JOE EFFIONG, UYO
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, has promised to reconcile all political factions occasioned by the ongoing electioneering in the state, when he comes the governor.
Pastor Eno who stated this at the close of his campaigns which dovetailed into a mini-town hall parley with people of diverse background on Thursday evening, lamented the friction existing among the people of the state simply because they belong to different political parties.
“Political parties are mere platforms on which one mounts to seek political office. Belonging to a different political party shouldn’t make my brother my enemy.
“Unfortunately, we have been so divided not only in our political life but also in religious life because the other person does not belong to our church. We are divided on ethic line; we are divided in almost all aspects of our social life.
“But I will reconcile the all the political factions; PDP, APC, YPP, Labour, all the political parties. If I do not mention your party, it doesn’t mean that it is not important because I know we have 18 political parties in this state.
“I will listen to people and if they have better development ideas than mine, I will work with that idea. Can you imagine if someone in the supposedly opposition in appointed a commissioner in my government?
“So, I believe that instead of fighting the opposition, we should reconcile with them so that we would be able to tap from their knowledge and wisdom to develop the state. By so doing we can woo and win them over.” The candidate said.
He said though he sometimes felt discouraged by the lies, blackmail and other propaganda thrown at him in the course of campaigning, he had also been strengthened by his cleric background which is to give hope and encourage the weak.
Speaking on the controversial Happy Hour which had promised to institute to encourage people to relax during weekends in the state, but which had been misconstrued by some social media content providers, Umo Eno said that even God relaxed and rested after working for seven days.
He said such relaxation doesn’t call for licentiousness or state sanctioned inebriation; rather it been as a way of bringing people to the state to come and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.
The candidate promised to tackle all backlog of promotion arrears of civil servants and put in a policy to handle gradual payment of gratuities so as to reduce and eventually liquidate the debt.
Speaking on his ARISE blueprint, Eno said agriculture and tourism would form the fulcrum of the state job creation agenda so that the youth could be gainfully employed to reduce rural-urban.
“I believe if more youths are employed, it would reduce the tension we currently observe that everyone one wants to get into government while those already there have refused to get out. People now see politics as a career; from supervisor to councilor, to council chairman to house of assembly member to House of Reps Member to senator, to governor and that like.
“It will be frustrating to those other youths waiting in the wings to take if they don’t have other meaningful things doing to sustain themselves except to wait for political positions.” The candidate said.