Akwa Ibom needs a devt. oriented governor not ruling party

BY JOSEPH OKON

It was Winston Churchill who said that  “Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may   resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is”.

There has been some heated arguments for and against on the political status of Akwa Ibom state ever since the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling PDP then, conceded his defeat in the last Saturday Presidential election to General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress APC.

It’s very worrisome to hear some people maybe for political interest are advocating that now that the ruling PDP has fast become an opposition party, Akwa Ibom should move to the ruling party. But unfortunately these are the same set of people who propagated and preached the need to have a governor from the opposition party for development; drawing examples from Lagos, Edo, Osun, and other opposition states when the PDP controlled the centre.

Unfortunately in our state, most people are more concerned about sentimental politicking not considering issues of development as a factor for their political support to a particular party or candidate. It equally true that people form their opinion on a particular matter based on the information at their disposal. A lot of things have happen in this state but people still find it difficult to learn from them.

What happened last Saturday that leads to the victory of Buhari started in 2011 after the general election. The North and West had a pact to dethrone the South-South man from the seat of President. They did not consider party line because it was to them a task that must be accomplish in 2015. That was why PDP could not produce the speaker of the House of Representatives by the simple majority as agreed. It started at the National Assemble before others also key in.

The truth of this matter is the conspiracy by the North and West against South-South who undoubtedly own the wealth of this nation. They see the South-South man on the saddle as a threat, because it should not own the resources and power. It is not about President Jonathan but the people of South-South. It therefore means that we have no place in Nigeria since the majority can just wake up one day to retrieve power from us the vulnerable minority. This victory of conspiracy does not worth the celebration of the South-South. How can it be explain that Bauchi state governor, PDP National Chairman, and FCT Minister could not deliver Bauchi? Minister of Education who made an impressive winning in Kano could not give Jonathan half the total number of votes in Kano, and many other states. It is a clear case of gang-up and conspiracy.   

Akwa Ibom people must understand that opposition, progressive or activism is a conscious and inherent attitude; it is not something anybody can just develop overnight because of political aspiration. The progressive and activism that we have in this part of the world are born out of selfish ambition of some individuals whose aspirations are not met by where they belong before; hence their overnight saints, opposition, progressive and activism. This is a clear case of disguise, pretence, and pure deception of the unsuspected poor masses.

Like I said before, progressive, opposition or activism is an inherent thing; not after being a part of the so called corrupt process and keep quiet when the going was good, and turn overnight progressive or opposition when the going becomes tough based on personal ambition. Then if that is the case, there must be a restitution of corrupt dividends. In a civilized society where political support is based on, integrity of the aspirant; the integrity then becomes the credential to win support of the masses. When that is the case, you will always see people in positions of authority resign their positions if not allowed by their superior to do the right thing because they have their integrity to protect. Not the other way round that we have witnessed in the state today; where a man who served as SSG for almost 7 years in an administration, controlling the engine room of government without complain, just to turn back after the incumbent support for his governorship ambition was withdrawn and removed from the government to call that government a failure, and turn a progressive overnight and people clap for him. The big question is; why did he not resign then? Why did he keep quiet and enjoy the so-called failed government?

We must learn our progressive politics or activism from this great legendary icon, late Dr Nelson Mandela. He was never a part of any corrupt process, he fought the bad system of government in South Africa then that was anti-South Africans from the beginning. That was why when he was given the opportunity to lead his country he did well. We must understand that a corrupt mind is always corrupt no matter any form or disguise it may come from. The man who saw the alleged evils that befall the state and kept quiet because it was to his advantage cannot be a good watchman, and should not be entrusted with a higher responsibility.

Back to the main topic, those advocating for the ruling party now who were against it before may be seeking equity with unclean hands. They 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.

Akwa Ibom does not need a governor that will wait for federal government or federation account money to execute projects, it needs a man like Udom Emmanuel how 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 governor that the 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 level, it needs a man like Udom Emmanuel who has sat on the board of 12 multinational companies while in the private sector where intellectual capacity and skills are the criteria. Akwa Ibom needs Udom Emmanuel who has not mingled with the local politics but internationally to bring world class standard 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.

The Akwa Ibom 2015 governorship is not about a particular political party, it’s about the quality and character of the man representing the political party. This contest is between the man that has all it takes to deliver Akwa Ibom in the direction of our founding fathers dream and our industrious heroes like Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga and late Dr Clement Isong, and the sentiment of opposition party and ruling party. Performance or development is not based on whether ruling or opposition party, it’s not about the political party but the quality and capacity of the governor. Party will not make the governor to go higher than his ability or capacity because party is only serving as a platform to contest an election.

After the election the party goes under, the governor that was elected take-over. It is worthy to note here that, the governor; be it from the ruling or opposition party will only do what he can do. The man with few ideas will only implement his few ideas, and the man who is capable of turn impossible to possibilities will do it because he knows how to get it done not necessarily that it must be in the ruling party. If Governor Fashola who was the Chief of Staff to Tinubu could perform, Adam’s of Edo State in the then opposition party; Udom Emmanuel will perform better because of the person he is and his exposure in financial administration. All Akwa Ibom people need is not just a commensurate dividend from their money, but innovative administration based on international standard that will make life beautiful for the people.

Somebody said that Akwa Ibom does not have IGR to be independent like Lagos state, but how long should we continue to depend on the federation money to administer the state with the dwindling oil price? Is it not better we allow the man who has all it takes to relocate Mobil head office from Lagos to Akwa Ibom? This will boost the state IGR. This is not done politically; it takes a concrete business conviction to achieve it which Udom can do it. We need to vote for a man who has all it takes to effect the real change on the lives of people which is Udom Emmanuel, not the one who is angry because government could not support his selfish governorship ambition.

As the oil will either finish or devalued, there must be a concrete foundation for internally generated revenue so that when that happens, Akwa Ibom will have what to fall back on. Now is the time to lay that foundation of industrialization and wealth creation. This is not the time for ruling or no ruling party sentiments; this time is to take a collective decision to ensure the prosperity of Akwa Ibom state not minding political party. In taking this decision, personal interest should be push aside to allow the interest of Akwa Ibom state prevails. In the next constitutional amendment, private candidates will be allow to contest elections, when that happens, the sentiment or influence of political party will completely diminish, and people will only be elected based on what they have to offer not on political party.

Besides, there is always a pressure on the opposition party to perform while the ruling party sleeps because of the thinking that the ruling party has all it takes to remain in power without anything to show. Akwa Ibom is very lucky because Udom Emmanuel will be in a hurry to perform so that he can justify the mandate given to him. In the Nigerian system of governance, those in the opposition are forced to compete with the ruling party in terms of development while most of those in the ruling party think they are covered by the power at the centre. It will bring developmental consciousness to bear in Akwa Ibom and impact positively on the lives of people. These are the truth Akwa Ibom people must know as they go to poll next Saturday 11 April to elect their next governor. It is this truth that shall set this state free from imminent economic bankruptcy. God bless Akwa Ibom state.