As the Central Working Committee and all sub committees for Senator Etang Edet Umoyo's obsequious arrangements gather steam, the Chairman of the Sub Committee on Media and Publicity Mr. Ekong Sampson in a briefing with his team after an exhaustive deliberations at weekend in Uyo on media strategy for the burial scheduled for May 7, 2021, opened up on what the statesman stood for as regards the Niger Delta Question.
Anietie Akpan, a Veteran Journalist with The Guardian Newspapers captured him verbatim:
"It is instructive that Senator Etang Edet Umoyo lived well at all times. His imprints will continue to loom large as he was an intellectual, a scholar, a community builder and patriot.
"He worked for Nigeria and shared strong views about the Niger Delta question which remains in the front burner of national discuss and it is a reflection of the times that Senator Umoyo devoted a good chunk of his adult life fighting for a better Nigeria particularly, a better Niger Delta and to this extent we in the Niger Delta owe him a duty of recognition, a duty of commitment to service considering what he lived for which was a better life for his people.
"As we compare notes towards his burial, it's important to note that he was a key driver of the Niger Delta agitation which is being taken seriously within the context of a better Nigeria. I am happy that his immediate people are rallying round his legacies. But beyond Esit Eket, Akwa Ibom South and Akwa Ibom itself, is the larger Nigerian space. A lot of his friends have sent in their tributes all reflecting the moments they shared and that he epitomised as a great Nigerian. I am referring to the states and the people of Niger Delta as the Niger Delta question is on the front burner of national consciousness today. He wanted a better Niger Delta, a region that contributes enormously the wealth that sustains Nigeria.
"Questions like regional integration, resource control will remain dominant within the context of the emerging Nigeria and these were some of the thoughts that the late Umoyo shared in his life and times. He was fearless and he devoted his intellectual ability towards fighting for a better Nigeria and to this extent his life also exemplified a challenge to intellectuals that you don't just live a life of detachment. If you are an intellectual you have to work with others towards a better society and you don't retreat into a cocoon but you must bring your capacity to bear in remaking Nigeria.
"These are parts of the tributes that have illuminated the life and times of Senator Umoyo, a man who devoted a good part of his life fighting for his people and a better Nigeria. He never hid his beliefs and you will always know where he stood for on any issue".
On expectations from the National Assembly, he said, "specifically the Senate will naturally pay tributes to one of their own. He was someone who never shied away from the components law making whether in the formal or informal vistas, he stood out. So one expects the National Assembly to accord him the respect he deserves and richly so as one of them and as someone who represented the finner ideals of law making at the red chamber".
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