COMRADE AKAMBA AWAH, HIS FIVE TALENTS AND THE ONE TALENT THAT AWAITSHIMNEXT YEAR!! By Johnson Edet The 1980’s even up to the early 90s will forever be remembered in Australia as years of difficult economic strain. It was the period in which Australia as a nation nose-dived into a dangerous recession. Since it was the period before the tech-boom, the pangs of the economic strain that hit the country were felt across the different strata of the society. Unemployment was on the increase; the poverty index was rising as many retrenched wage and salary earners return to the workforce in jobs that pay much less than their previous jobs, or have fewer hours of work. During these years,the Australian government had experimented with variouseconomic relatedmeasures in a deliberate attempt to quell the ravaging scourge of this economic anomaly. It was during these experimentation processes that the Australian government led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke struck an agreement known as the Prices and incomes Accord with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). ThisPrices and Incomes accord which was first entered into between the government and the ACTU in 1983, and later had subsequent versions, saw the unions agreeing restrict wage demands and the government pledging to minimize inflation. After two years in operation, the Australian government saw the need to review the provisions of the Accord in line with emerging economic challenges. Therefore, in September, 1985 during the tenure of Simon Crean, the Australian government, yet again, signed the Second version of the Prices and Income Accord codenamed the Accord Mark II. The chief objective of the Accord Mark II was to cushion the effect of the falling Australian dollar and inflation caused by higher priced imports. As the President of the American Council of Trade Unions, ACTU from 1985 to 1990, Simon Crean got great commendation for the significant role he played as President of ACTU in ensuring that the Accord Mark II to the Accord Mark IV which was signed in 1990 achieved their envisaged objectives. Prior to his earned elevation as the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Crean had worked in a number of Trade Unions before becoming the Vice President of ACTU in 1981. In apparent appreciation of the selfless and people-centered administration he led as the President of ACTU, the people of Hothamin Victoria entrusted him with the mandate of representing them in the Australian parliament in 1990, immediately after he completed his tenure as President of the trade union. Crean’s story captured above seeks to reinforce the truth in the fact that at every point in a nation’s existence, destiny usually does the wonderful thing of raising men who are driven by a deep-seated desire to work toward s the improvement of the welfare of the people, to occupy public offices and make a positive difference in leadership or governance. One interesting trend that is common among such people is the fact that they are usually first of all refined for a higher calling in the success they have achieved in their private endeavours, orby being at the forefront of organizations, pressure groups, or unions formed with the vision of pushing for better conditions of livelihood for its members. By some deliberate divine arrangement, when it was time for the wind of uncommon transformation to blowin AkwaIbom state, destiny had programmed that a cerebral labour leader who believes and has proven dialogue to be the best tool for resolving government-labour misunderstandings, be the one to pilot the affairs of a strong labour union in the state – the Trade Union Congress (TUC). For the good thing called destiny by its foresight foresaw that having a labour leader who might hold the mistaken perception that his position should become a platform for engaging in repeated bickering with the Chief GodswillAkpabio-led administration. This undoubtedlywould have eventually led to incessant industrial actions capable of posingserious of dangerous distractions in the government’s journey to the state of the present infrastructural renaissance which we now enjoy. And so destiny elevated Comrade AkambaAwah to the position of the AkwaIbom state Chairman of the Trade Union Congress. Having exuded the rare qualities of servant-leadership and unwavering passion for working for the betterment of the workers’ welfare while serving as the secretary of the same union, when it was time for the next election of the union, member had no difficulty in arriving at the consensus that the lot on who becomes the next chairman of TUC should fall on Comrade AkambaAwah. As expected, Awah throughout these years of holding the reins as the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress has been neck deep in commitment,engaging in series of actions that has helped him in upholding the massive confidence reposed in him,thereby ensuring that members have the best deal ever in terms of working conditions and reward systems. This, he has been able to achieve with minimal industrial actions. There is no gainsaying the fact that the re-echoing calls coming from a larger section of NsitIbom people urging the quintessential labour leader to accept to represent the area as a lawmaker in the AkwaIbom state House of Assembly nest year came against the backdrop of the need to have a representative who will not only be vocal during proceedings in the house, thereby attracting the much-needed developmental projects to the area, but has also proven his capabilities in the handling of previous positions of responsibilities entrusted into his care. One impressive thing Comrade AkambaAwahhas done which has earned him loads of commendation has been his refusal to allow the votes of confidence reposed in him and massive endorsements he has been getting for his House of Assembly aspiration to swallow up the need for unending interactions with key stakeholders and different interest groups in NsitIbom with a view to learning their problems in preparation for the mandate that await him next year. As fallout of these interactions, Comrade Awah has begun the process of documenting key areas that will require his urgent intervention, either standing alone as a representative or collaborating with the state government or other relevant national and international agencies, once he has been handed over the mandate as the member representing NsitIbom in the AkwaIbom State House of Assembly. For instance, by way of contributing to the existence of a healthy population inNsitIbom, Comrade Awah intends to, as part of his priorities, partner with the government to complete the abandoned hospital projects at IkotNya and Edebom 1, refurbish primary health Centre facilities across NsitIbom, while also donating 10% of his constituency allowance for health projects. Impressively, in the educational sector, the visionary labour leader-soon-to-emerge-lawmaker through his consultations with NsitIbom people has identified the need to strengthen the ongoing free and compulsory education programme in the state by liaising with the government to rehabilitate secondary and primary schools within the constituency, while working vigorously to bring about the enrichment and diversification of extra-curricular activities, with emphasis on integrated skills development and practical skills acquisition through the use of ICT, even as NsitIbom people during these interactions have asked him to forge strong partnerships with international agencies such as UNESCO for the award of scholarship and other programmes to reward bright and brilliant students. With all these already laid out blueprints and the ones he will formulate on the completion of the ongoing series of interactions he keeps having with NsitIbom people, ComradeAkambaAwah has only succeeded in sending one clear message – that trust is an expensive ideal and no amount of preparation and sacrifice is too big to offer in a bid to uphold such trust. These preparations, in addition to the impressive manner he handled the previous talents on his care as the chairman of the Trade Union Congress, have become the steps which he has scaled to mount the rostrum on top of which NsitIbom people will stand to hand over the one talent to him in form of the mandate to represent the people of the area at the state house of Assembly, next year. For me as a private individual, Comrade Awah’s life as a people-centered leader stays up as a banner that keeps reminding me that if I work hard and show prudence and finesse in my calling as teacher, which of course are the five talents, in my care, more talents await me in the nearest future the same way it happened to Simon Crean and will happen to Comrade Awah next year. Culled from The Guide Newspaper
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 07:47:43 +0000