-By Unwana Assam

Eseme Eyiboh is one popular name in Esit Eket local government, Akwa Ibom, and even Nigeria at large. Some of us started hearing about him and had a certain grok of him right from birth. At that time, whenever the name was mentioned, all kinds of notions both negative and positive would trigger in.

It was a very popular name but the bearer seemed physically unfamiliar with the people. At a point, some people created a kind of notorious impression about him, always associated his name with something very bad and obnoxious. That is to tell you the conception of an average person about Eseme Eyiboh in those days.

Until now, many people with different notions about him never knew that, Eseme is not typically the kind of person they always mirrored him to be, but a different person or personality entirely. No doubt, everyone has a peculiar attitude or characteristic that people know them for in politics and Eseme Eyiboh is not an exception.

In my simple verdict, the Esit Eket fine politician is one man that God created for this generation for a reason. He is one man who does not take "NO" for an answer. This, he has fought for many years to transfer it to the younger generation and make them trash out that notion of "failure" in their thoughts. He uses himself as someone who comes from nowhere or from a place that can be likened to the biblical manger of Jesus Christ to become something as a case.

Eseme is the kind of person this generation needs the most. Whether he is a bad person as some people would say or good, he has paid his dues. People usually thought he was a hard person. But I can beat my chest and say, Eseme is not a hard person. He is not a stingy person. People just misconstrue him without knowing his day-to-day attitudes and how he goes about life.

Anybody who has ever done business or any kind of transaction with Eseme will know and tell that, He is a very strict, disciplined, and of course, a "no-nonsense" man. No wonder people say he is hard and stingy, an attribute that is very rare in today's society.

You can't be someone that was raised by strict parents, uncle, or in a family where things are done accordingly and religiously and you hate Eseme Eyiboh. Never!

Admittedly, it is hard to live the kind of life Eseme lives in society as porous as ours and be loved by many people. At my age, I rarely see it. If any, it is very few. People live life with no regard for human dignity or another person. They live life with no regulation of anything. And you see someone in the same society who is extremely conscious of all he does, his yes is yes, his no is no, always punctual and committed to completing tasks, strict, disciplined, has a passion for youths development and at the same time jovial as well as develops a thick skin over petty stuff and you expect the society to love him and talk good of him? It is not possible.

It is also said of him that he does not give people money. Yes, Eseme, like the governor Udom's Dakadda Creed will say, does not give people money, except otherwise. That is why, if you are dealing with him, you must be careful in terms of your wants for money. But the same Eseme who does not give out money for flimsy reasons can go the extra mile to spend millions of naira to secure a long-term and sustainable opportunity for you and your future. This is not "I hearsay" but a verdict that has an unequaled record to back it up.

Some people will say Eyiboh is a very hard person coated with wickedness but I tell you that, Eseme is not hard nor wicked but you can easily make him appear hard and wicked if you want to outsmart him in something he has vast knowledge about and expects you to follow due process. Ooh, did I say he hates cutting corners and passionately hates it when anyone tries to do so to get something from him? Eyiboh believes in due process. He believes that there is no shortcut to success. He believes that all he achieves today is the result of due process, hard work, smartness, and healthy relationships with people and he is trying as much as he can to inculcate the same in the younger ones, hence his inordinate involvement in the "reorientation" of the youths and the inculcation of "the mind power" among the youths.

This is why the average youths who do not want to plant but want to reap and the youths with a "get rich fast" mentality who do not want to follow due process with disciplines don't love Eseme Eyiboh. This is why they say he is a bad and hard person.

As can be seen today, where the country is headed, even our state, one won't be wrong to say that, we are in dire need of the personage of Eseme Eyiboh. At least we have come to a point in the country where what is made available to us by those in the upper echelon can no longer sustain us but we also need to be taught how to fish so that we can also be useful to our families and the society at large.

Hon. Eseme or the Prefered Eyiboh, like some people, would call it, is a special seed planted by God amid men.

Comrade Unwana Assam is the publisher of newsline9ja.com, writes from Eket.
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23/08/2021