Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State says the state’s inherent peace and unity have been his greatest achievement in the last two years of his administration.

Mr Eno addressed guests during his 2nd Year Anniversary State Banquet, which was held on Thursday at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Uyo.

He attributed the unprecedented peace and unity to God’s grace, love, and the cooperation of the people of the state and charged the Akwa Ibom people to continue to work in peace, love, unity, and respect for one another. He said that political parties should be seen as platforms for elections, after which comes governance.

“Whatever we have been able to achieve is because of the grace and faithfulness of God, and it is because of the cooperation of our people.

“For me, the greatest achievement is not in all those things you saw in the documentary. The greatest achievement is the peace that God has brought into this state. That is my greatest achievement.

“Like Otuekong Don Etiebet said, we know how this state used to be. It would be difficult for all of us to gather in this room because of political affiliations.

“Someone would die in a family, and you could not attend the burial openly so that they don’t think you are doing anti-party.

“We were made to think that wisdom resides in one political party. I want you all to understand that wisdom resides in all of us as Akwa Ibom people, not in any political party.

“I thank God today that we can stay under one roof, we can discuss together, we can all contribute to governance, we can reach out to our brothers and see political party only as a vehicle for election. And whoever God brings becomes the Governor for all, and brings people together.

“Let’s continue to push. We must live for each other, learn to extend hands of fellowship to people. That is the truth. We cannot continue to do winner-takes-it-all. We need to bring people in and learn how to work with the people,” he noted.

Speaking further, Mr Eno expressed appreciation to his political godfather and predecessor, former Governor Udom Emmanuel, for his vision, pursuit, resilience, and support that brought him to power.

He also appreciated all the past governors of the state for their respective contributions to the development of the state.

On his part, elder statesman and former petroleum minister, Mr Etiebet, described Governor Eno as a phenomenon, a spiritually-filled and enigmatic leader sent by God to serve Akwa Ibom in a critical time such as this.

He appreciated the governor for his godly leadership role in re-uniting the ethnic, social, and political fragments of the state, which, according to him, has brought an end to the era of political kidnappings and killings.

Mr Etiebet noted that, as a compassionate leader, Governor Eno has won the hearts of Akwa Ibom people, given his pragmatic approach to governance in the state.

In their separate remarks, Senator Ekong Sampson, Senator Effiong Bob, former Deputy Governor Nsima Ekere, and the state chairpersons of the PDP, APC, and the chairperson of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, congratulated the governor on a successful two years of impact, which, according to them, has motivated his endorsement for a second term by all the political parties in the State.

High points of the colourful and well-attended event were the unveiling and presentation of a book, The Golden Footprint, chronicling the administration’s two years of impactful leadership, and the presentation of the National Health Ambassador Award to Governor Eno by the National President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Ozundara Tope-Zenith.

The governor, in his response, highlighted his vision towards creating more medical tourism infrastructure to boost tourism development in the State and expressed his readiness to sign the international hospital agreement for the state-of-the-art international hospital project to be handled by a Turkiye-based construction company.