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| Dr. Tom Mbeke-Ekanem |
By Nse Peter
“I want to admit that a good many of us made mistake in ushering
in the man Akpabio as the governor of Akwa Ibom State.”
Those were the words used by Dr. Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, a
U.S-based Akwa Ibom leader to express regret over the leadership style and the
administration of Chief Godswill Akpabio, the governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, the founding president of Ibom People’s
Congress (IPC) and the author of Beyond
The Execution: Understanding The Ethnic And Military Politics In Nigeria,
says the only reason Godswill Akpabio became governor of Akwa Ibom State was to “plunder, destroy
and cause pain so that the people might learn from their sad experience how to
do things right.”
He stated this on Wednesday in article titled ‘The Cry Of
Elder Etiebet: We've Been Vindicated’ which he posted on Ibom Forum, an online
discussion group which he is the founder and moderator.
Mbeke-Ekanem says he has personally refused to travel to
Akwa Ibom State for eight years now for the fear of his life, since Akpabio
became governor. “Many people including
Chief Etiebet thought we were dealing with a human being with a good heart. But
how wrong we were!” he said.
“The damage Godwill Akpabio has done to the state of Akwa
Ibom can only be equated to what Boko Haram has done to the nation state
Nigeria. One can quantify these damages in human term as in barbaric killings,
economic term as in sabotaging genuine investment efforts of the citizens,
political term as in going any length to destroy democracy in all manner of
ways, as well as in ethnic and social terms.
“How can we forget in a hurry Akpabio’s N100m medical
retirement scheme, and not a single industry to provide food on the table to
the teaming unemployed youths in 8 years?
“Whatever pains Akpabio has been able to wrought on the
citizens of Akwa Ibom, the repercussion of such devilish deeds would equally be
visited and evenly shared also with members of Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly (AKHA) whose primary role is to protect the interest of the generality
of Akwa Ibom indigenes, rather they choose to become partner in crime with
Godswill Akpabio to vilify, plunder and inflict maximum pain on the citizens of
the state,” Dr. Mbeke-Ekanem stated.
The Cry Of Elder Etiebet: We've Been Vindicated
By Tom Mbeke-Ekanem
A little over two years ago, I did analogize the situation we’re
facing with Gov. Akpabio as an elephant in the room. Since then I have been
waiting and watching to see how wrong such assertion could ever be. So far I
have been proven right at every turn. Even at the national landscape, he has
proven himself to be a bigger elephant in a bigger room. Results in both
instances are very similar with infinitesimal difference.
I believe there must be a reason why the likes of Godswill Akpabio became a governor of Akwa Ibom State. Thus far I haven’t been able to pin down one cogent or a profound reason other than to plunder, destroy and cause pain so that the people might learn from their sad experience how to do things right.
As I mentioned in my past posts, the situation we witness here is
analogous to what happens when an elephant is confined in a room. He eats
nearly everything in the room, including even furniture. The many poops and
feaces he drops foul and completely destroy the entire house. At some point,
the elephant becomes too fat that he cannot pass through the door even if he
wanted to get out to catch a little sunlight outside the room. For the unlucky
occupants of the room, it is likely they were crushed to death or they starved
to death at the outset as the elephant must have devoured all their food.
Anyone lucky to survive the invasion had to relocate or exile himself in a
distant land. Any attempt to remove the elephant from the room might entail
having to demolish a wall or demolish the entire house. Still another option
might be to hoist the elephant in a crane out of the room and that also calls
for having to destroy or remove the roof of the house.
The scenario painted above is what Akwa Ibom people have been faced with the last seven and half years. They are still likely to face even more despicable situation in the remaining months of Akpabio, or his “Third term” in the future with a similar Imperialist unless we as a people choose to act. The option to act still remains open.
The damage Godwill Akpabio has done to the state of Akwa Ibom can only be equated to what Boko Haram has done to the nation state Nigeria. One can quantify these damages in human term as in barbaric killings, economic term as in sabotaging genuine investment efforts of the citizens, political term as in going any length to destroy democracy in all manner of ways, as well as in ethnic and social terms. How can we forget in a hurry Akpabio’s N100m medical retirement scheme, and not a single industry to provide food on the table to the teaming unemployed youths in 8 years?
I cannot remember the number of times Gov. Attah was threatened with impeachments by members of Assembly for one infraction or another. Attah never did or committed 5% of what Gov. Akpabio has done to Akwa Ibom people. Akpabio has never been served with a single notice of impeachment despite all the atrocities he has committed. The HOA became mainly a rubber-stamp Assembly and an Extension of the Executive. Another major reason, other than the sharing of the loots which Akpabio is internationally known for, is that they are afraid of Akpabio’s hit squad as enunciated by the his former Attorney General. Who was in the better position to know this more than the very Akpabio’s Attorney General?
Moderator
Author, Beyond the Execution -
Understanding the Ethnic and Military Politics in Nigeria
Los Angeles, California
Tel: (951) 640-0737
Email: tedey@aol.com
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