It is disturbing when one considers how
the spoils of office force some people
in position of authority to be carried
away to the extent that they feel lord
over those that helped them get to where
they are. Let me take a sample close to
me and which I know very well about. I
refer to the Governor of the (now)
richest State in
the Federation, Akwa Ibom.
Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio is by the
special grace of God the leader of the
present government of Akwa Ibom State.
But that does not mean that the same God
did not make this possible for him
through benefactors. His first
benefactors that naturally come to mind
are his parents of blessed memory that
brought him to this world. His other
recent and living benefactors as I
happen to know include the ex-Military
President
Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR, ex-Akwa Ibom
State Military Governor Air Commodore
Idongesit Nkanga (rtd) and The Lady of
Songs, Chief(Mrs.) Christy Essien
Igbokwe, MFR. It was through the trio
that God made possible, the present
oil-producing status of Akwa Ibom state.
Of course, one cannot forget the
immediate past governor of the state,
His Excellency Arc Victor Attah who
battled former President Olusegun
Obasanjo when the latter tried to
reverse the economic status of the
State.
Yet of all, two people stand out most:
The first is the Lady of Songs, Christy
Essien Igbokwe who is understood, apart
from her role in achieving the present
oil-producing status that provides the
stupendous revenue that Akpabio now
controls; she also played very important
roles in the private life of Akpabio.
Details of such roles are outside the
theme of this piece, but they are
believed to be numerous. The second
person is Arc Victor Attah who got to
know Akpabio through his (Attah)
personal friend, Chief Fidelis Etim,
erstwhile (appointed by Attah) Chairman
of Akwa Ibom SUBEB who unfortunately,
one understands no longer have access to
Akpabio. Insider information had it that
Etim actually offered the opportunity to
Akpabio’s
cousin, Barrister Ibanga Akpabio who was
then working with Etim at Akwa Ibom
SUBEB but he (Ibanga) suggested Godswill
instead. Ibanga who on Godswill’s
assumption as governor was made one of
his Special Assistants, until his
present post as the Akwa Ibom State
Secretary of the PDP.
It is a known fact that when Obong Etim
took Akpabio to Attah, it was for him to
be made Commissioner in replacement of
someone whom Attah had dropped then and
who was from the same constituency as
Akpabio. Attah trying to satisfy his
friend, Etim, accepted Akpabio in
preference to the nominee of then State
PDP executive. In fact, Attah did not
only accept Etim’s request to give
Akpabio a political appointment
first as commissioner in charge of the
Ministry of Petroleum but also thought
it necessary to groom him as one of the
persons for governorship post for which
reason he later posted him to the
Ministry of Local Government and
Chieftaincy Affairs - a Ministry that
has to do with the grass roots. He was
in this portfolio for almost
five years and that gave him the
opportunity to galvanize and cement his
relationship with the electorate at the
grass roots level.
Attah did not do only that: When Attah
first thought that he could no longer
continue with his Deputy Dr. Chris
Ekpenyong, he touted the idea of
replacing him with Akpabio, but stopped
short of accomplishing his plan because
of a stout resistance from the founding
members of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State.
If Attah had had
his way, Akpabio as the Deputy Governor
would have further strengthened his
stronghold in the Party. In spite of all
this, which Attah may be regretting now,
Akpabio now sees him as a staunch enemy,
forgetting completely that without him (Attah),
one of the persons God used in his
favour, he would not be where he is
today in Akwa Ibom.
Many others contributed to what Akpabio
is today. These include Andy Uba who
introduced him to Obj to get relief that
led towards his becoming backed for PDP
Akwa Ibom governorship candidate; Dr.
Ufot Ekaette who was the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation (now
Minister of Niger Delta); Ambassador Sam
Edem (the sacked NDDC Chairman); Senator
John Akpan-Udoedehe, a former FCT
Minister of State, who also was the
Director in charge of Akpabio’s Campaign
Organization. One can go
on because the list is endless,
nevertheless God does not come down but
uses people to favour persons. There is
even one Chief Emeka Onwuegbuzia who I
did not bother to mention earlier
because he is not from Akwa Ibom state.
Emeka was the founder and
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the
first registered private
telecommunication operator in Nigeria,
known as EMIS Telecommunications Limited
where Akpabio was employed as Company
Secretary. It is alleged that Akpabio
took side with those who succeeded in
throwing the man out of the Company and
he (Akpabio) later became its acting
Managing Director under who the Company
got comatose, faster. As EMIS company
Secretary, Akpabio was alleged to have
convinced
Chief Don Etiebet to invest in the
company. EMIS staffs were normally
encouraged to bring in investors in
return for payment of commission as
incentive. Today all these people
who helped Akpabio up the political
ladder have sorry tales to tell. It is
unfortunate. However, I would advise him
to mend fences with all his
benefactors to avoid curses that visit
those who are ungrateful as recorded in
the Holy Bible, which I suppose he
believes in.
Katherine Eno Akpan, Plot 1348 Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja.
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