A grassroots politician in Akwa Ibom State, Chief Edet Isong (Windy) has condemned the foremost socio-cultural organisation of Ibibio people, Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio (MMI) for attacking the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekperikpe Ekpo, challenging the organization to publish employment scorecards of past ministers since 1999.
Chief Isong, Okete Okete, former Chairman of Urue/Offong Oruko Local Government Area described as an unfortunate attempt by the Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio (MMI) to turn an employment intervention into an ethnic and senatorial controversy.
Chief Isong said it was particularly disturbing that such a narrative was being promoted at a time when the administration of Governor Umo Eno was working assiduously to build bridges across ethnic, senatorial, political and local government divides and strengthen the unity of Akwa Ibom State.
According to him, Akwa Ibom does not need the politics of ethnic suspicion at this point in its history.
He was reacting to a statement by the Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio (MMI), which criticised the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, over an alleged lopsided distribution of employment opportunities facilitated through his office.
Chief Isong said MMI’s position raises a fundamental question: where was the organisation when previous ministers and other federal appointees from Akwa Ibom were facilitating—or not facilitating—employment opportunities for Akwa Ibom people?
WHERE WAS MMI SINCE 1999?
“If MMI is genuinely concerned about equitable employment opportunities for Akwa Ibom people, let them publish the employment scorecards of ministers from Akwa Ibom since 1999.
“Let them tell Akwa Ibom people how many persons each minister facilitated into the Federal Civil Service, federal agencies, boards, commissions and other government institutions.
“Let them show us the distribution by senatorial district and local government area. Let us put the records side by side and have an honest conversation.
“We did not hear this kind of agitation from MMI when successive ministers held powerful federal portfolios. We did not hear them demanding a senatorial breakdown of employment opportunities or asking whether appointments were evenly distributed across the three senatorial districts.”
PUBLIC OFFICE SHOULD NOT BECOME AN ETHNIC BATTLEGROUND
Chief Isong said the language used in the MMI statement was capable of creating unnecessary suspicion among Akwa Ibom people.
He particularly objected to the suggestion that a Minister’s efforts to facilitate employment opportunities for people from his senatorial district should automatically be interpreted as an attempt to appropriate federal opportunities for his locality.
“A person does not cease to be an Akwa Ibom person because he comes from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. Neither does an opportunity given to an indigene of Ikot Ekpene become an opportunity stolen from Ibibio people.
“Akwa Ibom has three senatorial districts. We have different ethnic groups, clans, local governments and communities. But we have one state.
“The danger is that if every intervention is interpreted through an ethnic lens, we will eventually create a situation where every public officer is forced to defend himself against allegations of ethnic favouritism simply because some beneficiaries happen to come from his area.”
GOV. UMO ENO’S UNITY AGENDA MUST NOT BE UNDERMINED
Chief Ising said the MMI statement was coming at a particularly sensitive time when Governor Umo Eno had consistently preached peace, unity, inclusion and development across the state.
He said the Governor’s approach had been to build an Akwa Ibom where people from different senatorial districts could identify with government and where political differences would not become ethnic divisions.
“It is therefore wrong for anybody or any organisation to stoke ethnic fire in Akwa Ibom at a time when the Governor is working so hard to build a united state.
“We must be careful about the kind of narratives we put into the public space. We cannot be preaching unity on one hand and, on the other hand, encourage our people to view every government intervention through an ethnic or senatorial prism.
“Governor Umo Eno’s message has been very clear: Akwa Ibom belongs to all of us. That message should be supported by all responsible individuals and organisations.”
IF THERE IS EVIDENCE, LET IT BE PRESENTED
Chief Isong, however, stressed that he was not opposed to accountability or fairness in the distribution of public opportunities.
“If there is evidence that any public officer has abused his office, diverted employment slots, breached recruitment rules or deliberately discriminated against qualified Akwa Ibom people because of their senatorial district, let the evidence be presented.
“Let the appropriate authorities investigate it.
“But we should not condemn a public officer merely because a number of beneficiaries happen to come from his senatorial district.
“Employment into federal institutions is also governed by recruitment processes, qualifications, vacancies, federal character requirements and the procedures of the relevant agencies. We must distinguish between facilitation, nomination, recruitment and final appointment.”
He, therefore, called on MMI to publish the complete evidence upon which its allegation was based rather than creating what he described as an impression of wrongdoing before the facts were independently established.
THE REAL QUESTION
Chief Isong said the real issue should not be whether a Minister helped people from his constituency, but whether qualified Akwa Ibom people from across the state are receiving opportunities and whether the process is lawful, transparent and fair.
“Let us ask: How many Akwa Ibom people have benefited? What agencies recruited them? What were the vacancies? What were the qualifications? What recruitment process was followed? What role did the Minister actually play?
“Those are legitimate questions.
“But saying that because 30 beneficiaries allegedly came from one senatorial district, the Minister has acted improperly, without establishing the circumstances surrounding each appointment, is an argument that requires much more evidence.”
AKWA IBOM FIRST
Chief Isong urged political leaders, socio-cultural organisations and opinion leaders to stop turning every disagreement into an ethnic confrontation.
“We should not allow the politics of Ibibio versus Annang, Oron versus Ibibio, Eket versus Ikot Ekpene, or one senatorial district against another to consume the state.
“Those divisions will benefit nobody.
“The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) is an Akwa Ibom son. If he succeeds, Akwa Ibom benefits. If he fails, the state bears part of the reputational burden.
“We should therefore hold our public officers accountable without destroying them with ethnic narratives.”
He urged MMI to withdraw what he described as the inflammatory tone of its statement and join hands with other stakeholders in building a united Akwa Ibom.
“Akwa Ibom needs fairness, yes. It needs accountability, yes. But above all, it needs unity. We cannot build a stronger state by constantly reminding ourselves of our ethnic and senatorial differences.”
Chief Isong further noted that it was deeply troubling for the current International President of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Hon. Iniabasi Ekanem to allow his inauguration to turn to a platform for stoking of ethnic fire.
He particularly noted the statement by Dr. Samuel Udonsak, President, Ekid Peoples Forum on Ibom Deep Seaport, which inflamed ethic sentiment after the event, reminding MMI President that Akwa Ibom is a united family under Gov. Eno, a man of peace.
