By Emmanuel Nicholas
High Performing Leaders are vision creators, team builders, task allocators, People Developers, and motivation Stimulators. And this is the kind of leader Governor Godswill Akpabio is. Akpabio’s entrance to govern the people of Akwa Ibom State and his holy anger to turn around the fortune of his land have paid off on his image. The uncommon transformation he brought to bear in the state today has made him the most popular political image in the country in terms of good governance and the fastest developing economy in Nigeria.
This is responsible for hundreds of honours that have been bestowed on him by diverse institutions and groups. The law of harvest is to reap more than you sew. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.
The transformational leadership is the most desired form of leading. It is based on the vision which the leader is an inspiring figure who works with his followers to achieve goals. In the process, everyone helps each other to reach greater levels of achievement. Trust is an essential bond; Transformational leadership has become a fundamental tool, particularly in the concept of developing one’s community to better the lot of the masses.
One reason this model is a true development concept is its goal emphasis. The relationship between the leader and other members of the team isn’t of primary importance. Such roles and duties exist because there is an outside target that all wish to reach, and so they take their places and undertake their own necessary tasks. Transformational leadership depends on a greater context or meaning, which is something all people desire.
Yet desirability and popularity are not effortless. Building trust and getting cooperation are far more difficult than giving orders and monitoring process.
In transformational leadership, the leader must continue to be an inspiring presence. The leader leads by example and is responsible for motivating others.
Transformative leaders are relentless to the betterment of his people, he is committed and passionate towards the visions he creates to archive greater values. Akpabio has been able to fit in to this kind of leadership mould, from the day one of his role as the governor of Akwa Ibom state, his projects have been so gigantic and laudable, which impact on the people enlarge his image to a sublime nature .
Chief Godswill Akpabio’s name today is phenomenal among the comity of leaders in the world. From Akwa Ibom State, the uncommon transformation story has been heard and witnessed by many. This in turn has added value to his person.
Success, they say, has many friends and alias. This as seen in the life of Akpabio, his Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) says he is their best performing governor.
Recently he was made the chairman of the PDP Governors” Forum, a sign of trust in his potentials. His enthronement to that exalted office was by a consensus decision of the President, Governors, and board of trustee members . The good deeds of a man exalt him and make him an unforgettable hero.
Chief Godswill Akpabio, the executive governor of Akwa Ibom State, has justified the mandate given to him in 2007 and renewed in 2011 by the Akwa Ibom people to govern them. He has reformed and still transforming the landscape of the state.
Testimonies are being given from all facets of the Nigerian society and abroad.
Th President, former Presidents, Senators, heads of financial institutions, military and churches have all testified to his uncommon transformation strides. Missions and countries are not left out. The former acting national chairman, Alhaji Baraje once congratulated Governor Akpabio for his numerous awards based on his achievements at the state and at the national levels, describing him as a performing man and a man who brings new ideas to PDP and Nigeria as a whole.
Baraje said the governor has deep knowledge and wisdom about the state and national issues, stating,€œWe love to consult him on thorny national issues. Many of the decisions taken by PDP, Akpabio is the originator. Nigeria won’t be tired of you. PDP won’t be ashamed coming to consult him. What you have done in your state, I am afraid, we need you at the national,†he confessed.
Even the opposing political party confirmed the uncommon transformation of Chief Akpabio in Akwa Ibom State. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State at The Sun Newspapers annual award described “The Sun Man of the Year Award ” 2011 bestowed on his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Chief Godswill Akpabio, by the management of The Sun newspaper as an “honour well deserved”.
According to Oshiomhole, “The Sun Man of the Year 2011 that you are being honoured today is not a fluke. It is based on what you have been able to put in place in your state as their leader since you took over the reign of leadership. I have been to Akwa Ibom State and I know what I saw was amazing. This award is a confirmation of your achievements in office and I can say without any apology that you deserve this.
During the visit of the former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, he had urged other states in the country to imitate Akpabio’s approach of significant development to achieve the desired tranquility. He said that this would restrain grievances among the people and check terror campaign, stressing that with the class of development that is seen in Akwa Ibom State, unity and peace will be realized in Nigeria. The retired General wished other states of the country would follow suit with development that would create peace in the country so that there would be no need for grievances and this type of terrorism we are facing in the country.
Abubakar lauded Akpabio for what he described as “incredible transformation in developmentâ€, urging Akwa Ibom people to be grateful for all the projects and guard them jealously while exercising their public tasks, including paying their taxes regularly. Next in the line of Presidents and former Presidents has been the retired General Yakubu Gowon, who, while visiting the state, said, “I am shocked to my marrow, what magic is this. Akpabio, you have changed the history of your people, the infrastructure I have seen here are breathtaking.
He concluded by asking God to energize the governor the more.
Nigeria’s President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, on his part says Akwa Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio is a man of proven integrity who has made Nigeria and the entire Africa proud. This assertion was contained in his address to the joint 24th and 25th Convocation of the University of Calabar. The President saluted the governor and named him as one of those who have exhibited love and selfless service to the people. And when he visited Akwa Ibom State, he said again that Governor Akpabio was not playing politics with projects but implement them to better the lives of his people and Nigeria. “What I see today has marveled me, the infrastructures are incomparable and the finishing is a world class touch.
As it stands today, Akwa Ibom has the best infrastructures. The only city in Nigeria you can compare to Akwa Ibom is Abuja, the Nation’s capital. All is as a result of the people oriented and transformative leadership of Chief Godswill Akpabio CON. The governor of Akwa Ibom is unarguably one of the most sort after leaders in Nigeria at the national level. To yield to this call the governor has decided to represent his people in the Senate, a decision many in Nigeria believe is not adequate to what they want him to be in the leadership of the country.
The former President and former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, advocated an amendment to the constitution for the transfer of governors to other states to boost development. Obasanjo made the declaration sometime back when he spoke at a dinner in his honour at the Government House, Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Obasanjo had said that €œGovernor Godswill Akpabio has turned Akwa Ibom into a paradise “ using the flyovers, roads, airport, Independent Power Plant and gas processing industry, among others. Railway will soon come.
The truth is that the governor is not only doing things that benefit the state alone but other states. I feel proud with what you have done in the last four years†Chief Obasanjo had said, noting again that, “If you have not landed in Uyo, you have not been anywhere in Nigeria. Obasanjo said the projects executed in Akwa Ibom were beneficial to the state and to its neighbours.
He was all correct in his advocacy that if one has not landed in Uyo, you ain’t seen nothing yet. In benefiting of other States , Akpabio’s free education policy is free for all, not just indigenes alone as what is the practice in Rivers and other states where only their indigenes alone benefit. In Akwa Ibom whether you are a resident in the State or from other States, as long as you are in public school in Akwa Ibom , you are automatically a beneficiary, so also is the free health care policy. A true nationalist can only be justified as such through his policies to accommodate all tribes in the country.
Almost anyone in any nation, at any given time, if asked whether he or she has heard of the phrase “you reap what you sew” will answer in the affirmative. This phrase is contained in the Bible but it’s use has traversed peoples, tribes, tongues and religions. You reap what you sow. How do you feel when you read that or hear someone say it? It’s normally used in a negative content, but, today, I’ve truly learned that reaping what you sew can be a very good thing. Planting seeds of success and good seed for others to benefit can cover over years of planting seeds of self-destruction.
The interesting thing is, the sprouts of success can come at any given moment which leads me to the conclusion that even if you cannot see immediate results, you must keep trying , Keep planting these seeds of success. It does pay off. It may start with a subtle pay off “ but it won’t be long before the payoffs begin to be more visible to the naked eye, to people around us and finally to the world. Today in Nigeria Akpabio is reaping the result of being a transformative leader who is not self -centered but believes in the “people first”. He has been declared wanted to come on board and join hands to make Nigeria great by taking her out from the slums of under development. His latest appointment as the Chairman of PDP governors forum , is a clarion call borne out of his uncommon transformation in Akwa Ibom State .
Written by Emmanuel
Nicholas. aka White Bom Bom , An Artiste, Author,Poet,Social Critics and President Foundation Against Tribalism And Social Vices In Nigeria, (FATSVIN) tel +234 80 333 750 68,81733 75068, email whitebombom@yahoo.com, editor@crackdownnews.com, follow me on facebook crackdownnews newspaper or Emmanuel Nicholas okokon , follow on tweet @crackdownnews