“I have no reasons to call Gov. Akpabio satan” - Arc Nya-Etok

                                                                Arc Ezekiel Nya-Etok

By Nse Peter

“I honestly have no reasons to call Gov Akpabio 'satan', or some other unprintable names. If this makes me a coward then too bad for me, I can live with that.”


With those words, Ezekiel Nya-Etok, a renowned architect and politician from Akwa Ibom straightforwardly rebuffed mounting pressure in Ibom Forum to add his voice to the criticisms against Gov. Godswill Akpabio administration in Akwa Ibom State.
Ibom Forum is an online discussion group mainly for Akwa Ibom indigenes, and it’s hoisted on Yahoo! platform.
This time around, Ezekiel Nya-Etok was specifically responding to a post by one Imo from Virginia, U.S. Imo while commenting on a news article where the former minister of external affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi was quoted as saying that ‘most Nigerian billionaires are corrupt’, had asked rhetorically: “how many Nya-Etoks in Akwa Ibom State can call a spade a spade like Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi”?

“My brother Imo, calling names will hardly solve our problems,” Nya-Etok responded.

“Have you followed the trend of discussions on this forum? Have you noticed that when topical issues are raised, many grow cold feet, but, we have threads that have endless runs if it has to do with abuses and insults? Are we becoming gossips, or are we great minds that discuss issues? Are we happy that our leaders are treated with the highest level of disrespect, or can we not use polished and diplomatic language to put our points across?”

 Nya-Etok who contested against Godswill Akpabio in the 2007 PDP governorship primaries in Akwa Ibom has been under subtle pressure in Ibom Forum to speak out against some perceived policies and actions of Gov. Akpabio so as to give fillip to those who are critical of the administration. 
Persons who are very familiar with the trend of discussions in the forum told THINK AKWA IBOM! that Nya-Etok has been skillful in handling such pressures, and that most times he pushes up issues and successfully take discussions away from the person of the governor.

“Everyone of us has our reasons for our positions,” says Nya-Etok. “To some, it is to bring down an 'illegitimate' administration. This is ok, but not my passion. To others, it is to settle personal score. I wasn't there to know what happened, so please count me out. To others, it is to disgrace the thieves and rouges. This is fair and noble, but my problem is more than that. For me, it is to see how we can have a better state tomorrow that we have today.”