REV’D DR. ENOBONG IBOK – PASSION IGNITED BY PASTorUMO ENO’S LOVE FOR HUMANITY
Enobong Ibok is one of the Christian leaders who have fully identified with the ARISE Agenda of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, PhD. She is particularly keen about alleviating the suffering of the poor, and has incorporated Enobong Ibok Charity Foundation for the main purpose of reaching out to the needy, especially those neglected elders in rural communities. Her passion in supporting the vulnerable people stemmed from an encounter she had when she visited a community in Ibeno and found that some elderly women were without homes and clothing.
Buoyed up by compassion, she mobilized resources to resettle these homeless women and provided clothes and foods for them. For years now, she has been embarking on annual mega humanitarian programme that draw thousands of the underprivileged; from the sick, homeless and the hungry, she hosts them for a full one day exhibition of godly compassion, as several hundred of patients receive free medical treatment, those who have no accommodation receive help for decent accommodation and numerous food items and clothing materials.
But she didn’t start as a philanthropist. Twelve years ago, she was one of the leading voices in the gospel music industry in Akwa Ibom State. Her debut album, Levels Don Change, made waves within the Christian community and Government programmes, as her danceable Ibibio track, Asesinekuke, became a toast at government Christian services. She studied music at the University of Uyo, was raised in the Assemblies of God and later founded of Eyak Ibong Akam Prayer Ministries and Enobong Ibok Charity Foundation, Uyo. She is married to a senior accountant in the public service, Rev. Dr. Ibok Felix Ibok, both are blessed with children. As the World Humanitarian Day was coming close, our team caught up with Revd Dr. Enobong Ibok to understand why she has shown significant interest in the welfare of the poor.
Rev’d, what has happened to your gospel music ministry?
I want to say that as an ordained minister with Assemblies of God, I’ve had the music talent and the gift of singing by the grace of God. The Lord later added a prayer ministry to me. It came in a unique way. Then we rarely have people who went on air just to minister in prayers but preaching. It was later the Lord said, “I’m adding another ministry to you; a prayer ministry. I started the prayer ministry on the Atlantic Fm ….where I ran it on the name, ‘Eyak Ibong Akam.’
The Lord said to me, “My daughter, I have another assignment for you, I want you to touch lives. I was surprised because I’m not a politician and didn’t have the money to meet the needs of the needy but I heard God say to me, “Don’t worry I will raise men for you. The first thing I did was to register a foundation, Enobong Ibok Charity Foundation. To start, I sold one of the properties I had, with the proceeds, I started visiting the poor in rural communities and ministering to them with whatever we could gather.
I have a burning passion to touching lives of the rural people. For me charity is a passion born out of my calling as a minister of the Gospel. I love to see poor people being touched positively and that is why anywhere I meet people in acute need, the bowel of compassion in me swells up with passion to help to improve their lives.
I want to thank the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, PhD, who is very benevolent to Akwaibomites, he has been a great blessing to ministers of the Gospel in the State. How His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State is touching lives, has endeared my heart towards him and the ARISE Agenda.
Pastor Umo Eno is passionate about lifting the lives of the down-trodden, the needy and the forgotten people, particularly the aged. He is indeed called by God, and I feel so touched by what he is doing to the abandoned people; his approach to touching lives of the poor aligns with the calling of God upon my life, the tasks that God gave me.
There is a message God has given me for His Excellency, the Governor; it says: “Blessed is he that considers the poor’, the Lord will deliver him in times of trouble, the Lord will not hand him over to the will of his enemy,” (Psalm 41:1).
No matter how much the enemies rage against His Excellency, they will not succeed, because the Governor has considered the poor.
Humanitarian service requires a lot of money; how do you recover this?
When it comes to humanitarian services, there is nothing like recovering your expenses; you are doing it as unto God, and it is only God that can reward you. So if God sees that you have a pure motive for supporting the less privileged, He will raise men for you. God rewards in different ways, He can bless you with good health, He will not hand you over to the will of your enemies. So reward is not only on material things, in spiritual things, good health, security and favour from people you did not even think of.
The Governor of Akwa Ibom state has done massive humanitarian services to every segment of life. During his 61st birthday anniversary, Enobong Ibok Charity Foundation was one of the non-governmental organizations that went out there to celebrate with the needy on behalf of the Governor. What motivated you to do all that?
As I said here again that there are so many things that His Excellency has done which have endeared me to his administration. I’ve seen leaders visit less privileged homes to celebrate their anniversaries but the Governor on is birthday said, “Don’t bring me gifts, rather go and celebrate on my behalf with the less-privileged, the gifts you should have given to me, donate them to the orphans.”
That was why I mobilized my team to join the motherless children home with gifts to celebrate with those special children. It was a moment of great joy for me to be a blessing to the children.
You are so passionate about relieving the pains of the poor, what advice do you offer to other well-placed people towards showing charity to the poor?
We must give to relieve the economic and health challenges of the poor and the elderly. I want to urge everyone to be a blessing to others around them. We don’t have to wait until we have so much; the resources God has blessed you with can solve the problems of others. It is in being a blessing to others that God will take over your battle and fight for you. When you donate to the poor, pay bills for the treatment of the sick and put some smiles of the faces of the less privileged, heaven will stand by you in your day of trouble.
