Uwem Umanah, brother of Akwa Ibom Information commissioner, calls Attah senile

Uwem Umanah

By Nse Peter

Mr. Uwem Umanah, the younger brother of the Commissioner for Information in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Aniekan Umanah has derogatorily described former governor of the state, Obong Victor Attah as being ‘senile’.

“My problem is that they (UOU and OBA) have chosen to take advantage of Attah's age, and senile disposition,” Uwem Umanah, apparently referring to the planned reception of the former governor by his Ibibio people, said in a mail he sent to four online interactive groups – Ibom Chronicle, TalkHard, AkwaGlobal, and NaijaObserver – hoisted on Yahoo! platform.

UOU is the acronym for Umana Okon Umana, the immediate past Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, while OBA is Obong Bassey Albert, the immediate past commissioner for finance in the state. Both politicians who are prominent PDP aspirants for the 2015 Akwa Ibom governorship election are of Ibibio ethnic group. They share a similar history of being humiliated out of government by Governor Godswill Akpabio. Mr. Umana Okon Umana had previously served in Attah’s administration as the commissioner for finance.

Uwem Umanah said in his now controversial mail “The old man doesn’t know that these guys wanna rubbish him, by using the ‘reception’ to further their selfish political ambition! What was UOU and OBA’s relationship with Obong Attah when they were in government? Oh they have suddenly realized that the old man deserves to be celebrated, or that Ibibio should be united, because they want to occupy the hilltop mansion? By the way, who is gonna fund the reception event?

“Let's see what comes out of the event, but I will sure organize a reception too, in honour of Akpandem James, after all, he is my elder brother's friend!”

A fellow commentator in one of the forums asked Uwem Umanah to retract his comment and apologize to the former governor. He informed him (Umanah) that he had drawn Akpandem James’ attention to the controversial post and that the former editor of Daily Independent has disassociated himself from it.

The commissioner’s brother remained unmoved by several attacks from other commentators who saw his comment on Attah as being unfair.

One commentator with the name Jerry Peters said of Uwem Umanah’s post: “I've just looked up the word ‘senility’ in the dictionary. It says: ‘behaving in a confused and strange way, and unable to remember things, because you are old’. Uwem, does this fit Obong Attah? Could he have put up such a stellar performance at the National Conference if he were senile? Every Nigerian society (tribes) reveres their seniors, but in Akwa Ibom State, we take delight in insulting and cursing ours. Whatever a man sows, he shall reap.”

Uwem Umanah fired back: “Jerry peters, your recourse to sentiments and emotions won’t help in this very crucial discourse. What's the meaning of senility? In my context, senility means, ‘Weakness of the brain resulting from old age’. Having defined senility, how many elders do their brains get stronger from their 70s? While I don't expect mine to be, Attah's can't be either!”

Not much is known in the public about Uwem Umanah, except that he is the younger brother to the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Aniekan Umanah. He is suspected to be in his early 30s.

Some persons in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital told Think Akwa Ibom! that Uwem work as a Special Assistant to his brother, the commissioner.  Though Think Akwa Ibom! cannot confirm the authenticity of that information , Uwem’s Facebook profile photo however shows him sitting in an office that is attached to the commissioner’s resident in Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo. The office, equipped with Internet, is used mostly by the commissioner’s aides for the official publicity job of the Ministry of Information.

Think Akwa Ibom! gathered that Uwem Umanah has been dutiful in defending and promoting the activities of the Akwa Ibom State government and Governor Godswill Akpabio, mostly through Facebook and online groups like IbomChronicle, AkwaGlobal, TalkHard and NaijaObserver. In one of his recent articles posted on Facebook, Uwem eulogized his brother, Aniekan Umanah as “a master-brand strategist, with quintessential managerial dexterity”.A master-brand strategist, with quintessential managerial dexterity

Think Akwa Ibom! cannot confirm if Uwem Umanah’s derogatory description of Attah as being senile is reflective of the thinking of the commissioner for Information, Mr. Aniekan Umanah and that of the Akwa Ibom State government, even though several reports in the local newspapers give the impression that Governor Godswill Akpabio is uncomfortable with Attah being honoured with such reception by the Ibibio.

The online groups where Uwem Umanah posted his comment about Victor Attah have thousands of members, including the commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah himself and other officials of the Akwa Ibom State government and several politicians.

The controversial comment is likely to create spiral effects in the 2015 politics in the state. It could deepen ethnic distrust and division in the state, especially since Uwem Umanah is of the Annang  ethnic group, while Attah is widely seen as an iconic leader among his Ibibio people.

Uwem Umanah, while further defending his comment against Attah, said many people in the forums had in the past called Governor Akpabio “thief, killer and murderer”.  He said “If there is a price to pay for the use of foul language, we are all guilty of it! If there must be an apology, it should go to Governor Akpabio first, by UOU, then his lieutenants, before Uwem Umanah.”