Delightful moments of 2016 Christmas ...Nsit Ubium briefing, Ukana Concert, Oro Unity Festival & Parley With Abak Women.

BY SAMUEL AYARA

The economy may have taken a nosedive, such that the yuletide seemed to have lost its rave. Howbeit, there may have been many reasons to express desperation and discontentment at the negative turn everything has now taken. There are also events that inspired hope and revived joy, such that a thought of what the Christmas would have been without them, casts scares to my bones. 

December 21, 2016, thanksgiving service and constituency briefing of the Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Barr. Onofiok Luke, in several ways confirmed that the most ruthless of economic quagmire cannot stop a man who cares about his people from sharing the very little the economy has left him with.

Tales of how he came by the finances to foot the bills stures of unequivocal humanitarian act leaves the society with a burden of gratitude to the bones that avail form and strength to Luke’s skeleton of benevolence.

The choices of beneficiaries got me amazed, as they were not only carefully chosen, but to the advantage of every strata of the constituency, with conditions beyond gender and political affiliations taking the front burners.
Denying himself the comfort of amassing wealth, Onofiok Luke on that occasion rekindled the assurance that true representation must wholly center on the people, who like their votes during elections ought to be treated even more importantly.

When he gave all the vehicles to women, I smiled because he truly knew what he sought to achieve. Giving those cars to women was a guaranty that families would be lifted off poverty lines, as maximal utility would be guaranteed, compared to if they were given to men.

A woman’s car in our society belongs to the husband and children, a clear departure from what would happen if they were given to men. Other empowerment packages he reeled out at the event including startup capitals for businesses, scholarships and entrepreneurial kit, are such that will promote the financial nerves of his people to engender a society that will de-emphasis dependence. 

Cry me a river, other members of the House of Assembly are doing well in their own rights and priorities, the December 21, event should not in any way be a module upon which other members of the hallowed chambers should be judged.

Albeit, Onofiok Luke made my Christmas through that symbolic show of a statesman’s ingenuity, which provided the long anticipated bridge across political divides and allegiance to assemble people from all walks of life. God bless the Speaking Speaker.

Same day could be viewed as December’s most historic, as the evening of 21st December, also saw the convergence of thousands of people from across the country; status, occupation, politics, creed, belief and divide, notwithstanding.
It was the 14th edition of Ukana Christmas Concert and Carol of nine lessons, an event that has been widely celebrated as Nigeria’s most consistent religious event. Like other years, it had an avalanche of commend gospel artists who spared no effizzy at making the event grand, while an attempted count of government personnel, captains of industries and leaders of thought would be an effort in futility.

Not being my first time at the carols, I was however perplexed at the ingenuity of the progenitor of the concert, Sir Emem Akpabio, who did not only ensure it was thick, but saw to raising the ante of spiritual content of the event, with the plethora of clergymen that joined the 2016 edition of the carols.

Make no mistake; the event in the last eight years may have been viewed a political outreach, but what do you make of the Ukana Concert which pre-date Godswill Akpabio’s era on the Ibom Hiltop throne and the steam it has sustained, even after the scion of Akpabio’s dynasty vacated the gubernatorial seat. 

Listening and watching internationally acclaimed gospel arts like  Steve Crown and Frank Edwards sing alongside home gown arts like De Gopsel, Chioma Jesus and a couple of Orchestra groups assured the audience of a deliberate move to ensure our people are given a larger and bigger platform to proof their mettle, rather than abandoned to the rot of underestimation.

I felt lifted at every tick of the clock the concert lasted and would not expect any less from others who attended, but more marveled was the feel that in the Akpabio’s clan resides an undisputable touch of empathy, where everyone has a stake, regardless of social and economic barriers.

The Akpabio’s clan has over the years worked to ensure the people lived well, even at their expense. I cannot at this yuletide fail to appreciate their ingenuity. May God bless them.

The third and last event came two days after, precisely on the 23rd December, as Oro Unity Forum, OUF, ably led by Hon. Tom Efombruh celebrated the 2016 end of year in a grand style, with a top of the class carnival art; a first of its kind in every consideration.

Not many would understand my amity for this very event, but for the curious minded, Oro nation being a very volatile clime over the years, have won my admiration for the very act of being able to come together, not only to celebrate their culture, but herald a new found affection and allegiance to the bond that holds them.

While I have several friends from the Akpakip-Oro nation including Okpo Ewa, Okor Efombruh, Asanwana Ufuo, Marshal Abia, Edwin Ebiese, Tuka Eyo, Isangadighi Bassey and several others, it is instructive to note that the land holds the umbilical cord of my wife, Ekaette. Tell me why I should not appreciate the love Oro Unity Forum has reinvented.

With frontline sons of the area like the Commisioner for Culture and Tourism, Chief Victor Antai; Member representing Mbo in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Samuel Ufuo, a onetime Commissioner for Information, Chris Abasieyo; Transition Committee Chairmen, political stakeholders, artists and youth activists, it is safe to say that Oro has rekindled her rave to embrace unity of purpose to recreate the hospitality Oro nation over the years represent.

The sight of over 600 women, widows and the less privileged inclusive could be beautiful, exhilarating and sometimes scary. Such was the scene on December 26, at the country home of the President African Media Network, AMNET, and immediate past Commissioner for Information and Communications, Elder Aniekan Umanah, when his family treated Abak women to a Christmas Parley.

The joy and gratitude on faces of the women cannot be misplaced even as the ingenuity of their host’s benevolence any short of charity. For a period of ten years, Christmas in the ancient town of Abak has continually gotten better, with Elder Umanah always on the vanguard of ensuring his people enjoy the love and beauty of the yuletide, notwithstanding his all year round touch and outreaches. 

Defying the stretching recession to dole out hundreds of wrappers, bags of rice, salt and cash even after leaving office as commissioner, points clearly to the fact that his efforts over the years at sharing in the peoples’ joy and challenges were never stage-managed, empathy for him is an inbuilt virtue.

The yuletide could not have been any better for those women if Umanah and wife Maureen never took the sacrifice of including them in their Christmas spending. Doubt me at your peril, the “Merry” wish that flood the season truly found expression in the AMNET Boss’ ingenious commitment to putting smiles on his peoples’ faces.

This air of benevolence according to the women is not only rare to the clime, but their expectations of such packages from Umanah ceased to meet them surprised, as they have established a fortress in his large hearted dispositions to making lives better and easier.

I bet you, seeing a private citizen take off the yuletide burdens of 600 families truly defined my Christmas holiday. God bless Elder Aniekan Umanah, FNIM.

Conclusively, I had a merry Christmas because Onofiok Luke got people beaming with smiles, the Akpabio clan hosted a spiritual meet that defied every consideration to afford the least in our clime a merry moment at the carols, while the Oro Unity Forum rekindled the flame of unity, to re-launch the hope that we can someday find love and unhindered unity in our beloved Akwa Ibom, and Aniekan Umanah looked beyond self to seek the happiness of his kith and kin.
Merry Christmas!