18/08/2026
THE LEADER WHO STILL KNOWS HOW TO BELONG
There is something about public office that can quietly change the distance between a leader and the people.
The office becomes more formal. The schedule becomes tighter. Protocol becomes more pronounced. Invitations begin to come with titles, arrangements and formalities.
And sometimes, somewhere along the way, the ordinary moments of community life begin to feel very far away.
But there are leaders who somehow remain within reach.
Hon. Ntiedo Usoro, the Executive Chairman of Essien Udim Local Government Area, is one person I have had the opportunity to watch closely enough to notice that difference.
For him, the community does not appear to begin and end at the entrance of the council secretariat.
Give him an invitation to a marriage, a burial or another community occasion, and, whenever his schedule permits, he makes the effort to be there. Not every appearance needs a government programme attached to it. Sometimes, it is simply about showing up.
That may sound ordinary.
It isn't.
Because leadership at the grassroots is not only about what a leader provides. Sometimes, it is also about whether the people can still find the leader among them.
I have seen this same attitude in his relationship with traditional institutions.
Some weeks ago, the Chairman visited the Traditional Rulers Council of Ikpe Annang, taking along a cow, drinks, bags of garri and other items.
But what made the visit particularly significant was the reason behind it: he went to appreciate the traditional rulers for standing with him.
That is a different way of looking at leadership.
It says that relationships built around public office are not only useful when support is needed. They are also worth acknowledging when gratitude is due.
Then there is culture.
The Chairman does not appear to treat cultural expression as something reserved for the stage while dignitaries sit and watch.
I have watched him respond to cultural performances. Even when it is a women's cultural presentation, he can stop, step forward and participate.
And when the Ekpo beats begin, he is not exactly the kind of chairman who will simply sit there pretending not to hear them.
He dances.
That little detail says more to me about cultural belonging than many formal speeches could.
Because there is a difference between preserving culture as an official responsibility and actually being comfortable enough within that culture to participate in it.
Perhaps that is why this recognition caught my attention.
The Centre for Cultural Studies and Creative Economy, Akwa Ibom State University, Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area, recognised Hon. Ntiedo Usoro for his contributions to the preservation of cultural heritage and grassroots development.
I could simply say congratulations and move on.
But having watched some of these things from close range, I find the choice of recognition rather interesting.
The grassroots part of his story also extends into politics.
His journey from the PDP into the APC placed him in an unusual position during the political realignment in Akwa Ibom. Yet what has been striking is not simply the political transition itself, but the relationships that appear to have endured it.
At the ceremony, elders who had once belonged to a different political camp were around him, and some openly spoke of him as a unifier.
That, too, is part of grassroots leadership.
Politics can divide people.
Community should not have to.
And perhaps the real test of a grassroots politician is not how many people can be gathered around him during an election.
It is whether people can still gather around him after the political moment has changed.
That is why I find the recognition worth pausing over.
It is easy to celebrate an award.
It is more meaningful to understand what the award is recognising.
In this case, it is recognising two things that are easy to say but harder to sustain: culture and community.
And perhaps that is what I have come to notice about Hon. Ntiedo Usoro.
He seems to understand that being a grassroots leader is not simply about representing people.
It is about remaining connected to the things that make those people who they are.
Their elders.
Their traditions.
Their celebrations.
Their difficult moments.
Their political differences.
Their cultural expressions.
Their ordinary lives.
A leader can occupy an office and still remain part of the community.
That, to me, is the more interesting story behind the recognition.
Congratulations, Hon. Elder Ntiedo Usoro, on this recognition.
May the office continue to give you influence, but may the people always give you a reason to remain close to the ground.
(RootVoice Media)
