VENI, VIDI, VICI, DR DOMINIC UKPONG: When he was appointed into the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council some years ago, some of his traducers went berserk and decided to mount a campaign of calumny and blackmail against him. The reason was not far fetched because they saw in him, an odd man out.

I still recalled with nostalgia how professional politicians, across the various divides , accused him of coming to reap where he did not sow. News were flying around town then that, as a political neophyte, he won’t be able to deliver the goods.

So the fifth columnists went to work and started laying landmines on his way but he surmounted the odds and came out unscathed. Today, he has shamed his critics and prove them wrong with a very spectacular performance.

The Okon Eket born first medical doctor has indeed prove his mettle that the Gov Emmanuel led administration has asked him to tarry awhile due to his invaluable services to God and humanity. Dr Dominic Ukpong is not tired and retired.

He has just been giving another herculean task of being an Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Matters.

He will now be far away from the maddening crowd and will have more time to focus on coordinating the affairs of the coronavirus pandemic which has now become a pain in the neck.

One thing we can’t take away from this son of Hippocrates is that he learnt the political ropes very quickly and adjusted accordingly.

There is no need gainsaying the fact he contributed immensely to the development of the health sector in Akwa Ibom State when he held sway as the Commissioner for Health, until yesterday.

Dr Dominic Ukpong, being a professional in politics did his assigned duties to the best of his ability and according to the dictates of his conscience. His modest achievements while in office dot the entire landscape of the Promised Land.

Henrik Ibsen once stated that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. ,It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone . Standing alone is better than standing with people who don’t value you.

Even his fellow kinsmen pelted him with stones, poured invectives and rained abuses on him for not dipping his untainted hands on the public till as is the order of the day in this clime. Some even castigated him with fire and brimestones, saying that if he can’t beat them, he should also join them. But he stood his ground as a man of integrity and honesty.

In all these, the astute medical practitioner was not afraid of being alone, knowing fully well that a lion does not rule the jungle with the sheep on its side.

Dr Ukpong stood up for what is fair against the unfair, just against the unjust ,and also for his conscience.

The man with the stethoscope used light to reveal what was concealed in darkness. He used truth to fight the lies , and the heart to fight the mind.

He is of good quality, that is why he had to excuse himself from the presence of shallow and callow minded individuals.

Passionate people are always ready to stand for their dreams even if no one stands with them. They never lose nomination for excellent leadership.

A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.

According to the modern version of the Hippocratic oath, which goes thus :

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

 

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

 

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of over treatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.

 

I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.

 

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

He has lived up to this top rating.

Dr Dominic Ukpong has come, he has seen but whether he has conquered is left in the laps of gods to decide.

Emmanuel Paragon Mbong