Akwa Ibom State has come a long way. The state that hitherto wallowed in underdevelopment, poverty, ignorance and illiteracy has, over the last five years or so, meandered its way to the forefront for consideration for the award of the most rapidly developed state. The transformation that has taken place in the state, which the governor and his army of supporters describe as ‘uncommon’, attests to the fact that when there is political will, backed by adequate resources, it is possible for the governed to feel the real impact of governance.
Governor Godswill Akpabio has set a standard for development, below which his successors cannot afford, or rather, will not be allowed, to go. This would be proof of the fact that the governed have become more politically aware, and therefore discerning enough to know what to expect from those they elect into office.
The debate that is currently raging in Akwa Ibom State appears, quite regrettably and rather disappointingly, to be centred on where the next governor should come from; which senatorial district and which tribe should produce Akpabio’s successor. Political discourse appears to be devoid of the more important consideration for the qualities that the next governor should possess. Nobody seems to be bothered about who the governor that would collect the baton from Akpabio on May 29, 2015 should be and what he should represent. It is as if the people of the state would be satisfied, after all is said and done, that the governor has come from the right section of the state, or from the right tribe. It would not matter if, in 2019, the governor’s stewardship makes it seem as if Akpabio’s performance was an aberration.
The lukewarm attitude of the generality of the people towards the electoral process has its roots in the penchant by elected representatives to promise much and deliver very little. The average politician is seen as someone that cannot be trusted to keep his words. The late Chief Clement Isong, the Second Republic governor of the then Cross River State, said at his valedictory service that his greatest lesson in politics was that in Nigeria, to be a successful politician, one must be able to call black white, and vice versa.
If we have seen what appears to be a departure from the past in some in the present crop of leaders, especially in the states, it is probably because of the readiness of the people to now hold their leaders accountable; the growing participation of the people, through democratic institutions like the judiciary and civil society groups, in the democratic process and the free of expression that comes with democracy. It is in line with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s assertion that the worst form of democracy is better than the most benevolent military dictatorship.
The people of Akwa Ibom deserve more than the crude debate on the section of the state that should ‘produce’ the next governor. Akpabio has not performed wonders because he is an Annang from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. Nor can it be said that his predecessors did not fare so well because they were all Ibibios, from the Uyo Senatorial District. What the incumbent has going for him, which was not available to his predecessors in similar amounts, are resources.
Akwa Ibom State is not exempt from the political sophistication that has become the hallmark of our democracy. That is to say that the people of the state, like others throughout the country, have become so enlightened as to rise above sectional sentiments. The state does not need a run-of-the mill politician who would be more interested in satisfying interests, especially the interests that were responsible for his emergence. It does not need someone who would see the office of governor as the yield from a long period of investment in politics.
We should be more interested in a governor with the training, experience, personality and integrity that is required to manage the resources of the state and utilize them in the best interest of the people. It is not enough to sit atop a gold mine. What is more important is ability and integrity to manage the mine properly in the interest of those that own it.
With the giant strides that Akwa Ibom has recorded so far, the people of the state must insist that the next governor answers questions that should have nothing to do with the senatorial district he comes from, or the tribe he represents. Where is he coming from, and what has he got to offer? If he is coming from the public sector, what is his track record and what else can he achieve, that is, granted that he has anything significant to show as achievement? If he is coming from the private sector, how equipped is he for the turbulent waters of public office?
The focus all over the country today, at the national and state levels, is the involvement of the private sector in the provision of almost all the ramifications of development – infrastructure, healthcare, education, tourism, employment generation, etc. In fact, the recent handover of the power sector to private establishments is premised on the fact that real development does not lie in the hands of the government. Before the development that promises to change the equation in power supply, the government had, in its privatization programme, sold public enterprises to private investors, because of the indisputable fact that it cannot successfully run businesses.
The political field in the state is crowded by professional politicians who have either been in the corridors of power for quite some time, and therefore consider the governorship as the ultimate crown for a meritorious political career, or were somehow part of the political system, and need the office of the governor as compensation for their long years in the system. It requires more than all these to make the state live out its sobriquet of Land of Promise.
Akwa Ibom needs a governor with a track record of performance and proven managerial competence. He must be someone who understands that the private sector is the engine of growth and harbinger of development, and must therefore be conversant with the workings of that sector, for the purpose of attracting the much needed investment into the state. We need a governor who must be able to rise above sectional interests and unite the people for the development of the state; a man that is genuinely committed to the public good.
Many years of dealing with the usual politicians left the state prostrate, until a different politician came along. We need a politician of a different hue. We need a governor who will challenge Akpabio’s performance. Free primary and secondary education is no longer a big deal, as almost all the states in the country are offering it. If Imo State, which does not get up to one-tenth of what Akwa Ibom collects from the federation account can afford free education up to university level, the next governor of the state should make not just education at all levels, but also healthcare, free for all. Akwa Ibom, with a smaller population than Imo, can afford it.
The current debate should focus less on zoning, if it is for the simplistic and unprogressive purpose of ensuring that every section of the state takes its turn in having a son (or daughter?) in the Governors Lodge as tenant. The so-called kingmakers in the state should be more concerned about selecting and pushing forward a candidate with the fear of God, who would be clear about the expectations of the people of the state for a governor that would strive to make Akpabio’s performance look ordinary.
If the pace of development cannot move faster from 2015, it should at least be at the current state. The gains that have been recorded in the last five years must not be lost because sectionalism was allowed to overshadow merit.
Etokette, a lawyer from Akwa Ibom, lives in Lagos