Insecurity: Ekong Sampson advocates strengthening LG system, greater roles to traditional rulers
In continuation of his advocacy for a peaceful, secure and better society, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District, Rt Hon. (Barr.) Ekong Sampson has lent another strong framework for a successful politicking in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria.
Addressing the malaise of insecurity of the country, the former State Commissioner for Environment and Petroleum Resources advocated for the strengthening of the local Government system and assigning of greater roles to traditional fathers.
Barr. Ekong Sampson, a renowned poet, author, lawyer and journalist, famed for his insightful perspectives in matters of national concern, made the assertion recently on Inspiration 105.9 FM, Uyo in ‘Peace Voice’, a programme pioneered by the Maintain Peace Movement (MPM).
The former Chairman of Mkpat Enin said:
”We should encourage our Royal Fathers to play stabilizing roles in politics. Their roles used to be more visible. But over time, a lot of water went under the bridge. We need to stabilize the space and assign bigger responsibilities to them, especially in addressing concerns about our security architecture.
‘We live in times when there is so much concern about our security architecture. So, one measure that we can take to deepen the conversation is to involve our traditional rulers because they live in the grassroots. If we strengthen our local government system and assign bigger responsibilities to our traditional rulers, we’ve taken one huge step in addressing concerns in respect to insecurity in the country.”
On the role Oku Ibom Ibibio and Paramount Ruler of Nsit Ubium, His Eminence, Nteyin Solomon Etuk played in reconciling two of his sons, member representing Nsit Ubiom Federal Constituency, Rt Hon. (Barr.) Onofiok Luke and Akwa Ibom State PDP gubernatorial candidate, Pst. Umo Eno, Barr. Sampson said:
”The Royal Father is, at first, the paramount ruler of Nsit Ubium and these two, are true giants from the local government area. The application of interventionist roles in bridging the gap is only to be expected. To me, that is one giant step that Nsit Ubium has taken. If a royal father plays an interventionist role in bridging a gap, he needs to be encouraged.”
Barr. Sampson said that the two brothers were key players and factors in Akwa Ibom political space, adding that it was good they agreed to work together for the overall good of the state.
Dr Sampson posited that politics without policy is like soup without condiments.
Dr Sampson said that ‘it was necessary to apply policy in politics, otherwise democracy would be exposed to much pressure from the society’. He added that policy was central in meaningful politicking.
Hinting on his roles in championing the Umo Eno’s Project, Dr. Sampson said:
“”Pastor Umo Eno’s wife, is not just my sister, even Umo Eno himself is from Akwa Ibom South. Umo Eno has invested heavily in Eket Senatorial District.
“He lives there for a number of years, so ideally, he comes from there. His wife is from Ikot Akpa Ekop in Mkpat Enin, where oil was first discovered in Nigeria, before you even talk about Oloibiri in Bayelsa.
“”We met in Mkpat Enin, and we said, see, we’re thankful to God, because politics is a game of interest, the wife of the incoming governor is from Mkpat Enin, we need to support her and her husband.
“I’m happy that the message has got on. Mkpat Enin has lined up massively behind Pastor Umo Eno. And by God’s grace, Mkpat Enin is going to produce the next senator of Akwa Ibom South. So we have every reason to be thankful to God.”
Dr Sampson equally identified the major challenges facing Akwa Ibom South, saying:
“I think part of the missing link, is that we’ve not told our own story fully enough. Like the Aba Women Riot is a distortion.
“The conflagration, the nerve of the skirmishes was in Opobo, where the mother of Sir Udo Udoma was cut down in her prime, as it were.
“Now, how come that a conflict that happened in our backyard is described as Aba Women Riot? One of the things I have to take to the Senate is to tell our stories, about our oil, about our endowment, about our potentials.
“Akwa Ibom South is richly blessed. We have oil and we have some of the finest brains we can find on the surface of the earth. We have here, a rich mix.
“We can convert this rich mix to strengths and look at the legal framework that can address our concerns,” he posited.
Dr Sampson hailed the strengths of the PDP to win the forthcoming general elections in State, saying that the party has a stronghold everywhere in the state. He said:
”You know PDP is very strong in Akwa Ibom State. It’s everywhere, on roof tops, in marketplaces, in churches, in families. It’s everywhere. And PDP here is a super structure.’
