Akpabio is not perfect, never laid claim to such. But he is true to himself. Like all mortals, he rises, he falls and picks himself up again. This tribute is not about his political life, no. It is to remind him that his sweat and passion for a robust telecom sector many decades ago have yielded bountifully.

Last Tuesday, December 9, President of the Senate, Obong Godswill Akpabio, turned 63. The Annang, Akwa Ibom boy has crested life at both low and high tides. And he never ceases to celebrate the place of divinity in his life. I knew Akpabio decades ago long before politics and politicians found him and successfully separated us. Just as they say, a friend in politics is a friend lost. For someone you have shared peanuts and roasted plantain with, it’s safe to say that politics drove a wedge between us.

Back then, he was a good-looking lawyer strutting his stuff at a telecom firm on Lagos Island. EMIS Telecom was his pouch and patch. There he grew on the job and did it so well when the big players of today were not even on the horizon. He served as the Director of Corporate Affairs and Legal Services at EMIS, a wireless telecoms company and forerunner of today’s mega players.

Akpabio was easily identifiable as a gold fish. Savvy and endowed with undeniable administrative skills, he later became the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of EMIS, which was a pioneer fixed wireless telecommunications firm. He was good at his game. Like a footballer who acquits himself at all times, Akpabio knew and clearly understood the demands of his office. And he offered himself liberally to his duties.

That was at a time Nigeria was preparing the ground for what was later dubbed a ‘telecom revolution’ by both local and international media. This is a side of Akpabio many Nigerians do not know about. The young, progressive Akpabio was among the small group of lawyers who birthed a legal framework that helped to build what is today rated as one of the most vibrant telecom markets in the world. Nigeria telecom earned this status because the likes of Akpabio donated their time and expertise to craft an enduring, scalable legal document that triggered a buzz and a revolution in the telecom sector.

Working under the professional body, Telecom Lawyers Association of Nigeria, Akpabio and his group of eminent and patriotic lawyers, held meetings at day and night, odd hours and happy hours, to set the legal tone for the nation’s telecom sector. Today, their toil was not in vain. Their meetings and exertions set the stage for the likes of Glo, MTN, Airtel, among others to thrive.

You could easily tell he was a happy man in the company of a generation breaking new grounds in Nigeria telecom. He never hid his enthusiasm and joy. Happy he was to be among the early voices calling for a truly liberalized telecom sector. But there’s yet another thing about him at that time. He hated politics. He disliked the dark art and surreal science of politics. He would reel out his reasons for disliking politics. The back-stabbing, betrayals, uncertainties and the near-voodoo antics of the average politician put him off.

Akpabio disdained politics and he never hid it from his friends. But life is a roulette of passion and pleasure, pain and aches. Life is an unevenly paved road; full of contours, crevices and craters. One moment, you’re sailing smoothly. The next moment you hit the bump with a thud, and then the uneven steps, the stagger until you steady your frame again. Life is a journey, unpredictable. And it’s so because the ways of man, any human being, are in the hands of God. Some carry grace, boundless grace. Some struggle all through life with just a little to show for their labour. Some are endowed with intellect, an unusual dose of brilliance, but they failed in life: Unfulfilled, underwhelming. Yet, for some, there is undeniable outpouring of grace. Everywhere they go, they shine. Everything they do, they excel. Always at the right place at the right time. Every step they take, the halo of divinity guides and defines their path. Their life bears witness of God’s grace. Akpabio is in this class. The man who repeatedly voiced his aversion for politics would later become a politician. This journey from the boardroom to the slippery soapbox of politics was a miracle in itself.

In 2002, then governor of Akwa Ibom state, Obong Victor Attah, a man of class and panache, sought for a man of Annang extraction. Annang is a minority group in the state. He was specific about this kind of person. A person with a family name and history defined by integrity. A man whose pedigree has the seal of hard work, intellect, and proven veracity. All fingers pointed in the direction of a young lawyer strutting his stuff in Lagos and pouring his whole essence into making the nation’s telecom sector sizzle. That’s one thing about Akpabio. He breathes passion into whatever task he performs. That’s how his political odyssey began. Performing as commissioner in a couple of ministries, then as governor for eight years, a duty he performed with uncommon passion for the uncommon transformation of a once sleepy state. Going to the Senate and emerging as President of the Red Chamber and Chairman of the National Assembly for a man who once voiced his aversion for politics can only be ascribed to the mystery of grace. The Sovereign God is not influenced by the schemes of humans. He chooses whom to show mercy. Even the Holy Writ, the Bible, says “it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Akpabio has lived two lives: a private sector life where he excelled and stood out among his peers and a public life where he has distinguished himself and sits as the number three citizen in Nigeria. Picture this. In Akwa Ibom, he’s from a minority group. In Nigeria with about 230 million people, over 250 ethnic nationalities, his Annang nationality ranks low on the log. Yet, out of Annang has emerged a national colossus.

Akpabio is not perfect, never laid claim to such. But he is true to himself. Like all mortals, he rises, he falls and picks himself up again. This tribute is not about his political life, no. It is to remind him that his sweat and passion for a robust telecom sector many decades ago have yielded bountifully. Nigeria now boasts over 175 million active phone lines, over 142 million internet subscribers, a growing broadband base, a tele-density of over 80 percent and many other impressive indicators that once looked like a mirage. While wishing you a happy birthday in arrears, let me remind you that internet banking, e-commerce, e-learning and others have benefited from your doings, decades ago. Your labour is not in vain, after all, and never shall be.