Unearth more Dr Uwemedimo Udo
….. Uyo council chairman blazing the trail of grassroot leadership
By Aniekan Udofia
Accolades have continued to pour in on the leadership and exploit of the Mayor of the AkwaIbomStatecapital, Uyo, Dr Uwemedimo Udo, from many quarters even beyond his local government. Udo has posted stellar performances that have silenced many critics who may have held that academic excellence was not a guarantee for effective performance in politics and governance.
The emergence of Udo as Council helmsman in 2020 was by every standard a divine orchestration, what in the Greek mythology could be described as Deus Ex Machina. A candidate had emerged in Uyo and in what seemed like the unseen hand of God, Akwa Ibom State woke up to the news that a certain academic from the University of Uyo has been called upon to replace the other candidate.
Banner headlines in the local newspapers flashed, Uwemedimo Udo is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP for Uyo in the upcoming local government election in 2020.
Was Udo an accidental candidate in the true sense? The answer is an emphatic, NO. Udo just didn’t happen. Udo had nursed the ambition to be council boss but fully aware that the system does not function with just willingness to serve, his ambition died prematurely. But God who reigns in the affairs of men through men made Udo the chairman of Uyo Local Government Council.
Dr Uwemedimo Udo, like a man who was fully prepared for leadership and constantly reminded that his kind, in government was a litmus test for intellectualism and competence, set out to break the stereotype. There are many who believed that Udo will fail since the local government administration is not a classroom. Udo was obviously aware of these notions.
Udo in the space of 3 years has redefined leadership at the grassroot level, blending intellect, competence, service, accountability, and finesse in the labour of love for his people. Udo constantly churns out quality projects in the local government area that speaks of his standard.
Dr Uwemedimo Udo came to the government at the grassroot level as a man who could feed his family and himself. Thus, his emergence as Chairman of the local government council was not a meal ticket. Udo demonstrated that his major focus was on the people.
Not many realised the magnitude of responsibility of the office of the chairman of a local government council. Imagine Udo making a presentation before any high power delegation, whether international or national, Udo will naturally flourish and give the delegation the hope that Akwa Ibom parades the best administrators at the grassroot level, although that is not the case.
In an unprecedented fashion, stakeholders in the Uyo Local government area are taking their turns to drum support for Udo for a second term. Many say that they have not had it this good in the local government. Udo is shattering records and delivering good governance by the day.
Beyond the accolades on Udo is the fact that there are several Udos the system can unearth. Udo was not their first choice. Providence threw Udo up. The system must begin to realise that projecting several Udos at the grassroots and at different levels of government will advance the state.
As the local government council election draws near in Akwa Ibom State, political stakeholders across the 31 LGAs must be deliberate to produce their own Udos to stimulate leadership and growth at the grassroot level. Grassroot level governance can not be used as compensation for every Tom, Dick and Harry. The era when near illiterates and political touts emerge councillors and Chairmen should be a by-gone while the search for several Udos should take prominence.
Uwemedimo Udo has set the stage for the many competent individuals who are only waiting for the system to trust them, like they experimented with Udo, and it yielded the desired result. Udo in the words of great American poet Robert Frost was, “The Road Not Taken”, the political leaders of Uyo can boldly say; “I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Dr Uwemedimo Udo has indeed made the difference.
