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| Chief Victor Iyanam, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Akwa Ibom State |
Chief
Victor Iyanam is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom
State. He served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of the state
for two years under Governor Godswill Akpabio. In this interview with Kazeem
Ibrahym of The Nations newspaper, he speaks on the politics of the state.
Excerpts:
THE NATION: If you are to assess the government of
Governor Godswill Akpabio in the last six and half years, what would you say?
IYANAM: I
was part of the government for two years. From 2007 to June 2009 but if I am to
assess the government, I will say the government started out on a very bright
note. The governor was very enthusiastic and almost all the physical projects
that are ongoing now were initiated in the first two years, most of which I
participated in the drafting of the contract. Almost all the roads, the
Tropicana, 20th anniversary hospital and so many of the roads in some of the
local government areas. As it is now, since I left government, four and half
years ago, some of the projects are yet to be completed. Some of the projects
include the Tropicana, which was a major project of government, then the 20th
anniversary hospital and some of the roads. Some of them in major city centres
are yet to be completed and then I will say most of them in the Oro Nation are
yet to be completed. That is the five local government areas that make up the
Oro. I know that some other people are also complaining that some of the roads
in their areas too are yet to be completed. Another one was the Ibaka SeaPort
that the government was so enthusiastic about. I read in the paper the other
day that the Ibaka SeaPort, with all the consultancy government did, is not
subsumed under the Federal Government initiative. So, what we are seeing now is
that such a wonderful initiative, which could have moved faster with the state
government, is now being placed under the federal government. We are no longer
as happy as we would have been if the matter were to be conducted by the state
government.
Then of course, there are
some happy sights. When we came out at first, the Airport was a priority
project. I am happy that the airport is functional and we are even flying to
Isreal. The face of Uyo has changed. On the overall, we say that in terms of
physical development, the government is not doing badly.
THE NATION: It is just one and half years left for
Akpabio to leave. What do you think the government should focus on?
IYANAM: The
government should focus on uncompleted projects, especially the 20th Anniversary
Hospital because that was the only Akpabio’s initiative. That hospital project
should be completed, the Tropicana project should be completed as originally
conceived and then there are so many road projects, especially in Oro Nation.
Those ones should be done. Right now, erosion has cut off part of Oro on the
federal road. Just like the government was doing federal roads else where, they
should go and complete the one in Oro Nation.
Secondly, what I want to
say is that luckily for us, the governor is not contesting any election in
2015. So, there is no reason why we should fall under no governance because of
election. The governor himself is not contesting any election, so that cannot
be an excuse. It would have been different prior to 2011 because the governor
was contesting election in 2011.
THE NATION: Who do think should be blamed for the
under-development of Oro Nation?
IYANAM: That
is not a difficult question to answer. The buck stops on the table of the
governor. The governor went round the entire state, when I was in government, I
can tell you that contracts were actually awarded for roads project in Oro
Nation. If the contractor had done their job to the fullest extent of their
contracts, no Oro person will be complaining of bad roads in Oro right now. If
contractors in other places were supervised to the extent that they finished
the contract they had in other areas of the state, why not use the same
machinery to ensure that contracts in Oro are completed? When you award
contract in Oro, is it the ordinary man on the street that should be disturbing
the contractor as to when the job should be completed? No, it is not, it is the
job of the government.
Contractors are complaining
that they are not being funded. Is it Oro people that should contribute money
for the contract, of course not, it is the government? So clearly, we cannot
have government in place and start blaming another person for bad roads or for
uncompleted projects. The government machinery should be employed fully to
ensure that government projects everywhere are completed and if there are
people to be punished or sanctioned for not doing their job, government should
do so.
THE NATION: Are you now saying the people of Oro have not
been fairly treated by this administration?
IYANAM: Clearly,
Oro Nation has not been fairly treated by this administration. You just need to
go to Oro to see things for yourself. There is no Oro patriot. Even the
quietest of Oro person will speak out now that Oro has not been fairly treated.
The other day, I was at Oron, I saw the half hearted attempt; they just put
bitumen on the road without stone base. What do you expect of such a road when
rain starts? Nothing is happening in Oron, it is a shame.
THE NATION: You were one of the Akwa Ibom PDP elders
calling for an open contest for those aspiring for governorship in 2015 even as
this contradicts the thinking of the governor that power should be zoned to
Eket Senatorial District, how do you intend to achieve this?
IYANAM: The
clamour that governorship should be zoned to Eket Senatorial District now is
suspicious. Now, let me tell you how it is today. My father before me was part
of an arrangement which ought to have been followed till now. We used to have
an arrangement of the Ibibio, Annang and Oron. Nobody ever discussed senatorial
district. The discussion was always about tripod. The tripod of Ibibio, Annang
and Oron. In saying so, we were all mindful of the fact that there is no
senatorial districts in Akwa Ibom state that do not have the Ibibio people.
Infact, right now and since 2007, the Senators representing Akwa Ibom State are
all Ibibios. We have Senator Aloysius Etok in Ikot, he is an Ibibio man. We
have Senator Ita Enang, an Ibibio man from Uyo and Senator Helen Esuene, an
Ibibio woman. Before her, we had Senator Eme Ekaette, an Ibibio woman too,
before that we had Senator Udo Udoma, an Ibibio man. So, if we are going to say
Senatorial District for governorship in Akwa Ibom State the elders at that time
knew that we are running a risk of having Ibibios in perpetuity, so they said
Ibibio, Annang and Oron. Now, in an attempt to distort an arrangement that
would have guaranteed peace, people are now saying after part performance of
the original agreement of Ibibio-Annang then when it is Oro turn, people are
now saying Eket Senatorial District. Now, why it is suspicious? Even in the
Eket Senatorial District, we seem to hear louder noise coming from Ibibio again
in Eket Senatorial District. What do you think people like us from Oro Nation,
who are thinking deep and seeing through what is going on, will believe? Do we sit
by and support Eket Senatorial District, which will have no meaning for the Oro
Nation?
Assuming Oro people allowed
themselves to be tricked to accepting Eket Senatorial District and they lose
out to somebody from Onna- Onna is for your information Ibibio; now, what will
be the fate of Oro people? Clearly, if somebody comes out from Onna as
governor, the deputy cannot even come from Uyo because Uyo is already Ibibio
and so, the other senatorial district that is left will be Ikot Ekpene. Again
where do you place Oro Nation?
Are you going to promise
Oro Nation a position that doesn’t have any constitutional guarantee or
recognition in terms of tenure? So, we cannot in all good conscience allow
ourselves to be tricked into accepting senatorial district after we have played
the tribal card all along.
THE NATION: Are you now saying instead of relying more on
Senatorial District, the people should rely more on the tripod of
Ibibio-Annang-Oron?
IYANAM: That
was the original tripod. Oro people are charting their own destiny and saying,
well, we are better off if you don’t want to specifically mention Oro as the
beneficiary of the next governor of the state. We are better off in an open
contest so that we can go and vote for who we like. Instead of deceiving us and
making us accept Senatorial zoning and at the end of the day we lose out from
that contest and have nothing for the next 24 years. It is better for Oro
people to embrace an open contest and vote for who they like.
THE NATION: How do the Oro people intend to produce
governors and senators now, given the fact that the last time an Oro man was in
the senate was 30 years ago, when the late Senator Victor Akan occupied the
seat?
IYANAM: Oro
Nation has always been faithful to any agreement that we ever made with any of
the other tribes from the old Cross River State till now. In 1979/80, Oro
people aligned with the Ibibios and brought in Dr. Clement Isong, an Ibibio man
from Onna to be governor. Now, when Oro was shortchanged in that government,
Oro people cooperated with the other ethnic minorities like Efiks, Ogojas, Annangs,
and brought in Senator Don Etiebet to be governor. Now what did we get for it?
Oro was never satisfied with what we got because that was the same arrangement
that was supposed to result eventually in an Oro person becoming governor at
some point. Now, we cooperated with the Annangs but now it is different ball
game all together. This state could have been called Akwa Ibibio state because
of the predominance of the people of Ibibio in Akwa Ibom state. Now the
scenario is no longer the same. There are no Ogojas here, there are no Efiks
here again except an over whelming Ibibio majority. So, when we have an over
whelming Ibibio majority in Akwa Ibom State like I have said elsewhere, my
people say a tree that wants to survive must stand close to the colanut tree to
survive. So my own view of it is that in Akwa Ibom State, the only way an Oro
man can survive is by aligning with the Ibibios and there is good history
behind it. In 1992 when we had a fresh taste of civil government in the state,
we had Chief Akpan Isemin as the governor. We had an Oro man as the deputy
governor. We had party chairman and all manners of appointments. My dad then
was the chairman of the transition committee of Akpan Isemin’s government. That
government lasted only for about two years. In 2003, we had Obong Victor Attah
as governor. We had the speaker who was from Oro. We had the party chairman
from Oro. These people had inputs in government while the deputy government was
from Annang. Now can we say the same of an Annang man government? So where is
Oro Nation? I am not talking for myself alone. I am raising this observation
concerning Oro Nation. We don’t even have party chairman anymore and yet it was
Oro Nation that brought about this government.
THE NATION: How?
IYANAM: The
chairman of PDP then, Otu Ita Toyo, ensured that he was not under any pressure
to throw out the ticket of Godswill Akpabio. The man is sitting quietly in
Local Government Service Commission now. That is his reward and that came at
the tail end of Akpabio’s first term or this term. Oro Nation has been
humiliated over time and we are currently counting our losses. Now the road cut
into two due to erosion and I can’t see the government spending N100million or
N200million maximum in making sure that that road is fixed. People have lost
their houses as a result of the erosion. What relief came to them? Oro is a
defeated Nation right now.
THE NATION: During the last solemn assembly conducted by
the state to usher in year 2014, the governor specifically told the mammoth
crowd that converged at Ibom Hall Grounds that he would not discourage anyone
from running for office in exercise of his constitutional rights but that
justice must be done to Eket Senatorial District, is this statement not a
pointer to the fact that Eket Senatorial District will produce the governor
even when majority of the PDP elders are clamouring for an open contest?
IYANAM: To
say that governorship going to Eket Senatorial District amounts to justice is
again, with all due respect to my governor, suspicious. We are still not
discussing Oro Nation, the third largest ethnic group in the state. What we
should be discussing now is Oro Nation not Eket Senatorial District? Let us
even look at the statistics, it is really true when my learned friend talked
about justice. Let us see it. Ibibio people have about 17 local government
areas, Annang people have about 8 local government areas, Oro has five local
government area, so if you are going to talk about justice and equity, it means
for instance for an Oro man to be governor with his five local government
areas, he should wait for an Ibibio man to go three times because 17 divided by
5 means three times. I have been a lawyer for 28 years now so I know what
equity means. You cannot share things equally between minority and majority. It
is injustice because you are not taking note of their population or their
spread.
THE NATION: Do you have a particular candidate in mind
for the 2015 governorship election in the state?
IYANAM: I
am looking at all the candidates. Since I am an Oro person, I feel that in the
circumstance, my people will be better served by a candidate from Uyo
Senatorial District. I am looking at possibilities and I hope we can manage to
persuade former SSG Umana Umana to enter the race. There are so many
politicians in history, including Shehu Shagari and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
they were all persuaded to participate. We hope we can persuade somebody like
Umana Umana to show interest and actually contest in the election. I think such
a person will be better for Oro Nation.
Culled from The Nation
newspaper
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