GODSWILL OBOT AKPABIO: THE SCION OF THE GREAT AKPABIO

December 9, 1962 was a Sunday. Sunday is a special day dedicated by Christian faithful to worship God in truth and in spirit through association with other brethren. On such days, homes are shut down in part for Churches to gain the people and come alive. Just as rural urban drift gained and still gains popularity in our country, the drift of our population from homes to ecclesiastic centres on Sundays is a tradition that was in observation in 1962 with its validity even stronger today.

It was on this special day that Godswill Akpabio was born amidst joy in the then dingy village of Ukana Ikot Ntuen in Essien Udim Local Government Area to the royal family of Okuku Udo Akpabio; a first class traditional ruler adjudged as one of the ten most influential traditional rulers in Africa during his time. The father was Chief Obot Akpabio, a returnee British Soldier while the mother was Madam Lucy Obot Akpabio (nee Inyangetor).

Godswill Akpabio’s birth did not sire any comet; neither did it bring the three wise men from the East. But his birth that fateful day bore special significance which the mother observed soon after she was delivered of the boy. The well-endowed young woman who has then in her 20s had already lost two male children to infant mortality. And so when this one came, he was named Godswill, apparently the parents’ way of petitioning God for extra vigilance over this one. Since then, the way and manner Godswill’s life has trod bears testimony to answered supplications. It is why becoming an orphan at six months did not change his destiny.

It was Winston Churchill who in his observation noted a great tradition can be inherited, but greatness itself must be won. Godswill Akpabio was born as part of a great tradition, having been born into the Great Akpabio family. The grandfather, Okuku Udo Akpabio was a first class traditional ruler. A British writer in her book recorded Okuku Udo Akpabio as one of the ten most influential traditional African rulers. This is captured succinctly in a book, He Dared, which attempts to chronicle the times and legacies of that great patriarch. But Godswill Akpabio as a member of that great tradition has worked to win greatness as his contribution to the continuum of that great tradition.

Godswill’s early privations did not suggest him as a partaker of the inheritance neither did it conjecture that he would one day serve as the most colourful driver of the Great Akpabio Tradition.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that the world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. Godswill did not allow the circumstance he found himself to mar his future or impinge on his dreams. As far as he was concerned, since he was already born into that Great Tradition, he had inalienable right to greatness. He was however, conscious of the fact that he must invest hardwork to achieve it. As the governor himself often observes, it is only in the dictionary that one can find success before working noting that the logical thing is work before success.

And so chequered as his early life was, he made hardwork his companion. He refused to surrender to perennial deprivation that dogged his life. With a mother whose strong faith in God serves on a constant source of hope, little Godswill appreciated life’s challenges and God’s supremacy early. For instance, when he asked the mother as a child why the father died, the courageous woman responded, “he died because God made you a strong boy.” Such mindset as a child buoyed his confidence in every undertaking. It was why even when his primary education in Methodist Primary School, Ukana was staggered by the winds of lack of school fees, he still made a distinction. It was also why as a 10 year old boy, he could travel to Kaduna all on his own to seek admission he was not forlorn of hope.

His attempt to be part of Independent College, founded by the uncle, Dr. Ibanga Udo Akpabio was again marred by the lack of school fees. The incessant impecuniousness culminated in his loss of his hope to become a great man. When therefore it was time for little Godswill to start secondary school, it was to be the prestigious Federal Government College, Port Harcourt. He made history as the first person from the Great Akpabio Tradition to be admitted into any Federal Government College in the country.

Again, lack of funds interjected, necessitating a family meeting to consider a bail out. That meeting ended in a fiasco as no meaningful solution was proffered. But providence had ordained that it was time for his secondary school education to commence. With the help of the dutiful mother and one or two of his uncles, Godswill left for Federal Government College, Port Harcourt to begin a glorious secondary school career that culminated in his serving as the General Senior Prefect of a school we can safely call a ‘Mini Nigeria.’

The above story is told to underscore the place of God in the life of this gentleman who has today taken Akwa Ibom State into the epicenter of Nigeria and vice versa. Yes, he was born into a royal family but he had no silver spoon. He had a hoe and a shovel in his hands. But God who has never hidden his affection for widows and orphans and has always been effusive in blessing them seems to have taken special interest in the case of Godswill. Those who knew him while in school say that he did not betray that he was undergoing intense privations. He carried on as if all was well. He grew in contentment and other virtues and God provided for him in a way that surpassed all understanding in addition to a trait of leadership He had already imbued in him. According to Obong Akpabio, a cousin whom they shared childhood, “There had never been a time that Godswill had not been like a rallying point.” In Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, it was a mark of distinction to be a Goddy A Boy; Goddy A being an alias he acquired in schools as a disc jockey. While in the university as Speaker, Students’ Union Parliament, he lived at the Presidential Lodge with the President of the Student’s Union for a period of fourteen months. They lived like privileged students with a chauffeur driven car.

Many have canvassed the view that for God to establish His miraculous ways, he must make something out of nothing. Perhaps, it is why the scripture iterates that the forgotten stone shall become the cornerstone. Many would have misgiving in accepting that the Great Akpabio family would have chosen Godswill, an orphan as the leading scion of the family in this generation, if it had the choice. The simple reason is in the indices often considered in elevating people; material opulence, pedigree, contact, etc. but man’s ways are not God’s ways. While our considerations as humans are often carnal and mundane, God’s considerations are gracious and spiritual. His parameters favoured Godswill because of the faithfulness of his heart which is evidenced by his compassionate leadership in the State. Through God’s faithfulness, Godswill is today the leading scion of the Great Akpabio family.

Governor Godswill Akpabio has these past years resurrected and re-erected the Great Akpabio Tradition. His circumstances have provided him with the wherewithal to translate the Great Tradition into timeless legacies. He has built infrastructure, built goodwill and built unity in Akwa Ibom State. He has expanded the coast of opportunities for many while placing the state firmly in God’s hands to give full import and reflection to its name as Akwa Abasi-Ibom State. These accomplishments have carved a special place of history for him and the Great Akpabio Tradition as we transit from the era of Before Akpabio (BA) and gradually approaching After Akpabio (AA) which bell will toll in 2015.

By Joe Iniodu, a Public Affairs Analyst.