Like the rest of the State, nay nation, the drum of 2027 is already beating in Oro. It’s a familiar tune. The attendant sponsored smear campaign is gradually entering overdrive. That tells us that 2027 is already here. Whoever is bothered is either a new initiate in our brand of politics or a forgetful participant. Like all previous attempts, it’s all predictable, both in character and outcome. It’s doomed ab initio. It never worked in 2023 and will again kiss the dust in 2027.
This drum beats in every election season with a tune laced with lies, deception, hypocrisy, self-contradictions, infantile claims and envy while making a very poor attempt at dressing in the cloak of patriotism. Like certain political elites in Nigeria who have perfected the art of weaponizing religion and tribalism only when it suits their selfish political interests, some politicians in Oro and their hirelings don’t know how to be politically relevant without deceitfully masquerading as ethnic champions.
Incidentally, His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno, PhD has pulled the rug from under their feet through his inclusive leadership style. Now, they are confused about which achievements in Oro to attribute to the Governor and which to credit his Deputy with. If government does well in Oro, they will be out of business. So, deep within them, they don’t want any government to perform so that the sing song of marginalization can continue to fuel their perpetually elusive political relevance.
Since playing the ethnic card and holding out as the voices of an oppressed tribe is their only known political strategy, it’s impossible for them to completely change strategy in the face of our changed and changing circumstances under Pastor Umo Eno. Imagine the half- hearted declaration of the Deputy Governor a failure while in the same vein acknowledging the Governor’s performance. Isn’t it ridiculous and pitiable, to say the least? This impossible task they’ve given themselves can only be successfully undertaken by geniuses. I mean it takes a genius to successfully deceive everyone about his real motives and persuade the Governor over matters he has full knowledge of. Do they think the Governor is the Chief Security Officer of the State for nothing? Do they think he doesn’t know the difference between genuine agitations and political hatchet jobs?
Oro is probably the only place where a dwarf understands tallness more than giants and boldly organises lectures for them on the subject.
How can a right thinking person declare Senator Akon Eyakenyi a failed Deputy Governor for Oro while admitting the government she’s serving as the number two official is doing well in the same area? This level of self-contradiction shows how difficult a hatchet job can be. And that they pretend to write a petition to the Governor about the performance of his Deputy who works daily with him shows the level of self-delusion inordinate ambition can inflict on folks. How on earth are they the ones to school the Governor on the capacity, character and efforts of his Deputy? The flawed logic is simply that although they don’t love the Governor, they need his sympathy to accomplish their self- serving ambition in 2027. It’s a pretentious support, their antecedents and even recent utterances against the Governor say so. It’s akin to opposing Jesus Christ while pretending to love His Father. Impossible. They should look for a smarter strategy. This one is too primitive, easily predictable and simplistic to persuade anyone with a modicum of intelligence and experience.
Those who attended the Governor’s appreciation visit to Oron federal constituency in the country home of His Excellency, Sir Etim Okpoyo heard how he acknowledged the Deputy Governor’s efforts at drawing attention to the issues in Oro. Is that the Governor they are pretending to report his Deputy to on an alleged neglect of Oro’s interest? Can’t they see both their objectives and efforts are dead on arrival? In any case, when will they start serving Oro beyond sitting down to throw dirt at others? Is their own calling limited to fault finding and mudslinging? Currently, the Governor and his Deputy are shouting themselves hoarse, persuading Akwa Ibom youth to register on the portals for contracts, employments and other forms of empowerment. Have the critics registered or encouraged other young people to do so? No, they are waiting for the list to be published so they will hold the Deputy Governor responsible for their refusal to take advantage of advertised opportunities. If they don’t fail, how will the Deputy Governor be bad?
When you read the so-called petition, you will be wondering if the authors understand how government functions. But it is normal to be a victim of such errors when sincerity is absent from your actions. To them, while His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno runs the other nine federal constituencies, the Deputy Governor is running or should be running Oron federal constituency. Is this what we should be arguing about in the 21st Century? Is this the quality of mindset that should be advocating for a people in the modern world? Can it be more ridiculous than this? Is it actually ignorance or bare-faced mischief?
I am surprised how people will constantly adopt a repeatedly failed political strategy. Each time elections approach, an office seeker will hire a few persons, hand them a truckload of mud and commission them to tar those he considers the obstacles on his way to the throne. The question is: how did their selfish interest become Oro’s interest? The era of hiring cultists to intimidate, maim and kill political opponents and their supporters is behind us. The new menace is hired character assassins on social media. Like the cultists of old, the new hirelings believe or pretend to believe they are fighting a just cause. Anyway, they are right. Even Boko Haram sponsors and their suicidal foot soldiers will swear to the genuineness of their cause.
Yes, you can claim to be in the race to advance Oro’s interest. That’s what everyone is legitimately doing. As always, the electorates will decide on election day. Why not wait for that day if you are popular and know your onions? Hiding behind the scenes to sponsor a campaign of calumny against your supposed opponents is an act of cowardice and doing so in the name of Oro shows you are the real enemy who’s attempting to ridicule and trivialize the Oro interest. Very soon, Oro will be considered a wolf crying lots who will be abandoned to perish when the actual wolf shows up. A person with good intentions can’t fight dirty to actualize a selfless political dream. The tool deployed says a lot about motives and character. Nobody has two sets of character. A blackmailer is one everywhere and no decent person engages a dirty weapon to fight a supposed just cause. By their fruits, we already know they don’t mean well.
Just yesterday when we were still in our former Party, they attempted to rubbish everything Pastor Umo Eno did in Oro. They found a way to disparage all his efforts because they believed his performance in Oro would confer electoral advantage on his Party. To be sure, the Governor is yet to initiate a new project in Oro ever since he led us in that historic political move to the APC a few months ago. So, when did they realize he was doing well in Oro? Each time they want to demonize the Governor’s long standing and dependable allies in Oro, they will pretend to appreciate the man. How do they think they can isolate those who were with Pastor Umo Eno in the trenches when they launched the most vicious campaign in the history of Akwa Ibom State against him?
The explanation is that the battle for the political soul of Oro has moved from inter Party involving PDP and APC to intra Party within the APC. That’s the rationale behind the futile attempt to court and isolate the Governor.
If the same Pastor Umo Eno they told all manner of lies against in the build up to the 2023 gubernatorial election and swore would oppress Oro is now publicly acknowledged as doing well in Oro, doesn’t the Deputy Governor who saw the man’s capacity, character, stood her grounds and endured all manner of public insults to support him deserve her flowers? Have they suddenly forgotten that everyone who supported Pastor Umo Eno in Oro was a betrayer and an enemy of Oro who deserved to die? Who’s this Oro? What’s the Oro interest? Do they want to eat their cake and have it?
When last did they visit the Oron Beach? That’s a typical fruit of Senator Eyakenyi’s foresight in queueing behind Pastor Umo Eno. For the first time in the history of Akwa Ibom State, under Pastor Umo Eno, Oro is benefitting from every project executed in other parts of the State. Don’t those who stood with Pastor Umo Eno deserve a pat on the back for their foresight? Are they actually ignorant of what it takes to build a seaport? Or are they characteristically trying to blackmail the Deputy Governor? How do they expect the Governor to treat their allegation against his Deputy on the seaport project?
How could they have thought that those who followed the Deputy Governor everywhere, took risks with her and similarly endured their abuses shouldn’t be anywhere near government because they are close to her? I challenge them to mention anyone who was more deserving of appointments than those they criticize. If the accident in Itu involving Her Excellency during the campaign had claimed her entire convoy, the people they say don’t deserve appointments would have perished with her while they would have mocked from their homes.
Should appointments have been given to them as a reward for abusing Pastor Umo Eno at the expense of those who fought behind the man when it mattered most? Pastor Umo Eno is the leader of the State. He doesn’t discriminate between those who supported him and those who mocked him in giving appointments to those he deems qualified. But I don’t think he intends to sacrifice those who went through the furnace with him in order to satisfy those who set the fire in the first place. If we are now one, let’s start from here. Trying to dislodge those who have been labouring with the Governor is unhealthy and counter-productive.
Who will help me tell them that while Pastor Umo Eno knows all his loyal supporters across the State, the Deputy Governor doesn’t have the power to give appointments to anyone? That, at best, she can recommend someone and such a recommendation is subject to the approval of the Governor? Who then are they petitioning, if not the Governor? Telling lies against Senator Eyakenyi will not strain her widely acknowledged cordial relationship with her boss, a relationship which involves both families, transcends politics and dates back almost twenty five years. Unfortunately for them, Senator Eyakenyi is an unapologetically loyal Deputy while Pastor Umo Eno is the quintessential leader who knows how to be fair to everyone. This is the code their blackmail can’t break.
Why can’t folks fight for the tickets they are seeking within the APC and leave Oro alone? After the APC primaries, Senator Eyakenyi will again be an angel until they believe she’s not supporting their next electoral project. Who will deliver Oro from political jobbers masquerading as ethnic activists?
Today, everyone is driving on the same Uyo – Nsit Atai- Okobo Road they abused the Governor for awarding to Hensek. The same company which masterfully constructed the multi-lane Airport Road and Ring Road 3 was declared unfit to handle this project by the same self-appointed ethnic champions. It’s left for each of us to say if that opposition was from the place of political mischief or ignorance. It must be either or both.
To them, the same persons would perpetually transmute from demons to angels and vice versa; from the best thing that has ever happened to Oro to the enemy of Oro; from the betrayer of Oro to the saviour of Oro in a few years or months, depending on where they stand or who they support in a particular electoral season. Is that how chameleonic and trivial Oro’s interest has become?
If this is how to draw attention to Oro’s problems, don’t we think we are confusing the rest of the State? You can’t have a political interest, secretly work for politicians to actualize it and at the same time pretend to be an activist. You are simply playing the proverbial ostrich which buries only its face in the sand and deludes itself that its entire body is similarly covered.
Finally, Senator Eyakenyi doesn’t play desperate politics and won’t learn to blow her trumpet at this stage of her career. Typical of her humble disposition, she doesn’t announce her efforts and achievements. She won’t start lining people before the cameras while extending support to them, just to convince haters and professional blackmailers that she’s a giver. She won’t start reeling out the names of all the numerous people she’s assisted in order to prove a point to people she’s clearly bigger than. All through her political career, she has never indulged in self-advertisement and it won’t start today. It has never been her style and it will never be.
Welcome 2027. Like 2023, you will pass and all the hidden things will be revealed when you become history.
Omen Bassey