Akpabio Versus The Enemies Of Akwa Ibom

By Sampson Sampson

The trending reports that an unknown group which claims to be Elders of the All Progressive Congress in Akwa Ibom State under the bogus aegis of Ibom Integrity and servant Leadership Culture Initiative has in a letter to Mr. President rejected the listing of Senator Godswill Akpabio for ministerial appointment is another moral failure on the part of the actors and their sponsors. The reasons adduced are not only untenable and illogical, it underscores the hate infested position in the ill fated correspondence.

The mischievous epistle entitled: “Ministerial Appointment: Why Appointing Akpabio May be Counter Productive” is a hollow attempt to scuttle and destroy rather build for the interest of the vast majority of Akwa Ibom people. It is an obvious case of pettiness and jealousy that has failed to consider  the capacity of the nominee. That Senator Akpabio has the capacity to add meaningful value to the body of achievements of the Federal Government is beyond dispute even to his ardent critics who wish to be sincere. Those who posit that appointing him as minister would be counter-productive are beclouded and driven by evil tendencies that good spirited people in every society should distance themselves from.

In the evil treatise, these agents provocateur alleged that the defeat of APC in the State in the last general election was according these men of ill “largely as a result of the destabilizing and anthouritarian tendencies of Akpabio…” What a sad and absurd submission! In the 2015 general election, APC with all the hullabaloo they raised in the state scored a paltry 89,865 summing to less than 5% against 976,071 votes of the PDP. In the 2019 general election, Akpabio’s advent into the party raised the bar to over 175,000 amounting to 31% against 519,712 despite the conspiracy of the likes of the characters behind this missive and the machination of the State Government in collusion with INEC.

It is a record of proven testimony that Akpabio’s entry into APC raised the acceptability bar of that party. But the party was bogged down by internal conspiracy which is still playing out like the case of this letter. The so called APC leaders did not work for the party. They were busy sabotaging the modest efforts that the likes of Akpabio contributed  by having nocturnal meetings with PDP and collecting money to reveal the winning strategies of the party to the ruling party in the state. As acclaimed leaders of the party, they also positioned themselves and cornered funds that were meant for campaigns/ logistics especially on the day of election, leaving APC agents,  co-ordinators and party faithful stranded without the wherewithal to prosecute the election.

It is unfortunate that we live in a society where moral degeneration is on the increase on daily basis and accepted as a way of life. If people who claim to be elders of a ruling party could gang up to sabotage one of their own and do so openly, one can imagine what they did pre and during the election while they were not being watched. This particular correspondence attests to the fact that the so called APC leaders do not have the interest of the party at heart. If they had, they would have been thinking of how to build and prepare the party to win election in 2023. But a leopard can not change its spots. Once a saboteur, always a saboteur. Rather than think of ways of rejuvenating the party, theirs is to continue to stoke crises and put the party on the peril of fragmentation.

It is obvious to even the non-initiates that one man who has the capacity to maximize an office for the interest of the party is Senator Godswill Akpabio. It is also a fact that despite his travails orchestrated by the State Government in collaboration with INEC, Akpabio still commands followership in the State more than any other politician including the sitting governor. These charismatic poise and electrifying personality which endear him to a vast majority of people have also elicited in many the bile of hate. This seems to be the crossroad of Akpabio’s looming political career which his enemies are working vigorously at eclipsing. But when you eclipse your only star, what would illuminate your path?

From this ill- fated correspondence, it is easy to deduce that Akpabio’s purported failure does not portend the likelihood of reality. But let me restrain any further remark since the matter is currently a subject of adjudication at the Election Petition Tribunal. But suffice it to say that our politics is so acrimonious that politicians don’t mind the heads of their brothers even when they would gain nothing when such heads are beheaded. Even when the head stands to provide gains, they would rather bear the painful loss with equanimity.

Akwa Ibom people are agreed to be Christians. Apart from the cardinal ordinance of accepting Christ as Lord and personal Saviour, another major fundamental of Christianity is forgiveness. But hear the acclaimed APC leaders: “Same Senator Akpabio that in years past, had been your and our party’s nemesis cannot suddenly become the gadfly of our political generosity”, the letter written to Mr. President and copied to other chieftains of APC stated. How can people who profess Christianity act so meanly and still hold membership in Churches? One may be inclined to view this as a failure on the part of the Church. Sadly, the Church leadership is also hands in gloves in this moral trial. The machinations and plots of evil would continue to pervade the human society but the will of God will always prevail and triumph. Senator Akpabio should recognize that he has always been a product of God’s will. If it was God’s will for him to be a minister, no evil plot shall supplant God’s will for him so long as he continues to hold on to Him in FAITH and TRUST.

Sampson Sampson hails from Akwa Ibom