WHAT DID BERNARD UDOH FORGET IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY? BY UBONG SAMPSON His case is not too different from that of retired military officers who, after having a filled reign of embezzling government funds that would have gone a long way in effective changes in the nation’s economy, are now resurfacing shamelessly to seek votes from the citizens to lead the country. A handful of them had ruled for years, yet had barely recorded any significant achievement to be remembered for. These are the same people who have gone under the guise of democracy, having pulled out of their military attire, to lure us into believing that they have anything to offer the masses better than what the little and somewhat weak efforts of the all-time civilian leaders have been offering so far since we were freed from the shackles of their military dictatorship. So sad a nightmare that would be. Taking the case of Rtd General Muhamadu Buhari as an instance; I once read an online post which the writer was asking for reasons to be convinced that Buhari if made a civilian president, will ever achieve what he was nowhere close to achieving then as a military dictator; and though he mentioned no name in the said post, every close range follower of political developments in the country expectedly should know without any mentioned name, who the writer had in mind; but for the sake of those in the other category, I have saved you the stress of any thought. To anyone who do not play games with telling the truth whenever need arises; the writer could not have been any righter. Of course if I am asked to speak the writer’s mind, it’s high time Buhari quitted this game of self deceit and wake up to reality- reality that only Nigerians who still use manuals to make use of their brains can offer him votes in any election. If Buhari was as good as he wants us to believe he is, Nigeria my country would not have been crawling on its knees today. Perhaps I and others in my generation would have been celebrating the former head of state today for having joined in the onerous labour towards making our country a developed or manageably, a genuinely developing one. After being part of the ruling teams for over a decade and eventually ruling for about a year, I am yet to see or even read of any positive feat recorded by the Buhari regime. All I have heard of is that he made policies that brought untold hardship to the average Nigerian citizen. Who knows if he is also part of the immigrants from Egypt? Well, let that be a story for another day. However, there is this other story that might equally interest you, since it is somewhat similar to the Buhari story. Perhaps, he is one of those who would describe Buhari as his role model, and his Nigerian origin as being the best thing that has ever happened to this country. You may see or described him as the Buhari of Akwa Ibom if you so wish, though unlike Buhari, he was never opprtuned to be in charge of the state. Rt. Hon. Bernard Udoh is the name and he was in charge of the three local government areas, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin and (Eastern Obolo) making up the federal constituency named after Ikot Abasi. That this man wasted twelve (12) good years and opportunities of the federal constituency was not news enough to be held longer than necessary; but the real and shocking news is that after being bundled out of the National Assembly’s lower chambers by the then angry people of his constituency, the said Bernard Udoh, just barely four (4) years after, wants to return to the same chambers and occupy same seat. Now like a young man from Mkpat Enin had asked, did Bernard Udoh forget anything in the National Assembly? Truth is, irrespective of how ridiculous this may sound to your ears, nothing still changes it from the truth; and since learning of this sad but comic development, these questions I could hardly keep off my mind. Borrowing the question of the earlier mentioned Mkpat Enin man; could it be that Uncle Bernard actually failed to pack all his belongings in the National Assembly and now wants to return just for that purpose? If the response to the above goes in the affirmative, how does he intend to convince the electorates this time, having spent the area’s first twelve years since the advent of democracy in 1999 in avarice, satisfying only his personal pockets? What lie is he going to tell this time, and what agenda is he coming up with that as much as twelve years was not enough to develop and execute? Fact remains that this man evidently has nothing good in his mandate-seeking mind except his never-satisfied and interminable quest for political power and wealth acquisition. And before two or more persons begin falling for his gambit, may I put as a reminder to whoever it may concern that before recently joining the contest to the federal house, Uncle Bernard was caught many times in his act of political prostitution running from one gubernatorial race contender’s camp to the other. He started with Obong Umana Umana who then was still reigning in political powers. Shortly after the ouster of UOU, the cash tap stopped flowing in excess and upon failing to meet the taste of his greed; Uncle Bernard could barely wait a day longer before folding his tent and re-pitching same in Obong Bassey Albert’s camp. With the kind of fanfare being made a grand feature in OBA’s camp, Uncle Bernard I believe never stopped thanking his stars when he eventually got OBA’s attention. And being a new arrival, who then just left office under whatever circumstance that was as irrelevant as the appointment itself; OBA, of course had so much virgin money to throw in the air, therefore Uncle Bernard apparently must have had his fill before switching to Benjamin Okoko who then just won a N120m jackpot and decided to join the race. His reason for leaving OBA, according to him was that some spirit was hunting him and asking him why he had to leave aspirants from Eket Senatorial District for those in Uyo S.D, when those in the former are favoured by Governor Akpabio’s defined equity. Please safe your laughter, for it is not a laughter for today. Now, should I have any reason(s) not to concede that he Uncle Bernard wasted no time in getting a fair share of Okoko’s Jackpot money; why then was he in so much hurry to run to Udom’s camp? Having supported three potential governors and now on the fourth one, Uncle Bernard if I’m asked, is already counting his blessings while his bank account(s) is expectedly competing with a swollen kidney. This however is no one’s business, except that the deceitfully acquired money is equally deceiving him into believing that the yearly calendar is still showing 1999 and early 20s when poverty had dealt so much with his people that the little proceeds he could gather from his beef (cow meat) business was just enough to buy him a ticket to the green chambers. Someone should help me tell Uncle Bernard that things have far gone better than he knew and ever thought of before he took that trip to political exile. Be that as it may, the only economic or social importance of Uncle Bernard to the area is his imbecilic sense of reasoning which has totally turned him into a piece for comic relief. Imagine putting so much pressure on the governor to help him return to the National Assembly, and when asked why he wanted to return despite having stayed 12 years and apparently to the success of his pockets only, all Uncle Bernard could tell the governor was that he was yet to have an exit plan before being forced out of office. May we now laugh together? At least, we can make this very one a story for today’s laughter. For indeed this man has never stopped making a ridicule of himself; and even the governor did not spare the opportunity in telling him how much of a disappointment he has been and still is. I recently heard from a source how Uncle Bernard was complaining of how hard it is staying out of government and how he has been struggling to cope with the experience and my humble question was, before 1999, how was he coping? Both Uncle Ben and I know that he was neither in the military that was in charge of administration at all levels of government except at the local level; and since Uncle Ben is not known to have been in any of these, then he must have had a life before venturing into the political enterprise. If this could be affirmed, then why can’t he re-establish or rejuvenate that life and get busy in at least one legitimate trade, while intermittently sneaking in and out of the political scene to tap from whoever falls for his gambit. Like the young man had said of Buhari, what Uncle Ben could not achieve, the constituents he could not empower and the primary democratic dividends he could barely make available at the disposal of his people all through his first twelve(12) years in office; no magic or miracle can help him do same in another four years. And lest Uncle Bernard never knew, we all are aware that the whole drama of the traditional injunction he was served by elders was a movie he initiated, wrote the scripts, directed and sponsored just to present his avaricious, subtle disposition to the public in white garment. As for Uncle Ben’s claim of being hunted by spirits or demons because he was supporting aspirants outside Eket senatorial district, I am still waiting to hear him attribute his aspiration to the same spirit; but before anyone considers taking him serious, or at least, pretend to do so; can he tell the whole world where exactly this spirit was, all the while he was enjoying UOU’s largesse? And now that he has ditched Benjamin Okoko for the ‘Right Hand’ trend, I hope and really do hope the spirit of Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency will not also revolt in envy and, maybe soon afterwards, that of Oron Federal Constituency too, since the area is still resolute in their agitation for tribal zoning. However, on a final note, Uncle Bernard’s dream of returning to the federal house so as to have an exit plan, methinks, should be given a second thought and possibly considered, but that should only be when the same spirit that hunted him into this greedy aspiration also hunts the people of the federal constituency into supporting him. It was an old famous Calabar woman who was fond of saying while alive, “um’ukpaha, nso umu’duak’ ikid”?- Meaning, until you are dead, you will never stop seeing wonders. And I would have no doubts should anyone tell me that it was characters like Bernard that she usually had in mind whenever she made this statement. CULLED FROM THE SINE QUA NON COLUMN OF COMMUNITY PULSE NEWSPAPER, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014 EDITION. UBONG SAMPSON IS A PUBLIC/POLITICAL/CURRENT/ACADEMIC AFFAIRS ANALYST.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:41:12 +0000
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