By Omen Bassey
We have painfully witnessed and experienced a progressive political and
economic emasculation of Oro Nation between 2007 till date. Read and See picture as shared below..
Although
some of us choose to see it as a mere happenstance or a coincidental
event which will be sorted out in due course,or which can be explained
away whipping partisan political sentiments, the reaction of Mr Essien
Ndueso, Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Media has helped
to confirm our fear that the political marginalization, economic
emasculation and annihilation of Oro is a deliberate policy of the state
government.
Responding to my recent post querying why eleven
appointments would be made without a single representative from the five
Local Government Areas of Oro Nation, Mr Essien Ndueso commented thus
on facebook :
" I don't like joining issues with such reasonings,
but permit me Mr Omen Bassey to ask, is Dr Akon Eyakenyi not the
Chairman of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic Board? Is she not from Oro
Nation? Now, the APC you and your co-travellers celebrated in 2015, why
have they not given Oro anything apart from the one one board membership
at the federal level? Ok na yak ndi"
After reading the foregoing
comment,I don't think any discerning reader and keen observer of
unfolding political and economic events in the State will still doubt
that the Udom Emmanuel administration is acting a script meant to
completely destroy Oro politically, economically and socially.
1.IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO.
From the creation of Akwa Ibom State, through the military era and the
first civilian administration of the State under Obong Akpan Isemin,
political offices in the State were allocated on the basis of 5:3:2 in
favour of Ibibio, Annang and Oro.
Although Obong Victor Attah didn't
religiously continue with this sharing formula, he nonetheless ensured
that Oro remained an integral part of the power structure of the State.
In addition to producing the State Chairman of the ruling Party and
Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Oro also produced full time
Chairmen of Boards/Commissions and several Board members.
Our only
complaint then was in the number of Commissioners allocated Oro, which
of course didnt accord with the previous arrangement.
Of course Obong
Attah ran a much smaller State Executive Council than those of Godswill
Akpabio and Udom Emmanuel.
There's no gainsaying that with Speaker of
the State Assembly and State Chairman of the Party in addition to
Secretary of the State caucus, Oro was part of the power equation and to
the best of my knowledge, it didn't hurt the State.The State existed as
one without unnecessary ethnic tension.
Sadly, without
explanation and justification, Chief Godswill Akpabio began the process
of relegating Oro politically and economically.By the end of that
administration in May 2015, Oro had been completely excluded from the
socio-economic and political development of the State.
Oro had been
serially raped and left gasping for breath. Regrettably, some Oro people
who claim political wizardry either turned blind eyes to the bleeding
body of Oro, paid deaf ears to its spirited cries for help or in a
strange collusion with the oppressor justified that callous act.Today,
some of them have been denied the promised twelve pieces of silver for
which they betrayed and sold their grand children.
2.HERE COMES GOVERNOR UDOM EMMANUEL.
If Oro people complained of marginalization, relegation,humiliation and
psychological torture under Akpabio, it never occurred to them that
Akpabio only implemented the preface of a well thought out script.
They
never knew that Governor Udom Emmanuel would take this inhuman act to a
more ridiculous and preposterous dimensions.
A.POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS UNDER UDOM EMMANUEL.
In a 24 member State Executive Council, the Governor could only appoint
two Commissioners of Oro extraction. The fact that Oro had three under
Akpabio meant and still means nothing to him.
Whereas Akwa Ibom State and
Eket Senatorial District have so many Commissioners that even Onna, the
Governor's Local Government Area has one.Could that one have been added
to Oro since Onna has already produced the almighty Governor? Your
guess is as good as mine.
It would be recalled that in the heat
of the 2015 campaigns, certain political actors from Oro spoke boldly of
how Akpabio and Udom promised to compensate Oro with the position of
Secretary to the State Government(SSG)as a form of compensation for
cheating Oro out of the governorship position. Has it happened?
So far, Governor Emmanuel has constituted 10 Boards/Commissions of 63
members. Out of these, 8 are full time while 2 are part time.
An Oro
person is Part time Chairman of just 1 of the 10 Boards.As if that isn't
bad enough, Governor Udom Emmanuel's sense of fairness found Oro worthy
of a paltry 5 slots out of a total of 63 board positions? What
parameters were used to arrive at this?Population? Federal
Constituencies? Senatorial Districts? State Constituencies? Resource
Contribution? Someone, please help.
Moreso,out of the more than
300 Personal Aides(Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants,
Personal Assistants and Project Supervisors) appointed by the Governor,
the five Local Government Areas of Oro Nation were grudgingly allocated
an abysmal 13 places.
The breakdown of the 13 is as follows:
a.Senior Special Assistant -1
b.Special Assistants - 9
c.Project Supervisors -3.
b.Special Assistants - 9
c.Project Supervisors -3.
While a Local Government Area like Udung Uko has only one so- called
Project Supervisor and one Board Member to show, some Local Government
Areas, including the Governor's boast of several appointments, some up
to forty.
As I write, out of about 40 Permanent Secretaries in
the State Civil Service, Oro has only 4.How was it shared?If you reduce
the sharing to 1 per Local Government Area, Oro would still have a
minimum of 5.
It's obvious that while some have none, other Local
Government Areas have between 2 and 3.What parameters were used?
Under this administration, Oro doesn't have anybody in the State Working
Committee of the ruling Party.I'm sure if the constitution of the Party
didn't provide for at least one Exco member per Local Government Area,
Oro would probably not have anybody in the State Exco.
B. ECONOMIC STRANGULATION OF ORO:THE CRUDE POLITICS BEHIND THE SEAPORT PROJECT.
No project in the history of Akwa Ibom State has been as politicised as the so-called Deep Seaport project.
In order to disqualify Ibaka from hosting the harbour, Chief Akpabio
reportedly got consultants who claimed Ibaka which hitherto had probably
the deepest coastline in Nigeria was no longer suitable for a seaport
on the scientifically untenable excuse that the coastline has within six
years become too shallow to harbour a seaport.
In it's place, a
Dugout Port, with the accompanying disadvantages was recommended to be
sited in Okposo.Curiously, the compromised Consultants shamelessly
stated that their report shouldn't be referenced.
Question is,
if Ibaka which was far deeper than any other coast in this State has
become shallow, what would become of the ones which were even shallow ab
initio?Did mermaids or "Mummy water" dredge theirs and heap the sand in
Ibaka?
i. BETWEEN AN INTERNATIONAL JETTY/INDUSTRIAL PARK AND DEEP SEAPORT/INDUSTRIAL CITY.
Our Governor will do well to explain the difference(s) between the
recently announced International Jetty/Industrial Park in Ikot Abasi and
the endlessly proposed Deep Seaport/ Industrial City in Mbo Local
Government Area.Is this new project not meant to substitute the
seaport?Why is everything about the seaport stagnating and crawling
while the jetty is flying with jet speed?
If the State Government is
at least remotely interested in siting a seaport in Ibaka, why are dual
carriageways constructed to cul de sacs while the road which leads to
the proposed port is impassable? Is the road also waiting for the
approval of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Consultants?
ii. LIKE THE AIRPORT, LIKE THE SEAPORT.
The State Government entertains us with stories of a proposed super
highway to take traffic to and from the seaport.
Interestingly, the
super highway is designed to start from Ibeno and traverse the forests
to Mbo in its first phase.The second phase(only God knows if it will
ever happen)will stretch from Mbo through the original route of the
seaport to Oron Local Government Area.
It's noteworthy that when
Obong Victor Attah mooted the idea of a seaport and airport as part of
the plan to create an industrial and economic hub in Akwa Ibom State,
the seaport and airport were conceived to feed each other with cargoes.
Why is the super highway meant for the seaport starting from Ibeno?
So, just like the airport, the seaport will take part of Oro's land
while Oro will be made to be in its backyard.
Mbo people will be
compelled to travel to Ibeno through Eket before accessing a seaport
which would have taken a large chunk of their land and coastline.Just as
Okobo people have to turn to Nsit Attai before making use of an airport
which is located on their soil.
The so- called 2nd phase of the
industrial city project which is meant to accomodate Mbo Local
Government Area is a ruse which will never materialize.
The politics behind the siting of the seaport is the last straw meant to make Oro lay prostrate economically forever.
Yes, Udom Emmanuel has done some roads in Oron Local Government Area.
But please, we can't exchange the seaport with a few roads nor can we
substitute political inclusion by way of appointments with these few
roads.
C. WHO IS REPRESENTING ORO IN UDOM'S KITCHEN CABINET?WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE ALMIGHTY "SYSTEM" ?
Every government has a few close persons who mostly meet informally to
take decisions for the majority. We knew Oro people who were in Obong
Isemin's kitchen cabinet and we knew those of them who played that role
in Obong Attah's tenure.
We never knew any in Chief Akpabio's era
and we are yet to identify one in this administration. These are people
who ensure that appointments and infrastructures take cognizance of the
various interests, segments and sections of the State which they
represent.
Unfortunately,it's common to hear certain ignorant Oro
politicians brag about their membership of a certain "system". Besides
the crumbs they obviously pick from the ground to build ephemeral houses
and buy transient cars, nothing has been done for their communities.
If
anything, while they raise their shoulders because of the "system",
their community is getting weaker and poorer everyday.
Many times I ask
myself if they are as confident as their peers from other parts of the
State while interacting in the infamous system.
Today, Oro is
like a thoroughly starved man who is willing to eat anything even
without condiments, provided it rescues him from hunger,starvation and
imminent death.
This State wants us to celebrate tokens when we deserve
much more.And others who don't contribute as much as we do to the State
treasury are taking much more as a matter of entitlement.
It may
be necessary to remind Mr Essien Ndueso that his appointment as media
aide to the Governor has more to do with where he comes from than his
professional competence.
If he was an indigene of Udung Uko LGA, I'm sure
he wouldn't be that one Project Supervisor appointed from there.
The same young man published an article on 29th September, 2014
entitled "AKPABIO'S ERA AND THE REALITY IN ORO NATION" in which he stood
truth, facts and logic in the heads in an attempt to cast aspersion on
Oro and justify his pay master's dehumanization of a people .Some of
the things he claimed Akpabio did for Oro are the same things Udom
claims to be redressing today.
Any state which is bedevilled by
media practitioners and young men who have no regard or knowledge of the
truth has a very difficult and rough future.
"Conscience is an open wound which only the truth can heal"
The problem with this eternally true quote as it concerns our State is
that there seems to be a complete absence of conscience because
conscience is synonymous with godliness and where there's God, truth,
justice and fairness abide.
Oro, it's time to take our destiny in
our hands if the sweat and sacrifices of our forebears who gave up
temporary comfort and relevance to give us a name will not speak against
us.
Yak Abazi odiong Oro.
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