Gov. Umo Eno.
By Etim Etim
I read Michael Bush’s article in The Sun newspaper of Monday, November 24, titled ‘’Just a little friendly fire’’, and it was immediately clear to me that he has a lot of grievances against Gov. Umo Eno. I have since engaged with Bush himself and spoken to many people who are well informed of the matter. I understand that the broadcaster is weighed down by issues of unmet expectations. He believes that he has not been adequately rewarded by Gov. Umo Eno for his efforts during the campaigns. I will address this at the concluding part of this essay, but for now, I want to speak to some of the points he made in his column. I categorize them into three broad groups: ridiculous; strange and mundane. Among the ridiculous, Bush argues that the government should not have fired the two government officials – Joseph Ikpak and Felix Ekuri – who attended the PDP convention in Ibadan because ‘’sacking them was petty, sledge hammerish and ungovernorship’’ (sic). He said since the governor is preaching Akwa Ibom United and the officials were accompanying former governor Udom Emmanuel to Ibadan, firing them was ‘’indecent’’.
This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard this year. It conveys a huge entitlement mentality, and lack of understanding of what Akwa Ibom United really is. The doctrine of Akwa Ibom United espoused by the governor does not condone disloyalty to the government. It is not about working for the PDP (or any other opposition party) and for the government at the same time. That cannot happen. Akwa Ibom United simply means that we cannot become enemies just because we belong to different political parties. It means no Akwa Ibom person would be punished, harassed, intimidated or denied his human and civil rights because of his political affiliations or for holding alternative political views as we had seen in the past. Under Akwa Ibom United, no politician would be barred from going around and campaigning in the state.
In March 2011, the campaign of Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, ACN governorship candidate, came under serious gunfire in Ikot Ekpene. Some PDP chieftains had warned the ACN candidate not to dare enter Ikot Ekpene. My younger brother who went with Udoedehe was almost killed. That incident set off a chain of violence that spilled over to Uyo and created a mayhem a scale of which had never been seen since. Under Gov. Umo Eno, the PDP governorship candidate in 2027 – whoever that may be – would never be barred from entering any part of the state to campaign. There shall be no politically motivated killings under Umo Eno. That’s what Akwa Ibom United means. To therefore suggest that government officials or appointees should be allowed to stay in their job while at the same time working for opposition parties is deeply a flawed point of view. Disloyalty is a very corrosive and destructive force in any organization. A disloyal worker is a mole that can hamper the very efforts or agenda of the organization. Disloyalty is one of the reasons why our military finds it difficult to defeat terrorism. No government should condone disloyalty and double-faced officials.
One of the strangest suggestions made by Bush in his article is encapsulated in this sentence. ‘’This governor must stop spreading poverty…Let his appointees look like governorship appointees…let funds be released to ministries, departments and agencies so they do their work’’. He goes further to assert that ‘’government is not a banking institution’’; and so has no business saving money. In other words, Bush wants the governor to ‘’put money into politicians’ hands’’ as the refrain usually goes. Every governor of our state gets told this all the time. Our people just want governors to share or distribute money to them. For them, economic development is measured by the amount of cash shared among the politicians. If Bush is suggesting that the MDAs are not being funded, how then does the government execute all the projects it is being credited with? It is through the MDAs that government performs its functions; and if you check through the budgets, you’ll see how much is allocated to each MDA. Bush is also alleging that civil servants spend their personal resources to buy stationeries and other items to use in offices because of lack of impress. Impress payment was stopped by Gov. Emmanuel due to abuse and leakages. There is nothing to show that those vices have been exterminated.
Another strange argument is Bush’s claim that the governor is treating the PDP unfairly. He writes: ‘’The way (the governor) has dealt with PDP is to say the least unfair and unkind. The governor abandons a party, but he does everything to not allow it to function’’. However, the writer does not say exactly how the governor is maltreating the PDP, but he sounds a warning: ‘’His vindication for leaving PDP shall only come on May 29, 2027’’. Further down, he crows about the rebirth of the PDP and how it would defeat APC in 2027. This is a clear delusion of grandeur! This is the first time folks like Michael Bush have stayed outside government or the ruling party. They’re suffering from what psychologists call ‘’withdrawal syndrome’’ or ‘’withdrawal disorder’’. It is a condition that occurs when a person stops using a substance he’s been addicted to. Symptoms include incessant complaints about everything and nothing at the same time. I have stated in another platform that Umo Eno’s departure from the PDP is final and irreversible. PDP has been in severe crisis for over two years now and as we speak, there are two factions. The party was derelict in allowing Wike the latitude to cause so much irreparable damage. It is therefore disingenuous for anyone to blame the Akwa Ibom governor for the misfortunes of the PDP. Umo Eno, like many other governors and leaders of the party, only took the most reasonable and pragmatic decision by fleeing to safety. I am pleased by Bush’s caveat towards the end of his long article. The piece, he notes, is not a criticism of the governor – or not one made in bad faith. That is okay. But the anger is not mistaken.
Let me return to the issue of unmet expectations which I broached earlier. More often than not, many politicians and political associates typically come away with a sense that their efforts have not been well rewarded. It is a feeling that can becloud your sense of judgment. However, it’s important to realize that the political system cannot reward you enough because there are so many others who did as much as you or even better. Second, it’s better to stay patient and fight for your cause inside the system than to jump out and start a one-man protest. It was Obong Nsima Ekere that once told me that in politics, you must fight for everything you want or deserve. In other words, no matter how important you think you are in a political system, nothing should be taken for granted. That lesson has stayed with me. Michael Bush believes that he has not been well rewarded for his efforts. It would have served him better to stay put and explore all the back channels to address his concerns. I have also been told that the governor has been quite nice to Bush, and that the broadcaster is only being insatiable. I won’t go into details of what I have heard, but suffice it to say that in life, you don’t get everything you want.
As we approach another election season, I urge all PDP members and supporters as well as other opposition elements to approach their job of checking and criticizing the government with utmost decorum and care. Foul language and insults don’t win elections and would not be tolerated. There are those who will do everything possible to defend and support the APC government in Akwa Ibom State. There are enough people who are capable of telling the governor’s side of the story.
Etim is a Journalist and Political Analyst based in Abuja.
