Eyiboh's unfinished business in the National Assembly

Eyiboh's unfinished business in the National Assembly

By Ofonime Honesty

In Nigeria's House of Representatives, from 2006 to 2011, a powerful voice of reason and conscience reverberated. Not only did he hold the green chambers and Nigeria spellbound with his mastery of the gab, Rt. Hon. Eseme Sunday Eyiboh, member representing Eket/Esit Eket/ONNA/Ibeno Federal Constituency (as he then was) dazzled with his dexterity in turning words into actions and results.

The fruits of that representation bloomed.

Well, he was at the infancy of his second term in the parliament when a legal battle triggered by party nomination exercise led to the truncation of the mandate in court. The matter was vigorously pursued up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. That was how how a mandate given via the ballot was snatched.

On this, he quipped, in a recent interview with Punch Newspaper: "thank God I didn’t complete the second term because that gave other people the opportunity to be there, and people have been able to compare and contrast the entire representation."

Quite an apt review of the past and arguably the present.

A decade has rolled past, and Eyiboh has once again thrown his hat in the ring.

Sandwiched between 2011 and now, he has been successful in running private establishments, executed different consultancy services, served as Chairman, Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA) and Spokesperson of the 2019 Campaigns of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akwa Ibom State.

Having built a people-centric reputation, his 2023 aspiration has been adopted by people within and far beyond his federal constituency.

Hon. Eyiboh, a fine blend of experience and prospects, has his work cut out, and is eagerly waiting to grab the opportunity at the polls.

He had this to say in The Punch Newspaper on why he is running:

"2023 is going to be a referendum in terms of our democracy. It’s not going to be a normal election but a referendum for the people of Eket (Federal Constituency) to decide the kind of representation they want. They should be able to determine what their future should be like and what the future holds for them. If they vote incompetent, inexperienced persons who lack the wherewithal of leadership, it’s going to be garbage in, garbage out. I was three months old in the House of Representatives when I was made the Spokesperson. I maintained the pedigree and high ethical standard throughout."

Yes, he emerged as Chairman, Committee on Media/ Public Affairs and Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, as a first term member. His robustness in the green chambers soon led to his emergence as the Dean of The Initiatives, a body of volunteering parliamentarians and different professionals tasked with taking up and executing salient national responsibilities for the good of the society.

Eyiboh also emerged as Speaker of the WAIFEM Regional Forum of Parliamentarians in Ghana in 2009.

By churning out Bills, Motions, delivering on committee assignments, and being the mouthpiece of the parliament, Eyiboh carved a niche for himself as a legislator of the finest ilk.

Give me where to stand, and I will move the earth," as postulated by Archimedes centuries ago apparently became his memory verse. His constituents sent him to stand and speak for them in Abuja, and Eyiboh spoke and brought back dividends.

He has evidential landmarks to point at.

"If you come to my constituency you will see the things I attracted to the area," he told the Punch Correspondent, Patrick Odey, in the interview.

A stickler for impact, the federal constituency witnessed unbeknownst dividends between 2006 and 2011.

He set the ball rolling by spending millions of Naira in sponsoring about 50 youths in his Youths Skills Acquisition Support Initiative to undergo a 12 month training on Welding/Fabrication and Instrumentation at Maritime Academy Oron, sponsored seven cadet trainees in Maritime Engineering and Nautical Science in Maritime Academy (inclusive accommodation, tuition, feeding, books, uniform, pocket allowances and training/examination fees), provided portable water to communities by sinking about 15 borehole projects, engaged volunteers from Canada, US, Botswana and South Africa through Teachers Without Borders in a Training the Trainers Scheme on mind power development and character education, and sponsored 10 teachers and 4 beneficiaries from tertiary institutions to participate in the training, Ikot Nsidibe Okon Eket, ultramodern ICT centre, fully equipped with modern gadgets for ICT training at Ikot Nsidibe Okon Eket, sponsored training of 21 youths in Integrated Agricultural Programs (Piggery,Fisheries and Poultry Farming) at Shonghai Farms, in Sapele, Delta State

in 2010 with N500,000 seed fund given to each of the beneficiaries, built bridges linking communities in ONNA, built and equipped ICT centre in Afaha Atai in Eket LGA and Akpautong in Esit Eket LGA, and sponsored constituents to obtain university degrees in foreign universities.

In sports, he sponsored three football coaches, Ernest Danison (ONNA), Usen Ebuk (Eket) and Effiong Ibok (Ibeno) to earn their professional badges at the Nigeria Institute of Sports. Some professional players sponsored by him are plying their trade in local and international leagues. Names like Matthew Etim, Godwin Mensah, Nsisong Udokop and others are testaments of his commitment to sports development.

Available records show that via the national budget, Hon. Eyiboh attracted 9 Solar powered motorized borehole with reticulation at Ikot Obong Ishiet, Awa, Ikot Udo, Oniong West, Ikot Ntan Ide (ONNA), Uquo, Akpautong (Esit Eket), and Ikot Obio Anana, Okon, Odio, Ikot Afaha and Esit Urua (Eket Local Government Area).

Former Director, Akwa Palm Industries Limited (a World Bank Tree Crop funded Project in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom State Government and Nigeria Agriculture and Co-operative Bank) and later the Executive Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Ethical and Attitudinal Reorientation Commission (EARCOM) under former Governor Victor Attah, Hon. Eyiboh has over the years garnered the knowledge, experience and competence required to serve in any capacity.

A native of Akpautong village of in Esit Eket Local Government Area, Eyiboh has defied humble beginnings to lead a successful life which has greatly impacted on humanity.

His background in Law gives him an upper hand in legislative practice. His exposure and popularity are other added advantages.

He is filling an important role in the current political arena against a backdrop of political candidates with unverified and untested capacity of bringing honour and glory to Akwa Ibom State.

This is just a small representation of how his politics works. Eyiboh is in sync with the people he wants to represent. He dwells with them and has built himself up as the voice of the poor, the oppressed and the disenfranchised.

The yawning lacuna of effective federal representation in Eket Federal Constituency is on the verge of being filled in 2023 by the collective will of voters who have grown weary of the status quo.

Like the proverbial phoenix, Hon. Eseme Sunday Eyiboh is rising from the ashes of that 2011 court judgement to restart a glittering job that was put on hold in 2011. Since then, the bar set by him has become too high for average representatives to reach.

He therefore has unfinished business of effective representation in the National Assembly.

(Ofonime Honesty writes from Uyo, Nigeria.)