It is no longer news that in Akwa Ibom state, the biggest industry does not manufacture goods and services. That petro-dollar business is called “endorsement” and the chief customer is non other than the richest executive Governor in Nigeria, Chief Godswill Akpabio.

Governor Akpabio pays up front for every product that comes from the furnace of endorsers.

          This business line has really caught on like wild- fire as church Bishops, traditional chiefs, cultists, native doctors, prostitutes and even journalists now earn fresh wads of US dollars driving the endorsement vehicle. It has become a crime of disloyalty if commissioners, Board members, legislators and Aides of the Governor do not form a group or another to endorse the Governor or those known to be close to the Governor for one position or the other come 2011.

For the Governor and his political strategists, the spate of endorsements is to create a perception among the generality of Nigerians that Governor Akpabio is the darling of his people, indeed the best creature that walks in Akwa Ibom and Nigeria if not Africa and the whole world today.

          No doubt the Governor and his security aides are still bewildered by the shocking spontaneous day light physical attack on him by the same Akwa Ibom people who converged in the Uyo township stadium on Sunday, December 20, last year for a Christmas concert hosted by the state government.

          According to the report on page 10 of the Vintage Express Newspaper of January 13-20, 2010 published in uyo- “What is however news is one question that has kept agitating everybody’s mind, the reason why the mob went amok to treat their widely endorsed governor like a common criminal?  Governor Godswill Akpabio who has “won” several local, national and international awards was stoned by Akwa Ibom people with satchets of pure water and canned drinks.  What an endorsement!

          It is claimed that the action was to send a message to the Governor that nobody ever dances on empty stomach as some of the  sachets hauled at him were wrapped with papers with inscriptions like “there is hunger in the land” and “stop wasting our money on frivolities” among others.

A fan who said he admires Akpabio a great deal, believes that the action should send enough message to the Governor to rearrange his priorities.

“In as much as he has tried to give us infrastructure, attention should also be directed towards putting enough food on our tables.  Infact, people are dying of hunger ”, he said.

          Another pondered on the essence of wasting $140m on 50 cent and other American musical artists, when majority of Akwa Ibom people do not have common staple food like rice to enjoy during the festive period.

As the violent attack on the state governor by the mob continues to elicit controversies around the state, prominent indigenes and analysts have taken critical look into the ugly incident.

A public analyst, Mr. kingsley Edem sees that action as demeaning and unwholesome, he expressed the fear that the action of the mob has great danger for the future of the state.

According to him, irrespective of what might have happened, or the degree of their annoyance, stoning their leader was a wrong decision they took especially judging from the fact that the concert was arranged by the state government to make them have a feel of the festive period.

He however stressed the need for the state government to take a look at all the issues raised by the mob with a view to making life more meaningful to them. On the issue of lateness to public functions, he called on the state governor to ensure the prioritization of his schedules.

It might be interesting to find out what the Governor and his close advisers think of this wrath of the people against the background of the money guzzling endorsement projects across the state.

          That episode might also be very useful signal to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in it’s electoral calculations as concerns Akwa Ibom State in 2011 for as the saying goes “vox populi, vox dei. The PDP can only ignore the voice of the majority of Akwa Ibom people at the peril of its electoral fortunes in the State.

                             Edet Bassey,  a commentator on national issues based in Oron, AKS.