By Ini Ememobong
The All Progressives Congress Akwa Ibom state chapter has in the past few days made strenuous but unsuccessful attempts at painting the government of Akwa Ibom state with tar. Each of the attempts have been insipid and nebbish, due to the intellectual carapace which our people have acquired for themselves, to aid preserve their minds from bland and impish propaganda as employed by the opposition. We are aware that a new strategic media team has been constituted to help the spokesperson of the APC to discharge his duties and they must impress their paymaster. This is understandable as people must find ways of surviving (including blackmailing others for a fee) in this harsh economy gifted by the APC led Federal government.
The article published in Nation newspaper of March 14, 2018 was aimed at vilifying the akwa ibom state government, but it ended up stating the truth about the ugly situation the ‘chain’ party has placed the country and her citizens. Additionally, this article like its predecessors mirrors the derision with which the Akwa Ibom chapter of the APC holds the federal government and their party at the national level. There is no release or publication made by the state chapter, without a swipe being taken on the Federal Government or the national leadership of their party. How else can one explain the fact that the first two states mentioned in the first line of an article supposedly against akwa ibom state government, are the states where the world has globally accepted as the signpost of the failure of the APC – led federal government? States where uncountable number of people have been killed, without the slightest show of pity or concrete steps taken to prevent reoccurrence of the carnage. Additionally, the term jackboots are usually used in describing military regimes and in Nigeria, President Buhari in and out of uniform, incontrovertibly represents ‘jackbootism’. Which scenario can better illustrate the reign of the jackboots than the carnage in Benue, Borono, Enugu and other states? Manifest disrespect for court orders, obvious nepotism among others. In fact, that release has done more harm to their party than the good originally intended.
In the said article the author alleged that the jackboots of terror has been ongoing in akwa ibom for 11 years, particularly accusing the immediate past Governor , Chief Godswill Akpabio as the mastermind. Apart from the accusations being wild, unfounded and inane, the Learned Gentleman has forgotten that his current pay masters in the APC were intricately involved in the governance of our state during the mentioned period and if their allegations are true, it would mean that even his paymasters are as culpable as their accused. Assuming without any element of concession that the allegations are true, how can the author extricate his new boss, who as at that time shared a gubernatorial ticket and mandate with the person whom he is now accusing? Or how can his boss feign ignorance of the ills, when he was a beneficiary of the alleged criminal acts? Or maybe his bosses as Deputy Governor and SSG then, know so much about these crimes and ought to be invited by security agencies for interrogation. Why shouldn’t they know when their ‘boys’ and allies were responsible for kidnapping of expatriates and other innocent citizens. Till date , these devilish characters (who were arrested, paraded and confessional statements obtained from them, but miraculously released)are still working for the paymasters of the author who are now stalwarts of the APC.
On the security situation in Etim Ekpo and ukanafun, evidence abound of the Governor’s decisive position on maintaining peace in all parts of the state. He has visited the troubled areas without prompting and provided logistics for the deployment of security operatives to the affected areas . Most recently in addition to the proscription of secret cults in the state, he held a stakeholders meeting where indigenes freely spoke on the immediate and remote causes of the security situation. One of the discoveries is that the proliferation of weapons in the area is a major cause of this security breach. In Akwa Ibom state, it is common knowledge that the only preparation the opposition APC does in anticipation of election, is the purchase of arms and distribution of same to their thugs. This was again manifest during the last local government elections were the APC thugs armed to the teeth, attempted to raze the AKISIEC building. So the APC’s article on the day the Governor and security chiefs were going to interface with the people in the affected areas, was a clever by half move to first accuse the PDP of being the sponsors of the security infraction, before the truth emerges. In our state, like it is in other states, the citizens view APC as being synonymous with thuggery, violence and irregularity. Even the video clips of the botched local government Primaries of the Lagos state chapter of the APC aired daily by channels television, is proof of this assertion.
However, despite the glaring contribution of the opposition to the security anomaly, which has been brought under control, Governor Udom Emmanuel has reiterated severally, that he was not elected to give excuses but to provide solutions. Since his assumption of office, he has continued to employ ingenious means of achieving a holistic development of our state. It is common knowledge that our state is acknowledged by residents and visitors alike, as the most peaceful in the country . This feat has been attained by diligence and the avowed commitment of the Governor to sustain the primacy of public interest and good, over personal or sectional interest.
The requests listed at the bottom of the article gives credence to the intelligence earlier gathered, which exposed APC’s plan of using propaganda to stimulate security reports to the President, advising him to declare a state of emergency in akwa ibom few months to the election, to give advantage to the APC. Another limb of that devilish plan is for the APC to sponsor the assassination of members of the opposing faction of their party in the state and put the blame on the Government, thereby creating an air of insecurity in the state. But we can assure them that “HE who watches over Akwa Ibom State, neither sleeps nor slumbers” and “HE will frustrate the devices of the crafty, that they shall not be able to perform their enterprise”.
Conclusively, we know that the duty of the opposition is to attack government and try to make it look bad in the court of public opinion. But the process of attacking must be logical, reasonable and objective. To refer to the Immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom state and currently the Minority leader of the Senate of the Federal republic of Nigeria as a Devil incarnate, was to say the least imbecilic and doltish. In fact that is the locus classicus for hate speech and should be roundly condemned by all reasonable persons.
Lest I forget, Mr Publicity Secretary, please there is nothing like Barr. Edet Bassey(Esq)(haba, oga, where did you get that from?) The proper appellation should be Edet Bassey,Esq. You may not have been aware that the Supreme Court in N.B.A v Ofomata (2017) 5NWLR (1557)128 at 133 held inter alia that it is improper (and indeed a misconduct) for lawyers to use the title ‘Barrister’ as a prefix or pre-nominal title to their names. This is certainly a kill joy for title loving persons. It is however understandable that when people seek to deceive or con others, high sounding titles are considered helpful, but discerning minds are never fooled.
Comrade Ini Ememobong is the Akwa Ibom State Publicity Secretary of the People Democratic Party (PDP)
