The Story Of The Green Cap Lately, some writers who are obviously impoverished of better lies to tell in order to reduce the raging popularity of (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel, have resorted to the most puerile and insulting blackmail out of understandable frustration. Before, I go on with this brief write-up, I will appeal to you to read this piece and agree or disagree with its contents based on its merit or demerit. You will be deceiving yourself if you go ahead to think that I am writing this because of my preference for (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State. I will be waiting for matured minds to take me up on the issues I will be raising on this essay, going outside the issues will clearly portray you as unfit for the business of matured polemics and political discourses. Truth is: if you can bring up credible facts against the candidature of (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel, I will gladly help you to promote it. That said, we can roll. The green cap is a brand style which (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel has tactfully and consistently created for himself. It is his trademark. He has been so consistent in maintaining this style that there are so many people who do not know his name, but will refer to him as that man with the green cap. Having heard varying things about this green cap and what some people think it represents, I decided to carry out special investigations on what informed Udom’s choice of the green cap. I deliberately avoided seeking for any form of audience with him on this matter, because I was careful not to write from a subjective perspective. I wanted to do my observations and come up with my judgement without the dent of subjectivity. There is nobody who is Udom’s staff who is aware that I will be writing this, there is also none around him, who knows that I have been observing him and his statements with particular interest on knowing what is inside the green cap. As a college student, my school principal wore a cap always, and some of us concocted several dreary stories around our principal’s cap, with the most popular one being that our principal hid a snake under his cap. This snake may be physical or literal. Therefore, in the case of Udom Emmanuel, I was not looking for any physical snake, because his cap have at several times left his scalp. I was interested in finding a literal snake or a literal dove. I found one and not the other, but before I tell you which it is, let me tell you what I understood, informed his choice of green as against blue, black, white or even red. One of the major reasons that he chose the colour green is because of his undying Nigerianess. He is a lover of Nigeria, a patriot to the core. He breathes and lives Nigeria. Green is Nigeria and Nigeria is green. While the colour of our National flag is green, white and green, green is our identity. white is more or less a decoration. This explains why you cannot see any of our sports teams wearing a complete white outfit without specks of green, but they can wear a complete green without the slightest peck of white. Therefore, I observed through these months of observing the Former Secretary to the Akwa Ibom state government., that he uses his green cap to preach Nigeria and celebrate Nigeria. His green cap is an insignia of his undying love for and belief in Nigeria. Listening to him talk about Nigeria, you will observe an unfeigned and passion filled dream for the best for Nigeria. He does not see himself as being different from anybody from any part of Nigeria, he sees himself as a brother to every Nigerian, irrespective of tribe, religion and political dialection. Udom’s green cap is also a reminder to us that he is one of us, since the colour green is the colour of commoners. For instance, during the Renaissance and Middle Ages when colour was used to depict social status, the colour green was worn by merchants, the gentry and bankers, while the colour red was reserved for the nobles. In Nigeria’s National Assembly, the lower House is regarded as the green chamber, while the upper House is regarded as the Red Chamber. No matter how much you may want to hate Udom Emmanuel, you will agree with me that his choice of green as his best colour says a lot about who he is, and what he thinks. Green is the most positive of all colours, it is the colour that is hardly associated with anything bad, not just in Nigeria but the world over. Etymologically, green is gotten from a middle English and Anglo-Saxon word ‘grene’ which has the same Germanic root with the words ‘grass’ and ‘grow’. This explains why the colour ‘green’ is the colour most associated with springtime, nature and growth. It has been scientifically proven that the highest contributor to green in nature is chlorophyll which is the chemical responsible for the photosynthesizing of plants, thereby converting sunlight into energy. Across the world, the colour green is hardly associated with anything bad. In a survey carried out across Europe and the United States, green is the colour most associated with nature, youth, spring and hope. In China, like in Nigeria it is the colour used to represent fertility and prosperity. It is also a colour used in telling the story of wealth and other good things of life. Religiously, I am yet to come in contact with any religion that uses the green colour in a negative sense. It is the most important colour in Islam. It was the colour of the banner of Muhammad, and is found in the flags of all Islamic countries, and represents the lush vegetation of Paradise. It is also often associated with the culture of Gaelic Ireland, and is a colour of the flag of Ireland. Because of its association with nature, it is the colour of the environmental movement. Political groups advocating environmental protection and social justice describe themselves as part of the Green movement, some naming themselves Green parties. This has led to similar campaigns in advertising, as companies have sold green, or environmentally friendly, products. I can go on and on to tell you the beauties of the green colour and it is only the mischievous oriented that will pick the slightest dirt in the green colour. It is the colour of vibrant health and unending wealth. Climate change advocates have adopted the green colour as their colour; they preach green and recommend a green environment as the surest way out of the depleting ozone layer. Green is also the traditional colour of progress, safety, approval and security. When the traffic light turns green, it is the clearest signal for you to move ahead, in the United States of America, the Green Card is the most treasured document of any immigrant. The Nigerian International passport is green. I can go on and on and there won’t be the slightest negative about the green colour. Hence, I can authoritatively recommend that everyone who wants the best for Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria, should think GREEN. Consequently there is a fundamental need and desire for a change for the best. I must concede that the incumbent governor has done well in certain areas like infrastructural transformation and a very serious attempt to address the problems of pensions and gratuities but Akwa Ibom must go beyond the level of better to best. While I thank Akpabio for making Akwa Ibom better than he found it it is also time to move Akwa Ibom from better to best. For the PDP to achieve this,the king makers in PDP has selected a Governship candidates who has an identity, track record of performance in administration,sound education, humble and a man of honour and integrity. Akwa Ibom citizens want a governor who understands and knows the problems of the State. Akwa Ibom people want a governor who will be accessible and conduct himself decorously and decently . Akwa Ibom people want a governor who will respect the rule of law and obey court orders, respect the people and rule with human face. Akwa Ibom people want a governor who is God fearing and can be trusted with his words. Other states of the federation like the western states who have since realized the value of allowing professionals to govern them have made tremendous strides in governance. This is because these cadre of people are well equipped as the philosopher king of Plato’s Republic, Indeed this is what Plato hold in mind when he wrote several centuries ago that only philosopher king should govern. A look at the army of Candidates angling for Hilltop Mansion (Government House) reveals men of timber and caliber but many of them do not possessed most of the qualities listed above. Some are educated but lack Integrity; some do not have administrative experience while some who have administrative experience lack humility. It is only (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel that captures all these qualities and the Akwa Ibomites would do his/herelf a lot of good and favour if they gives (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel the mandate and winning come 2015. Akwa Ibom needs experienced professional and technocrats like (Deacon) Udom Emmanuel to restore sanity in governance in Akwa Ibom State. Udom Emmanuel must as well work hand in hand with people whose track records could be trace. Without being bias Udom must look for the likes of Barr Micheal Mike Anwana, Barr Asam Assam (SAN) Barr Ata Ikiddeh ,Barr Asuquo Okpo, Barr CJ George, Obong Perry Ntuk, and Many Others who i know are good Advisers, Technogrates and Public Speakers as his personal friends/Advisers. Udom must never ignore the likes of Mr Richard Brownson Usen, Barr Luke Onofiok, Mr Nature Udoh Hon Udeme Ukpong Hon. Tony Akan Mr Goodluck Udosen Mr.Charles Bassey Silas Akparawa Bokime Asuquo Akparawa Nse Ubeh Akparawa Steve Eyo Mr. Micheal Joseph Okon ,Engr Emmanuel Nicholas Okokon Mr.Aniekeme Finbarr Mr Franklyn Isong Mr Uwemedimo Udo Mr Ubong David Mr. Essien Ndueso, Mr Eric Ekwere And Many Others interns of Good Leadership, Grassroots mobilization and development Our people say a ‘wise chicken that arrives to a new home usually stands on one foot and watches events before it starts demonstrating rascalism’. My concern is how Udom Emmanuel will create sustainable economic empowerment, open windows of opportunity, and strong support for our elderly, youths and pensioners. Given today’s reality, every community, local government, federal constituency, senatorial district and state must bring their best qualified and most driven people forward to contest for various political offices. We must elect people whose primary interest is to serve the interest of Akwa Ibom citizens. The government can no longer be a platform for people to solve their personal financial problems. The Electorates immediate concern that requires urgent intervention is the number of young men and women, who in spite of their education are not gainfully engaged in any form of economic activity. We cannot sit around and overstretch their threshold; otherwise the social challenge will be quite enormous. It is against this background, we must seek someone who is capable and motivated to lead.... The challenges we have in our hand does not make room for mediocre…it’s not for people whose businesses are in trouble and want to use state resources to sort them out. Our teachers, public and civil servants must be motivated. Our pensioners must be reassured; our students must be guaranteed a better tomorrow. That is the way forward. My plea is for Akwa Ibomites to allow Udom Emmanuel to Govern Us. My thinking was that, since this man was training other people’s children with his own funds he could do a lot more if placed in authority. There were no pecuniary considerations whatsoever for my support. Secondly, I was eager to prove to the people that the Primaries that Udom won in November 1st was not a fluke that I could even win by proxy. That PDP is the party of choice in Akwa Ibom State.., Do you nurse any fear about 2015? There are concerns here and there but not enough to shake or derail our democracy. There is no fear whatsoever. If I had any fear, I wouldn’t embark on this project. With regards to our election in Akwa Ibom, we have improved on our strategy of what we did in 2007 and 2011. As they will say in the streets: ‘No shaking”. Akparawa Itohoimo Udosen Udom Is Right Southern Africa Region +27788744577..
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 14:30:21 +0000
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