By Joe Iniodu
Politicians are easily detested at least in our clime. Fredrick Forsyth in one of his observations noted that sincerity and politics are diametrically opposed. In other words, it is difficult to fuse them into harmonious convergence. Indeed the art of politics has come to acquire the connotation of wiles, duplicity, subterfuge and other incidental behaviors that subvert truth.
During campaigns, politicians elevate the tradition of this cunning to an art. Their promises are as hollow and unrealizable as the intentions are dubious and selfish. They hit the town with bogus promises and woo the people into their make belief to procure or “steal” their votes. When they ascend the offices they vied using the medium of deceit, they willfully isolate responsibility from such offices and occupy only the offices. It is this kind of attitude that gives rise to non-performing local government chairmen, non-performing legislators, non-performing governors and non-performing public officers.
But Akwa Ibom State at the level of Chief executive has these past years been blessed with people who have willfully harmonized the office and responsibility into a single cord of duty. The immediate past governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio was not only passionate in the harmonization of these subsets, he also insisted on the doctrine that wherever one finds oneself as a public officer, he or she should leave the place better than he or she met it.
As a testimony to that avowal, Akpabio did not only meet his campaign promises, he proceeded to do even the ones he did not promise. Operating a budgetary provision of 80% for capital expenditure and a paltry 20% for recurrent, Akpabio left Akwa Ibom better than he met it. Today the State is the cynosure of all eyes including the jaded and practiced cynics.
It is an axiomatic fact that only the deep calls to the deep. Akpabio’s wholesale support to Udom’s emergence as the Chief Executive of the State bears reflection on two critical fronts. The first is that Akpabio was blessed with the foresight to ferret out Udom from the haystack and isolate in him the potentials that Akwa Ibom so badly needs in this season. It is safe to presume that providence led him but important to add that the maxim of the deep calling to the deep enjoyed full manifestation. Akpabio is undisputedly an intelligent man and Udom is no less one. Their undisputed wealth of intellect is a condition for ease of compatibility.
The second consideration is the overflowing passion. Without passion, one cannot do so much. It is again an incontrovertible fact that Akpabio truly loves Akwa Ibom State and its people. He showed that in his acts and deeds whilst a governor. It was therefore natural for him to search for someone with similar or equivalent passion knowing that it is the only thing that can imbue in one the courage to translate concepts and dreams to realities of concrete benefit to the people. Udom’s passion which is palpable and zestful was an identifiable trait which Akpabio saw and subsequently brought the attention of Akwa Ibom people to such rich asset. And so on April 11, they trooped out en-masse to vote for that asset but not without a handful of cynics and self styled elders toeing the line of debacle.
The last one month of Udom’s administration which started on May 29, 2015 has proved eloquently that neither Akpabio who steered the ship nor Akwa Ibom people who were co-paddlers made any mistake. In a period of commencement of governance that the government at the centre is still groping and attracting the opprobrium of being clueless, the Udom administration is making such bold and deliberate strides that engender hope of robust prospects. He seems set to prove that he belongs to the new mettle of politicians that work the talk. He is already by his actions and deeds telling the people, I promised you industries and the industries are here or I don’t belong to the hue of subterfuge politicians of the old that have given a bad name to the practice, I belong to the modern era of God fearing leadership that speak truth to power and truth to the electorates.
Early next week, Governor Udom Emmanuel would add joy to joy for Akwa Ibom people by proving that the era of deceitful politics is long gone. And that he is ready to hit the ground running to improve the lots of Akwa Ibom people whose mandate he holds and guides jealously. His pedigree and global appeal which is already attracting industries would in the coming week witness the ground breaking ceremony of an assembling plant that would assemble trucks, fire trucks, ambulances and even luxury cars. The plant is to be located in Itu and has prospects to employ Akwa Ibom sons and daughters in thousands. Of course this is in addition to the many other economic engagements that the industry would stimulate both within that environment and the State.
Keen watchers of Akwa Ibom who do so with open mind are quick to note that the State has once again been blessed with a governor with clear cut vision. They are quick to observe that the much vaunted discourse on industrialization indeed has substance. The constitution of a Technical Committee on Ibaka Deep seaport with a realistic mandate, timeframe and headed by a reputable expert in the Maritime industry, many observed, was a pointer to His Excellency’s well rehearsed industrialization plan. The complement of a Technical Committee on Foreign Direct Investment led by Mr. Gabriel Ukpe, a world acclaimed auditor who is a partner and Risk Quality Leader for Africa at Price Water House Cooper (PWC) further provided assurance to the capacity of Governor Emmanuel to attract the industries. Of course the inclusion of Mr. Akan Udofia, arguably the richest private Akwa Ibom indigene resident abroad and one of the latest additions to the world billionaires club according to the authoritative Forbes magazine on that committee is an added fillip to the industrialization programme of the State. We can not forget Udeme Uffot and Larry Esin also men of global clout who are serving on that committee and have the capacity to attract industries to the State.
The Udom administration seems to have a holistic approach. Everything appears to be in tacit sync with others and tailored to book. Such is noticeable even in the 22 members of the executive council that were sworn-in on May 6, 2015. One could deduce from those appointments that Governor Udom was not going to sacrifice competence and integrity on the altar of ineptitude and mediocrity. If one studies the list of the persons on the various committees he has constituted, the executive council and some of the appointments he has made, one can not miss the underlying zestful quest for service delivery. When you have the likes of Dr. Dominic Ukpong, a retired country director on Medical Services with Exxon Mobil as commissioner for health, a renowned Associate Professor of Economics, Dr. Emmanuel Ating Onwioduokit who is the commissioner for economic planning and development and others with all their net worth, one can see that Udom’s administration would not only work the talk, it is set to strike gold in good governance that would take the State to new heights.