AFFLUENCE WITHOUT IMPACT: AMB. GABRIEL EGBE SLAMS COSMETIC LEADERSHIP, CALLS FOR IMPACT-DRIVEN GOVERNANCE

AFFLUENCE WITHOUT IMPACT: AMB. GABRIEL EGBE SLAMS COSMETIC LEADERSHIP, CALLS FOR IMPACT-DRIVEN GOVERNANCE

By Anne Agi, Ph.D. | Metropolitan Hotel, Calabar | July 27, 2025

AN EVENING OF APPLAUSE—AND AWAKENING

Under the chandeliers of the Metropolitan Hotel, Calabar, the air felt different. What began as an award ceremony — the 7th Yala Achievers’ Summit & Awards 2025 — became something more: a soul-searching night where applause turned into reflection, and ceremony blossomed into conviction.

At the heart of it all stood Ambassador Gabriel O. Egbe, Ph.D., Registrar of the University of Education and Entrepreneurship, Akamkpa and immediate past Registrar, University of Calabar. His keynote address, “Building Legacies: Celebrating Milestones,” wasn’t merely a paper to be read — it was a gauntlet thrown at the feet of a generation, equal parts scholarly paper and prophetic indictment.

MORE THAN A SPEECH — A CALL TO CONSCIENCE

Described by attendees as “a scholarly paper presented with fire,” and as “the most compelling keynote in the history of the summit.” Dr. Egbe’s lecture dissected what legacy truly means in a nation drowning in symbols of wealth but starving for substance. He noted that Nigeria presents a troubling paradox: a society teeming with wealth, titles, and pageantry — yet desperately poor in conscience, courage, and impact.

He lamented the state of affairs where politicians do not empower the youth with anything meaningful, but purchase motorcycles for them so they can snatch ballot boxes and speed off at election season.

Yet, beyond the eloquence of the written word, it was his delivery - forceful, raw, and deeply personal - that electrified the hall, drawing repeated applause and ovation.

With a steady voice carrying both scholarly precision and heartfelt urgency, Amb. Egbe called Nigeria’s leaders to account:

“Leadership is not performance art; it is public trust. We have mastered the theatrics—sharing motorcycles during elections, commissioning boreholes, and donating caskets are not legacies. These are liabilities.”

In words that echoed far beyond the hall, Egbe condemned what he called “cosmetic leadership” — a culture where selfies with governors and ceremonial handshakes are marketed as achievements.

“An elected official once celebrated the donation of a casket to bury a loyalist’s father as an achievement. Another brandished a photograph shaking hands with a governor, like it was a Nobel Prize. This was his scorecard. Is this the new standard of public service?” he quipped, pausing as the audience exhaled in disbelief.

He lamented a system where affluence is mistaken for achievement, where visibility in photos with politicians is flaunted as public service, and where plaques outnumber the actual lives touched.

LEGACY, STRIPPED TO ITS CORE

The theme: Building Lasting Legacies: Celebrating Milestones — became, in Egbe’s hands, not merely ceremonial but surgical: an incision into the heart of a culture too comfortable with praising the dead and forgetting the living.

“We speak with eloquence only at memorials,” he noted, “while remaining mute in the presence of great people still alive among us.”

He praised the organisers of the Yala Achievers’ Summit for disrupting this tradition, boldly choosing to honour heroes in their lifetime — a move he described as a “noble defiance against a deeply rooted tradition.”

Egbe reminded the audience that real legacy is built on three pillars:

1. Achievement: What have you built?

2. Impact: Whose life have you changed?

3. Memory: What will be said about you when your name is spoken?

“Without impact, wealth is vanity. Without memory, achievement is dust,” he warned.

“True legacy is not what you gather, but what you give; not the noise you make, but the lives you transform.”

A NATION RICH IN RESOURCES, POOR IN CONSCIENCE

Though his keynote was meticulously researched, it was Egbe’s live delivery — equal parts sermon and conversation — that stirred hearts most. He moved seamlessly from poetic reflection to pointed critique.

He decried a country “overflowing with talent but suffocating in corruption,” where snakes and monkeys are blamed for missing billions, and where national honours, meant to celebrate the truly noble, instead decorate the politically connected:

“Suspend national awards until they reflect national honour. Stop decorating men with stolen legacies,” he demanded, a call that met thunderous applause.

His message wasn’t limited to politicians. Turning to parents, educators, and professionals, he asked the questions that echo beyond the hall:

“Are our children inheriting character or just possessions? Are our students graduating with knowledge, or merely with grades acquired through compromise?

TO ACADEMICS:

“Are our students learning integrity, or merely graduating with grades acquired through compromise? Are you one of those who demand that until a student sleeps with you, she cannot pass?”

TO THE BUSINESS ELITE:

“Leadership is not about proximity to power, but the platforms you create for others.”

“True legacy,” he noted, “is not what you gather, but what you give; not in the noise you make, but in the lives you transform.”

AND TO CROSS RIVER STATE’S LEADERS:

He called on Cross River State’s elites to invest in raising leaders visible at the national stage:

“Where are our sons and daughters in the army, navy, customs, immigration? Leadership is not about selfies at campaign grounds but building platforms for the next generation. True leadership grooms others into national relevance.”

And as if to remind all that legacy is not reserved for the powerful alone, he pointed to the quiet but transformative power of teachers, parents, and activists:

“It’s not about how many children you raise, but how well you raise them. Not about titles you wear, but the lives you touch.

Not content to diagnose problems, Egbe pointed to hope, urging leaders to step into communities, to preach unity and safety: “Peace-building is legacy,” he maintained. “The life you save today echoes into generations.”

Dr. Egbe’s words sliced through polite applause to land heavily on the conscience of his audience.

A CHALLENGE WRAPPED IN HOPE

Despite his searing honesty, Amb. Egbe’s keynote was ultimately hopeful: a tribute to the awardees celebrated that night as proof that integrity and service still exist:

“In people like those we are celebrating tonight, I see hope. Hope that not all is lost; that we can still produce men and women who are pillars of stability and embodiments of enduring legacies.

To them, he offered both blessing and challenge:

“May this recognition not be your destination but a divine prompt for deeper impact. Your greatest achievement is still ahead.”

As the applause faded and the hall emptied, one question remained in the air — spoken in Egbe’s final words, but felt by everyone:

“Legacy, is not what you leave to people, but what you leave in them. Not the length of your life, but the depth of your love. Not your title, but your substantive evidence.”

“Will you be a passing shadow, or a guiding light?”

A SUMMIT TRANSFORMED

The 7th Yala Achievers’ Summit & Awards gathered the powerful, the celebrated, and the hopeful. But through Amb. Gabriel Egbe’s keynote, it did something rarer: it invited everyone — politicians, parents, professionals — to trade performance for purpose, noise for impact, and applause for action.

In that moment, ceremony became awakening — and applause became a promise.

A MOMENT THAT TRANSCENDED CEREMONY

The Summit and Awards was filled with pomp and peageantry. The hall was filled with an impressive roll call of dignitaries, including:

- Her Excellency, Bishop Dr. Eyoanwan Bassey Edet Otu, First Lady of Cross River State (ably represented).

- Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, Speaker of the 10th Cross River State House of Assembly.

- Hon. Brian Odey, Member representing Yala 1.

- Hon. Martins Achadu, Yala 2

- Dr. Julius Okputu, former Commissioner for Environment

- Associate Prof. Rose Ugbe, former Dean, Faculty of Law, UNICAL

- Hon Ankpo Pius, Commissioner for Works

- State Commissioners, Members of the National Assembly, members of the academia, service chiefs, captains of industry, and youth leaders.

Yet for many, what they will remember from that night was not the roll call or the plaques, but the piercing question Egbe left hanging in the air:

“Will you be a passing shadow, or a guiding light?”

In a time of noisy leadership, Amb. Gabriel Egbe’s keynote was a master class in clarity, conviction, and courage — a lecture as powerfully delivered as it was brilliantly written; a call, not just to be seen, but to matter.

In closing, the convener, Mr. Jacob Odey, aptly described the awardees as living testaments to perseverance and selfless leadership. In his words:

“Their success stories prove that real leadership, whether in the boardroom, classroom, or on the streets, is driven by commitment to others… their position is not just a title but a clarion call for action and service to the greater good.”

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