2015: Letter to my friend, our president BY CHRIS EKPENYONG When other Nigerians joined us in the South South to elect you as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2011, it was with a hope and a promise. The hope was that by electing a completely corrupt-free, humane, simple and humble person like you and ditching the stereotypical politician with airs of arrogance, mouths of corruption and fists of dictatorship, Nigeria could press ahead with long overdue reforms in all sectors and restore some credibility to the country’s image. The promise, especially for us in the South South, was that you will find a way to keep at a comfortable distance, all the age long discrimination, exploitation, neglect, rejection, abandonment and deprivation our people have been made to suffer from the Nigerian nation. Nearly three years after, I can join majority of Nigerians to say the hope has certainly not been dashed though it has not also been fully fulfilled. In this respect, it is not your making Sir. The razor – thin line between the fulfilled and dashed hope comes from our seeming penchant for toying with reforms. Several reforms by government have a way to being hit at, no matter how great that reform may seem to help us at the end of the day. Your reforms in the power sector, with all the hopes of ensuring we get steady and sustainable electricity to power our nation, has been severely hit at by critics who do not have much to offer as alternative. Your reform in the petroleum industry through the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is being treated with tough opposition even when the industry is dependent on same for growth. Your reforms on fuel subsidy with the all important target of saving money for the nation and making correct policy of petroleum product in sync with sustainable availability of the product is still being viewed with contempt. As a people, we resist change a lot and that is regardless of the obvious advantages to come there from. I pray you do not look too often at these resistances when you know that the reforms will eventually help our nation. As our leader, you need to be strong-willed, decisive and focused. Do not worry about the fact that you will be slandered during the process; your gain will come from their praises once the reforms get through and is working. The promise, I can safely say, has not been kept. Hard as I find it to say, I must say to you: Sir, you have not done us too well in the Niger Delta. I actually got the inspiration to write this letter after a horrifying, terrifying, petrifying and frightening experience on a trip to and fro Calabar, from my Uyo base, on Saturday, 26th October, 2013. As I stayed over four hours at the same spot on the completely broken down road, all my mind went to was 2015 and the politics of your re-election. I am one of those who think you have a constitutional right to a second term in office. I also think, as a South-South elder, that you stand at a better chance and position to fly the flag of the region in the coming battle that may see us at loggerhead with our other brothers. What I do not, however, want is to be sentimental and emotional in my support for you. I want to campaign for you with my head high and my hearts deep. How do I do this when I pass through that road and realize we have a brother as a President? How do I do this when all through our region our roads are daily becoming killing fields for our people? How do I do this when the construction of the East West road is still moving at snail speed? How do I do this when the Aba-Ikot Ekpene-Calabar road; the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene road; the Calabar-Ogoja-Katsina-Ala road and other roads in my vicinity are begging for attention? That same Saturday, I heard on national television that the federal executive council approved the construction (or was it re-construction or rehabilitation) of over 35,000 kilometres of roads nationwide. What I didn’t hear were the names of major roads in your South-South region. I am not talking politics here Sir. I speak out of my concern for you and the politics of 2015. I want the South-South to have a reason to support and market you to Nigerians. I know that a lot of our elders and top political office holders have told you that things are okay and that 2015 will be a pass over. They are not sincere with you. If you take a tour of the South-South region, on road, you will be amazed and shocked at the state of things and the state of the majority of our people. I have spoken with fellow Elders and other compatriots and they have told me what they won’t tell you: That there is insensitivity to their plight; that you need to deploy federal might to help our development process.There is a heightening in the level of insecurity currently in the region. It is sad that this should have been a thing of the past given the much done in the area of amnesty and security. It shows that the people are still frustrated and this may not augur well for the electoral process. We need a period of relative peace and security in which the next election can hold. We must find a way to patiently entangle the problem by creating development, generating opportunities and maximizing our gains. Let performance, not politics, drive you back to office in 2015. I know by the time this letter gets to you, you will be told I am opposed to you politically. Truth be told and you know me for standing by the truth: I am your brother. I am your good friend. It is only a good brother and friend that can sum up courage to tell you what I am telling you. Those who advance the theory that I am opposed to you teeter precariously on a much more slipping slope of being insensitive to our people. That is the main opposition because if they tell you the mood of our people and you do something fast before the elections, you will get a 100 percent support from home. But they do not want you to get home support. So, they encircle you and put you under their cover. Please, my friend and brother, break loose, go round, sample opinions and let us gain from your presidency. The remaining one year is still enough to achieve this. After achieving this, please go back and sleep. 2015 will be yours for the asking. *Ekpenyong, an engineer, is a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 17:14:37 +0000
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