AN EVENING WITH GOVERNOR UDOM EMMANUEL

By James Edet

Spending the evening with Governor Udom Emmanuel can be very interesting. In my over twenty five years of anchoring broadcast interviews, I have had the rare privilege of talking to and grilling some prominent Nigerians in the political cum leadership class. My takeout from such conversations are motley and multidimensional, depending on the object and subject of the programme, and of course the content and the contextual outcomes of the experience.

As a rule, an interviewer must be properly prepared for his guest. The kind of groundwork you do depends on who the interview is with, as the outcome of all interviews may not always be the same. You have to know the characteristics of the interviewee; his attitude and altitude to issues and balance them with the intensity of your style and delivery.
The toughest interview subject is sitting in front of an intellectual giant who knows more than you do! Compering such prime guest on an interview programme could be like a minefield, one wrong question, statement or action; you could be blown up into an abyss of professional precipice. Sometimes you can sit face to face with a staid guest, all tensed and masked up, making it almost impossible to “dig out” any scoop, which is the ultimate craving of every interviewer, for the duration of the programme.
At another time you may be fortunate to sit with a rapid fire delivery, constant, confident and analytical in presentation. This second category falls into the broad spectrum we call interviewers’ delight.
The exclusive interview with Governor Udom Emmanuel on Saturday, May 23, 2020, tagged “The Governor Speaks” was a towering revelation, yielding plateful of scoops and headers. It was a reaffirmation of my earlier perception of the Governor as an intelligent, thoughtful, humane, witty and down-to-earth leader, having hosted Governor Emmanuel on five other interviews before the Saturday encounter.
Like in our previous encounters, the Governor did not disappoint. Coming to the set on Saturday, the banker turned Governor was a “rapid fire delivery, constant, confident and analytical in presentation”, again substantiating his disposition as an interviewers’ delight.
“The Governor Speaks” was broadcast live on the network service of AKBC TV, Channel 45 and Radio 90.5 FM, and hooked up by all other radio stations in the State, Planet 101.1 FM; Comfort 95.1 FM; Inspiration 105.9 FM; Passion 94.5 FM; Atlantic 104.5 FM; and XL 106.9 FM. It was beamed live across the world for the global audience on live stream on Instagram Twitter, Facebook, and the state website, www.akwaibomstate.gov.ng/live. Remarkably, the postmortem revealed that the programme was followed by over three million people across the world.

The programme was scheduled to start at 5.00 pm, but trust Governor Udom Emmanuel for his well-known time consciousness in all government and private engagements, by 4.45 pm he was already on set. In his usual affable, witty and down-to-earth manner, he used the fifteen minutes interval to exchange pleasantries and jokes with the anchors of the programme and his backroom staff in a very relaxed atmosphere, setting the tone for the grand media exchange that was about to commence.
Trust me and my co-host Akparawa Michael Bush, a comrade and professional collaborator of over twenty five years; we were prepared for Governor Udom Emmanuel! Coming with a bag load of questions, I was prepared to fire the missiles from all directions as the lead striker. Michael Bush, a great fan of Arsenal football club, himself a great striker in the round leather game, came fully prepared to display his years of striking skills in the art of broadcast interview just as his Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry used to do at the Emirates Stadium when his darling Arsenal FC was indeed the arsenal!
James Edet and Michael Bush may be masters of their own game on the microphone but on the other side of this broadcast arena, was Governor Udom Emmanuel who is a prized master of his own game, a great management tactician with mesmerizing dexterity in the business of manning the post of leadership and governance for team Akwa Ibom. We tried to dribble him as much as we could with questions but the Governor dazzled like a shining star in a clear sky, defending his turf with such brilliance, oratorical prowess and analytical insight in the business of governance that has continued to attract emotional connectivity and economic simulation among his people.
The main focus of our engagement was COVID-19 and Governor Emmanuel’s rapid response in mitigating the impact of the pandemic in Akwa Ibom State, given the global concerns and uncertainties that the pandemic has visited on global health outcomes and the attaining economic apprehensions. The Governor took time to explain how he is winning the COVID-19 battle in Akwa Ibom State with huge investments which dot the medical landscape of the state in abundance. He spoke of the cutting-edge facilities at the Ibom Specialist Hospital Uyo, the Infectious Disease Hospital in Ikot Ekpene and the icing on the cake, a 300 bed ultra-modern Isolation and Disease Control Centre in Ituk Mbang, built to completion, fully and tastefully furnished in a record six weeks by his administration. He also underscored on the modernization of several healthcare institutions in the State, rehabilitated with some of the best facilities in the country, and many other achievements in the sector as the eloquent testimonies of his great strides in the healthcare system of the state.
In his own words, “we have 100% recovery rate of COVID-19 in the State. We have people recovering from cases of even below 30% level of oxygen when they are admitted. The 2 death cases came to us very late with multiple morbidity symptoms. All those who have come to us, are effectively managed and they recover and go home”.
On the revitalization of the economy post COVID-19, the Governor said, “in Akwa Ibom State we have quickly set up an economic reconstruction committee made up of some of our brightest brains to plan for solid revitalization of our economy post COVID -19; but at the moment I believe Agro-based businesses are the lowest hanging fruits that any economy can fall back on”.
On the reopening of churches which has been under lockdown since COVID-19, Governor Emmanuel had this to say: “Akwa Ibom State is 99.9% a Christian state, so I’m really concerned that people cannot go to church for worship. We have been meeting with CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria), the umbrella association of about five Christian groups. We gave them guidelines to see how to go about opening the Church. The report will be submitted officially in front of other professionals. We will look into it and agree on the date to open the Church”.
On whether government will slash the salaries of civil servant as was the case with political appointees because of the drop in the economic fortunes of the state occasioned by covid-19 pandemic, the Governor stated that, “we cannot cut salaries of civil servants without negotiating with them. We are not a tyrannical government. But civil servants are residents of the State and know that they cannot exist alone. Workers should know that we cannot put all our resources into salaries of civil servants. We have very concerned Labour and workforce so I believe they will negotiate”.
The programme also gave many Akwa Ibom citizens in the diaspora the opportunity to engage their governor directly, through live stream, on topical issues of governance in the state. From United Arab Emirate, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, China, South Africa and a host of other countries, the programme was followed in earnest with lively questions and other lively interactions.
Responding to a caller from London, Engineer Elvis Abia, on his plan for the aviation sector following the state’s participation in the Dubai Aviation Show earlier in the year, Governor Emmanuel said: “The day we did the roadshow in Dubai to showcase our aviation industry, two international airlines indicated their interest. By the time we get to 80% completion of the terminal building, we will be having international airlines coming in there. The terminal building is an intelligent structure, 100% ICT compliant, the best in the African continent and the one to beat in the sub-Saharan region”.
This is a huge statement for the emerging and robust economic revolution that is fast transforming Akwa Ibom State into a destination of choice in Nigeria today, under the watch of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
Sitting face to face with the Governor for this media engagement, I could decode a gentleman who exudes confidence in his abilities and a leader whose passion for the overall wellbeing of his people is not in doubt. Looking directly into his eyes, I saw a leader with manifest insights and clear understanding of the kernels of governance, one who in words and actions, and in every occasion and situation, places the overall interest and wellbeing of his state as uppermost agenda that must not be forfeited to egocentric interests and self-glorification. That is the gentleman I spent two hours of robust media engagement with in the evening of Saturday, May 23, 2020, Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel.