“I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith and now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being right……. “2Tm.4;7.
There is no doubt that Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio has done his best in the race of governance for the very good people of Akwa Ibom state. Those who vowed that they can stop the rain from falling and the sun from shinning had long been proven that they are after all not God. Let no man or woman then trouble the mind of the people of Nigeria or Akwa Ibomites in particular for everybody knows the truth.
Leadership is typically to drama, you come, serve and leave the stage then people judge you. Let’s look at democratic governance in Akwa Ibom State, since 1999 to date. Former Akwa Ibom State governor, Obong (Arc) Victor Attah in his press interview in the Nation Newspaper of November 1, 2015, revealed that he received the sum of N542 billion in eight years and yet he did not leave any debt when he left office. That can never be correct, for instance, contractors at Ibom Science Park were owed, if not that project would have been completed even before he left the office.
The claims of Ibom Tropicana, the recreation center and drainage system in Akwa Ibom state is incorrect. Akwa Ibom state has the best underground drainage system in West Africa. Tropicana is the best for Akwa Ibom people. It is not an abandoned project like the Ibom Science Park that is now the haven of dangerous snakes in Akwa Ibom State , if you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones.
Let us not call the dog a bad name in order to hang it. Those that God has blessed, no one can curse. Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio has long been exalted in heaven. Today Akpabio’s name is in the Guinness Book of Records as the man who organized the largest choir in the history of the world. Can anybody dispute that?
Let us not point one finger to our perceived enemy for the remaining 4 are pointing at us. Senator Godswill Apkabio built the best stadium in the whole Sub-Saharan Africa, what did any other person do? Hilltop Mansion in Akwa Ibom state was like a house without a roof and in very deplorable condition until Akpabio came and renovated the place. Today, Hilltop Mansion is second to none in Nigeria.
Let us put things in the right perspective. Obong (Arc) Victor Attah came, fought a good battle for the resource control of minerals producing states. Kudos! Akpabio came with the ideology of uncommon transformation. He turned Akwa Ibom State to a reputable tourist destination with fly-overs, strong and reliable access routes, an international airport, recreation centres, hospitable atmosphere, free compulsory education for every child residing in Akwa Ibom State, scholarship for Akwa Ibom State students in law schools.
Every meaningful Akwa Ibom indigene knows where Obong Attah is coming from. If his son in-law, Dr. Udoma Bob Ekarika whom he fiercely projected won the PDP primaries in 2007 and eventually became the governor of Akwa Ibom State as he planned, would he (Victor Attah) cast such reproachful aspersion on him? Even if Akpabio faulted anywhere, do you throw away the baby with the bath water?
Rotation of governorship position was the handwork of Obong Victor Attah during his tenure in office. It has become a political norm in Nigeria. Chief Theodore Orji of Abia State followed suit shifting power to the Ngwas. Sullivan in Enugu State also embarked on power shift. It is so popular that it was adopted across party lines as APGA in Anambra did the same. When has equity become a crime? I challenge Obong Attah and his cronies to grant a world press conference and deny that they were not the ones who decided that the position would revolve around the three senatorial districts in Akwa Ibom State.
Uyo senatorial district took their turn through Obong Victor Attah. Ikot Ekpene followed suit with Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio so what is wrong with Udom Emmanuel taking the turn of Eket senatorial district. Please let everybody stand by the truth for peace to reign, for Akpabio, like in the passage quoted above ran a good race.
*Uduakobong Kanico writes in from Ikot Abasi,Akwa Ibom State.contact
irenuskanico@gmail.com.or irenuskanico@facebook.com.