By: Thomas Thomas
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State has apparently run out of propaganda, and the only issue they meander to bring out now to the front burner is going from village to village, especially in Uyo Senatorial District, to misinform the gullible but innocent people that the former Governor Akpabio, now Senator, is the problem of APC in the State.
According to the PDP rats, Akpabio’s mission in the All progressives Congress (APC) is to “install a Governor against the interest of the Ibibio,” and that “it will be an insult to allow Akpabio to do that, having insulted and humiliated the Ibibio during his time as the governor.” These desperadoes do not stop at that, they are also saying “Akpabio is a bad man who should rather be stoned.”
Much as I am not here to praise Akpabio (because I am not known for that), let me quickly state here that both Governor Udom and Obong Nsima Ekere are of the Ibibio extraction, just like everyone else in Akwa Ibom State, including Akpabio. So, there has never been a time when the Ibibio sat down and endorsed anybody for the office of the governor. Even if that had happened I am yet to be told when Ibibio became a political party.
Governor Udom Emmanuel, hitherto, was against anything Ibibio, hence the reason he was absent when the Ibibio installed Obong Victor Attah as their political leader on September 5, 2014 (then Mr. Udom was running for governorship, and was the SSG). He had never associated with anything Ibibio until very recently, and I wonder why he chooses to use Ibibio as a philosophy now. Again, Udom as Ibibio son never identified with nor supported Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio when he lived and worked in Zenith Bank Plc, in Lagos. As a student, he never joined any Akwa Ibom organisation in the University of Lagos.
Those who are now touting that Akpabio humiliated the Ibibio during his time as the governor are the people who sang Akpabio to high heavens, and hunted me in their desperation to please Akpabio. I nearly lost my life for moving against Akpabio’s government (as if everyone was to see through their eyes). They attempted to kill every member of Global Concord just to please Akpabio, even though events and their attitudes in recent past have proven that they committed most of those atrocities on their own accord. I was waylaid till I left Akwa Ibom for them. I changed my residence more than four times within two years before my instinct told me to relocate to Calabar. Unyime Ekwere’s car was smashed and he escaped by the whiskers. Solomon Johnny was severally attacked by these very “hallelujah” singers just for “doing the Ibibio thing.” More than twice, over 5,000 copies of Global Concord were confiscated by these dare-devils.
Without these people, Akpabio would not have “humiliated” the Ibibio (if at all he did that) because the likes of Senator Bassey Albert Akpan said that Akpabio had done nothing like that. Onofiok Luke, now Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly speaker, my friend and Nsit brother was the “Lord of the Youths” for Akpabio. He benefitted a lot from the former Governor who he now sees as the enemy of Ibibio. Ini Ememobong led the students for Akpabio when I was moving against Akpabio. Senator Effiong Bob who now wants to impose his son on Nsit Ubium instead of encouraging him to get to the top of legal profession, was then the chief of “mbre ikit” for Akpabio, etc). Now, these are the people who are telling people that Akpabio means no well for the Ibibio, and I ask: HOW? Would these people say this if Akpabio was still in their PDP? No! They want to deceive us to cry for them… No way!
They told us how good Akpabio is… They marketed Akpabio with the best global marketing strategies, and we sold all we had and “bought” Akpabio. Now they have recanted and are trying to deceive us again that Akpabio was not as good as they made us believe. These people are also attempting to cry for us by alleging that Akpabio was against APC in the State… They are reminding us of the 2011 Ikot Ekpene mayhem… They are reminding us of how opposition won the State in 2011 and 2015 but Akpabio stalled it and now wants to benefit from where he did not sow. But they forgot to tell us how Akpabio imposed Udom Emmanuel they are now feeding fat from… They cannot even remember that when Udom was brought from political oblivion and made the governor, he did not know how many villages constitute his ward in Onna.
Yes, it is true that Senator Akpabio was against APC in the State and Nigeria. Was Saul not against Christ? History has not mentioned any single man that moved against Christianity like Saul, yet he became the leading apostle and voice for the Christians. He was converted after killing so many Christians; his name was changed to Paul, and his victims forgave him and embraced him. No apostle or prophet has written more epistles than him. He travelled more than any apostle of his time to evangelise the gospel of Christ.
Like Saul, Akpabio is a lawyer. Like Saul, he saw APC movement as an affront to the establishment. Like Saul, he belonged to a conservative establishment; like Saul, he witch hunted the progressives to keep his conservative group afloat; like Saul, he is gifted in oratory… So, as Saul was turned from a conservative to a progressive (remember, Judaism is a conservative religion, while Christianity is a progressive one); like Saul was converted to Paul; like Saul was changed from conservative to progressive, and made to lead the very group he was against, so has Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio been converted to a progressive, and given the mandate to lead and spread the APC gospel.
Do you have problem with that? Peter, the apostle, was not happy that Saul (even though he was cleansed of all his impurities) was in the same group with him, but Christ warned him. So, if Emmanuel Enoidem, Bassey Albert, Onofiok Luke, Ini Ememobong, Iniobong Ekong, Effiong Bob, among others come and preach how bad Akpabio is to the APC and Ibibio, tell them “GET BEHIND ME, SATAN.” These are modern-day scribes in Akwa Ibom who play politics to satisfy their filthy lucre not to represent the interest of the overall masses. Though the scribes contributed to the death of Jesus, they were hypocrites as our cunning brothers using gamesmanship to benefit from the state common patrimony.
Thomas is a journalist from Akwa Ibom State
