Attah, Akpabio, Udom And Ingratitude
By UbongAbasi Ise
“If the Cause is
forgotten, it gets angry” – Ibibio Proverb
Beyond the week-long
celebration of Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah’s 80th Birthday anniversary
that were well-attended by most of the glitterati of this world, there are
certain disturbing facts that are unnecessarily stirred from quiescence.
Perhaps, it could have been very convenient to have finished the all-week wining
and dining in a cautious manner without having to wake up the feral ghost of
history from its slumber. In this piece, I wouldn’t love to go back to fully
discuss Attah’s All Is Well With Soul book
launched on Tuesday 20th of November, 2018 which seemed to have been
motivated by the former governor’s own wistfulness. Nonetheless, the work is
laudable to a reasonable extent, but there are some contestable facts here and
there. I can’t help admiring the author’s bluntness and forcefulness. While he
dedicated some pages to comment on the phantom, falsity state of
industrialization as flown about all over the places by the incumbent
government of Mr. Udom Emmanuel, he also created space to rubbish the recklessness he found to
have characterized the government of his immediate successor, Senator Godswill
Akpabio. That was not all, most significantly, during a symposium organized at
Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort on Friday 23th November, 2018 to honour the
octogenarian, a message was sent across to show that all is not well with the soul of leadership in Akwa Ibom State. On
that day, Attah said something that had deeper contextual meaning outside the
literal expression as he was addressing Mr. Udom Emmanuel who had eaten the
humble pie and still show up at the function. It goes: “I will say that
honestly I count myself very lucky to have a Governor like Deacon Udom Emmanuel
and I will explain why I said so… There were times when this would have not
been possible, there are times when this would have been prohibited.”
Yes! There were times such flirtatious visitation
would have roundly prohibited, and this doesn’t mean that such times are over as
far as Akwa Ibom State leadership is concerned because campaign period can hold
unimaginable deception. Attah’s comment had sent a message which explains the
underlying tension diffusing from himself through Godswill Akpabio to Udom
Emmanuel and back. The unfortunate
implication of this bad blood existing among these governors constituted a
major hurdle to governmental and developmental continuity in the state. War for
supremacy preoccupies these three leaders, festering badly, resulting in envy
and resentment. Perhaps the predecessors are seeking to maintain unparalleled
record against their successor(s), while the successors are taking their
counsel from Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of
Power which says, “Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and
gain power by shining in your own way.” But how they got to the Hilltop Mansion
is a history that doesn’t matter to them now. This is a sour story of a river that
forgets its source; a sorry tale of ingratitude.
The recent fallout between Senator Godswill Akpabio
and Mr. Udom Emmanuel has brought a sort of homespun submission vainly aimed at
justifying Udom’s headiness towards Akpabio. It is often contended erroneously that
since Godswill Akpabio turned around to fight Victor Attah who brought him to
power, therefore it is just okay for Udom Emmanuel to humiliate Akpabio who,
against all odds, positioned him as governor of Akwa Ibom State in 2015. To set
the record straight, the truth is that Akpabio made Udom governor, but it is
untrue that Victor Attah brought Akpabio to power given some historical facts as
presented here.
In 1999 when
the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, came to power, Godswil Akpabio was not in any
way a member of the PDP. He came to the state as a non-PDP member in the early
2000 to join the government following the loggerhead in the selection of a Commissioner
to represent Essien Udim local government area in the State Executive Council.
The circumstances that led to Godswill Akpabio’s appointment happened in his
own local government, Essien Udim where one camp that was comprising of the Chairman
of all the ward chairmen in Essien Udim local government area, Mr. Emmanuel
Akpan-utim; Mr. Peter Tombere a.k.a. Patom; Barr. Ibanga Akpabio; and some other
ward PDP chairmen in the local government area. All these personalities formed
one camp known as Patom Group, and nominated Barr. Ibanga Akpabio for the
commissionership position for Essien Udim slot at the State’s cabinet.
The other
camp called Afangideh Group included the then council chairman of Essien Udim
local government area, Mr. Martins Michael Umanah; Obong M.A. Afangideh and the
then chapter chairman of the PDP, Mr. Emmanuel Sunday Akpan. They came to nominate
late Mr. Etim Etido Atakpa for the commissionership position. When Atakpa was
rejected by the generality of the members of the PDP in Essien Udim Chapter, Barr.
Ibanga Ibanga akpabio had the edge and was presented by his camp to late Chief
Fidelis Etim, a one-time chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board
(SUBEB), for onward presentation to the then governor, Obong Victor Attah for
appointment. When Fidelis Etim took Ibanga Akpabio to Obong Attah, the other
group popularly known as ‘the Afangideh Group’ wrote a petition noting that Ibanga
was not qualified to be a Commissioner on the ground that, as a bachelor, he
was irresponsible and would not be able to handle the duties of the office of
the commissioner. But owing to his relationship
with late Fidelis Etim, whom he served as his secretary coupled with Chief
Etim’s in-depth passion for Ibanga’s
family, he was given an opportunity to choose his next of kin for the
appointment, and therefore he chose his immediate cousin, Mr. Godswill Obot
Akpabio, who at that time, was working in a private company in Lagos.
We have mostly
been entertained before now by the tale of Godswill Akpabio’s return to the
state through night bus. Godswill was brought from Lagos into the State’s
politics courtesy of his cousin Ibanga and his Patom Group. Since then,
Godswill Akpabio has been enjoying the government of the state beginning from
his first appointment as the Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources,
from there he became the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy
Affairs, all under Obong Attah, and then had a shot at the governorship position
of the state. The rest is history.
Victor Attah could have rejected Godswill Akpabio,
but he couldn’t. There was a long story of kindness and relationship beyond the
surface.
Here, the
story goes. Chief Fidelis Etim was a rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Yola
where he facilitated some major contracts for Arc. Victor Attah in the
institution. He had housed Arc. Attah in his personal home in Yola until the
time he was relieved of his position as the rector of the polytechnic owing to
the anger of the northerners expressed against Etim on the grounds that he was
a southerner, who was facilitating contracts for his fellow southerners. You
could see why Attah could not reject a nominee coming from Etim, because there
was a relationship, a kindness, and a sacrifice - we should not forget that.
Obong Attah
did not support Godswill gubernatorial ambition – that is the hard truth we
should adhere to. Instead, he backed his son-in-law, Dr. Udoma Bob Ekarika. It
was the likes of John Akpanudoedehe, Bishop Samuel Akpan and the rest that
helped made Godswill Akpabio’s emergence as governor possible in 2007.
But between
Godswill Akpabio and Udom Emmanuel, the case was different. Akpabio threw all
his weight behind Udom, frustrating Nsima Ekere and 21 other aspirants in the
PDP during the preliminary stage of the 2015 general elections. But today, Udom is urinating on his mentor’s
head. And this is the sad story of ingratitude.
Whatever good
Attah did to Godswill Akpabio, was a repayment of kindness done to him by
Akpabio’s benefactor, Chief Fidelis Etim. Today, Udom Emmanuel has gained prominence
from Akpabio, but what has Akpabio gained from Udom Emmanuel today? Abuse, humiliation
and ridicule.
Yes!
I am UbongAbas Ise. For comment, please send SMS to 08189914609
|ubongabasiise@gmail.com
©The Sensor Newspaper
Recent Posts
*Udom Beats Ekere To Rename Airport After Attah
Also Read:
*FEATURE: Udom’s Budget And Many Lies
*Problem With Akwa Ibom APC
Also Read:
*FEATURE: Udom’s Budget And Many Lies
*Problem With Akwa Ibom APC
Comments
Post a Comment