There is absolutely nothing that an insane man who is hungry cannot do. He can kill just to have food on the table. He can set a house ablaze for a bottle of beer. He can do anything. But a sane man who is hungry can still resist evil and wait for when food would come the right way. Instead of sabotaging one's image for a plate of soup, he would rather choose to learn, prepare and wait fro when his luck would come.

The writer of the article captioned "Creeping Tyranny in the Land of Promise" must have been an insane man who is hungry. He has thrown away morality and professionalism to the dogs just to satisfy his belly. But come to think of it, is he really from Akwa Ibom? Methinks he is just one of those emergency hungry writers who shamelessly criticize to deceive the gullible.

For attempting to deceive the people even when the difference between the administration of Godswill Akpabio and the present one is outstandingly clear, let me remind him that he that must go for equity must go with clean hands.

Even our children can confidently testify to the fact that we can now sleep with our two eyes closed at night without fear of men of the underworld. It wasn't so in Akpabio's tenure. You can quote me anywhere.

Akwa Ibom then was seen as a den of social vices and immorality. People hardly travelled to the state for fear of being kidnapped. They would rather stay in Lagos or Abuja and asked people to stand in for them instead of taking such unholy risk of flying to the state.

What of politically motivated killings? This one is a no-go-area. We have even lost count of those killed during Akpabio's tenure. The children of Chief Ukpanah will never forgive whosoever that mastermindiled the gruesome murder of their father at his residence at Abak. And as if that was not enough, they also went after the man's only son, Odudu Ukpanah, to slaughter him like they did to the father. But thanks to God that the boy was flown out. Which one is the writer saying Akwa Ibom was the envy of all and sundry during Akpabio's tenure? Have we forgotten in a hurry how journalists were molested during his tenure? The case which involved Tomas Thomas of Global Concord is still fresh in our memory, and the hell that the fearless writer went through in Akpabio's hand. Maybe it's true that the State was the envy of all, but I think it's pertinent to ask, envy in what aspect?

When he talked about Akwa Ibom being a trail blazer in infrastructural development during Akpabio's tenure, I wonder what he really meant by that. I wonder whether the paid blackmailer had attempted to find out the allocation of the state as at then, the money from excess crude oil, and many other funds of unimaginable figures given to the state as at then. Akpabio enjoyed what his predecessor Arc. Obong Victor Attah fought for. If we compare the amount available during Akpabio's tenure and what he achieved, you will understand that Gov. Udom Emmanuel has done so much with paucity of funds than what Akpabio did in affluence.

Even at that, Akpabio left many projects abandoned. Four Point by Sheraton is a testimony to his people. Are we going to talk about Ibom Tropicana or the E-library? Let that one be for another day. Worse still, he left the state treasury empty. He raped the financial future of the state before he exited office and left huge debt for Gov. Udom Emmanuel. Yet, the governor looked beyond the myriad of problems his political "driver" kept for his "passenger", according to the blackmailer. Is this fair? Akpabio before leaving the State number one seat had used us as the collateral for his political ambition. He had mortgaged our common heritage. Please don't remind us of those days. Just let the sleeping dog lies.

The writer has shown the world his level of ignorance in terms of deciphering between blackmail and criticism. Gov. Emmanuel is the most insulted governor of all times, courtesy of his predecessor who has abandoned his supposed "national assignment" to sponsor blackmail on him. Yet, in his unassuming and dignified humility, he overlooked all the insults. Or, is the writer referring to George Udom and Kufre Carter's cases that he is calling the governor a tyrant? This is funny. The duo published fake stories that did not only misinform members of the public, but created panic of indescribable proportion, such that could have killed many, than the pandemic but not for the intervention of state actors. The law interpreted itself in those cases. Defamation of character is an offence punishable by law, just as offence against the security of a state. I think he would do more good to himself by going back to his elementary social studies textbooks if he had any. Or should we organize an online elementary education and orientation for him?

This is not time for "politics", but time for governance. The governor has stood his grounds to deliver on the overwhelming mandate that Akwa Ibom gave to him. He is one of the few governors openly applauded by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control(NCDC) for his excellent achievement in contact tracing. Most of the productive results recorded so far in the fight against covid-19 in Akwa Ibom are as a result of the pragmatic effort of the governor and the covid-19 incident management team. The 300-bed capacity isolation center at Ituk Mbang that is near completion is a landmark achievement of our visionary leader at a time when no one had prepared for it.

Let no one deceive the writer, Akwa Ibom is the most safest state in Nigeria. Journalists who know their onions are carrying out their profession without any form of intimidation. Before the pandemic, the number of investors that came into the state for business purposes is still a testimonial that is equal to none in recent memory.

I would rather advice the former senator to concentrate on his job as minister, which is even alleged to be laden with fraud and fake contracts, and stop distracting a governor who has surpassed him in terms of infrastructural development, honesty and transparency in managing funds and general governance.