Udom Cannot Deceive All Of Us
By UbongAbasi Ise
The duo had since left the Hilltop Mansion together with their media aides. No one is left under the state government employ to defend them and to launder their images. Neither Chris Abasi-Eyo nor Parchi Umoh was left behind as Information Commissioner to blow the trumpets on Victor Attah's achievements. Elder Aniekan Umanah is no longer a Commissioner for Information to speak on Godswill Akpabio's uncommon performance. Their legacies are all that could now speak for them. Similarly, when Mr. Udom Emmanuel would be leaving office, he would definitely go with his media handlers who would abdicate their duty of defending him. Particularly, his Information Commissioner, Mr. Charles Udoh, would have no more business brushing the dusts off his boss's performances. It is history that would then judge how Mr. Udom Emmanuel conducted government while he was the governor. By then, his past will be like a courtyard monument with no one to cover it from the sun or the rain. As he is doing his last term now, his report card awaits him, and there would be no way he would change the handwritings.
The Attah-Akpabio legacies are so indelible in a way that there is no concrete achievement recorded by the incumbent state government without being influenced by them. But, had the farmer not planted the gourd plant, what will the player of Sekere (beaded gourd instrument) play with? Today, Udom's government has acquired Ibom Air but it is the airport at the background that was enunciated by Victor Attah and radically implemented to completion by Akpabio that preoccupied the consciousness of the people. Recently, FIFA delegation came into the state to inspect Godswill Akpabio International Stadium and left satisfied. To the honour of Akwa Ibom people, the state would partake in the hosting of U20 Female FIFA World cup in 2020 if Nigeria wins the bid, and if the soccer fiesta takes the stage on our stadium next year, the glory will go to Senator Godswill Akpabio for placing the state on the global map.
The ultimate challenge Mr. Udom Emmanuel is having today is that his administration is reeling in the shadows of the past dispensations. Both Attah and Akpabio were geniuses who performed exceedingly well in their respective administrations in that it would take an ultra-pragmatic successor to surpass their achievements. But has Udom done enough to break free from the overbearing shadows of his predecessors?
In terms of project implementation, Udom's government is like a butterfly clutching at different straws, which at the end, leaves no impact on the socio-economic life of the state. Electricity metering company has been established in Akwa Ibom but most houses in the state are left unmetered. Akwa Ibom electricity consumers are still mercilessly exploited through devilish estimated billing system imposed on them by the Shylock electricity distributing company marketers. We pay more for the darkness we dwell in because we don't have the meters we claim to produce. Where are the purported prepaid meters mass-produced in Onna? Is this not an outright idiocy to stay by the spring while washing your face with the spittle? Haba! How did we get here?
In the state where power supply is largely epileptic, businesses incur heavy deficit because of constant expenditure on fuel. Some could not even makes sales; they could not afford the cost of operations. On top of this burden, the agents of Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service, AKIRS, would still breathe down the neck of these enterprises, confronting them with ungodly, exorbitant tax rates. A managing director of a hotel in Uyo (name withheld) recently showed me a tax notice of N2.1 million issued to him by AKIRS at a time his firm could not make good income. Everywhere in the state, business owners are groaning, if not because of high cost of power supply, it would be multiple taxation or both. It becomes clear that the state's private sector is being attenuated by the 'system' with a lot of people losing their jobs on regular basis.
The other day, I heard the pomp and funk accompanying the inauguration of King Flour Mill in Onna. The public were told that the mill was set up by the industrially-oriented government of Udom Emmanuel to boost bakery endeavors in the state. Few days later, another report countered the claim with a revelation that the mill is the project of NEXIM Bank. If a government administration is going about claiming credits from the initiatives of others, then is this not an implicature that such administration lacks what to offer to the governed? The Flour Mill story is just a repeat of controversies surrounding fertilizer blending plant in Abak and a rice mill in Ini local government area where their owners reared their heads after Udom's government claimed ownership.
If Obong Victor Attah and Senator Godswill Akpabio were merely grandstanding on development, would Akwa Ibom today get where to park Ibom Air? Would the state boast of a state-of-the-art stadium to host a soccer tournament as massive as female world cup?
In terms of human capacity development, could we have had a state university and free and compulsory educational programme for our children if Attah and Akpabio were irresponsible at the Hilltop Mansion? Time will tell.
The news about Udom's cows is resurfacing as of recent. Of course the investment in cattle by the state government is not a bad idea, but the concern is all about the zeal to execute the project successfully and to leave a new model of cattle rearing in an era where all manner of criminalities are perpetrated in the almighty name of Fulani Herdsmen. We are told Udom’s cows are coming from Brazil, and not Mexico where we were anticipating their arrival from. Anyway, 'cow na cow,' whether they come from Central America or South America, they are still the same (I may be wrong). We heard those animals are quarantined and inoculated at the moment and would soon storm the state. I'm imagining a kind of state welcome party that would be thrown for the animals by our governor, and the kind of headlines they would make if they eventually arrive. We have heard that they will supply Akwa Ibom with meat and milk but no one is telling us the cost and risk expected in this sort of venture.
It is sad that Udom's government has lost direction under industrialization catchphrase. After all ado about it, why has it failed our expectations? The much acclaimed industrialization should have been founded on natural resources we have in excess, and not those ones that are not common in our environment. For example, our land is blessed with abundance of oil palm trees. There are times palm oil is sold more than crude oil. For instance, in December 2016, a metric ton of palm oil was sold $811.38 according to Index Mundi. The sales of crude oil at the international market then stood at $43.58 per barrel. We can see the huge difference. If the state government had gone into industrializing the oil palm sector, it would have been possible to have emerging, correlated industries owned privately, while we register palpable influence in the international market. Again, Akwa Ibom State is a major producer of shrimps but the controllers of the business are the Igbo. The Igbo businessmen would buy outboard engines for our indigenes at the riverine areas who would help in capturing the shrimps, after which they would be paid peanuts. If the state government look into fisheries and industrialize the sector, we would have been better off in myriads of ways.
In the concluding terms, what Udom Emmanuel should do to be included in the league of Obong Victor Attah and Godswill Akpabio is to refocus his attention on Ibom Deep Seaport. That would be the mother of all developments and industrialization in the state. A functional seaport is all Akwa Ibom needs at the moment. What the duo of Attah and Akpabio did to find a place in the hearts of Akwa Ibom people was to identify the immediate needs of the people and worked towards meeting them. Because there will be history and records at the end, it is time for the present state government to end its idiosyncrasies and focus on achieving something tangle for the state and for the posterity.
Yes! I am UbongAbasi Ise. For comment, send SMS to 0818998609. Email: ubongabasiise@gmail.com
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