When I wrote and posted a birth anniversary congratulatory message a few months back to mark the 70th birthday of my friend the iconic Dr Emmanuel Ibanga Umoh, I had not the faintest premonition that the next thing I would have to write about him would be a tribute.
And just as the songs of praise and the drumbeat of celebration of his foretold Three Scores and Ten years on earth was quietening then erupted the cries and wailing following the news break of his passing which caste a pale of mourning in the various communities he belonged in, namely Akwa Global Investments, AGI LLC and Nsasak Community of Essien Udim LGA back in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria to name but a few.
Dr Emmanuel Umoh was an enigma and believed that his cerebral and material endowments, both of which he had in a large measure, had to be deployed for the benefit of his environment, immediate and remote.
His home community natives in Nigeria described him as the most compassionate citizen they have been ever blessed with and his village head told me that they have always prayed to God to gift them more Emmanuel Umohs.
His business associates described him as dispassionate, highly analytical and brutally decisive. His compatriots in the diaspora knew him as uncompromisingly ethical, focused, and honest. He was the CEO at Akwa Global Investments LLC, a Nigeria-America Investment company.
This is praying the almighty to grant him sweet repose and to his survivors the strength to carry on.
Engr Anthony Udoekong, FNSE, PMP
Chief Operating Officer, AGI