When on the 29th of November last year, some patriotic Akwa Ibomites who were earlier elected to act as delegates gathered at designated locations to elect candidates from the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), fold, who will contest for and win elections to fill the 26 positions in the Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly this year, the good hands of providence had predestined that it was going to be through the choice arrived at by the delegates, that the much-desired era of people-centered representation be ushered in for the people of Ini state constituency.
For God had watched with compassion to the almost-institutionalized situation where people quickly made reference to Ini State Constituency as a classic case of a state constituency where there was still a lot left to be done in drawing the attention of the government to the vast untapped sources of wealth creation that abound in the constituency which could be harnessed fully for the economic benefit of the people. Undoubtedly, this could only be possible when there is a visionary and articulate representative to speak for the people.
Reference was also made of Ini as one of the state constituencies in Akwa Ibom State whose indigenes are in dire need of a representative who feels the pulse of the people and consequently not only initiate people-centered programmes that will better the lots of the people but also attract more dividends of democracy to the area for the collective benefit of the people.
It was apparently in a bid to rescue the people from this contemptuous position that the delegates by what could be aptly traced to divine direction, during the November nominations for State House of Assembly candidates, decided to massively vote for Hon Emmanuel Ekpenyong as the man to contest for, win elections, and consequently speak for Ini State constituency at the 6th Assembly which will be convened in a few months from now.
With the emergence of Hon Ekpenyong at the PDP primaries God was only sending the first message to the good and development-loving people of Ini state constituency as to the direction in which he wants the people to follow in the desire to create for themselves, and even bequeath to the generations that will come after, the kind of future they have been yearning for.
In what could be seen as a way of reinforcing the earlier message he sent to the people of Ini State constituency about the new dawn he is leading them into with Honorable Ekpenyong as the man to speak for the people, God decided to seal the victory recorded by the cerebral statesman at the party nominations with the presentation of flag to him by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom state on Friday, the 16th of January this year.
As a man who greatly desires to see his people get a new deal in terms of legislative representation, Hon Emmanuel Ekpenyong has not left the people in doubt as to the optimal level of preparations he has made for the task ahead. His short remarks before his teeming supporters just after receiving the flag of victory at the party nomination had served as a mirror which reflected the direction of his thoughts about the task ahead and the plans he has for the people.
Hear the forward-thinking soon-to-become legislator: “My own brothers and sisters who are of course, my fellow compatriots in the journey to create a bright future for ourselves in Inistate constituency, though today is meant to be a day of merry-making as it signals the beginning of a journey which will bring smiles to all of us - the good and development-loving people of Ini state constituency, we shall moderate our merry-making by juxtaposing it with sobriety. The need for a little sobriety becomes increasingly important when we look at the enormous task ahead of us.
The task of bequeathing for ourselves the kind of new deal we need to see in Ini State constituency is such that will require our collective efforts. It does not require the mindset where the people see themselves as outsiders in the process. Rather, the task demands that we act as partners! Already, for the past weeks, apart from the cardinal blueprint I have drawn up, I have been interfacing with the good people of Ini state constituency with the view to harvesting their opinions on the specific areas they want us to start the work ahead of us from.
In view of the fact the next Government which will be ably led by thorough-bred professional Deacon Udom Emmanuel, will be looking at the direction of industrialization, and Agricultural revolution, our task as a people of Ini State Constituency will be to adequately position ourselves to tap extensively from the laudable programmes that the incoming government will introduce as a way of impacting on the lives of the electorates. We must stand together to make Ini state constituency the hotbed through which the state realizes its Agricultural revolution programmes. There is no gainsaying that this will positively rub off on the economic destinies of Ini people. A brighter future lies ahead for us all.”
Interestingly, these forward-thinking mindset of Hon Emmanuel Ekpenyong seems to have begun to resonate in the minds of the people Ini state constituency as my neighbour, an indigene of the area and a legal luminary, Barrister Akaninyene David, had this to say about the choice of Hon Ekpenyong as the man to speak for the people of Ini state constituency: “To be honest with you, I don’t know this Honorable Ekpenyong very deeply, but from what I have gathered about him, he strikes me as just the right man through which God will use to push away the frontiers of underdevelopment from Ini. My instinct strongly tells me that he will be a good voice. I am not the only one who thinks along this line as my cousin, who is a lecturer in one of the higher institutions in this state, also holds the same view. So my convictions tell me that we as a people of Ini will be in for a better deal in terms of representation at the State House of Assembly. He does have my vote!”
In light of the foregoing, two important tasks lie ahead for us as a people of Ini state constituency in order to usher in the new dawn that we desire to see in Ini State constituency. First, as a people we must troop out en masse on the day of the general election to re-echo our collective wishes for a people-centered representation anchored on the delivery of robust dividends of democracy, by voting for Hon Emmanuel Ekpenyong as our voice at the Akwa Ibom state of Assembly. Second, we must stand by him after his emergence as the winner and put our hands on deck to push Ini state constituency to the height it deserves to be.
Ini state constituency belongs to all of us. We can make it better by working with with Hon Emmanuel Ekpenyong!
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