April 11 is just by the corner for the governorship election and stakeholders in Akwa Ibom State have thrown up Senator Helen Esuene as the preferred candidate to take the people of the state out of the doldrums of uncommon poverty and unemployment to the next level of industrialization and massive employment.
The stakeholders, elders and youths are rooting for the first female governor in the state and Nigeria in the person of Senator Esuene as they resolved that, “violent political scene and the rapid need of industrialization needs a person with an aggressive approach to take over and take the state away from the traditional style of leadership that waits for jumbo allocation from the centre monthly before anything can be achieved and that person is Senator Esuene.
Rising from a rally in Uyo recently, the stakeholders said the time has come for a woman to take over the mantle of leadership in the state given the current state of affairs in the state that needs one with the heart of human kindness and the doggedness of an astute business czar and Senator easily fits in.
The State Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Professor Ekeng Anamdu said since Senator Esuene joined the party things have changed positively and “by the special grace of God, we are having this mega rally of our great party the Labour Party with thousands of members determined to ensure that Senator Helen Esuene becomes the first female and the next Governor in Akwa Ibom state and the party has a platform to tackle oppression of the masses and make even spread of development across the state.
He said, “never before in the history of our state, have we witnessed a large crowd of men, women and youth volunteering scrambling for membership in the Labour Party as it is today. This is what it should be, given our national experience, in the past 15 years particularly in the area of employment and good economic development. Even the ongoing scramble of privatization of Nigeria and it’s component units, the time is now for all Akwa Ibom people to jealously safeguard against the inversion of our state in any guise by external economic interest.
“We must resist the trade of servitude, crafty hidden in the robbery multi-party democracy which demands a radical change in the direction we find ourselves today .The direction characterized by large scale unemployment , never before witnessed in this state, economic stagnation, an anti-people and foreign interest driven economic interest, the perverse interest of division of labour force on our state as a result of unemployment and poverty in which our young men and women provide slaves labour as household workers or at best cheap migrants labour nationwide is a negation of our civilized heritage and collective pride.
“The Labour Party is the needed platform for grassroots development in our State. Of all those who aspire to become governor, our governorship candidate, Senator Helen Esuene is the only employer of labour. She employs a work force of over 500 Nigerians, so she knows where the shoe is pinching”.
Speaking in the same vain, the National Chairman of LP, Alhaji Abdullahi Abdulsalam said he was surprised at the level of poverty in the state despite the fact that Akwa Ibom is one of the richest states in the country in terms of oil and gas activities.
His words; “the kind of development we hear is on paper but I can assure you that our candidate upon winning this election will create jobs, make the market environment attractive even to graduates, encourage the production of food, not agriculture on paper, make education qualitative by teaching students useful skills”
Equally throwing his weight behind the can didature of a woman and great industrialist, a top politician in the state and former governorship aspirant, Dr. Idongesit Udokpo said, “I have come here to give this solidarity message in favour of Senator Helen Esuene. I accepted to do so because this year’s election of the governorship of Akwa Ibom State, we must first and foremost consider experience and I have personally considered experience. My definition of experience is Mrs. Helen Esuene, a woman who has been a governor’s wife since 1968 in the South Eastern State, has been a top civil servant, a Minister and a Senator.
“In today’s Nigeria you find women who are gang staring around and called themselves wives of the Governors. But I recalled when we had Mrs. Helen Esuene as a wife of a governor, she showed humility, she showed leadership, followed the husband attentively and we recognized that there is a wife of a governor. In many fields she displayed her quality, which stood firm shining as a light for women to learn.
“Senator Esuene has come to do the correction, a total correction of the mess, cleaning up of Akwa Ibom State and rejuvenation of flow of confidence of Akwa Ibom people. Because you cannot have a government and you do not have confidence in that government and you expect it to perform.”
He maintained that, “a woman in politics is good enough when the woman who has experience is involved. That is why my speech today is anchored on experience. Senator Esuene has an experience that is deliberate and focused that can be used for the transformation of Akwa Ibom State; an experience that can be used to coordinate Akwa Ibom State and take it to the centre of self-sufficiency. She has experience of taking us to the centre, even in her personal life; you will see what she has done. People talk about women, women, women, who started the women group in Nigeria? I recalled as a child, Mrs. Esuene called women to the then south eastern state and started the women group which is now all over the country.
“So taking Akwa Ibom state to the centre of Nigeria, for Mrs. Esuene, it will be a very easy thing to do. I can foresee it done. I will call on all Akwa Ibom people to support her ambitions to be governor, women arise and support a woman, and men arise and give it to a woman”.
Otuekong Inemesit Koffi, from Nsit Ubium, Coordinator of the Uyo Senatorial district of the Ibom Consultative Assembly (ICA) and the Coordinator of Senator Helen Esuene in Nsit Ubium, expressed total confidence in Senator Esuene as governor of Akwa Ibom come May 29.
He said, “I believe in her because of her level of consistency. When you are talking about industrialisation, everybody in this state agrees to the fact that this state should be industrialised. So we believe strongly in her as the only one that can carry this state forward. She is the only one that has the highest level of experience in terms of practical things. She is the highest employer of labour as far as individual entrepreneurship is concerned; she has been able to provide food on the table of a lot of families. She is not someone that believes in flamboyant spending, but believes in giving people fish and teaching people how to fish. So that is why we believe in her.
“The message I have for Akwa Ibom people is that we should learn to be civilised. We don’t vote party or gender but we vote somebody that we know. We know that this woman is a performer and we believe in her and we know she can deliver. For her to be the third highest employer of labour in the state apart from the state government and Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) stands her out. You know you don’t hand over the state to an apprentice. Apprentice not because you are not educated, you can be educated but you must be able to have an idea about industrialisation. Industrialisation is in practice. Senator Helen Esuene has an experience of her companies, small scale and big scale in functioning companies. So you don’t give this state to somebody who assumes that he knows”.
Former State Vice Chairman PDP and Obong Iwaad, Chief Mbong Mbong pointed out that, “since the creation of Akwa Ibom state it has been controlled by men in terms of leadership and governance. We have witnessed in the past couple of years were Akwa Ibom money is being syphoned unnecessarily by outsiders. We thank God for this one (Senator Esuene) who has come to sacrifice for the state. She is not coming to build a new mansion to live or drive limousine any longer”.
“In terms of her credibility, experience, it is our believe and the believe of Akwa Ibom people that if by the grace of God that she becomes the governor of Akwa Ibom state, Akwa Ibom money will remain in Akwa Ibom state for Akwa Ibom people. So that kind of syphoning to other parts of Nigeria while Akwa Ibom remains poor will not take place in her time. That is why we are supporting her because she has a good political experience and the credibility. She will bring peace and empowerment to the youths, men and women and that is why we want to try her”.
On her part, Senator Esuene who has promised that her administration shall operate on a three point agenda of wealth creation, qualitative education and functional health care delivery if voted into office by the people also pledged to close the gap between the rich and the poor in the state by introducing programmes that would favour the down trodden in the state.
She said the gap between the rich and the poor in the state was wide that the poor continues to be poorer while the rich continues to be richer and unless positive action is to remedy the situation by voting giving her the mantle of leadership.
The Senator lamented that over 80% of indigenes of the state were living in poor conditions without homes while some well to do indigenes built estates in other cities of the country.
“It is unacceptable that there are people in the state who own estates in various cities but there are up to 80% who don’t have a roof over their heads here in Akwa Ibom. I intend to narrow this gap by creating jobs and giving workers incentives”, she said, adding that “the gap between the rich and the poor in Akwa Ibom is very wide and is increasing by the day. It is this disparity that my administration will try to reduce when elected Governor of the state.
”My government will take deliberate and conscious steps to increase and strengthen capacity for the working class. We will run an administration where a poor man will be encouraged to put in his best. Labour Party is a party for the poor and down trodden and will continue to support the wishes and aspirations of such people to grow and contribute their quota to the growth of the society by ensuring that their capacities are strengthened”, she stressed.
Labour Party in Britain, the Governorship hopeful said was created as a result of protests by the working class and middle class because of uneven distribution of the common wealth. “So the Labour Party in Akwa Ibom State when I become Governor will ensure that owing teachers and other workers’ salaries became a thing of the past”, she added.
If she emerges victorious at the pool, Senator Esuene also promised to provide pipe borne water, invest in agriculture to ensure food security in the state, improve educational facilities to offer qualitative education.
The Labour Party Governorship candidate equally promised to create clusters where artisans and craftsmen will benefit from government’s training and provision of facilities to improve the quality of their products to attract more money.
As part of being transparent in her government, the Senator said professional bodies like religious leaders; traditional rulers will be involved in the administration of the state noting that imposition of leaders was part of the state governance, but Senator Esuene said Labour Party government in the state will not impose leaders on the people, rather it will allow the people elect their leaders themselves.
She maintained that “holistic human capital development would be on the front-burner of my government with immediate, medium and long term touch. Hard work, creativity and entrepreneurship will be encouraged and appreciated while government will partner with the key operators in the various economic sectors to develop our inert natural potential for creation of wealth and food security”.
“It is time to have a feminine touch in the governance of the state. I have been tested and have not been found wanting in carriage and delivery in the various public offices that I have held. I shall manage your funds judiciously. I shall run an inclusive government where men, women, youths, elders, the professionals as well as the traditional institution shall be active players”.
She disclosed that the state was blessed with rich mineral resources and “I am in the race to harness all these resources for the development of the state. The focus of my administration shall be to create an enabling environment where the people our greatest resource shall thrive and where justice and peace shall reign. These are fundament ingredients for sustainable development. Safety and security of lives and property being the flip side of peace will also receive attention”.
She appealed to the people of Akwa Ibom to give her a chance to run a true democratic government, a government of the people, by the people and for the people saying, “I am a bridge builder and I believe that this administration (of Chief Godswill Akpabio) has done much especially in terms of infrastructure and it is my desire to take it to the next level taking advantage of the infrastructure on ground”.
Following the popular and street support Senator Esuene receives various groups and parties have declared their total support for her.
Recently, over 5,000 stalwarts of Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) threw their weight behind her candidature.
The Eket Federal Constituency Coordinator of the AD Mr. Inuaeshiet John said, “though we have a governorship candidate in the person of Obong Samuel Atang, we find out that Senator Helen Esuene stands a better chance of being the governor of the State.
“Our resolve to support Senator Helen Esuene stems from the fact that after careful study of the Political situation in Akwa Ibom State, she is the most qualified to occupy Hill Top Mansion, we don’t want to waste our votes for someone who does not stand a chance in the Polls”.
While the State Chairman of the UPN, Hon. Cyril Ekpo in his speech described Senator Helen Esuene as the “Deborah of Akwa Ibom State” predicting that by May 29, 2015, she will go down in history as the first elected woman governor in Nigeria.
“The Unity Party of Nigeria in which your late husband was our leader and gubernatorial candidate is here to assure you that come April 11, we will mobilize all our members across the State to vote for you because of your Pedigree”, Mr. Ekpo added.
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