Christmas: Bless others if God has blessed you – Akwa Ibom’s Udom Emmanuel

Akwa Ibom State governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has enjoined well-to-do people in the State to use their God-given blessings to put smiles on faces of indigent ones around them in the society.

Emmanuel gave the admonition during the 2021 Akwa Ibom Carols night, tagged, “The Return” which held at Ibom hall grounds, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.

The governor who reiterated that Christmas is a time of love and giving urged the people to exhibit Christ-like virtues, adding that it’s a season of deepening the cords of unity and common purpose.

According to the governor, “everywhere you see a brethren who cannot afford a decent meal, reach out and touch that individual. If you have been blessed by God, use your blessings to alleviate the pains of others, show humility and kindness to one another. These are the values and virtues Christ embodied and as we celebrate His birth this season, let us envelop our thoughts and hearts with these ennobling Christ-like ideals.”

He also regretted that the annual event could not be held last year, 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic which affected not only economic but social activities across the country even as he said it was a great privilege and grace from God for the state to organize this year’s celebration.

“It’s so great to be back here tonight, since we last met in December 2019, having postponed last year’s edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic that had changed every known rules and dynamics of our daily engagements. Even though the pandemic is still mutating into various variants, we remain optimistic that its spread would be greatly curtailed in the months to come, given the robust protocols we have enjoined our people to continue to observe.

“Let me welcome you to this Carols night tagged The Return, for reasons I have just mentioned, our revered Father in Faith, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (RCCG) Daddy G.O Enoch Adeboye, our brother and the immensely popular and celebrated founder and Bishop of the Potter’s House – a mega-church based in Dallas, Texas, in the United States, an author whose books and motivational teachings have changed destinies and brought hope to the hopeless, Bishop T.D. Jakes.

“Bishop Jakes has returned home, bringing everlasting joy in his heart and getting ready to join us in proclaiming that henceforth, tears and sorrows shall flee from this State, and that we have been redeemed by the Holy Spirit to continue showing to the world that Government and governance can indeed be a force for good not for ill.

“It is good to have you back home, Bishop Jakes, since you had made it known a long time ago, that you had traced your genealogy to Igbo land. The migratory story of the Igbos and the people of Akwa Ibom State are very similar; both had stops in Usak Edit in the Cameroons and in Arochuckwu, in today’s Abia State according to historical sources.

“We are not only neighbours, we are brothers who have over the centuries, built a firewall of unity that have withstood the divisive fusillade of partisan politics. Since you are back home, let me welcome you first in Igbo, “Nnooo Ezigbo Nwannem Nwoke” and Ame-dioooo Eyen-Eka Nyin, in Ibibio language.

“My dear Akwaibomites let this season of the Birth of our Saviour, cement in larger levels and doses the love we show to one another, let us eschew hatred and envy, let us refrain from the impulse and the push to destroy one another, let us not use anger to bend the cords of our brotherhood.

“Our State is generally known to be peaceful and hospitable, little wonder we have, if I may repeat, been called “Nigeria’s Best Kept Secret.” People from all over the nation and even in the Diaspora have made our State their new home,” he said.