Akwa Ibom and guber 2011

Take the case of a report in Saturday Sun (03/03/09), where Femi Lanlehin, a chieftain of the Action Congress, was reported as warning that, “In 2011 …there will be private armies. It will be all over; everybody will have his own private armies and it will be face-me-I-face you… we will face each other!” There, […]

Take the case of a report in Saturday Sun (03/03/09), where Femi Lanlehin, a chieftain of the Action Congress, was reported as warning that, “In 2011 …there will be private armies. It will be all over; everybody will have his own private armies and it will be face-me-I-face you… we will face each other!” There, he was addressing the feared electoral malpractices expected in the 2011polls, and how their would-be perpetrators would be contained.

Many have expressed similar fears too, especially when some penitent Niger Delta militants, while the amnesty still held, alleged that some politicians were asking them to sell their arms to them preparatory for 2011, rather than hand them over to government. But why all this trepidation talks about electoral violence in 2011? The history of our elections bears witness to the possibility of the fears being expressed actually coming to pass. There are documented cases of election-related killings, ballot snatching and stuffing, physical assaults, etc. The thinking then is that if it happened before, it will happen again.

Nonetheless, while this picture is virtually what many see as the reality about 2011, patriotic Nigerians pray and hope that this would not be the case. They want to see Nigerians elect their representatives. They hope to see true people’s democracy then, believing that such is not beyond our country. One place this prayer and hope are expected to be a reality is Akwa Ibom State. It is one place, so far as the gubernatorial election is concerned, where Abraham Lincoln’s assertion that “The ballot is stronger than the bullet”, would play out. It is there that, “that cause is strong which has not a multitude but one strong man behind it” (to borrow James Russell Lowell’s words). The cause in this case being that the State would see a peaceful and credible election in place, while the one man behind that cause is Governor Godswill Akpabio.

The reason for this expectation is the widespread declaration of support for the governor to continue in office in 2011. The ground swell of the endorsements noticeably started when Oro nation organised a reception for Chief Akpabio. They had done this, their leaders said, to thank Akpabio for remembering them – the third largest single grouping in the State – by way of constructing their long-neglected roads, appointing their indigenes into positions of relevance, and moving to set up industries within its locale. This endorsement of the governor for second term appeared to serve as the trigger that propelled the trajectory of adoptions that got to a head on Saturday, 10th October 2009, when the Ibibio people – the largest stock in the State – declared that Governor Akpabio’s one good term deserves, and will be, given another.

Before the Ibibio clincher declaration, the Annang nation – the second most populous group in the State – from where the governor hails, had thumbed up their son for second term, as well. The House of Assembly was not left out as it passed a vote of confidence in the governor and pledged their support for him for second term. The National Assembly members from the State, as their leader, Senator Efiong Bob, put it, “seconded the motion” by their state counterparts, adopting Akpabio. The one reason that kept being voiced by the endorsers is that Governor Akpabio has performed.

Since electoral violence is often vented by desperadoes who want to force themselves on the people, and since violence gets violated by grave number, which is now behind Akpabio, it is doubtful if any other aspirants to the gubernatorial seat in the State honestly expect to win the gubernatorial election against the incumbent in a voters’ election. Agreed, some have questioned the sincerity of the people and groups who have endorsed governor Akpabio. Even though critics point out that with many of the endorsers being politicians, they can hardly be trusted to walk their talk, they need to be reminded that Wendell Phillips’ assertion that, “Politicians are like the bones of a horse’s fore shoulder – not a straight one in it” is not entirely true.

Penetrative interpreters of the Akwa Ibom political scenario contend that the Akpabio adoption impulsion is all about appreciation for what he has achieved for the people. They say that the governor has converted the State into one huge construction site at a speed that is stunning. They point to the massive road constructions, the free education for primary and secondary schools, free health care for the elderly and infants, as only few of the achievements that drive the popular support Akpabio is enjoying.

Given the foregoing, it is safe to conclude that the throng behind Akpabio-for-2011 is not a rented one. They are people and groups across all segments of the State, who believe in continuity for consolidation; who sincerely believe in not changing a winning team, the governor having performed creditably. They know that the Akpabio administration has shown mature responsibility that has offered the State broad-based opportunity to build a stronger community with respectability. This offers hope for peaceful and credible voters’ polls in 2011 in the State. It also shows that, as Churchill said, politics can be exciting when played for the common good, which is what Akpabio has done, but dangerous, when played by treasury predators, which use their offices to prey on those they are supposed to serve and protect.

 Antai writes from Abuja