By Darlington UDOBONG
This piece stems directly from the many conversations I have had with the likes of Rt. Hon. Okpolupm Etteh, Chief Otu Ita Toyo, Chief Ita Imo Udo, Engr Ita Awak, Prince Chris Abasi-Eyo, Atuekong Don Etiebet, Barrister Ekong Sampson, Elder Patrick Albert, Engr. Chris Ekpenyong, Barr Ini Ememobong, Mr. Akan Okon on the progress and future of Akwa Ibom. Not only did my conversations, direct and indirectly, with these persons confirm the bleakness of our hearts and the decay that our ‘myopic politics’ has caused us, those conversations also reminded me that at the core of Akwa Ibom experience are inherent virtues like hardwork, greatness, hospitality, honesty, patriotism, personal responsibility, optimism, faith, contentment and hope; a running thread that binds us together despite our differences. These virtues inspired us to pride, duty and sacrifice. Today, these virtues are at the verge of extinction because of our kind of politics. The world has moved on. So much is happening at the centre, Abuja, and we are here playing cut throat politics. We don’t even seem to possess a shared voice with which we can agitate or discuss our ideals, much less the tools to get to a consensus about how, as a state, we might work together to bring those ideals about for the collective good of our people and progress of Akwa Ibom. We have allowed our quest for ‘local political power’, greed and intolerance to subvert and divide us. On this, I strongly blame our current leaders and the youths alike.
For the future and progress of Akwa Ibom, my stance, however, is that we have no choice than to ensure it. We do not need a poll to know that Akwa Ibom people are weary of the virus that politics has placed in all of us. Whether we are sympathetic to the PDP or the APC or the APGA or the YDP, we feel in our guts the lack of honesty, rigor and commonsense in our policy debates. Oh, how myopic we have become. We are in a period in our nation’s history where significant challenges are being tackled; challenges of ‘devolution of power and restructuring’ are being fought for and we yet pretend to be deaf about it. Instead we have allowed ourselves to be cowed and beclouded by the issue of ‘Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge in Lagos,’ the worth of the money the Governor gave to the Super Eagles for defeating the indomitable Lions of Cameroon, NDDC constructed roads and other sundry issues. If we do not change course soonest and be apt to national issues like other states of the federation, we may be the first generation in a very long time that will leave behind a weaker and more fractured Akwa Ibom than the one we inherited. Perhaps more than any other time in our recent history, we need a new mindset to politics, a mindset that will pull us together as Akwa Ibom, a mindset that will build upon the shared dreams and visions of our founding fathers. A new mindset that sees the appointment of Engr. Ben Ukpong, Commissioner in the National Population Commission, as an opportunity for Akwa Ibom to take advantage of the next census; a mindset that sees the offices of Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Bassey Albert Akpan and Senator Nelson Effiong as opportunities for Akwa Ibom to gain wholly from ‘center stage’ not those of APC or PDP; a mindset that sees the appointment of Engr. Ita Awak, Director of Air worthiness Standards of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), as an opportunity for the advancement of Akwa Ibom not that of APC; the appointment of Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Senate Matters, as one that is meant for the good and progress of Akwa Ibom not as an appointment for the APC. A new mindset that sees the appointment of Obong Nsima Ekere, Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and even that of Obong Umana Okon Umana, as one that is meant for our common good and progress of Akwa Ibom not as appointments for the APC. We must learn to celebrate and appreciate our own. We must not allow our progress, the progress of Akwa Ibom, to be tied along party lines, APC or PDP. We must not also see the policy thrust of the government of Mr. Udom Emmanuel or probably, those of his predecessors, as policies for the PDP but for all of us, Akwa Ibom people. Where we have reasons to disagree or criticize, it should be constructive and developmental. This is my stance, a stance that supports the fact that policy must drive our politics.
I feel many readers may find this piece insufficiently balanced. In any case, I stand guilty as found. I am angry about government policies that consistently suppress the common man but favour the wealthy and powerful. I am angry at the way we have allowed politics of mediocrity to shape our lives and sense of judgment and reasoning. The Udom Emmanuel’s administration has tried in no small measure to instill in us the belief in our faith of greatness through the Dakkada philosophy. But we think of faith as a source of comfort and understanding, we find our expressions of faith sowing division. We find ourselves, rather than strive to cure the malady, driven further apart by our ‘myopic politics.’ And this is a gap that our leaders must help the youth to bridged, the gap between the politics we have and the politics we need, lest we build an Akwa Ibom of warring factions and tribal hatreds.
When I reflect on the entity called Akwa Ibom, many questions come to mind and often, I asked where did we, as a people, go wrong? Many times I asked myself what will happen if our founding fathers, the likes of Late Obong Sampson Udo Idiong; Late Dr Emma Brown; Late Professor Eyo Ita; Late Clement Isong and Late Sir Egbert Udo Udoma were to rise up and see what has become of their dreamed “Land of Promise.” Many times I ask myself what will happen if late Chief Nyong Essien; late Obong Sampson Udo Etuk, late Chief E.O.Eyo, Chief O. O. Ita, late Chief Ibanga Udo Akpabio and their likes were to rise up to see what has happened. Because what they will be confronted with is an Akwa Ibom where the brotherly dispute between the Amazaba of Eastern Obolo and the Ikot Akpan Udo of Ikot Abasi over a piece of land is unsettled. There is a war going on there, but we speak of it only mutedly. It is not on the front pages of our local tabloids because it does not make sense to many of us. The unrest in Udung Okung in Eyo-Abasi and Ukpata Afaha Eduok in Idua, Oron Local Government Area, is unsettled. That of Esit Urua, a community that borders Eket and Ibeno, and that of Ikot Offiong and Oku Iboku are no different.
As we read this piece, many other communities are at war with each other but we talk of it with levity and without concern. Today, there is a growing hatred within the tripod of Annang, Ibibio and Oro. The polity is heated up. Today, there is a growing disparity within the three Senatorial Districts of the state. Akwa Ibom is at war with itself. This is what our founding fathers will be confronted with. They will be confronted with an Akwa Ibom which it’s Statisticians and renowned Economists said it is growing but which in truth is stagnated. They would be confronted with an Akwa Ibom whose young men and women have no interest and no love for their state. They would be confronted with an Akwa Ibom where its people have lost their self pride. Our founding fathers would be confronted with an Akwa Ibom where its people are not proud of what they have, where hotels in Eket, Ikot Ekpene and Uyo, even foods have foreign names.
Indeed, our founding fathers would be confronted with another Akwa Ibom, an Akwa Ibom which does not tell her story but whose stories are told by the Igbo, the Yoruba, the Hausa, the CNN and the Aljazeera. That is the Akwa Ibom our founding fathers would be confronted with. They would be confronted with an Akwa Ibom where young men and women have no pride in themselves, no foresight and no national value. When they want to enjoy themselves, they sing the praises of political parties: It is APC; it is PDP. That is the Akwa Ibom that they will be confronted with.
Why am I trying to remind us of these realities? The reason is because throughout the ages, the battle has always been the battle of the mind. If your mind is conquered, then you are going no way. And therefore if the people of Akwa Ibom are to begin to make contributions in their affairs, we must begin to think. But the question is: Are we thinking? Debates for restructuring are being engaged and taken seriously by parts of the country and Akwa Ibom is not interested in it. Many Nigerians, through contributions, have described the recent constitutional amendment as a groundbreaking and historic parliamentary exercise. They have also said that everything that happened during the amendment process at the National Assembly was a clear reflection of the political situation that is currently at play in the country. The distrust and division along regional lines in the country came into play. How much roles have our National Assembly members played in this regards?
There were the issue of Devolution of Power; Land Use Act; Affirmative Action for Women, and State Creation and Boundary Adjustment that failed to sail through in the said constitution amendment. Have we bothered to ask our Senators and House of Representatives’ members the role they played? Akwa Ibom, where lies your and future and progress?
So, does it mean that we do not care what becomes of us in the nearest future? Why has politics beclouded our sense of reasoning, patriotism and statehood? The reason is because we have no faith in ourselves. The reason is because we are so shortsighted to see the greatness that is inherent in us. In the area of education, we don’t also have faith in our teachers. Our political class introduced what they termed “free education.” But it is free indeed, free of knowledge and quality.
This is because our so called leaders are so suspicious of those institutions; a typical Akwa Ibom politician will not dare take their kids to those schools. Their children will be educated in the British system, in the American system. So that when they graduate they will go to the United Kingdom, to the United States. Not that there is anything wrong with those institutions, but their agenda is wrong because our today’s leaders long lost the script that was handed over to them by the Akwa Ibom founding fathers.
But we are co-authors of our own misfortunes. Whenever we are given an opportunity to elect our own leaders, we are given a blank cheque. And because we are always so empowered in the process, we end up electing wolves in sheep’s clothing. We elect “hyenas to take care of goats and when the goats are consumed we wondered why.” Akwa Ibom, where lies our future and progress? Politics could be different. There is no doubt about that, but we are the voters and it is obvious we all want something different, we are tired of imposition, we are tired of distortion and name-calling that complicates issues for us. We want a better Akwa Ibom, a land of fulfillment. The forthcoming Local Government Election is but a litmus test to not just our political class and 2019 but to all of us. It is a litmus test to our collective future. It is a litmus test to the progress, unity and harmony of Akwa Ibom. Let’s go back, trace our path and make our future count for the sake of the unborn generations. Until this is done, that envisaged day of collective smiles, appreciation and thanks, where the social media is surf with decorum and pageantry, may never come.
