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May the Almighty God Save Akwa Ibom
State (1)
-Chief Mike Ukpaukure
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Today, I remember my once Ikot
Ekan Etinan-born headmaster at the Government Primary
School, Uyo on whose grounds the campuses of many
institutions of higher learning, ranging from the Government
Teachers' Tanning College (Eastern Nigeria), Advanced
Teachers Training College (South Eastern State), College of
Education (South Eastern State/Cross River State),
University of Cross River State, and for now University of
Uyo are hosted, Mr. J. S. Ekanem used to ensure that we
recided the following memory verse every morning after
morning devotions before we moved to our classes for
lectures. “Those who live in glass houses should not throw
stones”.
I am very sure my friend, the Executive Governor of Akwa
Ibom State, was not born then, nor was he lucky to pass
through dedicated teachers who bothered to mould the morals
of their pupils from day one in their schools. In earnest,
my face is covered with shame when I got to look at my
friend, a friend I fasted for and prayed for the
intervention of the Almighty God to ensure his victory at
both nomination and general elections. The friend I prayed
the Almighty God to give sound wisdom to carry Akwa Ibom
State to greater heights, from where his predecessor would
stop. Though on the whole, I have nothing to show for my
sincere services to this friend, simply because I am not one
of them. I neither regret nor owe apologies to anyone, but
the Almighty God. He remains my friend still.
As his intelligence consultant, intelligence secretary to
his campaign team (Godswill 2007), intelligence secretary to
PDP governorship campaign team, I am very certain I was very
conversant with all his actions and behaviours, with the
Almighty God as the author and finisher of his faith.
All over the world, democracy is abused when rulership is
transferred from minority group and given to the majority
group, under any name, whether power-shift, or rotational,
consensus or zoning, the general expectations are that the
ruler from the minority class would be either a dictator,
oppressor, a squandermania, a money launder, master to
assassins, a blackmailer, etc, giving no room to opponents
and criticisms. He would be afraid of his shadow.
Lest I forget, let me remind us that the moral code here in
Akwa Ibom State, (if not anywhere else) included that “those
who live in HILL-TOP MANSION should not tell lies, should
not be covetous; should not be oppressors, should not be
nepotic, should not be tribalists, should not be murderers
under any guise, etc. “I will come to that later in this
discourse. I equally recall that this government came to
power through a free and fair election as demanded by
democratic process, whether the proposition of power shift
was proper or not.
Democracy in Nigeria is simply a kite flown with one wing
suspended, in the believe that democracy is a government of
the people, by the people and for the people. But there are
more expressed universally accepted definitions by great
scholars that when reasoned side by side with what we have
in this state today, turns our democratic experience to Demo
and “Crazy”, meaning = Demonstration of madness or
demonstration of power drunkenness, if put lightly.
Otherwise, how can someone compare our style of democracy
with the Joseph Schumpeter's definition which states that
“Democracy is a political method or type of institutional
arrangement for arriving at political, legislative and
administrative decision… a method by which the individual
acquires the power to participate in decisions by means of a
competitive struggle for the peoples of votes”. Whereas
Prof. Karl Popper defines Democracy as a system of
government which permits public control of rulers and their
dismissal by the ruled, and which make it possible for the
ruled to obtain reforms without using violence, even against
the will of the rulers”.
These two definitions prove in condemnation that the
devilish acts of muzzling any opposer to the ruler's policy
or demand by kidnapping and or assassination are both
ungodly and undemocratic. This also condemns in its totality
the now prevailing practice of the ruler blackmailing any
opponet opposing his unjust acts because he feels
threatened. Must everybody in the State shout for joy even
when they are starved to death? This would tantamount to
arrant hypocrisy and self-destruction or suicide through
self-deceit. Or must a ruler blackmail his contender because
he wants to keep his seat, or must he establish a hit-squad
to destroy his opponent because he wants to keep his
open-secrets closed, must he engage security stooges to
shield him away from his intimate friends because he fears
they might offer him sound pieces of advice against his
misrule? Your Excellency, brother Goddy, this is not the
best.
G. Bingham Powell states that “a healthy political system is
where people's representative are chosen through competitive
elections within a competitive electoral contest, with
several political parties and / or contestants organizing
the alternatives that face the voters”.
Similarly, E. E. Scattischneider says, “Democracy is a
competitive political system in which competitive leaders
and organizations define the alternatives of public policy
in such a way that the public can participate in the
decision-making process”. Does this mean that competing
alternatives should be blackmail? The abuse of process that
the democratic system in Akwa Ibom State is suffering make
shame of the participating components, be they state exco,
party exco or kitchen cabinet.
I find it very difficult to imagine a situation that the
government of Akwa Ibom State is built on foundation of
violence and criminality, on parochialism, nepotism,
tribalism and covetousness. I still emphasize that His
Excellency, brother Goddy, was marked-out as a totally
detribalized figure far back in 2006, when we came in close
relationship, but no sooner he recruited his cream of
self-centred executive members and kitchen cabinet members,
bro Goddy changed to the wrong side of democracy. My
question is this, what do these men and women of destructive
qualities stand to gain by fractionalizing this once united
state.
When Arc. Obong Victor Attah proposed the formular of power
shift, he meant well for this state, and when the pro-active
group of Ibibio nation endorsed His Excellency for this job,
most people saw him as a replica of Mr. Isong Akpabio, Late
Senator Nsima Akpabio, late Dr. Ibanga Udo Akpabio even late
Eno Akpabio and even late Essien Akpabio whose traits of
detribalism were so pronounced that hardly, for instance
would one think, all through his days of service with Mobil
Producing Nigeria Unlimited, that Mr. Isong Akpabio is not a
citizen of Eket Idung Mfia-enwe because of his transparent
forthrightness.
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