BY ASSAM ABIA
Let me start in the fashion of a good historian, a story teller, whose duty is to keep records of events and present same to the public for the development of society.
Let me start in the fashion of a good historian, a story teller, whose duty is to keep records of events and present same to the public for the development of society.
Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel is a political child of a conspiracy of circumstances, fate and destiny whose journey to the position of governor of Akwa Ibom State began on Sunday June 5, 2015 at a meeting in the governor’s lodge Uyo, hosted by the then Governor of the State, Obong Victor Attah, involving major political stakeholders of the State including Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio who was then the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Obong Umana Okon Umana, then Commissioner for Finance, Chief Ita Toyo, then State Chairman of the People Democratic Party (P.D.P) and the Late Hon. Joe Udobia, then Special Adviser to Governor Victor Attah on Political and Legislative Affairs among other decision makers of the State.
Why was the crucial meeting held, with barely two years to the end of Obong Victor Attah’s second term, having used his first term of four years fighting the Federal Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo over the obnoxious onshore/offshore oil dichotomy palaver or better still, resource control.
Power shift agreement was the bone of contention in the meeting. Governor Attah had reasoned that Akwa Ibom State was a tripod with a trepidation of unsettled imbalance. He had reasoned that if zoning is not applied within the three geo-political districts of the State in terms of governorship position, the State will not grow to its full potentialities. The meeting was to fashion out a working tool for the unity of the State through the principle of equity.
At the end of the day, after series of marathon meetings over four months, the deal was done. Obong Umana Okon Umana, Godswill Obot Akpabio,who are today the two major players in the titanic fight for zoning and against zoning were signatories to the power shift agreement. Udom Emmanuel was nowhere near the picture but destiny’s hand of favour was busy getting him closer to today’s picture through the kick and start of everyday’s living.
Resolved, Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District was to take over from Uyo which Obong Attah represented from 1999 to 2007 and Eket will take its turn by 2015. Obong Umana assisted Godswill Akpabio with every material assistance to make him governor when it became clear that Attah wanted his son inlaw, Mr. Udoma Bob Akarika, from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, to take over from him. The battle was fierce but Umana who was reputed to have been the richest man in Akwa Ibom State as Commissioner of Finance fought Attah hands down and together with others too numerous to mention, gave Akpabio the P. D. P ticket which eventually saw him became Governor of the State in 2007. It should be noted that several aspirants from Uyo Senatorial District contested against Godswill Akpabio in the Party Primary but Umana rebuffed them with a reminder of the zoning principle just enshrined into the body polity of the State.
In compensation, Akpabio appointed Obong Umana as Secretary to the State Government, possibly to give him the opportunity and leverage to recoup his expenses, which according to snoopers, ran into hundreds of millions of naira.
By this time, the zoning agreement had been firmly rooted in the spiritual realm of human thoughts, speech and actions. It became an ethereal law, a cosmic song from the grail castle and an irrevocable principle of the socio-political existence of Akwa Ibom State.
All this while, again, Udom Emmanuel was not envisaged by man to have anything to do with 2015. But as the mind of man was busy crafting and plotting about the mundane affairs of the State vis-à-vis 2015, destiny, fate and circumstances were also busy preparing a less known person to take over from Governor Godswill Akpabio.
Godswill Akpabio had known Udom Emmanuel in Lagos platonically as far back as 1995 when the former was a street hustler. They use to attend meetings of Akwa Ibom State Development Association and Udom was an executive member.
As Governor, it never crossed his mind that Udom will take over from him. Udom on his part, never dreamt that he could be governor of Akwa Ibom State. He was not a politician, in the Nigerian sense of the word. He was comfortable with the keeping and counting of money for people, including corporate individuals such as Akwa Ibom State government.
So, how could he ever imagine leaving such a plump job, a Director in a world class bank, into a fold of liars, deceitful men, gamblers with the destiny of men, called politicians. How could a decent and morally upright person, who has never swam in the shark infested waters of Nigerian Politics ever become a governor. Wired indeed. But as pencils we are, in the hands of God, the Almighty was busy using Akpabio and Obong Umana in the drawing of the future of Akwa Ibom State. That future is today, the emergence of Deacon Udom Emmanuel as Governor of the State.
What role did Obong Umana play in the making of Udom Emmanuel as governor of the State?. The A.P.C gubernatorial candidate in the April 2015 race in Akwa Ibom State is undoubtedly a financial guru. He, it was, in 2008, as secretary to Akwa Ibom State government, SSG, who brokered a meeting between Governor Godswill and Udom Emmanuel on a very official level. The relationship flourished and blossomed into friendship and politics. Old Lagosians always know how to get around and get what they want. “If you live in Lagos for up to ten years and succeed without going to prison, it means you can live in any happening city in the world” said Late Fella Anikola Kuti.
As earlier said, Akpabio and Udom had lived in Lagos for donkey years. They are Lagosians. How the old firewood quickly caught fire is what many of us may never know but what has now been known is that, the hand of God was at work in the making of Udom Emmanuel right from 2007 when Godswill Akpabio became Governor. He keeps standing tall as Governor of the State despite all odds.
Akpabio might pride himself as having installed Udom to succeed him but far from it, the entire drama, from the party primary to the general election was sanctioned by God.
Yours truly was not in support of the candidature of Udom Emmanuel because he was politically a nobody among the galaxy of Stars that presented themselves to contest the election. Akpabio did not just succeed to “impose” him on the party because of “much money” but because the unseen hand of God was assisting him.
Secondly, Obong Umana Okon Umana played a major role in the making of Governor Udom Emmanuel as far back as June 5, 2005 when he Umana agreed and became a signatory to the power shift policy in Akwa Ibom State Politics. If he had not eaten of the sacred meal and had not fought for the actualization of the principle, today his fight to dethrone Udom Emmanuel would have been a walked over. There is a deity whose name is “equity”, this god administers justice without the interference of the human mind.
Even if the Akwa Ibom State governorship re-run is conducted ten times, Udom will always win because the god of equity will run errands for the God of destiny.
Above all, Udom remains standing despite all odds because within six months the banker-turned politician has put to use his vast administrative experience and wide business connections towards the industrialization of the State. Site clearing for a Refinery is on-going in Eket. The entire State is now a work site even with the lean resources available.
One thing that goes for Udom Emmanuel is his unshaking believe in the Akwa Ibom Person. Today’s Akwa Ibom Person, even from Obong Umana’s Local Government Area, knows that there is a zoning arrangement on ground and will do nothing but vote for Udom Emmanuel in the re-run.
From the look of things, Udom will not throw money around carelessly like his Predecessor but he will want to leave an evergreen legacy on the sands of time.
Most people are not happy that he is being shadowed by Senator Godswill Akpabio. They want Udom to wriggle out himself from the firm grips of Akpabio and company. They want Udom to weed away Akpabio’s men from his administration if he must not be seen as an appendage of Akpabio’s administration.
For those of us who were not in support of his nomination, we have been pushed into a tight corner to accept what has been thrust on us by fate. We cannot do otherwise because of our firm support for equity and justice. When God say YES, who are we to say NO.
Those who truly love Udom are of the opinion that he should not take after Godswill Akpabio. He should talk less and listen more. He should be humble and see God as the architect of his destiny and above all, he should not have any foe or special friends. He should belong to all, irrespective of political differences.
Obong Umana should forgive Godswill Akpabio for his many sins against the people of the State. It has been discovered that Umana does not have any personal grudges against Udom but against Akpabio. Umana’s resoluteness in removing Udom from office is because Akpabio’s “madness” during the tail end of his administration. It has also been established that Akpabio insulted the entire Ibibio race during his tenure, maybe out of ignorance but it should also be established that the State belongs to all of us.
Obong Umana should please sheath his sword and remember the fight he fought for the implementation of the zoning arrangement. The verdict of history will justify him one day and will fish Akpabio out if found guilty of the many charges against him.
After the re-run, of which Udom will emerge victorious, let there be peace in Akwa Ibom, for the State belongs to Akwa Abasi Ibom, the God of all creation.
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