AKWA IBOM STATE: MY POSITION ON THE POLITICS OF SUCCESSION AND THE MANIPULATIONS AHEAD OF 2015 Fellow citizens of Akwa Ibom State, We live in very challenging times! I am compelled by the heat now being generated in our state, over the question of succession and who should succeed Governor Godswill Akpabio, to enter a frank and honest opinion by my own hand. Let us be clear on a few things: 1. Power belongs to almighty God and He will assign it to whomsoever He chooses. The current permutations, additional mathematics, pools-betting, gambling, forensic forecasting and power-speaking by all concerned are, therefore, of no moment and of no consequence! Only God’s will will be done in this matter; 2. While there have been reported attempts by a few power blocs to position certain candidates ahead of others in the 2015 gubernatorial race and whereas democracy permits of such activities, it is important to caution that such power blocs must refrain from the use of the apparatus of government in the pursuit of their particularistic objectives; 3. With regards to Paragraph 2 above and with reference to certain published positions concerning recommendations purported to have been made by some elements of the State Executive Council to His Excellency, Governor Akpabio, over a possible choice of successor, I believe that it would be of profit to the State if these Executive Council members would focus on delivering the services to the people that the Governor appointed them to do. Fortunately, I am advised that His Excellency wisely rejected this approach and stated that the race is open; 4. I re-affirm that whereas I believe that there is no ethnic pathway to the Governorship and whereas I abhor particularism and the advancement of tribal or lingual tendencies as the basis for aspiring to any office in our state, I am nonetheless firmly in support of equity, fair-play, justice and good conscience in the distribution of our collective patrimony, with all having equal access to state power and to power resources, including the institutions of our government; 5. In connection with the principle stated in Paragraph 4 above, I advise against any attempt to grant preferential access to state power to any candidate by any person or authority as far as the 2015 gubernatorial race is concerned. This will be unjustified and capable of leading only to chaos and to social and political unrest. All peace-loving Akwa Ibom people will not support this tendency; 6. In this wise, any candidate, real or potential, presently living and working within the structures of government, and no matter how highly placed, must be careful to avoid utterances which suggests that he has access to state resources, including documents, which might confer more than due advantage on his candidacy in this gubernatorial race. Such statements are an embarrassment to the Governor, the government and to our people at large; 7. I believe that the 2015 Governorship would be contested and won on the basis of a superior program of action; upon demonstration of superior will, competence, knowledge, exposure and experience; in good conscience driven by Godly principles and upon the endorsement and support of the people. It will not be won through reliance on existing, highly placed government officials and personalities. In 2015, only the will of God will be done; 8. I believe that no attempt at imposition, of any candidate, will meet the principle of fairness; will justify the ordinance of equity and would satisfy the commandment of good conscience! I believe that the Governor would never attempt this as he knows this to be against the will of God, by who’s will he became the Governor, against all temporal forces to the contrary; 9. I believe Godswill will respect the will of God and establish a free, honest, open and transparent succession process; 10. Having said this, I will close this statement with a future view. There will be continuity and change in a few dimensions in a post-2015 administration in Akwa Ibom State, the most critical of which will be to reset the strategic vision for our sustainable development in a manner that leads us sustainably towards revenue security, industrialization, sustainable agriculture, youth employment, gender empowerment and human capital development. These are the development-critical areas. In respect of these, we need to immediately avert our minds to defining the development strategy and the leadership threshold that will ensure that critical resources are transparently and equitably channeled towards fulfilling our development needs in the listed areas and on a state-wide basis. It is not sufficient to play the politics of succession. The challenges that lie ahead require a careful balance of all our strategic resources with a dynamic, take-charge leadership that is fresh untainted and unstained to this day. Happy days lie ahead! Akwa Ibom belongs to us all!! OKON IYANAM Oyubia Village 19th March, 2014
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:38:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015