By Abasifreke Tobby

LIKE success, choice is a very personal decision. It could either be good or bad and most assuredly, the pathway to boom or doom. But like it or not, humans must make a choice! In the race for tomorrow, choice becomes inevitable. Akwa Ibom State, peopled by forward-looking minds, has found itself in the fore of those urgently projecting for 2023 political arrangements.

Usually, each political dispensation attracts an array of fine political players either because they find inspiration or disappointment in the outgoing regime. Expectedly, they come from different fields of endeavours and with an enviable wealth of experience!

Confronted with a deluge of quality personalities angling for the governorship seat in the state, the tendency is for the electorate to be somewhat confused. Yet, willy-nilly, they have a choice to make. It is a choice between good life or dearth, tears or joy, regrets or accomplishment, compensation or cheat, bliss or misery, boom or doom, etcetera.

Either experience is contingent on choice. Funny enough, you can’t choose a poisoned apple and expect a miracle. There lies the burden. The burden of choice in an atmosphere suffused with quality characters is inevitably on the electorate. Hence, they must look critically and choose wisely. For even among the good qualities, there must be a better quality!

Every good decision births good result. But, if it is the other way round, then doom is sure. No two ways about it. Ask those who had fumbled on the path to change the narrative of their very society. Or perhaps, individuals whom fate had catapulted to the forefront to drive revolutionary changes in private or public affairs, yet were not conscientious in the choices made. If they are honest enough, they’ll attest that they don’t even wish their enemies the devastating consequences of playing the devil with the society, public or private affairs, as was their case.

As the 2023 elections draw closer, a critical area that currently demands a high level of circumspection, sound intelligence, rational reasoning and good conscience from every Akwa Ibomite is the choice of candidate. Our lives as Akwa Ibomites, and by extension Nigerians as well as the all round progress or success in life will be greatly affected by whom we choose to lead us in the next dispensation.

When it comes to the choice of a preferred leader, an individual with a human face and heart would always make the best choice. Like Vaquita marina, perhaps the most critically endangered sea mammal on the planet, individuals with these qualities are hard to find.

However, among the lot, so far in Akwa Ibom is a notable figure from Nsit Ibom Local Government Area. Recently, a number of analysts have identified Akan Udofia as a man to watch, obviously because he notably wears a human face and a humane heart. Some say he pens the welfare of the common man, children, youths, women and elders living around his abode and away topmost on his everyday to-do list. Others go beyond that to say what makes him worthier of consideration is that as a private person, he acts more than boasts about his humanitarian services.

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As noted by one analyst, here is a reliable hand who shares in the Benthamian school of thought that the greatest number deserve the greatest happiness. Thus, he practicalises as means of giving back to humanity. An African proverb says what the day will bring can be deduced from the morning. The sheer number of Akwa Ibomites, nay Nigerians, Udofia has given hope, through job employment, in his privately operated 4,700 workforce shows what he can do if given opportunity to lead the state as its chief executive.

A true giver needs not make much noise about his intentions or actions. Especially, as he doesn’t do it for public praises and rewards; or other political compensations. Such has been found in this man, whose belief in humanity has quietly been exemplified with no iota of compromise through donation of business grants to widows and youths, sponsorship of students in secondary and tertiary institutions in the state, construction of a 105-bedroom post graduate hostel at Akwa Ibom State University, AKSU; donation N100 million for the construction of AKSU Teaching Hospital, amongst others. It’s humbling to note that the greatest part of his resources has been quietly injected into the service of humanity for the past 35 years.

As a people, our major interest across the nation should be directed at leaders who think the people first. Yes, the reward may come later but it is believed that only God can fully compensate for such heavy humanitarian gestures. Leaders in the mould of Udofia are few and far between in our clime, so we need to encourage and cultivate the ones we can identify today for tomorrow’s benefit.

We need more leaders with a sense of humility, humanity and respect. That is why people like Udofia will always gain a large space in the hearts of the masses when it matters most. For, some who have directly or indirectly come in touch with him confess that he has always taken up the role of a servant, even to the detriment of his economic gains.

In a clime where leaders score cheap goals by insulting and humiliating the lowly, here comes a man who seems to go for fair play in his dealings. To him every Akwa Ibomite is of high value and time best unveils their worth. This best explains why he is passionate about human development. He believes that man’s greatest investment should not be in business, politics or fashion but in human development. Udofia has exemplified this belief through the empowerment he has initiated over the years for over 5000 Akwa Ibom youths.

At this point, to rephrase the question asked by the current governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel: Who would you rather choose to lead you? A man of humane disposition who develops people or those who only mouth insincere platitudes? A commentator recently noted that Udofia has garnered an enviable wealth of experience from the private sector and has always shown capacity in all his dealings.

His successes in the ever-challenging corporate world confirm that he is a great strategist, very committed to set goals which he delivers to the highest standards. By all assessment, Udofia has proven to be a formidable force to reckon with and possesses high-calibre leadership qualities. He undoubtedly provides Akwa Ibom people with the best choice for the top job.

Tobby, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

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