ESD; Beyond the clamour for zoning

“Aspirants who desire to govern us must understand the words of their manifesto. They should not just read it to us, they must believe in it. They should also be engaged in tutorials in social contract. We don’t necessarily need as our governor someone with an impressive resume or experience. Who we need is someone who wouldn’t need run to Harvard to know that roads should be constructed where there are poor roads, and attend seminars by Cambridge to know that jobs should be created for the hungry and unemployed.”

The race for elective offices for the next political year in Akwa Ibom State has apparently begun; Interests have popped up and are surging. It is expected to attain a crescendo by early next year. Political ‘warlords’ are building up their arsenal. Their subalterns are fixing the landmine. One office that has dominated discourse for 2015 is the office of the governor and there are prominently two sides of the divide on how the race should go. This, I have assumed here we are fully aware of.

The merit or otherwise of both sides of the argument isn’t the focus now even though I lean my support to the argument that the office of governor should also shift to the Eket Senatorial District. My paramount consideration in aligning with this side of the argument is equity. It is simply a case of what is sauce for the goose being good enough for the gander.

Events of recent past in the state could be regarded as compass to the direction for destination 2015 – notably Umana Umana’s sack as SSG and the governor’s ‘body language’. ESD may after all have their way at the end. But beyond the hue and cry against the suppression of a political expedient after some sections of the state have emerged beneficiaries of it, there are corresponding and underlying issues that Eket Senatorial district should address as it sustains its quest for the number one office in the state.

From the turn of Nigeria’s independence in the 1960s, quality leadership or rather the absence of it has been the reason for our retrogressive progress. It is why we still grapple with challenges that mock us on a round-table on development. It is why we are still tottering as a nation.

 ESD are right in demanding that the district should produce the next guy after Akpabio but beyond the zoning singsong, there is need to include the real substance in the argument. The argument for some key elective offices to be rotational is sensible, even valid in a society like ours with a composition that is complex. However, I will not speak for its advocacy blindly. I do not support zoning for Hiltop mansion simply because it is the turn of Eket Senatorial District to supply the next governor. The district should begin to look into the qualities of names in the district that are on the queue for the race so they don’t end up sending a plumber to the Lodge as its choice. They would have missed the point and wasted their chance if that happens.

The office should not be desired simply for power sake. At this point of our existence, the last thing the state needs is someone who will be governor of Eket Senatorial District or of a particular ethnic group when all parts of the state should be his constituency.  We need a leader who would not bear grudges, one whose government will not be selectively inclusive, a governor who will create for every strata of our society a feeling of importance and regard all classes as active partners in the Akwa Ibom Project. The state begs for a successor who will do better than just sustain the current tempo of development in the state. We have made significant strides in infrastructure development since the advent of the Akpabio administration – a kind of a renaissance if you wish. The state still begs for more. Some sections of it scream for a touch at least and everyone on the street outside the clique weeps for a penny in pocket.

The people need‘village square’ and ‘palmwine’ democracy and not the ‘Transcorp’ and ‘champagne’ type. Our next man should be reminded that a society where brain is made subordinate to brawn is doomed for the pit of stagnancy. It is a society that celebrates primitivism. In its search for a governorship brand to present to the rest of the state, ESD should look beyond career politicians who were a bitter disappointment in the public sphere with antecedents that tell they have absolutely nothing to offer other than a notebook of words. A better alternative either intra or inter party outside the district could rock their boat.

Aspirants who desire to govern us must understand the words of their manifesto. They should not just read it to us, they must believe in it. They should also be engaged in tutorials in social contract. We don’t necessarily need as our governor someone with an impressive resume or experience. Who we need is someone who wouldn’t need run to Harvard to know that roads should be constructed where there are poor roads, and attend seminars by Cambridge to know that jobs should be created for the hungry and unemployed.

Uyo District had its turn, Ikot Ekpene is having hers. It will be shredding equity if Eket District in that order is ganged up against. It is on this premise that one finds their clamour for governorship in 2015 morally and politically justifiable. But beyond that, ESD and their would-be man owes the other two districts the debt of service delivery.