Rt. Hon. Okpolupm Etteh, immediate past Leader of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and former Governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), currently Honorary Senior Special Adviser to Governor Udom Emmanuel, is unarguably one person with deep understanding of the intrigues, odds and events that surround Akwa Ibom politics. He recently shared his thoughts with Ibom Telegraph on the state of the nation. Excerpts:
Many have described the industrialization drive of the Udom Emmanuel administration as failure and a sham. Do you think so?
They are totally wrong, industrialization is a process. It is not a-one day business. You do not expect the government to just come onboard today and the next day the whole place is industrialized. Even the Federal Government that has promised us the reconstruction of Calabar-Itu Road, it is still there. They have done nothing and this could be equated to industrialization. In Akwa Ibom State, though it is not the business of government to site industries, as the case may be, it is the business of government to create an enabling environment. First and foremost, it is the business of the State Government to issue land; give you Certificate of Occupancy; interface with the host community to make sure the environment is peaceful for the company or business to thrive, and partner with security agencies to ensure smooth operation. But it is the business of the Federal Government to issue operational license to those companies or industries that have intention to operate in the state.
Many of the ground breakings that have been done by the Akwa Ibom State Government are where they are today because the Federal Government has refused to give operational license to those industries. For instance, during the administration of Obong Godswill Akpabio, there was a ground breaking for the construction of a Quantum Refinery, till today the Federal Government has refused to give license to enable its operation, same thing with some of the Modular Refineries that the State Government has done ground breakings for. Despite the provision of land, issuance of Certificate of Occupancy and all that, the Federal Government has refused to give licenses to them. The reason, Akwa Ibom is a PDP state.
So, the APC-controlled Federal Government does not want the PDP state to take credit. But it is not so in a place like Lagos State, an APC-controlled state. Any business cited in Lagos State is on; you can see the Dangote Refinery is on. The Dangote Refinery got its operational license barely few months after it was initiated. So, why is that of Akwa Ibom an exception? So, I want the APC people in Akwa Ibom, whenever they are talking, to lead a delegation to the Presidency and appeal to the APC-controlled Federal Government to issue licenses to all the companies that are interested in operating in Akwa Ibom State to come in and start their operation and construction because those industries are not PDP industries. They are industries that will operate in Akwa Ibom State for the good of the people of the state. There is nothing like APC or PDP when it has to do with employment.
So, I will appeal to the opposition party in the state that are complaining to lead a delegation to Abuja and tell the government at the centre to issue licenses to these companies to come and do business in Akwa Ibom so that they can create employment. For me, the Udom Emmanuel government has done his part. The government has brought a lot of industries to the state through its Committee on Foreign Direct Investment. The government has issued a lot of Certificate of Occupancies to companies but no license for them to operate. For instance, the QIPP, but for the fact that ExxonMobil got the license long ago and started it before BlackRainoe and Dangote joint venture, the Federal Government would not have given license. The State Government went as far as setting up a Committee that is headed by Mr. Ufot Ebong to interface with the host communities and the company, which is the duty of the State Government. The focus of the state government is to industrialized the state and that does not mean that the state government will have to take out money from its budget and start to float industries every. If it does that, it means it will no longer be able to construct roads, pay salaries, pensions, gratuities and all that. The state government is creating the enabling environment for industrialization to thrive. Like now, the state government is trying to dualize a road from Nsit Atai to Oron, the East-West Road. The next phase will move from Oron to Mbo. It has dualized Eket-Ibeno Road. The State Government is doing the dualization of Ekom Iman-Etinan up to East-West Road in ONNA. That is the business of government, creating access, providing enabling environment, security and all that.
Another problem that is caused by the APC-controlled Federal Government is the issue of power. Akwa Ibom is generating electricity, what stops the Federal Government from giving us the license to distribute? So, why do we generate power and we cannot distribute? Why can’t the Federal Government unbundle the power sector, if it is sincere? Let the states that own independent power plant that are generating electricity be given the opportunity to also distribute and make their money. If Taraba State, for instance, does not have electricity, Ibom Power can move in, generate and distribute and make money. So, when they are saying that the Udom Emmanuel government has failed in his industrialization thrust, it is a bloody lie. They are the ones frustrating our efforts. The industry is not a party thing. It is for the best interest of Akwa Ibom State. So, the government has not failed at all.
The recent Integrity Award on the Governor by the Nigeria Television Authority has generated so much debates and controversies. What is your take on the Award?
What are you talking about? It is only the APC people that are saying that. Even President Muhammadu Buhari has received several awards. The donor of the award, NTA, has its parameter for giving the award. This is the only state in a recession that pays its civil servants salaries as at when due. So, they have their parameter and indices in their choice of recipients and for me, they never made any mistake in giving the Governor, and others, the Award. It is only a prudent manager that can achieve what the Governor has achieved so far. I hope you were not expecting otherwise from the APC? Were you expecting the APC people in the state to congratulate the Governor? Akwa Ibom is a PDP-controlled state and blackmail and propaganda will not win elections for the APC in Akwa Ibom. It is men that win elections Akwa Ibom and PDP in Akwa Ibom State has men. So, the Governor merited that Award and it was given to him. The Award was not influenced by APC or PDP. PDP government does not control NTA and so for NTA to give a PDP Governor an award, I want to believe the Governor merited that award. So, it was purely out of merit.
Before now it was alleged that Eket Senatorial District has not had a fair share of government and governance. Today, the district is in charge, how will you describe government and governance in the hands of the Eket Senatorial District?
I am not aware of such complaint. There is zoning in Akwa Ibom State. At the advent of democracy in 1999, the first Governor, Obong Victor Attah, from Uyo Senatorial District, had eight years. The second eight years was Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District with Chief Godswill Akpabio on the saddle. So, this is the turn of Eket Senatorial District and we are going to run it for eight years and after that, it will return to Uyo Senatorial District. So, whoever said we never had our fair share government and governance, this is our turn. In fact, there is no Governor that will stay and ignore Eket Senatorial District unless such a person wants the state to collapse. You cannot stay and not create access road to where the revenue of the state comes from. It is not possible. There is no way you will have gas in Ibeno, for instance, and you decide to pipe it to Ikot Ekpene or Obot Akara to cite the industry. No, you cite the gas industry there and it is not only people from Ibeno that will work there but people from the entire senatorial districts and Nigeria. That is basically what we are saying and what we are doing and the Governor is doing that effectively and we want him to run his eight years term for even distribution of democratic dividends.
You talked about Governor Udom Emmanuel having eight years in office, are you underrating the chances of APC in 2019?
Akwa Ibom is a PDP state and there is no magic about that. Don’t allow anybody to deceive you; PDP will still win elections in 2019 in Akwa Ibom State. Election is a reality show.
Even with the Federal might?
There is nothing like the Federal might. The Police and Army will not come to the polling unit and vote or rig election for an unpopular candidate. Are you saying there was no Federal might in Anambra State? What happened in Anambra State? The little I know about Buhari is that he will not want to destroy his name because he wants his party to win in all the state. In Akwa Ibom State, PDP is real. All the House of Assembly members are PDP, all the Local Government Chairmen and their Councillors are PDP and all these people are from various Wards and Units. So, where will you stand? Are you saying that they will not deliver their Wards and Units? No, they will. It will take another 24 years for APC to attempt to win elections in Akwa Ibom State. I am saying so because you need men to win elections. So, in 2019, PDP will win. In 2023, PDP will win. The reason is simple: Akwa Ibom is a PDP-controlled state.
Do you think the federal government has done enough to stop the menace of herdsmen?
The federal government is trying but it has not done enough. I am saying that in the sense that it should work more on security intelligence
