By ETIM ETIM
A new political pastime has emerged in Akwa Ibom State since the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno joined APC last year. Championed by two groups of malicious and malevolent politicians, the game entails intentionally provoking, teasing or annoying the governor to trigger an emotional and angry reaction from him. Their aim is to create a dispute between the governor and his predecessor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, through rumours and false information. By seeking to introduce divisive politics and personal animosities between the current and former governor, these baiters want to split Akwa Ibom into two warring factions, create discord and weaken our collective influence as a people. They want the state to return to the era of Abuja front; Lagos front and home front and they hope to reap financial and political benefits if war erupts. We have seen it before.
About two weeks ago, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe stated that the EFCC had seized some property belonging to former governor Udom Emmanuel, and that it was Gov. Eno who instigated the anti-graft agency to swoop on the former governor. The state government promptly denied the allegation, and insisted that the governor had never reported anybody to the EFCC or enabled someone to report anybody, his predecessor most of all, to the anti-graft agency. Information Commissioner Aniekan Umanah said Akpanudoedehe’s intention was to ‘’incite the public and create tension’’. A week after, the governor visited Udom Emmanuel’s hometown in Onna LGA to commission a road, which incidentally was initiated, but abandoned by the former governor. As the event progressed, a traditional ruler in the community asked the governor to revamp some cottage enterprises which were set up by the former governor, but had gone out of business immediately he left office.
The enterprises include a syringe factory; flour mill and a plywood factory. They were all located in the former governor’s village. In his response, Eno told the crowd that those businesses did not belong to the state government and so, the government couldn’t intervene in their affairs. In any case, the governor said, the shareholders and directors of those businesses have never asked for the government’s help and so, the government step into other people’s businesses. Then, the governor switched to Ibibio language and used the word ‘’unadot’’, an old vocabulary which means ‘’those people’’ to refer to the owners of the moribund businesses.
It was a simple and straightforward message that was clear to all. But no sooner had the governor finished speaking than the baiters misinterpreted his words, insinuating that Pastor Eno had gone to Udom Emmanuel’s village to pour invectives on him. Again, the governor was forced to come out to issue clarifications, stressing that ‘’I will never insult my predecessor, who is my godfather, or any other leader in the state’’.
Since Gov Eno’s defection to APC last year, we have been seeing increasing frequencies of baiters either making false allegations against him or twisting his words and misinforming people in order to provoke, tease, taunt, goad or ridicule him. Their aim is to lure him into a trap and put him up as a careless talker. For them, the peace and political harmony that has enveloped the state since Eno’s election in 2023 is an anathema. Although old divisions have given way to unity, the baiters want to create internal conflict to force the governor to spend time, energy and money managing infighting and public relations crises, rather than using the resources for the development of the state. They hope that an open conflict and the ensuing state of internal hostility and instability would compel the governor to release money ceaselessly into their bank accounts.
I have identified two major groups of baiters in the state. The smaller group is made up of mostly those who have one grievance or the other against the former governor. They complain that they did not receive adequate patronage from his administration. They want war so that Udom Emmanuel would be humiliated, vanquished and tossed aside in the manner that Obong Victor Attah and Godswill Akpabio were treated after they left office. In this group also are those who are not happy with the incumbent governor for having abandoned the PDP where they were enjoying considerable influence and financial rewards. They therefore want to stoke discord to attract Eno’s attention and favours.
The bigger group of baiters consists of the governor’s political opponents in PDP, ADC and Labour parties. Their assumption is that they would stand a better chance in the polls if the state descends into another spell of crisis. A governorship candidate of one of these parties who craved anonymity told me last week: ‘’The job of the opposition is to intimidate the incumbent, weaken him and make him unelectable or make the state ungovernable’’. In other words, these agitators are baiting the governor into making angry, unhinged or controversial statements which they could use to ruin his reputation, sow discord and damage his standing before the voters. It’s the ultimate tactics of the opposition and Eno must be alert to this. The opposition is not interested in making the incumbent comfortable, but at the same time, no government will brook incitement and malicious falsehood. Striking a balance between campaign for votes and launching incendiary missiles is therefore the key responsibility of all contestants.
It is notable that Eno himself has vowed to break the cycle of governor-predecessor fights in the state. He cannot afford to take the baits thrown by the baiters. In the past, political battles between the former and current leaders have sapped resources, weakened the governor’s ability to govern and drained resources from productive sectors. Pastor Eno owes us a duty to stay focused on the path he has cut for his administration. The first step is to identify and neutralize all those who claim to be his supporters, but are, at the same time, stoking enmity between him and his his predecessors. Such supporters are the modern Jekyll and Hyde of Akwa Ibom politics.
ETIM ETIM is a veteran journalist and PR professional with over 35 years of cognate experience.
He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Policy & Politics (www.policyandpolitics.com.ng), an online newspaper dedicated to insightful analysis of Nigerian news and world’s report. He is also a columnist with BusinessDay and The Cable and is a regular contributor to other newspapers.
Contact: +234802 3159969 (WhatsApp Only)
