Even The Walls Have Eyes
By Emmanuel Inyangetor
The twin thought of 'being made a Governor' and 'becoming a
Governor' has remained and will continue to be the prickly nightmare of
Governor Udom Emmanuel as he journey towards the avoidable reality of his undoing.
Udom apparently misfired and lost his bearing the day he succumbed to the
ungodly overtures of his helmsmen to deal a hemlock portion on his erstwhile
Boss - Chief Godswill Akpabio, with a view to swapping places and turning him
into a Lilliputian.
The power play conspiracy which started long before the
'Manager Governor' took his oath of office in May, 2015 was evidently thick,
laced with ethnic bias , cupped in a bronze chalice of envy; it was a no holds
barred affair. The mission was clear and concise: Akpabio must be shot down
from his high flying horse of fame and commanding influence. He must be made to
kiss the dust and maniacally kept aground.
Apparently caught in such an unholy web of conspiracy to destroy the
very force that gave life to his administration, the Governor lost focus,
abandoned the people, sold out his brains to the exploitative antics of fake
prophets and rail-roaded himself to the abyss of no return. Like a smouldering
fire, it all started with smoky schemes of betrayals, backstabbing that later
metamorphosed into bareface confrontation. Now the die is cast. Udom has come
to the sudden realization that having tried but failed to destroy the ladder
that scaled him up the Hiltop Mansion, he needs that same ladder once again to
ascend the next realm of Fortune Fortress.
Early this month, in far away Abuja, the Governor had gone
on a trust building and sensitization tour, in preparation for the soon to come
election in March next year. His target audience was the Akwa Ibom Community in
Abuja led by the Mr. Tommy Etim. Everything went well as planned and quite
interestingly, Governor Udom Emmanuel saw yet another opportunity to regale the
people with his apparently phantom projects or mystery projects as Obong Victor
Attah would say.
At the close of
event, Udom was asked to 'land'. Give it to the 'Manager Governor', he did try.
For the Akwa Ibom Community in Abuja, he doled out a princely sum of #7
million. For the teeming support group that numbered over 30, he gave out a double
portion of the #7million i.e (#14million). But trust the Governor's man-friday,
you know him - Mr. Ephraim Inyangeyen. He saw yet another opportunity to do
what he knows how to do best - cheat the very people he swore to serve. The
cunning custom officer whom we learnt is on a leave of absence from his place
of primary assignment, refused to go with the Governor at the close of event.
He had his characteristic red-eyed prancing look fixed on the #14million cash
donation for the support groups. Like the foxy old custom man that he is, he
jumped up the podium soon after the Governor exited and elected to share the
money to Udom's presumed supporters. First, he unilaterally reduced the number
of support groups on the list that was submitted to the Governor (on which
strength the Governor made the donation) from 31 to a paltry 12. Next he
started dishing out a token sum of #200,000 per group to the benefiting support
groups. At this point, heavens was let loose. The obviously irked mass of
disappointed Akwa Ibomites could not help but descend hard on the foxy custom
man turned politician. Mr. Ephraim Inyangeyen had played into the waiting hands
of irate fans who suddenly turned foes and indeed, they made a scapegoat out of
the Works Commissioner. For once, Ephraim Inyangeyen got copiously paid for his
maleficent exploit. As usual, he sought to make fast money out of the people's
donation but this time around, his chicanery spontaneously backfired.
Just last week Monday, the loquacious Speaker of the State
House of Assembly in his usual capricious manner got the nod of the Governor to
embark on a daring hunt-and-kill expedition, but sadly he ended up suffering
serious collateral damage. The unfolding narrative has it that the Speaker in
an attempt to impress his Boss( the Governor) and perhaps make some money was
goaded on, to stage the first of its kind legislative comic show, by leading a
group of 7 pliant lawmakers to attempt the removal of some serving lawmakers
who had switched camp from the PDP to the APC. As a lawyer, it is apt to say
that Barr. Onofiok Luke is not ignorant of the fact that matters which are sub judice are not
entertained outside the Court of law except and until such are dispensed with
by a Court of competent jurisdiction. Not minding the aforesaid foreknowledge
though, the Speaker still went on to stage what has now become known as the
epic legislative drama of 19th November, 2018. As a result, the State has been
made to suffer the ripple effect of that
unprovoked attack on the legislature started by none else but the head of that
institution - Barr. Onofiok Luke . What's more! The hunter has now become the
hunted!! Truth is, you don't commit an act of illegality and then turn around
to cry wolf when such act tend to elicit equal and even more daring act of
illegality. The Speaker and his guild of conspirators goofed in attempting a
kill that was far too big for them to hazard a bite.
In another twist of event which happened a day after the
State Assembly show of shame, precisely on Tuesday 20th November, 2018. It was
a well attended event to mark the 80th birthday and book launch of former
Governor Victor Attah at the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre, Abuja. Fate dealt
another harsh blow on the 'Manager Governor' who without the slightest inkling
got the rude shock of his life when some concerned members of the audience drew
his attention to a shocking narrative in the book by Obong Attah titled "
It is well with my Soul", which he had brought together friends and fellow Governors to launch. The
numbing narrative of the former Governor read thus: "If Akpabio's
administration was characterised by grandiose plans and great white elephant
projects, which were mostly uncompleted or even not started, Governor Udom
Emmanuel's administration remains a mystery"................"at the
moment, it is almost impossible to find any major project attributed to
him".
A completely bemused,
utterly befuddled and apparently dejected Governor Udom Emmanuel lashed out in
humble regret. Confiding in one of his close aides who was on hand to soothe
his frayed nerves, Udom noted in apparent displeasure saying: " I have
recorded unprecedented achievements in the State. So I can't understand how
Obong Attah arrived at his judgement that my government does not have anything
to show. He is not being fair to me. I expected a pat on the back by him. You
could have seen how I was humiliated at the book launch".
Whereas Attah is entitle to his opinion, but if one should
attempt to be objective in analyzing the above submission of former Governor
Attah, it is most likely that the overly incriminating tag he has ascribed to
his Successor - Chief Godswill Akpabio
better fits him. Attah is one Governor whose record of white elephant and
abandoned projects has no equal till date. Counting from the ambitious Airport
project , one can go on to name others like the Ibom Power Plant, Ibom Hotel
and Golf Resort, Science Park, Akwa Ibom State University of Science and
Technology - all these are signature projects conceived by Attah but were never
given thorough handling by the government of the day not to even mention
completing same. We all know the truth, that save for Governor Godswill Obot
Akpabio, these aforementioned projects would have remained what they were -
abandoned projects.
However, as someone who believed that government at any
level is a continuum, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio chose to carry on with most
of the projects Obong Attah left behind as listed above. The moment he came on
board as Governor, the uncommon transformer breath life into these hitherto
dead projects and they all came alive to the use and benefit of Akwa Ibom
people except for the Science Park project which he left undone because
according to him, it was more like attempting not to erase all the sore relics
of Obong Attah. For him, something had to remain for posterity to judge between
the past and present. It thus appear that Governor Akpabio knew that a day like
this will come when someone will attempt
to rewrite the history of who did what in Akwa Ibom as Governor, though I doubt
if he had envisaged that the very man he laboured hard to cover his ill
performance will be the very first to disparage his sublime gesture.
© The Sensor Newspaper
*Naming Of Airport After Attah Is Our Idea – APC Tells Udom
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