Of Gov Umo Eno and the Trial of UNADOT

Of Gov Umo Eno and the Trial of UNADOT

By Moffat Ekoriko

In the run up to the 2023 elections in Akwa Ibom State, I had no interest in the gubernatorial candidacy of Pastor Umo Eno. As expected, he won the elections because at that time, PDP was literally a religion in Akwa Ibom State. My position changed on the day Senator Godswill Akpabio was elected Senate President. Umo Eno was the first person to turn up at the man’s residence with a message of peace. For me this was a game changer because it meant the governor was not going to be locked in a battle of supremacy with the country’s No. 3 citizen, with the attendant negative consequences for the people of the state. As a people, we had trodden that path when late Dr Joseph Wayas, then Senate President in the third republic (1979 – 1983) fought Dr Clement Isong, then governor of then Cross River State (of which Akwa Ibom was a part) to a standstill. The biggest loser was the state because it could not attract any federal project despite having the country’s No 3 citizen. Contrary to my instincts, I concluded that this was a Christian in politics.

My admiration for him was reinforced last year when he completed and commissioned a general hospital in Ukanafun, my home local government area (LGA), 49 years after the LGA was created. The only reason I was not at the commissioning was my inability to get a ticket from London to Nigeria because of the short notice. I made a post that whoever sees him should greet him for me. I have no clue if anyone did.

Last week, I was in Akwa Ibom on the invitation of the Senate President. He said there was a state banquet to mark the state’s 39th anniversary. I joined him to the event. What shocked me was the venue. Pastor Eno has converted what used to be an irrecoverable ravine into a golf resort, complete with chalets, recreation spots for children and a banquet hall. He could as well have called it a health farm because the scenery has therapeutic effect, especially on a stressed mind. You need to be a visionary leader to turn a ravine to a resort.

The last anchor of my admiration for him is his love of the Ibibio language. He speaks it at the slightest opportunity at any public function. The benefits are enormous. He is inspiring younger generations, some of whom cannot string a complete sentence without throwing in an English word, to take pride in the language. Ibibio is actually one of the philosophically deepest languages in the world.

Another opportunity for him to speak the language presented itself last week. During the commissioning of projects in Onna local government area, the traditional ruler asked the governor to look into rehabilitating moribund industries in the local government area. The governor in his response said the industries have nothing to do with the government. He said ‘Se ami mkpetang ade ikedehe government akenie afut mkpo oro, unadot ekenuk enam business mmo’. Translation: ‘What I can say is that it was not the government that owned all those things (industries), the people of the world embarked on their own business’.

For days now, the state has been on fire over the word ‘unadot’. Some of the governor’s critics have said the term ‘unadot’ was used derogatorily to spite his predecessor who claimed those industries as the achievements of his administration. Today, the governor mounted the pulpit to say that the term cannot be derogatory, especially as it appears in the last stanza of the Efik Hymn book used in churches across the state. The last three lines in stanza five of Hymn 246, which the governor quoted says ‘

Christ k’okot
Unadot
Etiene Andibot

Translation:
Christ is calling
The world
To return to their creator

Context can be everything in communication. In the context of Hymn 246, ‘unadot’ means the world. The governor says that in the context he used it, ‘unadot’ means ‘people’. That may be true or the literal translation. However, the literary translation of ‘unadot’ in the contentious governor’s speech is ‘worldly people’. The synonym is ‘mbon ererimbot’. It is not derogatory per se, but the connotative meaning captures a group of people not driven by noble ideals. It means ‘worldly people who were after their interest and not that of the state or its people’. It is because of this connotative meaning that the word has become the subject of discussion from beer parlours to churches. The governor is a very gifted and natural Ibibio speaker. If he wanted to mean people, he could have said ‘mme owo’ or ‘mbiowo’, instead of ‘unadot’.

Be that as it may, I am happy that the governor is spearheading the revival of our indigenous languages. What better way to do so that to generate controversy in the meaning of just one word. Umo Eno dia etap (I am not translating that one).