‘Mum was secret Santa Claus,’ son eulogises late Akwa Ibom First Lady

Ebong Eno, the first son of Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, has described his late mother, Patience, as “very kind, very loving, and very caring”.

Ebong spoke during a funeral oration in honour of the departed Akwa Ibom First Lady, who was buried today, 29 November, at Governor Eno’s hometown of Ikot Ekpene Udo, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of the state.

The funeral was livestreamed on Facebook.

Patience died of an undisclosed illness on 26 September. She was 57.

The late first lady had been married to Mr Eno for 38 years and had six children and 10 grandchildren.

Strong family role

“She was an amazon in the true sense of the word. My mother was very kind, very loving, very caring,” said Ebong, who is a pastor like his father and his late mum.

“The key thing that stands out, and everyone speaks of it, is the strength of her character. Her patience and the ability to love – she loved everyone, whether you are close or far. She meets you for the first time, she takes you in, she is able to relate with you.”

Ebong spoke about Patience’s strong role in the family and described her as “the bonding force for the home.”

“I remember many years ago, growing up as children, mummy was the one that was a secret Santa (Claus); every Christmas, she’d get gifts and drop them by the Christmas tree at home.

“And when we wake up on Christmas morning, she’d tells us that Santa came last night and dropped the gifts. But we kept wondering where the Santa came from because all the doors were locked. And we kept asking her if we wanted to see Santa, and she’d said, ‘You’ll see Santa’.

“One Christmas, we (the children) all planned and said, we will see who this Santa is because all the doors are always locked. She thought we were asleep, she tucked us into bed, and we came out, just at about midnight, and saw that mummy was the secret Santa.”

Ebong also described his late mother as their “fashion designer”.

“Mummy was futuristic. She looked into the future and made our clothes so big, and we have to grow into them. But as we grew older, she made us finer clothes.”

He said she was a strong support for their dad and a “gist partner” for all of them. “When you need a gist, mummy would always be there to give you a long, good gist,” he said.

Ebong pledged that he and his siblings would do their best to live the good life their mum lived.

“God, if there are roses in heaven, please pluck one and give it to mummy, let her know we love her so much.

“Mummy, we love you,” he said as his closing lines.

One of the ‘greatest brains’

A former Nigerian ambassador to Russia, Assam Assam, was among those who spoke at the funeral.

He said the late first lady was not pretentious and always calm, and was one of the “greatest brains” he has come to know.

“We came into the (2023 election) campaign as amateurs and underdogs; Patience appeared in the campaign and described her husband as the golden boy, and the entire campaign changed. We now look forward to a golden age in Akwa Ibom State.

“If Pastor Umo Eno owes anything to the people of this state, it is the fulfilment of the promise of the golden age,” said Mr Assam, who was the director-general of the campaign.