University in 1984, graduated in 1989, completed Law School in 1989 and was called to Bar that same year. Interestingly, by the time the father died in 1996, he was the first and only graduate in the family. Today there are several of them. It is why we refer to his intellect as an asset of value. It has not only leveraged him as a person, he has used it to chart a path for other members of the family.
Another noticeable asset that Barrister Enoidem possesses is discipline. Of course discipline is everything and transcends all facets of life; be it in terms of time allocation, management of resources, work ethics, personal desires and even needs; all are accounted for by discipline. Barrister Enoidem has carried this rich asset of discipline to all facets of endeavour. He reports to his office on time and is mindful of appointments scheduled. He honours scheduled appointments and punctually too. It is this same mindset that he has taken to projects assigned to his Ministry. He is believed to be a man of time-line. For instance he delivered the Governor’s Lodge in 15-months, earlier than the scheduled time. The same things have played out in the Deputy Governor’s Lodge, the Banquet Hall, Governor’s Office, etc. He has taken the same magic wand to Tropicana Entertainment Galleria with a determination to complete the flagship project before the end of Governor Akpabio’s tenure. Of course, his recent assignment of supervision of the International Stadium has produced a result that shares the trait of miracle. All of these have been achieved because of the asset of discipline.
Emmanuel Enoidem’s other manifest asset is the capacity for work. He is indeed very hard-working. Otu Ita Toyo, former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party who presided as Chair while Enoidem was the treasurer, acknowledges this attribute of hard-work in the Commissioner for Special Duties. He said that he is a man you can depend upon for work and result. The Chief of Staff to Governor Akpabio, Sir Etekamba Umoren remarked of his impressive work record during the inspection of Tropicana Entertainment Centre by the governor. Governor Akpabio himself has at some fora asked him to stand up and take a bow in acknowledgement of timely delivery of quality work that could have been a result of had-work produced by passion for service.
One can not discount the mind that embodies the knowledge of what constitutes quality work that is itself an asset. It is common for professionals to befuddle others who are alien to their fields with jargons and claim of expertise. Many of us are victims of these psychological manipulations, but not the likes of Emmanuel Enoidem who would bring such manipulations to ruins. His acute grasp of details of any matter illustrates the fecundity of his mind and how much he has lent himself to learning. Yours truly once asked him how he became familiar with engineering jargons and he handed down a curt reply: “I am a lawyer and a lawyer must know a little bit of everything.”
But there are other assets that are of great consequence especially in the area of politics. Incidentally these assets, as critical as they are remain scarce commodities amongst politicians. These assets are courage, loyalty and commitment. Even though they are available in other spheres, they count more in the political firmament. Courage is today the rarest as it has the potential of denying one of lucre from the master’s table or largesse from a benefactor. But many of Enoidem’s associates believe that he is different. They say he embodies courage and is not given to unnecessary niceties. Enoidem himself once admitted that courage is his problem and he does not know how to deal with it. Courage is a great asset and whoever possesses it must be encouraged.
Loyalty is also another asset. In politics, it is counted in the full value of 100 per cent and not any less. In fact, it is said that there is no 99.9 per cent loyalty in politics. Emmanuel Moses Enoidem embodies implicit loyalty to anybody he owes allegiance to. His political associates ascribe loyalty to him as his greatest gift. They see him as the last man standing for his compatriot. His political trajectory has shown that he gives his complete and unalloyed loyalty to the government of the day.
Commitment to a cause is another asset that Emmanuel Enoidem has in abundance. He is like a brand believer. If he believes in a cause, he would sink or swim with it. This is seen in his complete devotion to the Uncommon Transformation agenda of Governor Akpabio. His commitment has earned him the trust and confidence of the governor. These are assets he should celebrate at 50 as they are of sterling and enduring value.
Joe Iniodu is a Public Affairs analyst.
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