Udom Emmanuel’s end-of-year imprudence
The recent statement by Gov Udom Emmanuel that it is ‘mbiam’ (local oath sworn to by Akwa Ibom people, usually to settle disagreements or inflict harm) that has caused the failure of his coconut plantation in Mkpat Enin is the most ludicrous and nonsensical excuse he has ever come up with. Speaking at a press conference last week, the governor stunned his audience the more when he announced that he had received reports that a village head in Mkpat Enin procured and administered the mbiam. This is a comical admission of failure by a governor who was clearly not prepared for the office he holds. But we are not amused.
Akwa Ibom people are too familiar with the governor’s preposterous apologies for his poor performance. Initially, he blamed the state government’s debt burden for his slow start. Later, he claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for the abandonment of road projects. For failure to complete the remodeling of Eket town, the governor placed the blame on the death of the chief executive of Nigerpet Structures Limited, the construction company that handled the job.
Of all these farcical reasons, blaming ‘mbiam’ for the coconut failure is simply silly, and we in APC in Akwa Ibom reject this comedy in its entirety. If ‘mbiam’ is so powerful for our governor, it means his claim to Christian faith is fake and his deacon title is just a decoration. Where are all the Fathers of Faith the governor has been fraternizing with? Couldn’t they pray against the potency of this ‘mbiam’? Akwa Ibom people are too smart to be swayed by this story. We recall that a renowned crop scientist in the state, Prof Edet Umoh, had advised the governor on the unsuitability of the soil conditions for coconut plantation, but the government disregarded the professional guidance which was based on science. Now that he is faced with such an embarrassing failure, it is a shame that this Qua Iboe Deacon is blaming ‘mbiam’.
Another end-of-year folly from the administration is its decision to share, as Christmas gifts, the truck loads of COVID-19 food items sent to the state since July by the nation’s private sector coalition led by Dangote Group and other donors. The sight of these food items being shared in the country home of the governor’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Ephraim Inyangeyen, to PDP members as Christmas gifts is galling. How selfish, mean and wicked could these people be to have hoarded these items since July, deny Akwa Ibom people of its use during the lockdown, and now turn around to share it to their party members only. It is the height heartlessness.
We also recall that the federal government had sent a truckload of rice to the state earlier in the year. The governor had claimed in a radio interview then that the rice didn’t appear good for consumption, and that he was going to send it for laboratory tests. Is the test result out? We are sure that the rice has been surreptitiously distributed to PDP members in the state.
We send our best wishes to Akwa Ibom people this Christmas and the New Year. We ask them to continue to endure the harshness and unconscionable conduct of the government for remaining 30 months.
This too shall pass!
However, we should all learn a big lesson in all this, and that is: Good lineage and parental background will count as we choose future governors.
Being a Press Statement by the Nkereuwem Enyongekere, State Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Akwa Ibom State Chapter, 149, Ikot Ekpene Road Uyo, dated December 25, 2020.
