THE DRAMATIC MEDIA PARLEY THAT WON GOV ENO MANY HEARTS

THE DRAMATIC MEDIA PARLEY THAT WON GOV ENO MANY HEARTS
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By A N I E T I E U S E N✅
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♦️ The sprawling Banquet Hall of the Government House, Uyo, was jam packed with 350 Akwa Ibom based journalists, all members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ. The Cabinet of Governor Umo Eno, heads of parastatals and Media Aides of the Governor were also on ground, May 30, 2026, to participate in the Media parley to mark the Third Year Anniversary of Governor Eno in the saddle.

♦️ But Governor Eno was not there, neither was he expected. He had publicly delegated his Commissioner of Information, Hon Aniekan Umanah, to take up the job of hosting the media briefing on his remarkable three years of peak performance in office.

♦️ The Governor thought he would not have any engagement outside his official Lodge and had directed his regular retinue of protocol and security staff to go enjoy their Saturday with their families. Together, they had all overcome another hectic week of commissioning of projects around the State leading up to the May 29, 2026 Third Anniversary of the Governor.

♦️ But back in the Governor’s Lodge, two minutes drive away from the Banquet Hall, venue of the Media Parley, the Governor was multitasking. He was hosting a meeting this Saturday afternoon with some visiting investors. But his eyes were also on his Samsung Galaxy Z phone, where he was simultaneously monitoring the Media Briefing, streamed live on YouTube and other platforms.

♦️ Soon he became uncomfortable and even agitated about the way some commissioners and heads of parastatals were handling the questions put to them by hoards of hard-nosed reporters. He thought they were too careful, officious and even ‘political’ with the answers.

♦️ First he phoned the Commissioner of Information who was moderating the event to tell his colleagues to be more forthcoming with answers to questions. But the Information Commissioner’s phone was understandably on silent mode. He did not pick the Governor’s call.

♦️ A bit restless, the Governor called another Aide, Michael Effiong, his Senior Special Assistant , SSA, Lagos Office. Effiong was sitting next to me in the front row. He panicked and quickly picked the call. I was surprised his phone was not on silent mode like everyone else. “Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Yes Sir”, Effiong answered and I knew instantly the call was from the Governor.

♦️ Then the SSA dashed to the Commissioner of Information and conveyed the Governor’s message demanding fortnightness and openness with answers. Effiong later confided in me he has a special ringtone for the Governor and a setting in his phone where the Governor’s call would always ring out even when his phone was on silent mode. And of course, the Governor knew about that and knew Effiong was the man to call at a moment like that.

♦️ Still the Governor did not appear to be satisfied as he started texting his Commissioners to put their cards on the table. Not enough, the Governor excused himself from the meeting with his visitors and jumped into the next available vehicle outside his residence.

♦️ It was a navy blue Toyota Hilux, the rugged mid-size pick up truck, known for its off-road capabilities. There were no sirens, no convoy, and no protocol officers nor intrusive security guards that usually heralded his arrivals on such occasions.

♦️ To the surprise of a hall full of journalists and his appointees, the Governor himself stepped into the hall in the middle of proceedings; to the applause and standing ovation of journalists and government officials who did not expect him.

♦️ It was already one hour 43 minutes into proceedings. No seat for the Governor with the coat of arms on it. No green official podium with the seal of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and no special microphone for His Excellency. But all that didn’t seem to matter much to Governor Eno this afternoon.

♦️ He took a seat hurriedly vacated by Ekerete Udoh, his Chief Press Secretary and sat next to Nsidibe John, the NUJ Chairman. He simply melted into the audience, waiting patiently for Prince Akpan Ikim, Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, AKSEPWMA, who was speaking to round up his thoughts.

♦️ It was another four minutes before Prince Ikim rounded up on how he is keeping Akwa Ibom clean and at what cost to the tax payers. Then the Governor stood up and walked to the same podium to speak.

♦️ Towering at six feet tall with a regular weight of 90 kilograms, and dressed this afternoon casually in an orange colour ARISE Agenda long sleeves silky shirt and a black face cap with the same logo, over a dark denim trouser and a budget-friendly blue suede canvas shoes, he was brilliant and candid with depth and insight into the kind of detail reporters love to hear.

♦️ The whole place was lit up instantly as reporters roared in approval of what he said and how he said it. His frankness was unmistaken. His honesty was in no doubt. At a point, it was no more about what he said but how he said it, mixing fluent vernacular with commanding English and punctuating most of what he said with local proverbs, jokes and adages.

♦️ “I just decided on my own to stop over in this media briefing session. I was in a meeting with some investors, but I was monitoring what was going on here… I’m not somebody that sends people to work and I don’t monitor what they are doing. Anybody who knows me by now knows that I’m hands-on on my job…In all of my career life, everywhere I’ve worked, I stay on top of what I do… I can at any time tell you everything going on in this State…and I’m not boasting. I may not be a good politician and I own up to it. But at my job, I’m prepared to take on anybody”, he said.

♦️ ️From that point, Governor Eno, a detailed-oriented and analytical mind, took on every intricacies and finest fabric of his government with thorough and flawless accuracy, down to the naira and kobo of his budgets and expenditures.

♦️ Although he said he was not boasting, the Governor began to boast at a point when he said he can answer any question and account for every expenditure because: “I am the only Governor in this State to date…that has sat in Budget sessions for weeks with the Budget Committee…and checked everything line by line…”

♦️ From that point, he went ahead to address questions that he felt were not well handled; ranging from road construction in various parts of the State, to the critical power sector, the Science Park, the TSA, IGR and even the sanitation of the State capital, which he has now extended to other major cities is the State, with increases of sanitation funding along with increases in the recruitment of street sweepers to 14,000 at the cost of N630 million per month.

♦️ To hundreds of journalists in that hall, the consensus was that this Governor was on top of his game and had done extremely well in his first three years.

♦️ “He is a good communicator and was able to connect deeply with us all. He gave us more information than we needed. He was sincere and open in his approach.That openness and apparent transparency was very heartwarming for us”, the NUJ Chairman said.

♦️ “He came down to the level of everyone present. His ability to break down every issue into easily digestible and assimilated bits made my day”, Umoette Umoette, the General Manager of Akwa Ibom Newspaper Ltd, said.

♦️ Itoro Etti, one of the journalists who asked one of the questions on roads that provoked the surprised appearance of the Governor said: “The answers the Governor gave on the state of roads that bothered me were the kind of answers I was looking for. In fact, I was very satisfied because I couldn’t have gotten a better answer than that from anyone else. I haven’t been so impressed in any past Media parley as I was in that Anniversary Media Briefing”.

♦️ It was Amos Etuk, the immediate past State Chairman of NUJ who put the media parley in a sharper perspective. “The Governor exhibited and displayed the hallmarks of true leadership. It was a very strategic step he took by joining the media parley uninvited because he successfully changed the perception of the media in virtually every issue by granting journalists insight into every sector of his Administration. I was personally very happy and impressed. It was a very good day, very revealing and very rewarding”, Etuk said.

#anietieusen
📸 Israel Okon