By Abiola Olawale
A former Minister of Petroleum Resources and elder statesman, Chief Don Obot Etiebet, has expressed grief over the sudden death of Akwa Ibom State First Lady, Pastor Patience Umo Eno.
Etiebet, a prominent businessman described the loss of the Akwa Ibom State first lady as a rude shock.
Reacting to the sad news, Etiebet said: “Oh my God! What bad news in my ears this morning of the passing to eternal glory of Her Excellency, Pastor ( Mrs) Patience Umo Eno! I couldn’t believe it, but it was true from the press release I had just read.
“I was weeping. I had a headache; my BP was up. I was confused about what to say. My wife was screaming!”
“The husband, His Excellency Pastor Umo Eno, was at my Birthday Dinner in Lagos organised by the Petroleum Club Lagos to celebrate me at 80 on Wednesday night, and this calamity happened less than 24 hours thereafter.
“Many of my Petroleum Club members have been calling me to express their surprises and to send their condolences at hearing of the bad news.
“Death is cruel! How can this happen to a good man who loves people and governs with the fear of God with his pastor wife beside him? Death, this is too much of your sting.
“Though inevitable, may it never happen again this way in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Her Excellency, Pastor ( Mrs) Patience Umo Eno was a virtuous woman, worth more than gold and diamond to her husband. She was loving, caring, and mother to all Akwa Ibomites irrespective of which political divide you belong.
“Her programmes in lifting the lives of the poor and weak, particularly women, inside the villages by making sure her husband reached out to them with free housing and start-up small business monies were never heard of before in Akwa Ibom State, nay Nigeria.
“Now, she is gone, never to return. It’s painful and hard to contemplate. We can only mourn. We all shall miss her.
“We can only thank the Almighty God for her life well lived, for her life-changing good works within just the one year her husband is in office.
“We can only pray the Almighty God to forgive her sins and take her to life everlasting in His bosom.
“MAY HER GENTLE SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE. AMEN.”
The New Diplomat reports that the passage of Eno’s wife was announced in a press statement issued on Friday.
In a statement issued by Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information, Ini Ememobong, the first lady was said to have passed away at a hospital on September 26, 2024, surrounded by family members.
The late Patience Umo Eno was affectionately referred to as Eka Iberedem Akwa Ibom, which means “Mother and Strong Pillar of Akwa Ibom.”
She founded the Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), a foundation focused on providing shelter, food, and education to the poor and vulnerable in Akwa Ibom.
