Even though he has earned a PhD and have been decorated with the Cross of Knighthood, Jake Otu Enyia is widely referred to as "Chief

UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF CHIEF (DR) JAKE OTU ENYIA IN THE POLITICS OF CROSS RIVER STATE BY DOMINIC KIDZU Many of my admirers would probably be surprised that I am scribbling jaunty lines for Chief Jake Otu Enyia and extolling his virtues on parchment codices. To all of you with such concerns I will respond in the manner of the immutable Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, that I have decided to stick with love, since hate is too great a burden for me to bear. There comes a time in the life of a man when they have to put away the dark events of the past and journey forward to the sunset of their lives without the cross of ill feeling against the men they have met on the road of life but with hope in the awesome evanescence of the final day. As Mahatma Ghandi also said " I look only to the good qualities of men, not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others". Even though he has earned a PhD and have been decorated with the Cross of Knighthood, Jake Otu Enyia is widely referred to as "Chief " perhaps because the academic and spiritual eppaulettes arrived long after he had been crowned a chief by his own people of Katchuan Irruan in Boki local government area. Blessed with a gentle and easy disposition that has endeared him to many and a habit of giving freely to all who come to him, Jake has become a godfather to many who in turn follow his political directives without question. There are many politicians today in Boki, Ikom, Etung, Obubra, Abi and Yakurr who will do what he wants them to do even if that wasn't what they wanted themselves. Throughout his career as an accountant in the local government service authority, chief accountant in the State Universal Basic Education Board ( SUBEB), Chairman of Boki local government area, two - term member of the Cross River State House of Assembly, lecturer in the University of Calabar and now Commissioner for Aviation, Jake has always cultivated friends in the same manner that a farmer plants crops in the rainy season. He enjoys the presence of the high as well as the lowly around him and is often at his jocular best when he sits among the multitude of his kinsmen in the rural evenings. I cannot say if it is in his star or because of his hardwork and careful planning that Jake had always gotten what he wanted, what is self evident is that the good Lord has blessed him in very several ways with position and with wealth and has always lifted him a few rungs above his peers both in the workplace and in social standing, such that it is enough for one to pray to have a big God of the size that Jake Otu Enyia has. A chattered accountant and an associate professor of law, there are certainly not many in the polity that are so well prepared for higher office and so potentially capable to discharge the demands that such an office may require. Little wonder that the momentous announcement of his interest in filling the "vacant" position of member representing the good people of Ikom and Boki in the Federal House of Representatives sent shock waves around the constituency, especially among those who are also interested in the position. As it stands today in both Ikom and Boki local government areas (and I make this assertion without bias or malice against his opponents who are also my friends and my brothers), were the Primaries to be thrown open for the people to choose their Representative accordingly to their conscience and choices, Chief (Dr) Jake Otu Enyia will take the diadem even before the rising of the sun. This is because the people know those who have lived and worked with them, those who have shown them the right way in the past and those who have offered them a morsel and a loaf of bread in their time of need. It is not for nothing that his houses in Calabar and in Boki have become a Mecca of sorts for the low and the mighty in the last few months, with multitudes trooping in and out to register their support for his candidacy. Love him, hate him, despise him all you want, one thing even his most bitter enemy cannot help but admit is that this man is a potent force to reckon with in the politics of Cross River State and there is nothing anybody can do about that. Dominic Kidzu is the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information.