Umo Eno: Most Detribalized Leader ….Ima Nkanta
The Evangelist News Edition, April 19, 2023. By Our Reporter
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are three things that are very detestable to Pastor Umo Eno, yet the fourth is a foul spill he hates with angst. These are indolence, mediocrity, slothfulness and weaponizing tribalism. Pastor Umo Eno is the most detribalized person I have known in decades.
Raised up by a policeman father who was always transferred from one state to the other, he has lived almost in all parts of Nigeria, with litany of friends in all cultures of Nigeria. As a pastor, he does not segregate against anyone because he belives God created us all equally and places each one of us where best fit for us to achieve destiny.
In his church, All Nations Christian Ministry Int’l, to avoid ethnic identity, all members belong to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. So, if you ask; Where are you from? A response rather would be: ‘I’m of the tribe of Reuben, Judah, Zebulon, Simeon, Isaachar, Asher, Levite, etc.’ There’s nothing like Ibibio, Ekid, Oron, Annang, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo or something. This is why the vision statement of his church is, “Building a community of Christian believers that transcends tribes, colour, race, tradition and denomination into a kingdom focused people.”
Does it mean he does not recognize tribes, certainly he does and respects where each person comes from but he doesn’t accept it as a basis for favour or preference. Same principle governs the Royalty Group, where you find staff from all parts of the world. Excellence is his watchword!
As the Secretary and a founding board member of ACA, he fought the leaders who imported tribal sentiments into the organization of ACA to a standstill. Are we surprised that all tribes of Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani residing in Akwa Ibom State overwhelmingly voted for him? Can I so submit here that these tribes mobilized resources of their own for his massive electoral victory?
If you don’t want trouble with him, avoid these three things and hate the fourth one as evil. Like Martin Luther King Jr, Umo Eno relates with people not on the ethnic, tribal and primordial basis but on the content and character of the people.
If you’ve are productive, if you are creative, if you have a dream, if you have a calling, if you have the capacity, the bravery and the guts to make the groaning society; the jobless, the orphans, the widows and all those disproportionately placed on the harsh economic scale of our nation, breathe a sigh of relief, then you are on his side.
Tribalistic and ethnic jingoism is what is destroying our nation. When ethnic preference is glorified, excellence is buried. When embers of ethnicity are fanned, destructive fire burns destructively.
For Akwa Ibom State to attain the envioned greatness of our founding fathers, we must embrace useful inputs from all, we must kill the cancer of ethnic or tribal sentiments.
Pastor Umo Eno sure will activate the seed of this greatness of Akwa Ibom State.
