*By Joe Iniodu*<\/p>\n
Until somewhere in 2015, I was like many others a consummate fan of Senator
\nIta Solomon Enang. He was my model legislator; cerebral, sublime, profound
\nand perspicacious. On the floor of the House where he spent a generous
\n12-years and the Senate chamber where he spent 4, totaling an unbroken
\n16-years as a representative of his people on the platform of the People\u2019s
\nDemocratic Party (PDP). Ita Enang morphed into a national icon and an
\nauthority in legislative business.<\/p>\n
His political trajectory has also had a uniqueness of some sort that tends
\nto possess some embellishments. It is perhaps why his political odyssey has
\nbeen christened and entitled him with the peculiar name \u201cUdo mfoniso\u201d,
\nloosely translated as a Second Son with uncanny luck. And this so called
\nluck is not without some shenanigans. For example in 2007, Enang after
\nserving two terms in the House of Representatives felt he had had enough of
\nthat Chamber and decided to throw his hat into the ring for a Senate bid.
\nUnable to muster enough war chest which hinged more on generosity to beat
\nthe then incumbent, Senator Effiong Bob, he lost the nomination bid to a
\nman who was considered more generous. Enang who did not even buy the form
\nfor the House of Representatives rushed to Abuja and used his high wired
\nconnection to rob Dr. Henry Archibong the current member of the House of
\nRepresentatives of a validly won nomination. He wrenched the ticket from
\nArchibong and proceeded to the National Assembly for a third term. Enang
\nthe new born democrat and supposed advocate of the people smiled home as a
\nbeneficiary of a most reprehensible fraud.<\/p>\n
During his third term which began in 2007, Enang sustained a robust
\nrelationship with the government in the State. He used every available
\nopportunity to extol the Akpabio administration which in earnest had begun
\nto record outstanding achievements. By the end of Akpabio\u2019s first term,
\nEnang had turned himself into the State Government\u2019s mouthpiece burnishing
\nthe image of the then governor with glee and relish. He was also called
\nupon to speak at functions on behalf of the other 9 members of the House of
\nRepresentatives being the longest serving among all of them. At no
\nopportunity did he show any discontent with the government or volunteered
\nany counseling on any perceived misconduct on the path of that
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
In 2011, Ita Enang retooled his bid for the Senate against Senator Effiong
\nBob who was also making a third term dash to the Senate. But political
\nundercurrents in Nsit Ubium nay Uyo Senatorial District threw up some
\npolitical dynamics that was to become the gain of Ita Enang. A strong man
\nwho was well favoured by the Akpabio administration and held the reins of
\npower considered any further political ascension by Bob as injurious to his
\ninterest. He therefore decided to work assiduously at whittling down the
\nlatter\u2019s power and influence. Bob\u2019s bid to the Senate became very turbulent
\nwith the strong man deploying the machinery of government which he had
\nunhindered access to owing to the liberal disposition of the then governor
\nto frustrate him. The rest is history as Bob\u2019s loss became Enang\u2019s gain.
\nAgain shenanigan was on display and Enang the advocate of moral uprightness
\nwent home happy.<\/p>\n
In the Senate, he made every patriotic Akwa Ibom person proud. His
\nlegislative competence, knowledge and grasp of issues and eloquence were
\noften regaling. I recall one day that he held the Senate spellbound with
\nhis submissions and how I was glued to the television with relish. Enang
\nwas on the floor dishing out knowledge to his colleagues. I recall telling
\nmy friend who was also watching Enang\u2019s display of wits that even though he
\nis known to be notoriously deficient in generosity, that his quality of
\nrepresentation can compensate for the absence of that virtue. But in 2015,
\nhis constituents thought differently and denied him nomination in the party
\nthat brought him from obscurity to fame and Senator Ita Enang kicked and
\nhas been sulking since. In anger, he left for a party that had no structure
\nin the State and had the shocker of a woeful failure that he is still yet
\nto recover from.<\/p>\n
But Enang appears not to be a good student of politics even though he has
\nbeen a politician all his life. If he were, he would have taken that loss
\nof nomination with equanimity knowing that sooner than later, the people
\nwould look for him again especially when the demand for exceptional
\ncompetence beckons. He would also have known that given his antecedent of
\nill generosity, there was no way he would win election against Senator
\nBassey Albert whose fame in generosity remained second to none then except
\nhis then boss, Godswill Akpabio. Albert had while a commissioner built a
\nnetwork of goodwill and fanatical loyalty that made it difficult for him to
\nlose a senatorial seat to a man who could not in 16-years point at anybody
\nthat he had developed. Known to be notoriously deficient of the gift of
\ngenerosity, Senator Enang went into that election, dead on arrival.<\/p>\n
Senator Ita Enang\u2019s recant on the many positions he held in favour of
\nAkpabio before his waterloo is a shock to his admirers. The hallmark of an
\nhonourable man is consistency. But when personal interest overrides public
\ninterest, inconsistency becomes the defining mark. Enang\u2019s inordinate quest
\ncould not allow him to come to terms with the fact that having been in the
\nlegislature for 16-years, he should gladly abdicate it for another person
\nif the people so wish. The people today must be glad that the man who
\nreplaced him has also demonstrated admirable competence. After-all, one of
\nour adages posits that it is not one person\u2019s mother that has the gift of
\npreparing delicious soup. We are witnessing the fact that others also have
\nthe endowment. This is what Albert\u2019s sojourn to the Senate has proved.<\/p>\n
It is a sad note that Senator Enang does not see anything good in the party
\nthat made him. It is the equivalent of throwing away the ladder that helped
\nhim to ascend heights. Today Enang has adopted the self destructive role of
\nplaying spoilsports which in the process has steadily mortified him. He is
\na regular guest at planet radio with the sole agenda of casting aspersions
\nat PDP, its operators whom he dined with for 16-years and deprecating the
\nexalted office of governor and the occupant. In undertaking this ignoble
\nrole, Senator Enang has embarked on a journey of political perdition. This
\nhe may not see today as he is deluded with the euphoria of appointment but
\ntime will tell. His place as an elder statesman where the benefit of his
\nenormous experience would have been duly exploited has been lost in the
\nlabyrinth of political misadventure where its victims allow anger to
\ndictate their political causes. His recent allegation that the State has
\nbeen mortgaged to Zenith Bank is a wanton display of desperation by a man
\nwho is seeking with assiduity ways of bringing down the government. Such
\nasinine comment by Senator Enang is not only unfortunate; it carries with
\nit the misfortune of diminishing his value in the eyes of right thinking
\npeople. We plead with him to arrest this degeneration before it becomes
\nintractable and defiant to amenability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*By Joe Iniodu* Until somewhere in 2015, I was like many others a consummate fan of Senator Ita Solomon Enang. He was my model legislator; cerebral, sublime, profound and perspicacious.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n