One of my best-known mentors is Ray Ekpu, the renowned international journalist and 1987 World Editor of the Year. He is 76 years old now but still flourishes with the memory of an elephant.
I honour this man and his legendary friends, Dele Giwa, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed, who left indelible marks in the sands of global journalism. I have written quite a bit about them in my book AUDACIOUS JOURNALISM (2018, 706 pages), which is my definition of the brand of journalism that the rare quartet introduced in Nigeria with their iconic Newswatch Magazine.
Recently, Ray Ekpu returned to Nigeria from Canada, where, like most elite senior citizens, he went to rest his head at the insistence of his children. A natural storyteller, he told me a particularly heartwarming story of his encounter in Canada that stirred my emotions.
According to Ray, he felt ill in Canada and had to visit a hospital. On arrival, looking frail, he was asked how old he was, and he said he was 76. To his surprise, he was told he did not have to pay a dime for medical consultations. For his age, medical consultation, whether you are a citizen or not, is free. His mind raced back to Akwa Ibom, his home State in Nigeria, where Governor Umo Eno has demonstrated an unNigerian passion for the care of the aged, sick and weak senior citizens.
Ray Ekpu himself had experienced this Governor’s passion for compassion first-hand in 2023. He had been ill for a while that year. One day, he had a phone call from a strange caller. The caller said his name was Dr. Ekemini John. Next, he said he is the personal physician for Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State. The next information amazed the legendary editor. The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the caller said, heard somewhere that the editor was ill and had directed him, the Personal Physician, to fly to Lagos to see him and evaluate the state of health of the man who once made Nigerians proud with his pen.
Last week, THISDAY Newspaper and ARISE TV crowned Governor Eno Nigeria’s Governor of the Year. This was the fourth similar award within a few weeks from various nationally respected media authorities, including the LEADERSHIP, the New Telegraph Newspaper, and the National Office of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lagos.
It all boiled down to Governor Eno’s trademark empathy and compassion for the weak and poor and his deep connection to the plight of the long-suffering rural folks who bear the brunt of chronic leadership failure in Nigeria. He is, by any stretch of the imagination, a Governor unusual, a creative leader, thinker and doer whose innovative ideas, and unique problem-solving skills have inspired the oil-rich State on the Atlantic shores of Nigeria.
In only 20 months as Governor, Pastor Eno has raised the issue of care for the aged, weak and poor to a height unheard of in Nigeria. He inherited N90 Billion of unpaid gratuities owed to aged, retired government workers. To date, he has paid out N47 billion in gratuities, pension arrears, and leave grants to retirees.
In line with his economic blueprint, the ARISE Agenda, Governor Eno has also undertaken to construct 400 homes for homeless senior citizens in their respective villages.
Known as ARISE Compassionate Homes, ACH, the homes consist of two furnished bedroom apartments equipped with solar-powered electricity and boreholes for a clean, steady, and constant water supply.
There is also a monthly Arise Elderly Party, at which 600 senior citizens drawn from all 31 LGAs of the State are feted in the Banquet Hall of the Government House. They are given basic health checks and an N50,000 allowance each.
Two weeks ago, the Governor laid the foundation for the ARISE SENIOR CITIZEN CENTRE, an ultramodern complex located on the State’s new Medical Corridor. The centre is designed as a recreation spot for senior citizens to mingle, enjoy, laugh, and thrive. It comprises 13 sections and a serene, picturesque landscape.
The design includes three lobbies, two recreational lounges, a library with computer and internet access, the activity and recreational rooms, a chapel and counselling room, the chaplain’s office, arts and game rooms, and a fitness and wellness section that will ensure everyone stays as fit as possible.
Other sections of the Centre include a clinic, a supermarket, a massive kitchen and a dining area, a multipurpose hall, and a space for celebrations. The Governor said the Centre is the brainchild of his late wife, Pastor Patience Eno,
When he turned 60 last April, his first birthday as governor, he demanded all his supporters and friends who had birthday gifts for him visit elders at home, orphanages, and hospitals with the gifts and send him pictures of their donations. Some hospital wards and orphanages in the State were flooded with food items, dresses, and medicines as never before.
But at the rate Governor Eno is pursuing, emphasising and prioritising inclusivity, empathy, and compassion for the majority of the poor, Akwa Ibom State may be heading for an executive Bill in the parliament that seeks to make compassion a law of the land.
–Usen is a multiple award-winning journalist and author
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