By Edet Okpo
At the fullness of time and in patriotic response to the necessity to add value to the society through people-oriented public service, Mr. BASSEY PIUS BASSEY has boldly and determinedly thrown his hat into the ring, to represent the good people of Okobo State Constituency in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in 2023.
His choice to join the 2023 race is not accidental, but motivated by distinctions and peculiarities that have characterized his personality, idiosyncrasy, worldview and service ideology over the years, while he was on the receiving end of representation trajectory of Okobo Local Government Area.
In other words, this decision has come after a long period of contemplative and active wait within which he was able to undergo series of intensive tutelage in the fundamentals of leadership and pragmatic approaches to solving problems for the common good of the greater number as enthroned by the political leadership template of Rt. Hon.Princess Felicia Bassey,a political strategist and pathfinder.
There is no telling that this exposure has opened to Mr. Bassey broader windows of assessment and firsthand opportunities to undertake a compressive and critical study of the needs of the people of Okobo and what fresh ideas and perspectives could be introduced to address them most effectively.
Expectedly, the current of commendations and encouragements from political stakeholders, youth and women in Okobo that his courage and ambition to step forward have received must be an open endorsement and confirmation of the trust, confidence and expectations of the people in his ability to bring quality representation.
It can be no exaggeration to observe that Mr. Bassey foresaw this grand moment of call to duty long in advance. That informed his dedicated and quality investment in time and resources in strengthening and developing his intellectual wealth in tandem with the demands and essentials a contemporary leader of the 21st Century.
BPB is a bonafide indigene of Ekpene Ukim in Okopedi Group of Villages in Okobo Locla Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He began his intellectual exploits at the Army Children’s School, Oron and subsequently moved on to the Cardinal Ekanem Seminary, Uyo.
Sustaining the tempo for more knowledge and enlightenment, to place himself at par with time and unfolding realities, Mr. Bassey was admitted to study Environmental Protection and Resource Management at the University of Calabar. Within time, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Degree and proceeded for his National Youth Serviced in Abia State.
Poised and equipped, Mr. Bassey Pius became like a golden fish whose sparkle not even the darkest water could becloud. His dynamism, like a rising sun at dawn, cut across the borders of his core professional domains and he convincingly proved that dynamism with unmistaken dare, productiveness, and excellence wherever opportunity knocked.
That was how and why, till today, he remains a sought-after factor to every net-worth individual and high profile organizations who have kept track of his worth and capacity to deliver results. His last appointment which he had to renege in obedience to the law and consequent upon his aspiration for the State House, was the Special Assistant to the Governor on Project Monitoring.
Retrospecting on the inroads he so far has made and introspecting on the prospects that lie ahead, the House of Assembly hopeful and dependable future pillar of Okobo politics recalls with relish in his unpublished memoir:
“I have joined other partners in progress in the legislative electioneering contest of our dear State constituency. My decision is not borne out of extreme quest for power or a motive for personal gain but in response to the yearning for an experienced, dependable and modest representation through teamwork”.
Interestingly, serving as Special Assistant to the Governor practically means traversing the length and breadth of Okobo and Akwa Ibom geography to provide updates on progress of government-initiated developments and offer possible recommendations. Therefore, Mr. Bassey can say with unquestionable confidence that he knows Okobo and the State to the borders and to the comfortable extent of being able to tell where the greatest needs of the masses lie.
His next lines of reflection on this advantaged position clearly confirm this:
“As a grassroots person with wealth of experience through various positions I have held until my recent resignation as Special Assistant to the Governor on Project Monitoring, I am not unaware of the yearnings of our people. Hence the need for a value-based legislative leadership anchored on unity, love, integrity, youths and women empowerment, skill acquisition, functional and sustainable self-reliance initiates, and healthcare delivery”.
In his characteristic humility to give honour to whom honour is due, Mr. Bassey readily acknowledges in his thesis of representation and leadership the contributions of past lawmakers and leaders from Okobo as the strongest foundation for the present and future. Hence, he thanks and commends the past leaders but wastes no time in advocating that there is a big room for improvement.
Hear him: “I admit that we have made tremendous progress as a constituency through tangible dividends and legislative engagements made by pour past legislators. Noteworthy is the unmatched records of our incumbent legislator in the 7th Assembly. These gains must be sustained”.
This last sentence in his honest observation is an apparent special letter of credence to the Deputy Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Princess Felicia Bassey, who has broken the class ceiling, altered formulas, and launched Okobo and indeed Akwa Ibom State on the highest pedestal of legislative discourse in Nigeria.
Nonetheless, with reference and reverence to the mountain of evidence in that regard, Mr. Bassey however still believes that more is yet to come. This is what he is seeking the mandate and votes of Okobo people to prove.
Going into the race, so many things stand in favour of Mr. Bassey’s favour. One is the zoning and rotation template of the party in Okobo Local Government Area.
Unlike what obtains in some parts of the State, as a patriotic and loyal party man, he is not coming into the race with desperation or inordinate ambition to alter or fight the status quo with Machiavellian tactics.
Rather, he willingly agrees and subject himself to the rules and norms that have made for the continued peace and progress Okobo is known for. On his side also is youth which comes with concomitant vibrancy and inventiveness.
Besides, he is squarely and roundly a product of equity, fairness and justice who while he was waiting for this moment to come never held a grudge against the party and stakeholders in the subsisting arrangement or power distribution and equilibrium.
Emphatically, Mr. Bassey is deservingly favored by the entrenched zoning arrangement in Okobo as well as the electioneering protocol and imperatives of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) both at State and national levels. Mr. Bassey may not have a bullion van to buy hearts or votes for the election ahead; but he is a bundle of capacity, energy, intelligence and innovation to make a difference. He is a core supporter of Governor Udom Emmanuel's Completion Agenda. Bassey Pius Bassey is one of the young men in Okobo who stood by the incumbent Deputy Speaker and Member representing Okobo State Constituency in AKHA, Rt. Hon. Princess Felicia Bassey to support Governor Udom Emmanuel in 2015- 2019, when some self-styled Elders and Stakeholders were on the other side of the divide.
He is an ardent believer of Rt. Hon. Princess Felicia Bassey's Philosophy to leadership and governance which are: Service to Humanity.....Turning Boys to Men....Men to Leaders.
Mr. Bassey Pius Bassey is the Youth's Slot for the 2023 House of Assembly project for Okobo State Constituency.
The synopsis of this article therefore centres on why Okobo people should eschew sentiments, tribalism, arm-twisting, sophistry and money-bag politics and conscientiously give Mr. Bassey Pius Bassey a moment in history to prove his mettle in representing Okobo State Constituency in the 8th Assembly of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in 2023.
Mr. Bassey Pius Bassey, the future beckons. Your time has come.
Congratulations in Advance,De Burgy!.
Comments
Post a Comment