₦airaland Forum

I have watched with keen and vested interest the manner with which Gov Udom Gabriel Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State goes about the task of governance.

Sometimes he makes the task of running the affairs of the state to look very simple but with adequate sense of responsibility and objectivity, I know the task is not that simplistic.

Being the first opposition governor of the state to the centre, many had taught that the governor from inception would apt for a certificate or diploma crash course in opposition politicking to enable him weather the storm the same way the lion of Bourdilon, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos state Governor and an All Progressive Congress, APC national leader and another former Governor of the same state, Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola who is now the present Minister for works, power and Housing did when they held sway in Lagos. With the benefit of hindsight, the duo played politics of survival and still went on to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Be that as it may, I kept vigil to see Gov Udom Emmanuel come to Lagos for tutorials but I ended up waiting in vain because his activities and realities have shown that he needed no such lesson after-all, having played successfully in the private sector where participants are expected to meet target or be shown the way out of their corporate seats.

Now, peeping into historical future, one recalls the days of uncommon transformation-a philosophy that defined the then governor of Akwa Ibom State now Senator and Minority Leader of the Upper House of the National Assembly, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio.

In those days, there was massive marketing of activities and policies of government with public relation handlers falling on one another to do the master’s bidding. Hardly had the then governor made a speech without promoting his ideals, every event however minor was turned into publicity stunt either for the governor and his administration or for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Ultimately, what happen, happened and the rest as they say is history.

One good thing though for Akwa Ibom State is that the state has been very fairly lucky with virtually all the successive governors that governed the state at different times with Gov Emmanuel being no exception.

One can hardly look back and described any past governor as a monumental failure. The reason is simple and that is, each of them made good use of the opportunity that was given to them however short-lived such opportunity had been like in the case of late Chief Akpan Isemin of blessed memory.

The coming of Gov Udom Emmanuel from the private sector especially from an edifice that pays attention to the people and the process of reaching out to them was to say the very least, a turning point and it was at this turning point that the future of the history lies.

Having taken over from a natural marketer and a publicity-loved predecessor, Gov Emmanuel sets out with a mission to industrialize the state. Within a couple of months, Peacock paint industry was revived, then came a Colour Centre in Uyo in which more than fifty “Paintpreneurs” were trained and empowered.

A cross section of trained and empowered “Paintpreneurs”

Before the celebration died down, a metering factory with production capacity of more than six hundred thousand meters per annum was established. Still in the line-up came a Syringe manufacturing plants confirmed to be the second and the largest in the continent of Africa with a production capacity put at between three hundred and fifty to four hundred million Syringes per year.
Still on the list is, of course, a Pencil factory, a reconstruction of Etinan General Hospital and so on. It was these milestones that lead to the Federal Government listing the state as the 11th in the MSME Clinic which was confirmed by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo during one of his official engagement in the state.
I intentionally refused to mention road projects whether on-going or completed because that is no achievement except in the land of the blind or semi civilized clime.

With these and many more, Gov Emmanuel has been able to balance the two vital components of development namely critical infrastructure and human capital development. Unfortunately, up till now, this aggressive industrialization drive is yet to become a topic of major discuss and there lies my worries.

I don’t know what gives the governor the impression that governance is a kingdom of God business in which one must wait for the Day of Judgment. He should know that nobody lights a candle and put it under a bushel, but the governor has chosen to remain in the bushel even with the match stick with which he used to light up the candle of industrialization in the state.

Leaders whether made or born are subjects of discuss when their legacies are parameters for the future. Having created room for massive industrialization in the state, he ought to know that there is always a vacant room and that is the room for improvement.

Many times, that vacant room is spotted when the parameter becomes a subject of public scrutiny and discuss. Thus, the governor ought to make a very good use of “Dakkada” philosophy as a template of governance in the state and by which long term government policy for at least 30 years is anchored instead of wasting time on policies of government.

The Dakkada philosophy must be institutionalized if the originator himself believed in its antecedents. My story line is simple and straight. Market thyself and some day Dakkada philosophy will become the template of governance in the state. With Dakkada Creed, Akwa Ibom has diversified from oil resource to human resource.

The programmes are good enough and can only be made better; Gov Emmanuel must do unto Dakkada what Senator Akpabio did unto uncommon transformation. Dakkada philosophy is a good one, I repeat, promote it and let it be enshrined in the tablet of the hearts of future and upcoming leaders of the state. I say this because, in Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu laid the foundation for the successful leadership series that is currently playing out in the state today to the admiration of Lagosians including non indigenes.

For avoidance of doubt, a brief statistics will suffice, before the coming of Asiwaju Tinubu, Odua People Congress, OPC was a dreaded and fearsome bunch that was used by many landlords to meet jungle justice on tenants, it took the wise counsel of the government through the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General of the state as he then was and now Vice President of the country, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to institute a justice reform that has endured to this date for Lagosians. Today, Lagosians will agree that there is deep mutual respect between property owners and tenants in the state.

Secondly, it was during the administration of Asiwaju Tinubu that the government through the Commissioner for Works as he then was and now the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola designed a bridge that links Itire and Okota at Cele bus-stop along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway which was later commissioned by his successor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola who in his characteristic manner did not fail to inform the public that it was Ogbeni Aregbesola who put the idea together when he was a Commissioner in the State.

My fear is this, laudable though as Dakkada philosophy might be, it can still become a rapid passing phase if not well and adequately promoted. Like a state of matter that remains stationary until acted upon by external force, some lucky lieutenants might chose to remain inactive and let the philosophy dies. One of our musical legends, Inyang Henshaw sang in one of his hit tracks, “we remain this way until death comes upon us”. That is true because some of us are neither idealistic nor productive but we “carry go” because another person will be held responsible.

Has the governor realize that he is in governance and not in government? Then, why play a dumb king in a talkative kingdom. Why waste precious time on policies of government instead of using Dakkada as a government policy. The difference is not and can never be the same.

Akwa Ibom State was a campaign slogan of the two major political parties, APC and PDP in the wake of the 2015 general election. While PDP beckoned on voters to look at the state as a success story, APC said that it was only in Akwa Ibom that PDP had something to boast about.

The point is this, whether for or against, the state was in the front burner of national discuss once upon a time because uncommon transformation put the state in the lips and in the eyes of the public. Let Dakkada do likewise.

And those on the “sidon look” benches must realize that we are all involve in Akwa Ibom project one way or the other, lets support and promote Dakkada as a leadership series that will outlive the originator. While the rest of the country are still mouthing diversification of economy from oil to agriculture with prolong hunger and poverty visible on the scorecard, Dakkada could be made a template of diversification from oil to you and I; the most vital of all resources. I rest my case.

Emmanuel Effiong
08025822110
emmanuelmorblow@yahoo.com

Iniehe se awed

Ikpewe:
Iniehe se awed

you are wrong but thanks all the same