RENAMING AKWA IBOM STADIUM; IBOM AIRPORT IS NEXT; AS AKPABIO’S DUMMY ASSUMES OFFICE

By Eneh John

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself-Galatians 6:3
“It is the height of idiocy to envy an evil person.
Yesterday is gone but not forgotten.
The memory is a mental “reservoir” for reference.
The highway to greatness begins from the pathway of humility.”
Excerpts from Eddie Asukwo’s Legacies of Ages.

As Akwa Ibom State witnessed a change of baton in administration of the state on the 29th of May, 2015, whether the administration will be short lived or continue is what will be left to the Election Tribunal to decide.
The past administration which was led by our own very Emperor, the thin god of ukana, finally made way for his dummy to be saddled with the responsibility of piloting the affairs of Akwa Ibom State.
It was a show of an empty vessel making the loudest noise yesterday; as we saw another mafia assume the position of governor in my dear state.

Indications point to another era of “talk is cheap.” I saw a boastful Udom Emmanuel trying to please his benefactor. And administration he was part of that maimed citizens of the state and silenced opposition voices.
The immunity of Akpabio was yesterday stripped off. Today he become an ordinary Nigerian and faces the law like a commoner. It is a pity that Godswill Akpabio who subvert the common will of the people could find his way to the Nigerian senate. But the question is: is He actually going there to make laws? If yes. Who are those persons who will obey the laws made by Akpabio and the likes?
For one who could not obey the laws of the land, now making laws for his people, that is sheer hypocrisy. There is a legal maxim, “that he who must go to equity must go with clean hands”. How clean is Akpabio? I am not a judge, but someday, Akpabio will answer to the crime against humanity that took place in his administration and under his watch.

Quoting from the Holy Book in Galatians, it is imperative to note that we are nothing but even smaller than pencils in the eye of God. That same Galatians states thus: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.”you have for the past eight years of your administration paraded yourself as “God,” forgetting that the foolishness of God is wiser that the wisdom of men. For the many evil you perpetrated while in office, you turned a blind eye to it. You demonstrated supremacy even when you know that all of which you have acquired on earth will amount to nothing when you depart this earth.
No matter how people will praise you, they did that not for what you did for them, but for what they could get from you.

Chinua Achebe said, “The truest test of integrity is when you refused to be bought.”
We have decided collectively to see that the level of impunity that reigned in your administration and that of every PDP led government at different levels is no more.
We have refused to sell our conscience for porridge of plantain.
You refused to bow out graciously, you left a dummy for my beloved Akwa Ibom, you left your stooge to administer the affairs of our dear state.
Akpabio wants to be the lord of the manor, you want your spirit and soul to govern Akwa Ibom State while your body remains in Abuja.

When you started the Akwa Ibom Stadium project, news had filtered to ,me that you must name that stadium after yourself.
What you refused to do, just like the controversial pension bill for ex governors which you brought and it raised public outcry, where you came to deny some sections of it, with a rubber stamped house of Assembly where you and your wife are the sole deciders of who gets what, your dummy yesterday renamed the stadium after you.
He shouted with a loud voice yesterday, but did you see any form of excitement on the faces of the spectators who were hired to come and see that show of shame? No.
Your dummy shouted yet again.

All of these actions were to pacify you. It was to please you. The freedom of Information (FOI) bill which was signed, has made it that one can have access to public documents.
No one knows the exact amount you expended in building the football pitch named after you in the name of a stadium.
You ran Akwa Ibom State as your private estate. So as a company, you needed to hand over to your next of kin, which you did yesterday. Having succeeded in renaming the stadium after you, the coming days of your dummy administration will reveal other projects you will want to be renamed on your behalf.
For those who hold the view that Udom will disappoint Akpabio and turned against him, please wake to the reality that the real game has just begun.

Not too many persons will see that it was wrong to rename that stadium after you. It has filtered to us again that in the coming days, the Ibom Airport be renamed after you.
It is a pity that there was no House of Assembly in your reign as Governor.

“Aspiration is never criminal, until tainted with pride.
We lost our freedom in physical slavery but lost our individuality in mental slavery”-Eddie Asukwo
Udom Emmanuel never aspired for the governorship position. You did.

“Men who merit success by chance or dishonesty find themselves in a hell of management. It is not an easy comfort to esteem the value of what did not come by sweat and hard work.”
Tell your dummy not to toe the boastful path which you did, but follow humility.
The remaining days of his administration will prove otherwise.

A REPUTATION FOUNDED ON INTEGRITY MUST BE NURTURED BY TRUTH

Eneh John is the Managing Editor of Secrets Reporter News,
Secretary ,Coalition of Human Rights Defenders(COHRD)
E-mail: enehjohn49@yahoo.com