Date Published: 03/22/10

Governor Akpabio and His Traducers By Anietie Ekong

Not long ago a self-styled group which called itself, Concerned Leadership of Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom state, consisting of the former Governor, Obong Victor Attah, former Minister of state for the FCT, and gubernatorial aspirant, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, a former military Governor of Ogun state, Group Captain Sam Ewang (rtd), and a former Commissioner in the state, Otuekong Idongesit Udokpo from the comfort of their rooms in Hilton Hotel, Abuja, issued a statement titled , ‘’The deteriorating Security Situation in Akwa Ibom state,’’ in which they decried the incident of kidnapping in the state. They did not stop at that. In an anachronistic logic spiced with malicious intent, they claimed that the Ibibios were the target of kidnapping and armed robbery and fingered the state government as the sponsor of these incidents.

There is no doubt that government at various levels are facing serious security challenges ranging from kidnapping to armed robbery. The incident of kidnapping which started few years back as an instrument of protest by  militant groups in the Niger Delta to draw attention to the environmental degradation and economic exploitation of their area, has been taken over by ransom-seeking bandits. From Nnewi  to Lagos, from Kano to Uyo, daily we are bombarded in the media about a construction or oil worker, a government official or his spouse or even school children that have been abducted by gun-toting mask men who would later call their next of kin to demand for huge sums as ransom. What started as a tool for redress of genuine political agitation has given rise to a new wave of crime that seem to defy security agencies.

The concern raised by Obong Attah and his gang should be viewed in the light of this growing insecurity across the land. What is befuddling is how these so-called Ibibio leaders could reduce what has become a national malady to an Akwa Ibom state government problem and going ahead to ascribe ethnicity to it and even accusing  the state government of being behind it. The statistics may not be available but a mere perusal of the national dailies will reveal that Akwa Ibom state is not the state with the most prevalent cases of kidnapping. For instance, it was recently reported how kidnappers in Ekiti state seized  a traditional ruler and the head of  a tertiary institution who were both killed in custody. And in Edo state, kidnappers have literally been on rampage as schools in the state have been under the seige of kidnappers who enter the schools and abduct the teachers at will. Admittedly, Akwa Ibom has had its own fair share of these abductions but it is not the worst case and the government is not resting on its oars.

So what must have informed the position of Obong Attah and co in seeking to fan the embers of ethnic passion in a state that Governor Godswill Akpabio has worked so hard to erase lines of ethnic divide? The answer could be found in the realm of the politics of 2011. For those who have followed political developments in Akwa Ibom state in recent times, this statement  by Obong Attah and company would not come as a surprise. Since 2006 when Obong Attah held sway as Governor of Akwa Ibom state, he was obsessed with a consuming passion of enthroning his son-in-law, Dr Udoma Bob Ekarika (who was Commissioner in the Attah administration for eight years) as Governor of Akwa Ibom State. But Akwa Ibom people  who were unimpressed with with a leader that was fixated with a senseless delusion of planning and everything being on the ‘drawing board’ for eight years rejected Dr Ekarika, more as a protest against a crude attempt to turn the state into an hegemony and a banana republic of sort . Obong Attah should be grateful to Governor Akpabio for getting some of his administration projects off his architectural drawing board to the realm of tangible achievement.

One would have thought that after the election has been won and lost, the former Governor would have joined hands with the present administration to move the state forward. Regrettably, Obong Attah who by every standard should be a statesman, has constituted himself into an opposition to an administration he can as well lay claims to being its  father. When he is not instigating the people through his infamous open letter, he is bickering about  who the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be. And with the 2011 election around the corner, Obong Attah is fighting hard to regain lost political relevance. What is shocking to most Akwa Ibom people is how Obong Attah, a former Presidential contender should reduce himself from a statesman to an ethnic jingoist. But Akwa Ibom people are no fools. They can see through the antics of those who have had their opportunities to contribute their quota to the development of the state but who failed woefully in the task.

Enter Senator Akpanudoedehe. It is a known fact that the former Minister of state for the FCT is gunning for Akpabio’s job. It is his democratic right if he meets the constitutional requirement and finds a platform to contest the election. At the appropriate time, Akwa Ibom people will make their choice. But the campaign of Akpanudoedehe has been that of blackmail, mudslinging, an appeal to ethnic passion and desperation. He has not told the people about an alternative to the free education programme of the present administration, instead he is constantly ruing over how Governor Akpabio failed to provide him with the necessary financial guarantee to buy the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company, Oku Iboku. He has not informed Akwa Ibom people what he will do with the present massive infrastructural development of the state, instead we are told how the present administration failed to name a street after him and for these, Akpabio must go! Recently he incured the wrath of the people for his vaulting ambition at the funeral of the late paramount ruler of Ibesikpo Asutan, Nsonyin Okon Ekpo Ekpo, when he caused to be published a condolence message where he ascribed to himself the title of the governor of Akwa Ibom state, 2011.

As we inch towards 2011, it is expected that politicians with vaulting ambition and self-seeking adventurers will become more desperate and more ‘Concerned Leaders’ will emerge from the political minefield. But it is gratifying that in a democracy, it is the people that will have the final say. In this wise Governor Akpabio has a lot going for him for his massive transformation of the state under three years, what his traducer could not achieved in eight years. The people will not fail to notice that for the first time in the history of the state, reputable construction firms are awarded road construction jobs that can stand the test time as against the immediate past where jobs were awarded to political cronies only for the work to fail in the next rainy season. The kids eventhough of non-voting age, will inform their parents that they have been beneficiaries of the free and compulsory education policy of the present administration. The elderly and pregnant women will remember how their health needs  have been catered for free-of-charge by the Akpabio administration. The Akwa Ibom people will point to a brand new airport that has reduced their tortuous journey to neighbouring states before they could board commercial flights to their destinations. The massive electrification of the state and the completion of the Independent Power Project with the potential of banishing darkness in the state will also confound Governor Akpabio’s traducers. Or is it the brand new ultra-modern Governor’s Lodge? Indeed, the people will remember how Governor Akpabio has transformed the state from the land of unkept promises to a destination of choice in Nigeria under three years.

These sterling achievements are beyond concerned mischief-makers and ethnic bigots to see. Their concern is how to exploit the unfortunate security challenge that is not peculiar to Akwa Ibom state and ethnic sentiments to score cheap political points. But as I have said, in 2011, it is the people and not a few disgruntled politicians that will have the final say.

Ekong is a Journalist and public affairs commentator based in Lagos .