2019: Udom’s  re-election and APC’s inevitable travails

By Nkereuwem Adautin

What nemesis can be greater than Akpabio throwing away the umbrella that once gave him cover and prestige to bend down to pick the broom, a symbol he once despised so much and described as being synonymous with slavery? As Governor, the broom was a symbol he murdered many Akwa Ibom sons and daughters who embraced it. Today, he holds that same broom and waves to a crowd of the same people he once ordered their death. Who says nemesis can not be swifter than lightening?

Before the camera he smiles, before his fans; the very people whose future he  mortgaged he waves his new broom and watches the slaves who have been hypnotised to remain perpetually in love with their chains hail him as their hero.

He carries the false face of a victor, a don, a godfather, but deep down he is lonely, empty and sad because he has seen that the warmth of the umbrella can never be compared with the servitude of the broom. Once in a while, the vanity of life stares him in the face. He sees himself for who he truly is. The mirror in him shows the Akpabio who was once human and the Akpabio who became Governor and turned into what even the devil is afraid of.

As a Commissioner he was smart and ambitious, as Governor he was politically insane and intoxicated with power, today he is dancing with the same party who accused him of stealing more than he needed and looting more than was necessary. The same party who openly said he killed more and got soaked in blood than what humanity could comprehend now see him as their hero in his “honour”.

This same APC was not spared of Akpabio’s venom, not friends not foes. The treasury too was not exempted. He ensured the state purse became the victim of rape and abuse, an impunity that generations unborn will never witness in their lifetime.

To remain as Governor, they said he did things that showed clearly that the humanity in him was lost. And to retain power he had to sacrifice much more than was consolable. In his quest to install a successor he burnt lots of bridges, and to maintain his status of a kingmaker he made too much unrealistic and greedy demands.

For power, fame and wealth, APC told us he did what many won’t dare, and to consolidate on his grip of power he was ready to pay the price no matter how costly the cost. But along the line, something happened.

With his own hands, he dugged his own political grave and evicted himself from the government he himself installed. Today he stays miles away and looks at the Hilltop Mansion, the seat of power he once decided who went in and who was locked out and prevented from accessing. Who says life is not full of ups and down?

When he takes a moment to reflect on his life and what he has done, from 2007 till date, all in the name of politics, he feels remorseful and gloomy inside but manages to keep a brave face to his fans. The deaths, the assassination, the kidnappings, the “sacrifices”, the betrayals, the lies, the grand deceit, the manipulation, the brainwashing, all the atrocities APC said he has committed which took away his humanity, he wishes he can turn back the hands of time only to realise he has been submerged into a dirt mere water and soap can not wash away. With a contrite heart he sobes but for his “name sake” he wipes his tears and hides under the cover of his favourite dark google glasses.

To please his new masters, he utters words that are a complete contradiction of what many admired and followed him, but to adapt to his new territory he is forced by circumstance to abandone all the uniqueness he was once known for by the people.

Whenever he talks bad about PDP and praises APC, you see the contradiction of a man battling to gain balance and equilibrium. But the more he tries the more he goes off balance because he can not just maintain a dignified silence. Silence was never part of his style. He is noisy and noise defines his style. For a man whose dream is to be a comedian when he retired from politics, silence is no plus to his dream job upon retirement.

Even his spirit was shattered when he lied that his soul was with Buhari in 2015. What an anti climax to a man whose words were once inspiring and galvanizing. Today the more he talks the more his friends hide and bow their head in shame and disbelief. Where and when did he got lost, they seem to be asking.

With no moral right he continues to attack his successor, but his frustration is enlarged by the dignified silence he gets from the seat of power.

Like a prophet he gives an insight into what is to befall him. “By December 2018, Udom Emmanuel will be living alone with only his family in Hilltop Mansion with no visitor whatsoever because every single Akwa Ibomite will be member of APC”, he declares. The significance of his premonition lies in its irony. This is the reality of what is to befall Akpabio not Governor Udom Emmanuel.

The Governor can never be lonely with over five million Akwa Ibom sons and daughters behind him. If someone is already alone and lonely with even his family deserting him it is Akpabio. Perhaps he knows that everyone who once admired him have left him to embark on his voyage of self destruct alone. Before his very eyes all he built are crumbling with his successor emerging much stronger than he thought while all his evil wishes against the state he once governed are failing to manifest.

The beauty of it all is that Akpabio’s ordeal are self imposed and not from his successor. To his shock his successor has not done to him what he did to his own predecessor. But you see, nemesis surely has a way of catching up with some folks at its own pace and on its own terms. He allows you destroy yourself by yourself while watching you blame some imaginary forces for your downfall and misfortune.

“In the last 16 years, I did not see one kilometre of road done by PDP government in Akwa Ibom state, but today, APC government is constructing the road from Akwa Ibom to Calabar…

From the national and local perspectives, people look at me as a leader and I must tell you that in 2019, it would be difficult for any other party to penetrate the South-South”, he misfired in one of his usual moment of distress.

My God! Did he really say that? Is he no longer entitled to periodic medical checkup when it is obvious “all is not well”? His associates seems to be murmuring.

“Having moved from PDP to APC, I felt fulfilled. My advice and suggestions in the national interest would not be looked upon with suspicion by the government in power again…. I moved to APC in national interest. I don’t believe in bringing government into being and will not support that government to succeed”, he lied again to himself.

I can see some folks in EFCC smiling and laughing at him to scorn when they hear Akpabio speak out of fear and trepidation. “See what we have turned him into”, they whisper to one another with mischief. Nothing last forever and no condition is permanent, this Akpabio truly understands now.

“Performance is different from groundbreaking”, he thundered. On this he is right when you decipher he is only doing a comparative analysis of what he promised but was never sincere in his motive and what his successor has done with sincerity and honesty of purpose. In frustration he sees the difference between him and his successor. While Akpabio lied to himself and Akwa Ibom people on everything, Governor Emmanuel has been truthful even in his faults and weakness which is the hallmark of leadership.

To Udom Emmanuel we are not yet there but we are making slow and steady progress. To Akpabio everything was a wonderful lie. He lied about Ibaka Deep Sea Port, he lied about Tropicana, he lied about Four Point by Sharaton, he lied about Ibom Specialist Hospital, he lied about Use Ikot Amama, he lied about 31 industries, he lied about the Stadium he named after himself, he lied about the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road, he lied about Mobil, he lied about his love to the Oro nation, he lies to his Ibibio friends, he lied to even himself and his conscience.

Now here lies the difference. In just three years, the Udom Emmanuel administration has facilitated the establishment of the Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Company, the Electric Metering Solutions Company, the Kings Flour Mill, the St. Gabriel Coconut Refinery, the Akees Pencil and Toothpick Factory, the Akees Plastic manufacturing company, the Greenwell Technologies Fertilizer Blending Company, the Revamped Peacock Paint Limited with more in the offing. Though not up to 31 Akpabio promised but even the worst critics can see it’s work in progress.

The more he speaks ill of his successor and the PDP the more his lies are exposed for its irony and his friends wish it was all a dream.

The tragedy of it all is that his new friends are plotting his crucification at “Golgotha”, the enemies within his new abode are happy finally they got him where they wanted. All that is left is for the time to be ripe to give him a taste of his own medicine, with a dosage that may be much more fatal and dump him where and when he may not find an antidote to what is to befall him. He is not safe yet he is not free. He is not happy yet he is not weeping.

How are the mighty fallen and who says there is no God? Who will help Akpabio regain his humanity before the situation becomes politically unsalvageable?k Absolutely no one because it must happen this way so that the scriptures may be fulfilled. Why is all this happening? Only God! Akwa Ibom youths stand with UDOM till 2023 by his Grace

God bless Akiscom forever and our Leaders