Dr. Uduak Onofiok Luke, immediate past President of LEWA, Akwa Ibom State and wife to the member representing Etinan federal constituency.
By Abasifreke Effiong
On Sunday 7th November, I and four other journalists had a memorable opportunity to have a chat with Mrs. Uduak Onofiok Luke, two days ahead of her 40th birthday. Mrs. Luke was born on Monday, November 9, 1981, seven months after Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States survived an assassination attempt. The session was an opportunity to ask her questions about her life as a teacher, mother and wife to an avant-garde politician; bearing in mind how useful her experiences can help shape the lives of other young women who are finding it challenging to combine parenting with work life, and more.
Mrs. Uduak Onofiok Luke is an environmental toxicologist. Environmental toxicologists are specialists in chemicals and how chemicals usage affect people and the environment. Her career involves research, making predictions about chemical risks to the environment, people and animals, and the study of how to reduce chemical waste. Mrs. Luke is a member of the prestigious John Maxwell School of Leadership, a member of the American Chemical Society, a member of the Organisation of Women in Science, and Women in Management Business and Public Service.
In March 2016, when she bagged a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Calabar, her convocation photo, where she was photographed kneeling down to thank her husband, Barr. Onofiok Luke, member representing Etinan federal constituency, who was then the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, was a social media sensation. In that photograph, the genteel Uduak demonstrated reserved humility and gratitude to her husband whom she said is her number one mentor.
A firm believer in God, His sovereign powers and amazing grace. She holds strong, positive opinion about mentoring, women empowerment, and showing gratitude to people who have rendered help irrespective of their status and class and the quantum of that assistance regardless. She is among the women vanguards advocating environmental conservation and preservation.
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During our chat, Mrs. Luke spoke feelingly about her faith and trust in God and recounted how the mentorship she got from her mother, Late Deaconess Cecilia Udo Akpan, her husband Barr. Onofiok Luke, Her Excellency Hajiya Turai Musa Yar’Adua, Her Excellency Mrs. Ekaette Unoma Akpabio, Her Excellency Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel, and her spiritual mother, Pastor (Mrs.) Ukamaka Laurie Ntia, wife of the Senior Pastor of Full Life Christian Center, helped shape her life during her stint as the President of Legislators Wives Association, LEWA. “I happen to come from a family where I was introduced to God very early by my mother. I got to know and hold it fast to my mind that whatever it is you commit to God doesn’t see corruption … mentorship is the best thing that can happen to anyone. We all need mentors in life, and my number one mentor is my husband.”
“…I have learnt a lot, particularly about the art of patience and the power of listening from Her Excellency, the wife of our Governor during the three years and few months that I was privileged to work closely with her when I served LEWA. I have also learnt a lot from my spiritual mother, Pastor Ntia…”. Mrs. Luke said having absolute faith and trust in God and good mentors is the hallmark of successful living.
Mrs. Luke would be a good role model for young women who wish to stay focused, keeping the drive on their childhood career path yet staying married to a husband who is a politician. Most young women married to ‘men of power’ have gotten themselves drunken with power, drowned in it and deflated by it. They lose focus, drive, patience, and jettison morals, values and virtues, all in the contestation to exercise the little piece of shared, ephemeral power conferred on them by virtue of the position held by their husbands. Mrs. Uduak Onofiok Luke is exceptional in staying focused on building her career and meeting up public expectations and the roles exerted on her. She admitted that many times she has had to sacrifice her comfort to accommodate the piling demands of people who look up to them. Young woman who desire to keep their sanity after their husbands might have left public office can emulate Mrs. Luke’s focus, drive and thought about exercising power as wife of a political office holder. ‘Don’t exhibit or exercise power that you don’t have an exit valve’, she advised.
Mrs. Luke has charm, the refined version of it. She speaks with poise and calm about different subject matter, typical of a scholar who is well read. She portrays a genteel, self-assured woman. The kind of self-assuredness which comes from deep knowledge, focus and experience. Her poise is devoid of material and class haughtiness common with wives of some politicians.
I took particular note of her sense of gratitude. Gratitude is an essential leadership skill, powerful, yet often underutilised. Sarah Sain says “when you cultivate a thankful culture within your [household, you create] an environment where your team can thrive”. Personal observations have shown that saying “thank you” and showing gratitude to people, particularly the people who are paid to serve you can be as difficult to some women as attempting to crack a nut with an egg. Saying thank you to a cook is such a big deal, some women get pissed off if they hear their husband, children or a visitor thanking their maid. “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul” – Henry Ward Beecher. Mrs. Luke pays grateful homage in words to people working with her. When I asked her to recount her experiences with people she has worked with since she got married in 2008. She started by thanking and praising her maids: “I have enjoyed tremendous help from amazing people, my husband, my nanny, my chef…No one is too small, big or irrelevant for you to learn from…”
Those who slumber believing that laxist aphorism that ‘life begins at 40’ should have a rethink. At 40, Mrs. Uduak Onofiok Luke, has already made tremendous contributions to humanity and scholarship – with more than 16 publications to her credit.
