A casual look at the list of Governors-elect that will man various States in Nigeria, will reveal that over 80% are below 60 years. This puts them within the touching distance to be described as post civil war generation. The civil war ended on January 30th, 1970.
Those born before 1970, who are Governors-elect, had their formative, teenage years, in the 70s when the patriotism, need to unify Nigeria after 30 months of war, was at its peak.
Will they bring these experiences to bear in governance or will they be clouded by pre-civil war tribal/regional clannish bigotry?
Of this group of post-civil war generation coming to government, eyes should be on Akwa Ibom. Pst. Umo Eno the Governor-elect, is the youngest at 49 years old.
His official biography reads; Pastor Umo Eno is a visionary Christian leader and an entrepreneur par excellence. He is the Governor / Chief Executive Officer of Royalty Group, a company he founded in 1997 with business interest in hospitality, manufacturing and oil / gas sector with over 500 direct employees spread across Nigeria.
The Governor, as he is called in Royalty Group, is an ordained apostle in the body of Christ and the Undershepherd of All Nations Christian Ministry Int’l, a church called to build a community of Christian believers that transcends race, tribe, colour into a kingdom focused church.
Pastor Eno’s thriving career began in 1982 when he joined the banking industry, working with Union Bank of Nigeria, and ventured into private business working with Bertola Machine Tools between 1985 to 1990 before joining Norman Holdings Limited from 1990 to 1997 where he left as the Group General Manager (GGM), Commercial Services to establish Royalty Hotels and Recreations Limited in 1997. He serves as the Governor / CEO till date. The Governor’s highest qualification is a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from University of Uyo and is currently pursuing a Ph.D programme in the same university.
The question on the lips of Akwa Ibom citizens is, will Pastor perform?
This is against the backdrop of abysmal performance by Yahaya Adoza Bello of Kogi. When Bello came to Lugard House, Lokoja, he was the youngest among his peers. But after eight years, many believe that he is not a good youth ambassador in government and are weary of risking supporting young men to acquire political poor.
No matter how forlorn the electorates are, 2023 General Election, threw up lots of new kids on the bloc and from this pool, will 2027 presidential candidates emerge.
Sen. Ahmed Tinubu, will be the last of the old brigade in power.
In 2027, we will have fresh post war generation candidates with maybe one or two pre-1970 contestants; has the youth-O’clock arrived?
