Ekwueme, Nwodo, others extol Egwu's virtue at birthday
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki
SOUTH-EAST politicians yesterday in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, approved the leadership style of Governor Sam Egwu who celebrated his 50th birthday.
At the occasion organised by members of the Executive Council of Ebonyi State, Second Republic Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme said Egwu believes that leadership is not about noisemaking.
The former vice-president said: "When in an executive position, all you need to do is use your intelligence to analyse and execute programmes to promote the wellbeing of the people. This is the style Dr Sam Egwu has adopted and I am pleased with him."
In his own tribute, the South-East Zonal Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Okey Ezenwa, said Governor Egwu is different from other governors in the South-East geo-political zone.
He declared that the Ebonyi State governor wiped tears and shame from the faces of PDP members in the zone.
"Unlike in other states, we do not have to send peace panels to settle sundry disputes in the state," Ezenwa pointed out.
The PDP chieftain stated that in Egwu the South-East zone has a good political product for export.
Former presidential aspirant under the defunct National Republican Convention, (NRC), Dr Joe Nwodo, was also elaborate in his praise of Egwu.
In his goodwill message, Nwodo stated: "Under your leadership, Ebonyi is an oasis of peace and tranquillity when compared to the political situation in some states.
"In fact in such places, there is an undeclared civil war raging between the government and the opposition or between the founders of the state and the government.
"You have successfully accommodated all shades of political opinion in Ebonyi including the founding fathers who contributed to the historic struggle for the creation of the state".
Nwodo told Egwu that Ebonyi has become a national barometer for gauging the speed and tempo of a people-oriented development programme.
His words: "You have inspired a political following which is not only tenacious in its loyalty but also forthright in its dedication to your programmes.
"In the process, you have been able to vindicate that the leadership crisis in Nigeria is largely a crisis of credibility".
Nwodo declared that governments increasingly lack credibility, saying without a credible leadership there cannot be a credible followership.
Adding his voice to the profusion of praise for Egwu, the first Military Administrator of the state, Captain Walter Feghabor, pointed out that Egwu conceived the idea of Ebonyi State University when he was the Commissioner of Education in the state.
