By Stanley Williams Inyang
The government of Deacon Udom Emmanuel would be winding down its first tenure on the 28th May, 2019 in order to pave the way for the commencement of a fresh tenure on the 29th May, but before this government winds down, it is imperative to look critically at Udom’s performance scorecard in the last
four years comparatively with his predecessors, Obong Victor Attah and Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio to determine his performance scale, and also to set the tone for another scale of performance in the next four years which is going to serve as a performance scale to whoever that is going to succeed him come 2023, that is, if he is able to rattle the strings once more time just like he had done during the elections at the ongoing Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo, the state’s capital to retain his seat.The government of Deacon Udom Emmanuel would be winding down its first tenure on the 28th May, 2019 in order to pave the way for the commencement of a fresh tenure on the 29th May, but before this government winds down, it is imperative to look critically at Udom’s performance scorecard in the last
Obong Victor Attah came into power on the 29th May, 1999. He was able to secure his reelection bid in 2003, and during his 80th birthday celebration held last year, Attah launched an autobiography entitled, ‘It Is Well With My Soul’. The entire book is an expose of his government projects, policies and programmes and that of the governments that succeeded him. In the book, Attah disclosed that his two tenures got about one trillion (N1t) naira from FAAC, IGR and other sundry accruals to the state. As paltry as this sum might appear if juxtaposed with the accruals of the subsequent governments that succeeded him, Attah has made ineffaceable imprints on the sands of time with visible projects and programmes in the state. Some of his projects include The Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Ibom International Airport, opening of many roads within the Uyo metropolis to link all the local government Areas of the state, Ibom Science Park, payment of bursary to students of tertiary institutions, intervention programmes in housing, health, education, prompt payment of salaries to workers, prompt payment of pensions and gratuities to retired workers, social intervention programmes and many more.
Attah was succeeded by Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio on the 29th May, 2007, and got reelected and sworn – in on the 29th May, 2011. While being embroiled in a messy political imbroglio with his godson now his political archenemy recently, Deacon Udom Emmanuel over misappropriation of state’s funds due to his sudden exit from PDP to the ruling party, APC, Akpabio disclosed that he got about one trillion, eight hundred billion (N1.8b) naira from FAAC, IGR and other sundry accruals to the state throughout his tenures. Though this figure has raised a lot of grime in the state’s political space, as some political and economic analysts hold opposing views on this matter, saying that the figure is very far from the truth, but we can say categorically that Akpabio also walked in the steps of Attah by creating infrastructure of international standard in the state. Some of his projects and programmes include completion of Ibom International Airport, E – Library, Ibom Tropicana, Sheraton Hotel By Four Point, Ibom International Stadium, Ibom Specialist Hospital, remodeling of the state’s government house to give it a befitting status, building of the state’s secretariat extension, construction of many brand new roads, flyovers, and bridges, payment of bursary to students of tertiary institutions, prompt payment of salaries to workers, prompt payment of pensions and gratuities to retired workers, declaration of free and compulsory education from primary to secondary schools, investment in social intervention programmes and many others.
Deacon Udom Emmanuel got elected through election processes that are bereft of sane electoral practices in the world, as disclosed by the then election monitoring teams in the state, and sworn –in on the 29th May, 2015. Though, before the elections, little or nothing had been known about this Lagos Business School lad except holding an executive portfolio with Zenith Bank. He was not a politician per se, and being very tepid in character would have restrained him from venturing into the murky waters of the Nigerian politics if he was not encouraged by a renowned political juggernaut like Akpabio to do so. He was also known as a pious church goer of his mean standard, and largely fitted his knot with the Quo Iboe Church denomination situated at Western Avenue, Lagos though lately discovered by his shenanigan tactics during the elections that his heart is very far away from Christ whom he feigns to emulate by engaging in vote buying of the worst sort, intimidation of opposition members and supporters, violence, thuggery, manipulation of election results figures in collusion with Mr. Mike Igini, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC in the state to favour him and the PDP, and attributing the victory to God. Many biblical injunctions have established that God is so powerful to require human effort to achieve any mission on earth; therefore it becomes absolutely ludicrous to say that Udom’s victory was sanctioned by God, going by the irregularities that characterized the just concluded gubernatorial election in the state.
His providence was kindled in the political arena of the state when Akpabio and his once political ally, Obong Umana Okon Umana had a political tiff that slipped into a theatre of war, and was relieved of his position, unceremoniously as the Secretary to the State Government, SSG and replaced with Deacon Udom Emmanuel in 2013. By 2014, Akpabio was already putting up structures to pave the way for his godson to succeed him. Though Akpabio was overtly opposed by the forces against Udom’s candidacy, one of which was RT. Hon. Onofiok Luke, then Member, representing Nsit Ubuim and Nsit Ibom State Constituency on the grounds that he was a neophyte to the political realities of the state, and also might not be able to fit into the big shoes of Akpabio given his non- experience in public service, but he never relented in his die -hard effort to install Udom as his successor. Though that election was a travesty of sane electoral processes but many Akwa Ibomites took solace in Udom’s conquest on the ground that Udom would walk in the steps of his predecessors, and replicate on their apparent colossal performances, considering his impeccable banking pedigree.
Immediately Udom got into office, he kicked off on a good note with an industrialization drive to create employment, tackle poverty, and also link the state with other economic hubs of the nation. Many people were in high spirits with this initiative because, since Attah and Akpabio had built world class critical infrastructures, it was necessary for his government to build on it with establishment of industries in order to create employment opportunities, rouse the economy and move the state from a civil service to a cosmopolitan state with emphasis on non oil revenue stimulation and derivatives.
Alas, the first year of his government experienced a jagged lull in implementation of his industrialization drive policies. The reason is simple – Udom got it wrong on paperwork. His business allies had sold a phony venture to him. It is phony in the sense that the business environment is alien to Udom and he could not decipher how this could work in this clime, so it was a case of trial and error since he needed something so desperately to show to the people. Because he is not inclined to the business realities of the country despite having served at a higher echelon of the banking industry in the country, holding critical portfolios in auditing, which was to furnish him with the requisite knowledge to properly run and sustain the industrialization drive to achieve its goal attainments. On this premise, the drive began to experience policy somersault which negatively impacted on the industries established and further set them on the path of oblivion. One of such drives is the establishment of Armoured Automobile Plant located at Itu. Failure of the plant to take off showed that Udom had no prescience of how business is run in this part of the world. He had no hunch of the bureaucratic system of the country since he came from the private sector. Recently, Udom disclosed that why the plant is yet to take off after its ground breaking ceremony some years back is because the federal government is playing politics with its certification – if he was well grounded in politics of the country, he would have deployed plausible means of making the federal government to dance to his tune in order to have the project achieve its certification with ease, considering its impact on the economy, not just on the state but also on the nation. On this note, this project has become a failure, and Udom is to be blamed for exhibiting cluelessness on his part. He ought to have consulted the right set of people before embarking on the project to really see the grey areas and make a foresight plan to tackle it and achieve its goal attainments. Most appalling is that some acres of land which had served as a means of livelihood for a whole community has been taken away from its owners, and wasted away on a project that is wallowing in oblivion.
Udom also disclosed that he had revamped the Peacock Paint Industry located at Ikot Ekan, Etinan Local Government Area to boost production of paint, drive employment in the state and also add to the state’s GDP. It was a welcome development, as Peacock Paint, a pride of the state’s paint industry had been left to rot by the previous administrations. But findings by this reporter show that Udom was merely making a political statement, and the industry is still at its comatose status just as he met it. Though this government has made concerted efforts to deceive the gullible people of the state on the luminous performance of Peacock Paint but all their efforts have further exposed their bags of lies, as many people have come to know that the industry is still at its moribund status. To further expose their lies and made a mockery of themselves, the state government recently disclosed that Peacock Paint produces on demand and that the products are marketed and distributed in Aba, Abia State – what a fallacy of the worst sort this assertion could be. The market is already saturated with good finished products, who would wait for Peacock to go into production when they are a hundred and one products in the market to pick and choose from? Again, how come products that are produced in the state do not have any distribution point in the state but in another state? Udom might think a large number of people of the state are dim-witted but in reality they are not. They are only giving him a long rope to make amends. By the time they have exhausted their patience limit with him, he would find them very difficult to contend, knowing how atomistic in nature they are.
He also said he has established Metering Solution Plant, Saint Gabriel Coconut Refinery, Mexican cow ranch, Syringe Industry, Greenhouse Tomatoes Plant and what have you but these industries have not in any way provided reprieve to the high level of unemployment bedeviling the state, as the recent statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS indicates that Akwa Ibom State is highest in unemployment in the country.
However, Ibom Air was received with aplomb when the three air fleet arrived the state barely a few days to the elections. Deacon Udom Emmanuel, while taking delivery of the fleet at the Ibom International Airport, Uyo disclosed that the airline has concluded certification procedures and would commence operations in no distant time. But as you read this, the airline is yet to commence operations because it has not completed its certification procedures. When this reporter reported that the air fleet was a political ploy by Deacon Udom Emmanuel to garner votes and win confidence of the people at the elections, and that the airline would not fly any time soon, a lot of his e- media lap dogs took a swipe at me, saying I was doing the bidding of Nsima Ekere and the APC, and that there was no truth in my report. Now I have been vindicated, as the air fleet is covered by dust at the Ibom International Airport. If the airport wasn’t state owned and the space of the air fleet were to be paid for, considering how expensive the rate is, and being charged, hourly, who would have run this huge cost and wastage? I guess only a few people in the state would dare ask, because a large number of people have their thought processes conjured to the extent that they believe that whatever Udom does is right, and should not be questioned – what a phony ideology conjured and infused on a set of gullible people.
Also, the state has been rated as the highest in HIV prevalence in the country. It is reprehensible to the image of the state in the sense that the state is the highest earner from FAAC. It is no doubt that the pangs of hunger and hardship have encouraged prostitution to thrive at its peak in the state, and that is why HIV prevalence is very high. Sadly, this government has not been able to create any social intervention programme to discourage prostitution and engage the youths, legitimately. It has been going on a whirl goose chase of industrialization drive which policies and programmes, especially the CCTV Camera acquisition and installation within the Uyo metropolis projected at the cost of one billion, seven hundred million (N1.7b), are heavily steeped in deceit and chimera. The whole idea is to secure money to make up for the bleeding of the state’s treasury caused by massive vote buying during the just concluded elections in the state.
Recently, Premium Motor Spirit, PMS otherwise known as fuel has experienced implausible hike in pump price in the state, because the major filling stations in the state are owned and run by politicians that are loyal to Deacon Udom Emmanuel. The product which is sold at one hundred and forty –five (N145) naira per litter in all the states of the federation, is now sold between two hundred and two hundred and fifty (N200 -250) naira per litter in the state. Sadly, the state government has remained aloof on the indiscriminate fuel hike in the state, because it does not want to offend the owners of the filling stations dispensing the product at exorbitant price, because it helped the government to get to power during the elections.
Also, indiscriminate dumping of refuse has never been worse in the state’s capital metropolis like this government. Uyo stinks as you read this, and the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, an agency of government charged with refuse management in the state and the Ministry of the Environment have pitched themselves in a messy tussle for supremacy that may not end soon. While Prince Ikim, chairman of the agency and Dr. Iniobong, Commissioner for the Environment are struggling for supremacy, the adverse effect of the tussle is felt by the residents of the state’s metropolis, who are putting their health at risk by inhaling the toxic that oozes from the stench of the dump sites.
In conclusion, looking at the above listed elements, it is no doubt that the government of Deacon Udom Emmanuel has performed abysmally, and probably the worst in the state’s history, as he has little or nothing to show for his four years of stewardship, despite earning about one trillion (N1t) naira from FAAC, IGR, and other sundry accruals to the state.
However, considering the state’s recent financial status which has shown red alert, and the arbitrary borrowing to fund imprests and capital projects by the executive yet earning a staggering amount of money, monthly from FAAC, IGR and other sundry accruals to the state, it is no doubt that the economy is going to experience a bursting lull in the next four years, as Udom had thrown the vault of the state treasury open to vote buying, inducement of INEC officials and security agencies personnel to win the just concluded elections for himself and the PDP. He is also sourcing for more money to induce members of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo, the state’s capital in order to give judgment in his favour and the PDP, that is why he has been slicing monthly allocation of local governments and giving them peanut to pay salaries. As you read this, no visible progress can be seen at the local governments because the local government chairmen do not have enough money to execute capital projects despite getting huge accruals, monthly from the federal government. It is #OnlyGod that can save Akwa Ibom State in the hands of Deacon Udom Emmanuel.
Immediately Udom got into office, he kicked off on a good note with an industrialization drive to create employment, tackle poverty, and also link the state with other economic hubs of the nation. Many people were in high spirits with this initiative because, since Attah and Akpabio had built world class critical infrastructures, it was necessary for his government to build on it with establishment of industries in order to create employment opportunities, rouse the economy and move the state from a civil service to a cosmopolitan state with emphasis on non oil revenue stimulation and derivatives.
Alas, the first year of his government experienced a jagged lull in implementation of his industrialization drive policies. The reason is simple – Udom got it wrong on paperwork. His business allies had sold a phony venture to him. It is phony in the sense that the business environment is alien to Udom and he could not decipher how this could work in this clime, so it was a case of trial and error since he needed something so desperately to show to the people. Because he is not inclined to the business realities of the country despite having served at a higher echelon of the banking industry in the country, holding critical portfolios in auditing, which was to furnish him with the requisite knowledge to properly run and sustain the industrialization drive to achieve its goal attainments. On this premise, the drive began to experience policy somersault which negatively impacted on the industries established and further set them on the path of oblivion. One of such drives is the establishment of Armoured Automobile Plant located at Itu. Failure of the plant to take off showed that Udom had no prescience of how business is run in this part of the world. He had no hunch of the bureaucratic system of the country since he came from the private sector. Recently, Udom disclosed that why the plant is yet to take off after its ground breaking ceremony some years back is because the federal government is playing politics with its certification – if he was well grounded in politics of the country, he would have deployed plausible means of making the federal government to dance to his tune in order to have the project achieve its certification with ease, considering its impact on the economy, not just on the state but also on the nation. On this note, this project has become a failure, and Udom is to be blamed for exhibiting cluelessness on his part. He ought to have consulted the right set of people before embarking on the project to really see the grey areas and make a foresight plan to tackle it and achieve its goal attainments. Most appalling is that some acres of land which had served as a means of livelihood for a whole community has been taken away from its owners, and wasted away on a project that is wallowing in oblivion.
Udom also disclosed that he had revamped the Peacock Paint Industry located at Ikot Ekan, Etinan Local Government Area to boost production of paint, drive employment in the state and also add to the state’s GDP. It was a welcome development, as Peacock Paint, a pride of the state’s paint industry had been left to rot by the previous administrations. But findings by this reporter show that Udom was merely making a political statement, and the industry is still at its comatose status just as he met it. Though this government has made concerted efforts to deceive the gullible people of the state on the luminous performance of Peacock Paint but all their efforts have further exposed their bags of lies, as many people have come to know that the industry is still at its moribund status. To further expose their lies and made a mockery of themselves, the state government recently disclosed that Peacock Paint produces on demand and that the products are marketed and distributed in Aba, Abia State – what a fallacy of the worst sort this assertion could be. The market is already saturated with good finished products, who would wait for Peacock to go into production when they are a hundred and one products in the market to pick and choose from? Again, how come products that are produced in the state do not have any distribution point in the state but in another state? Udom might think a large number of people of the state are dim-witted but in reality they are not. They are only giving him a long rope to make amends. By the time they have exhausted their patience limit with him, he would find them very difficult to contend, knowing how atomistic in nature they are.
He also said he has established Metering Solution Plant, Saint Gabriel Coconut Refinery, Mexican cow ranch, Syringe Industry, Greenhouse Tomatoes Plant and what have you but these industries have not in any way provided reprieve to the high level of unemployment bedeviling the state, as the recent statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS indicates that Akwa Ibom State is highest in unemployment in the country.
However, Ibom Air was received with aplomb when the three air fleet arrived the state barely a few days to the elections. Deacon Udom Emmanuel, while taking delivery of the fleet at the Ibom International Airport, Uyo disclosed that the airline has concluded certification procedures and would commence operations in no distant time. But as you read this, the airline is yet to commence operations because it has not completed its certification procedures. When this reporter reported that the air fleet was a political ploy by Deacon Udom Emmanuel to garner votes and win confidence of the people at the elections, and that the airline would not fly any time soon, a lot of his e- media lap dogs took a swipe at me, saying I was doing the bidding of Nsima Ekere and the APC, and that there was no truth in my report. Now I have been vindicated, as the air fleet is covered by dust at the Ibom International Airport. If the airport wasn’t state owned and the space of the air fleet were to be paid for, considering how expensive the rate is, and being charged, hourly, who would have run this huge cost and wastage? I guess only a few people in the state would dare ask, because a large number of people have their thought processes conjured to the extent that they believe that whatever Udom does is right, and should not be questioned – what a phony ideology conjured and infused on a set of gullible people.
Also, the state has been rated as the highest in HIV prevalence in the country. It is reprehensible to the image of the state in the sense that the state is the highest earner from FAAC. It is no doubt that the pangs of hunger and hardship have encouraged prostitution to thrive at its peak in the state, and that is why HIV prevalence is very high. Sadly, this government has not been able to create any social intervention programme to discourage prostitution and engage the youths, legitimately. It has been going on a whirl goose chase of industrialization drive which policies and programmes, especially the CCTV Camera acquisition and installation within the Uyo metropolis projected at the cost of one billion, seven hundred million (N1.7b), are heavily steeped in deceit and chimera. The whole idea is to secure money to make up for the bleeding of the state’s treasury caused by massive vote buying during the just concluded elections in the state.
Recently, Premium Motor Spirit, PMS otherwise known as fuel has experienced implausible hike in pump price in the state, because the major filling stations in the state are owned and run by politicians that are loyal to Deacon Udom Emmanuel. The product which is sold at one hundred and forty –five (N145) naira per litter in all the states of the federation, is now sold between two hundred and two hundred and fifty (N200 -250) naira per litter in the state. Sadly, the state government has remained aloof on the indiscriminate fuel hike in the state, because it does not want to offend the owners of the filling stations dispensing the product at exorbitant price, because it helped the government to get to power during the elections.
Also, indiscriminate dumping of refuse has never been worse in the state’s capital metropolis like this government. Uyo stinks as you read this, and the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, an agency of government charged with refuse management in the state and the Ministry of the Environment have pitched themselves in a messy tussle for supremacy that may not end soon. While Prince Ikim, chairman of the agency and Dr. Iniobong, Commissioner for the Environment are struggling for supremacy, the adverse effect of the tussle is felt by the residents of the state’s metropolis, who are putting their health at risk by inhaling the toxic that oozes from the stench of the dump sites.
In conclusion, looking at the above listed elements, it is no doubt that the government of Deacon Udom Emmanuel has performed abysmally, and probably the worst in the state’s history, as he has little or nothing to show for his four years of stewardship, despite earning about one trillion (N1t) naira from FAAC, IGR, and other sundry accruals to the state.
However, considering the state’s recent financial status which has shown red alert, and the arbitrary borrowing to fund imprests and capital projects by the executive yet earning a staggering amount of money, monthly from FAAC, IGR and other sundry accruals to the state, it is no doubt that the economy is going to experience a bursting lull in the next four years, as Udom had thrown the vault of the state treasury open to vote buying, inducement of INEC officials and security agencies personnel to win the just concluded elections for himself and the PDP. He is also sourcing for more money to induce members of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo, the state’s capital in order to give judgment in his favour and the PDP, that is why he has been slicing monthly allocation of local governments and giving them peanut to pay salaries. As you read this, no visible progress can be seen at the local governments because the local government chairmen do not have enough money to execute capital projects despite getting huge accruals, monthly from the federal government. It is #OnlyGod that can save Akwa Ibom State in the hands of Deacon Udom Emmanuel.
No comments:
Post a Comment