Our Correspondence | 24th February 2022
As the 2023 elections draw near, the gubernatorial aspirations of Professor Eyo Etim Nyong is gradually gaining visibility and acceptance by a vast majority of the youthful population in Cross River State as more young persons are beginning to Identify with and testify of his good works.
About a month ago, a campaign to with
the sole aim of smearing the character, image and personality of the professor
of Petroleum Geology was met with stive resistance by Cross River state youths
who have in their numbers risen and spoken against the attempted assassination
of Nyong’s Character and Image. Shortly after the publication which was published
by Calabar blog where the erudite Professor of Petroleum Geology was smeared
and erroneously painted pitching him against a generation, he has fought for
all his life, Young persons from all works of life, both corporate bodies and
individuals have all come out to testify of his love and care for young
people.
First was a publication by an Efik pro
youth Association called Mkparawa Essien Efik Duob-eba who published an article
published on grassrootrepertersng.com with the caption, Nka Ikemsit Mkparawa
Essien Efik Duob-eba reacts to Malicious Publication on Prof. Nyong. In the
said article, the group described that High Chief Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong is a
highly respected patron of the group stating that Nyong is one of the few
leaders in Cross River state with special interest for youth development.
Their article reads in part:
“…We applaud the Chairman of Utomo
Obong 2021, High Chief Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong for being a leading light in Efik
kingdom and Cross River State at large. We remain grateful to him for
INCORPORATING YOUTH GROUPS in the itinerary of Utomo Obong for the first time
during this great event.
4. We bring to the knowledge of the
general public our confidence in Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong, father of the youths in
diverse Efik and Cross River State communities. He holds the title
"Ada-Usung Mkparawa Efik", meaning, "Leader of the Efik
Youths". It is absolutely wrong therefore, for anyone to describe him as
not being youth friendly. This is a man who picks all calls from known and
unknown sources, listens to all, grants as many requests as possible, and keeps
his doors open to all. For the past two decades, he has been committed to
empowering women and youths across the State. Evidently while in the NDDC, he
made special provision for women and youths package throughout his short period
in the agency. Commendably, this gesture continued until today, where several
youths have benefited from him through special sponsorship in the academic and entrepreneurial
sectors as well as assisting many in gaining employment opportunities,
etc.
Aside the article by Nka Ikemsit Mkparawa
Essien Efik Duob-eba, other young persons have spoken up in defense of Prof.
Eyo Etim Nyong’s affinity with young persons and deliberate efforts to build
their capacity all round.
Prominent among such comments are the
following:
Asuquo Nsa wrote:
I know Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong to be
youth-friendly. In appreciation of his personal efforts to improve the lots of
youth in Cross River State, many youth organizations have honored him with
awards.
"On Saturday, the 23rd of
October, 2021, a frontline Youth Group in Efik, " Nka Ikemesit Mkparawa
Essien Efik Duob-eba", bestowed an "Award of Honour" on High
Chief Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong.
He was specifically honored with the
"Adausung Mkparawa Essien Efik Duob-eba". The Chairman described
Nyong as a defender of truth, promoter of positive values, decisive and
purposeful in leadership, one who has gone beyond his duty calls for the sake
of humanity. The award vested on him the mantle of leadership of the
group.
While receiving the award, the High
Chief expressed his appreciation for the recognition of his little efforts and
reiterated his commitments to the development of the youths and the society at
large. He also charged the youths to shun the devastating paths and maximize
enterprising opportunities.
"I accept this award as a call to
do more for humanity. I have always had great concerns for the youths. Our
nation can only make tangible progress if a greater percent of our youths is
enterprising. We've got to step up to this challenge. Also, while seeking for
the best of our future as youths, we must do this with all sense of decency,
shunning all social vices, including kidnapping, robbery, cultism, internet
fraud, drugging and violence, which have led many vibrant youths to the path of
early destruction. “
Oyira Johnson Wrote:
I am not a politician but I have not
seen any individual as open minded as Prof. To set the records straight, He was
my Superintendent in Hope Waddell Presbyterian Church when I was the Youth
President. He sponsored so many programs. In fact there was a year He sponsored
our praise concert tagged " SHOUTS OF PRAISE” to the tune of Hundreds of
thousands. He did not end there; at several times I have put calls across to him
that prompted him to take available flight down to Calabar just to attend to
youth matters. He is never too busy to attend to young persons. He will
always tell us "I was once like you, there is no height you cannot
attain". The truth is if given the opportunity, the people's Prof is the
best thing that can happen to Cross River State.
Marcualay King Ogie
Paragraph 4, the last statement is so
true! My supervisor always talked about your kindness to him and how he worked
in South Sea Petroleum.
When I was a final year student of the
Dept of Geology, you taught me Micropaleontology and gifted us some money at
the end of the class.
You opened my eyes to more
opportunities within the petroleum Geology field and your PhD student is my
supervisor today.
You are a great scholar and a great
leader. God bless you abundantly.
No scheme of the enemy will work again
you. Wishing you the best.
There are several other opinions, comments and article written by
many Cross Riverians expressing Nyong’s affiliation with young persons but time
and space won’t permit their inclusion here. For instance, there are indigenous
lecturers in the University of Calabar and University of Cross River State and
other Universities across the world that are direct beneficiaries of Prof’s educational
benevolence by way of scholarship and trainings. There are many others both in tertiary
and secondary schools who are direct beneficiaries of his scholarship scheme
and many youths who are doing well both in their private businesses and career
courtesy of Nyong’s benevolence.
The songs, calls and show of love have continued to pour in ever
since the sponsored malicious publication was released. This is a clear case of
what was meant for bad turned out to be in Prof. Nyong’s advantage as many of
his benefactors who had remained silence over the years are beginning to speak up.
Truth remains that none of the aspirants in both APC and PDP can
match Nyong’s sincere love and developmental efforts towards young persons in Cross
River State. Almost all those carrying out one level of youth development activities
or the other are doing that with the people’s money as they are either in one appointment
of government or the other or are currently or have previously held elective
offices. But for High Chief Professor Eyo Etim Nyong, the last time he held any
public office which was not even elective was over 20 years ago yet he has
continued to use personal hard-earned funds to finance youths activities year
in year out.
Whoever must have sponsored that malicious article certainly does
not mean well for Cross River state youths, because it is a well-known fact
that when a man does well, you encourage him to do more by appreciating him. But
when you decide to malign, hate and badmouth him, that odds are that he gets
offended and stops whatever he has been doing or plans to do. But thank
goodness, Nyong isn’t like that as he is more resolved and committed to the development
of young persons in Cross River State even beyond any level of criticism
against him.
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