News
Senator Godswill Akpabio: 63 years of enduring impact
By
Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh mnipr
On this ninth day of December, in the year 2025, as the nation stirs to its familiar rhythm, a man stands quietly at the crossroads of personal milestone and public memory. Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON, marks his 63rd year on earth—another turn on the wheel of time for a figure whose shadow has long stretched across the public life of Nigeria.
He was born in Ukana Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim—one of those villages where the future rarely announces itself with trumpets, but where the soil has a way of preparing men for the long, hard disciplines of service. His childhood was shaped by the steady lessons of Methodist Primary School, the formative rigour of the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, and later the University of Calabar, where he earned a law degree that would become less a credential than a compass.
Before politics found him—or before he found politics—Akpabio walked several honest roads: teacher, lawyer, partner, corporate executive. These were not glamorous roles, but they were instructive. They taught him something about the dignity of work, the stubbornness of hope, and the slow grind through which a man discovers his convictions.
Then came public office—a chapter not whispered into existence, but written in the bold script of infrastructure, reform, and unyielding ambition. As Governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015, he presided over the kind of transformation that does not happen quietly. Roads carved through old terrains; bridges defeated rivers long thought unconquerable; an airport rose from the red earth; a stadium stood like a declaration that the people had reclaimed their sense of possibility. And in classrooms and hospitals, thousands felt the soft but decisive undertones of free education and accessible healthcare. They called him “The Uncommon Transformer,” not because the phrase was fashionable, but because it was true.
His path then led to the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic, where he got swift the recognition of his peers in the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who made him the Minority Leader of the Senate. Characteristic of Akpabio – whose name has come to connote excellence – he played the role admirably until the need for a better deal for his constituents made him to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akpabio was to take a break from the Senate following his appointment as a Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, where he confronted a region often defined by contradiction—rich in resources, poor in infrastructure; blessed with talent, burdened by history. And yet, under his watch, a symbol of bureaucratic paralysis finally gave way: the long-delayed NDDC Headquarters was completed and inaugurated, its doors swinging open after nearly two decades of excuses.
Back in the Senate and now as President of the 10th Senate, Akpabio’s leadership is marked by something rarer than rhetoric: steadiness. The kind of steadiness that can hold a chamber together in times of partisan whirlwinds; that can encourage cooperation with the Executive without surrendering oversight; that can restore a sense of rhythm to national budgeting after years of drift. In just two years, the Senate under his watch has moved decisively—reforming education laws, modernizing taxation, strengthening regional development, and pushing for genuine autonomy for local governments.
Twice, his colleagues have risen—unprovoked—to pass a vote of confidence in him. In politics, such gestures are not born of sentiment; they are earned by the invisible arithmetic of trust.
On the global stage, he achieved what had eluded Nigeria for six decades: a seat on the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. It was more than an election; it was a restoration of presence, a reminder that nations are not only heard when they speak loudly, but when they speak with clarity and purpose.
The honours that have followed him—from “Best Governor in Africa” to “Man of the Year,” from national decorations to continental recognition—are footnotes, not the story. The story is simpler, older, and more enduring: a man who has spent much of his life in the public square, pushing institutions toward competence, and people toward hope.
And so, on this 63rd birthday, the occasion invites not celebration but reflection—reflection on a life that suggests that public office, when handled with vigour and imagination, can still be a noble calling. It is also an invitation to look forward. For the work of nation-building is never finished, and the ideals that have guided Senator Godswill Akpabio—unity, inclusiveness, good governance, and development—remain as necessary today as when he first stepped into the arena.
As Edward R. Murrow would say, “This is not the end of the story. Only another nightfall on the long road of a man still in service to his country”.
•Rt. Hon. Eseme Eyiboh is Special Adviser, Media / Publicity & Official Spokesperson for The President of The Senate.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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