2015 Governorship: A’Ibom at the verge of history

BY JOSEPH OKON

History has it that since the return of democracy to  Nigeria in 1999 and the advent of PDP, Akwa Ibom state has always been govern by the ruling party at the centre which was PDP. But to take a comprehensive stock on the growth and development of the state since 1999, and the impact of government at the centre in terms of projects, Akwa Ibom state has nothing to celebrate.

In 1999 when Obong Victor Attah became the governor of Akwa Ibom state and President Obasanjo was elected the President of Nigeria under the same platform of Peoples Democratic Party PDP, it could have been assumed that when the struggle for resource control that was championed by Attah came up, the president will immediately concede because they belong to the same party, but unfortunately that was never the case.

Party was not taken into any consideration; it was as if Attah and Obasenjo then were members of different political parties. Because it was the constitutional right of Akwa Ibom to have certain commensurate benefit from the oil derivation as the host state, the federal power that was deployed by Obasenjo led federal government then could not stop Attah from getting victory at the Supreme Court. This happened because of the governor placed the interest of the state above party. Many times the party stepped into the matter in favour of the federal government but Attah refused to concede until he finally won the case at the Supreme Court.

When people in Akwa Ibom state celebrate the conspired victory of Gen. Buhari of the All Progressive Congress APC in the March 28 Presidential election which the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP was defeated, it makes one wonder what they stand to gain from the conspired victory by the North and West against South-South.
If they could not allow your own whose emergence was purely God’swill to have uninterrupted two terms in office; what does Akwa Ibom stand to benefit from the conspiracy? They conspired against the South-South man and take over power not minding party lines or affiliations because according to them they were born to rule. What then is the assurance that anything good can come from such people to us? There is no point making friend with the man that hate your parents because no matter how he pretends, he does not like you.

If it was on the general table to decide the Presidency of Nigeria, a South-South man could not have been given the opportunity or considered over 50 years after independent. Even the one that God magnanimously gave us has been taken away by those who see themselves as the owners of Nigeria. They did not take into account the fact that South-South owns the resources of this country. What is the place of South-South in the conspired victory of Buhari? With this level of betrayal, the best thing for South-South is to form a formidable opposition with their resources and ensure that nobody tamper with the interest of this region.

Let the North and West have the power, let South-South guard their resources jealously by ensuring that it remains in the opposition PDP so that it will have some level of disagreement and control to negotiate dividends from the Federal Government. South-South has nothing to lose remaining in the opposition which PDP has fast become, but it stand to lose it pride, control, and everything they have by joining the ruling APC who have no regard for the region. When the North and West set their target which was to unseat the South-South man from the Presidential seat, they did not consider party lines but to achieve their common goal which they all agreed not minding who belongs to which party. How will anybody explain the total failure of Education Minister to deliver Kano state to Jonathan when he scored the highest number of vote in 2011 Presidential election he contested under the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party ANPP? What about the intentional failure of National Chairman of PDP, FCT Minister, and governor of Bauchi who could not deliver Jonathan. The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is so hated in Kaduna state that he could not win election in his state? The betrayal governor of Niger state had to sacrifice his Senate ambition to ensure that South-South does not get a second term. David Mark and Gabriel Susuam of Benue state could not deliver PDP in that state? These is unbelievable, the truth is that they conspired against the South-South not Jonathan. They declared support for him with their lips but their hearts was far away from the South-South man.

Never again should this state, Akwa Ibom state allows herself to be used under the pretence of ruling party. Within the last 16 years this state has been in the ruling party; but what does it has to show? If not for the massive development strides of Governor Akpabio which has drastically moved Akwa Ibom from a pedestrian state to a destination of choice in Africa; what does this state has to show in terms of Federal presence? Instead, the state is losing huge financial resources to belong in the National politics that does not yield any commensurate dividend to the state and its people.

Today in Akwa Ibom, the APC is using the ruling party strategy to win the governorship election; taking advantage of the conspired defeat of President Jonathan by the West and Northerners to rob the people of Eket Senatorial District the opportunity to produce the next governor for the state over 27 years after Akwa Ibom was created. They are riding on the sentimental ruling and opposition party. Permit me to remind those championing the ruling and opposition course in Akwa Ibom that this state does not need a ruling party at this critical period of our history, what the state need is a governor that has more developmental lifelines to attract development and industrialization to Akwa Ibom without having to wait for federal allocation. In this 2015 governorship contest, Mr Udom Emmanuel is the only man who has the capacity, competency and credible track record to accomplish the task before the next administration.

This is not time for experimental politics, it is to have the right man on the seat that have done it over the years especially at this time Akwa Ibom is in a hurry to increase it Internally Generated Revenue IGR to take care of her monumental needs. Under the leadership of Mr Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom will fast become the new emerging economy in Africa like Lagos state with the highest IGR profile. Akwa Ibom state needs a capable development oriented man from the private sector who will not play politics with development of this state, not the fraudulent civil servant who has at one point or another defrauded this state with billions through outrageous contract variations using AEC Works Limited as SSG then.

Those who are championing the sentimental ruling party must understand that Akwa Ibom state is at a critical point that does not need party to solve her problems of unemployment, quality education and affordable healthcare, job creation through industrialization, and stable power supply. These are the problems that affect the ordinary Akwa Ibom person not the national politics or ruling party. Akwa Ibom needs a governor in the mould of Mr Udom Emmanuel who has the private sector capacity and connections internationally to deliver industrialization and boost the IGR of the state to be independently buoyant, whereby it can take care of it people without waiting for federation account. This state needs a selfless man like Udom Emmanuel, the only man who served government without taking salary as SSG.

Akwa Ibom needs a man like Udom Emmanuel who is an internationally acclaimed successful financial administrator to fix the economy of this state and move Akwa Ibom to a level of financial independent like Lagos state. The ruling Federal Government cannot achieve this for Akwa Ibom state, it is the quality and capacity of the man who becomes the governor that people will elect come April 11 that will achieve all these for Akwa Ibom state, not minding the political party. We must not allow sentiments to rob this state off this fine opportunity to reposition our economy, build industries, and create wealth for the generations to come.

It is not news that oil, the major source of Akwa Ibom revenue has dropped; which means the financial income from the federation account to the state has also dropped. In this situation, Akwa Ibom does not need a man who will depend on the decreased allocation that will come from the federal government; it needs a man like Udom Emmanuel who have sat on the board of 12 multinational companies while in the private sector where intellectual capacity and skills are the criteria. He has been there for years making policies that have actually yielded dividends for people. Akwa Ibom needs Udom Emmanuel who has not mingled himself with local politics but international and developmental politics that will bring world class investments to the state. This is not the time we should play politics of stomach infrastructure, this era is for real change from petty politicking to development and industrialization which Udom Emmanuel represent.

APC in Akwa Ibom is currently banking on the relegation of PDP to opposition by the North, West conspiracy against South-South saying that Akwa Ibom cannot afford to play opposition party. If Lagos state and most of the South-West states have played opposition over the years and their economy is growing, Akwa Ibom will not be an exception in belonging to opposition.

It will be disastrous and counterproductive if Akwa Ibom people have a governor from the APC and National Assembly members from the PDP. They will not support the governor in getting what is rightly belonging to the state. Based on the style of politics played here in Nigeria and Akwa Ibom, they will oppose the governor in everything and fight him throughout the 4 year tenure without any tangible development achieved. The state resources will be channelled to fighting members of the National Assembly. This will not benefit the ordinary Akwa Ibom person that is looking for employment, qualitative education and affordable healthcare. But a PDP governor in Akwa Ibom state will have the cooperation of the National Assembly members from the state which will form a common front to attract development from the centre to the state.  

It is true that in Nigerian system of government, the governors of the ruling party concentrates more at the centre and national politics more than their respective states which is their primary constituency. Most times they are carried away and forget that the governorship mandate was given to them on trust by the people of the state not national. Sincerely speaking, the recent defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan that has metamorphosed PDP from ruling party to opposition party is indeed a blessing to Akwa Ibom state and its people. It’s another miraculous intervention by God to ensure that Mr Udom Emmanuel when elected on Saturday and inaugurated on the 29 May 2015, settles down in the state to face the enormous responsibilities of his office in his quest to deliver on his campaign promises to Akwa Ibom people. The tendency of being distracted by national issues and national party politics will be minimised and unnecessary meetings in Abuja will certainly be reduce.

National politics does not only distract the attention of the governor from providing good governance he was elected, it also takes a huge financial resources from the state because as the governor will show his loyalty to the powers that be, he will also prove that loyalty with some financial commitments. Being in the ruling party and getting so involved in National politics; most time governors of ruling party are like a guest in their own state they govern. They come in at night and fly out again in the morning. As this happens, resources are also flying out with them which make some of them lose focus in delivering dividends of democracy to the people.

People should understand that state allocations from the federation account are statutory, constitutional, and sacrosanct which cannot be tampered with, suspended or stopped by anybody not even the president irrespective of political party affiliations. It’s unfortunate that in Akwa Ibom state, APC want people to believe that it is only when a governor is in the ruling party that he receives allocations. This is falsehood and political propaganda to score cheap political point. Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Edo, Ekiti, Rivers, Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, and other opposition states collect their normal allocations from the federal government every month just as the PDP governors.

Being in the opposition party will even make the President not tamper with the allocations of Akwa Ibom and avoid unnecessary deductions. The resources or entitlements of Akwa Ibom state will not be sacrificed for the governor to belong in the ruling cabal. Akwa Ibom people must not be deceived into unprofitable ruling party anymore. Udom Emmanuel is the answer to the problems of Akwa Ibom people.