Ifim Ibom Ibibio Showers Blessings on A'Ibom Governor-Elect
... As Umo Eno Presents Certificate of Return to Royal Fathers
Traditional Rulers of Ibibio extraction under the aegis of Ifim Ibom Ibibio (Supreme Council of Ibibio Traditional Rulers), have proclaimed blessings on Akwa Ibom Governor-elect, Pastor Umo Eno with an assurance of total support throughout his administration.
The royal fathers made the pronouncement when Pastor Eno visited the Palace of the Oku Ibom Ibibio, Ntenyin Solomon Etuk to present his Certificate of Return to the traditional fathers.
In his remark, the Chairman of the Council, Ntenyin Etuk said, "From today, on behalf of the traditional rulers of Ifim Ibom Ibibio, may God bless you. May God be with you.
"We have seen your Certificate of Return, our promise as traditional rulers is to give you 100 percent support. We are confident that peace shall continue to reign in Akwa Ibom because where there is a man of peace, peace reigns," he said.
The premier monarch of the state appealed to everyone to accept the hand of fellowship extended by the governor-elect, key into the forthcoming administration and support the ARISE Agenda.
In his words, "It is no longer about party. Irrespective of your party affiliation, come and join hands and build Akwa Ibom. Please make haste to join the train so that you won't be left behind."
He commended Governor Udom Emmanuel for his commitment to a better Akwa Ibom and welfare of the traditional fathers, saying the traditional institution was proud of him.
Earlier in his address, Pastor Eno said the visit was in fulfilment of his promise during pre-election consultation, to always honour the traditional fathers, and to also appreciate them for their prayers and support throughout the political season.
According to him, "We came to honour the traditional institution because we had said that if God honoured us with the privilege to serve Akwa Ibomites, we will always honour our traditional fathers, and recognize them. So, in fulfillment of that pledge, we had to formally present our Certificates of Return to you so that you can see it, receive it, touch it, and bless us.
"By this act, we want to say thank you for your prayers, thank you for receiving all the insults on our behalf, and thank you for the perseverance and the endurance. We thank God for our Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel and his wife, Dr. (Mrs) Martha, we thank God for all of you because we would have all been ridiculed if it didn’t come to pass.
"I want to also thank all Akwa Ibomites for their overwhelming support in the just- concluded election. We had 356, 348 votes and the election was conducted in every unit and results were signed by all party agents.
"That is the measure of the love and confidence that Akwa Ibomites have in us and we would not disappoint them"
"Those results were transmitted and collated. What was collated were results that were transmitted.
" We are again using this opportunity to appeal to all our other brothers who contested this race with us that they should be calm, they should be peaceful, we’ve enjoyed so much peace since this election was announced.
"We want to plead that they come join hands with us. Let them bring their ideas, and let us look at it together. Akwa Ibom belongs to all of us. Let us join hands and develop Akwa Ibom, provide jobs for our people and ensure that each community, each village is touched by the presence of government with one project or the other," he said.
While promising to run an all-inclusive government, Pastor Umo Eno who was accompanied by his wife, Pastor (Mrs) Patience and deputy Governor-Elect, Senator Akon Eyakenyi said, "we’ll sit down with them, today is our turn, tomorrow could be theirs. We promise to run an inclusive government. I assure you that there’ll be no Ibibio government, no Annang government, no Oro government, but there will be an Akwa Ibom state government and every community in this state will be touched."
At the well attended event spiced with different cultural display were: paramount rulers of Ikot Abasi, Onna, Itu, Esit Eket, Mkpat Enin, Uyo, Uruan, Ibesikpo Asutan, Eket, Ikono, Ini, Nsit Atai, Oron, and Udung Uko, clan heads, village heads, wives of the traditional fathers, as well as the youths and children.
