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Struggle
for power, motivated by South
South resources-Ekpenyong
Akwa Ibom State Deputy Governor, Dr. Chris
Ekpenyong is a politician one cannot easily predict. When you least expect him
to react to issues, he does it diligently. For instance, there was no scheduled
appointment for an interview until last Monday when Correspondent
Uduak Iniodu was given the green light to perform the assignment by 11.00am.
And throughout the session, the deputy governor was not caught unawares. From
one issue of public interest to the other, he lived up to expectation. He was
however unhappy that some people have held opinion that the Annangs are not
capable of producing the successor to Obong Victor Attah in 2007. To him, Akwa
Ibom is one family, and anybody who occupies a public office should shed the toga
of ethnicity. This among other issues the deputy governor speaks on in this
interview. Excerpts:
You recently marked your 50th
birthday. Can you tell us how you have been faring in the past 50 years?
I never
knew I would be up to 50 years, going by what I went through as a young man
from the age of eight to 11, when the war broke out in Nigeria. I had to go
through that valley of shadow of death, but I never saw any evil. I thank God
that I became the deputy governor at an age below 50 and stay up to now. I have
to give God all the glory. That is the man I have to give everything, all my
supplications and all my praises go to Him. Again, that at 50, I am still the
deputy governor in the second tenure of Attah’s administration against
all odds, all insinuations, assassination of my character and person. That is
God’s desire, and for God to have desired that goodness for me is that he
desires goodness for Akwa Ibom people.
Is the deputy governorship your first time in
public office? What other positions have you held in the past?
From my secondary school days, I have always been in
the forefront of service. I am a child of destiny, destined for service. I had
a covenant with God, but that covenant is what I don’t know. How and
where it would lead me to is what I do not know, but the process has been very
interesting. From a very humble beginning, going through primary school, I was
school captain at St. Michael’s Primary School, Rumuomasi, and House Prefect
at the Government Technical College, Tombia. At Government Technical College,
Yaba, where I did my Advanced Level, I was also the spokesman of the school. I
was the President of what is called Student’s Union Government of the
school from 1975-1976. At The Polytechnic, Bida, I was the public relations
officer (PRO) in my first year 1977, and in 1978/1979, I became the President
of the Student’s Union. We were only four from the then Cross River
State. There was no ethnicity. In a population of 1,000 students, I emerged
their President and in 1989/80, I was the National Vice President of Nigeria
Association of Technological Students. (NATS). That is the entire polytechnic
students in the country. It was an unparallel feat. Then in 1983, I became a
member of the Cross River State House of Assembly at the age of 28. It was a
feat, but all was neither by my desire nor my power, but a design of God
because he destined me for service to humanity, not today when people talk
about politics of money. I have always emerged without money. In 1998/1999, I
emerged the deputy governor without money. I know I have done my best in public
office. I don’t need to blow my trumpet, or sing about my ego, but I know
that between me and God, we have done what is fair and just to humanity. My
second coming therefore is a reward for loyalty, faithfulness and I thank God.
Man, I know, may not have seen my loyalty, but God has seen that my commitment
and loyalty to this administration and its leadership is 100 per cent. It is
not diluted in any form and I just hope that at the end of the day, I would be
rewarded more than I have been rewarded so far by God in the discharge of my
obligation to humanity.
You mentioned that some people have been
blackmailing and misrepresenting you. Do you have any idea of such people?
The
negative intrigues are called political intrigues, which is not part of my
character. I have always been a very neat and sincere person. What I mean by
neatness is not the outer neatness, but the internal one. I don’t bear
negative tendencies against humanity. What I believe in is industry, hard work
and efficiency. I don’t consider where you come from. I look at your
performance, your capability and how much you can impact on society. Probably,
people in politics believe in money, in what they can gain. They believe in the
short-term reward, but I don’t believe in short-term reward. I believe in
service. I believe in industry. I believe in Akwa Ibom people. I believe that
God has deposited something in me and Obong Victor Attah to change the
circumstances of Akwa Ibom people and the circumstances of the environment and
make it a better place than what we met it. That is all about life. The great
philosophers and the great political leaders that have emerged in the
contemporary history of Nigeria and of course the world democracy such as
America went for the service to humanity, and not the service to their stomach.
It could be the people who bastardize my name are looking for the service of
the stomach and they cannot get that from my office and they now turn round to
talk about what they do not know. People have talked about how I have 45
companies I award contract to. There was no contract awarded in Akwa Ibom that
had not received the blessing of the governor, and I never could have awarded
any contract without the approval of the governor. People were using that as a
medium of destroying their names, not my name, because I have a very beautiful
name and integrity to protect. So all the same, man would have danced to their tune, but God sees it
differently because he gives reward for every good thing and he rewarded me for
my steadfastness, commitment and loyalty and I will still live on that tenet,
to do good to all manners of people without fear or favour.
You have mentioned money politics on two different
occasions. That means you are not comfortable with it. Is there anything you
think can be done to address this?
You
must have money for logistics. Won’t people move from one place to
another? If that is just the money needed, it is okay. Not money to bribe
people against their conscience.
In the past, people talked about politics of
issues and ideas.
I still
believe in that. That is what actually dragged me into politics. I defeated an
incumbent in 1983, because I talked about issues, I talked about the provision
of social structures, structures that cannot be destroyed, that you can
provide. You can take a sheep to the river, but you cannot force it to drink,
and we say we want to make Akwa Ibom
a better place. You cannot feed all the people individually. What you
can provide is give them a lasting legacy, infrastructure facilities, and of
course that is why I am very supportive of this government, because the
government laid that foundation. That alone would change the circumstances of
the people, and I thank God, Obong Victor Attah is doing that, in the areas of
power, industries, and social facilities. It is not just how much money he is
throwing out to every individual that makes the government reasonable. The
government that lays the foundation, changes the orientation of the people more
often does not depend on how much money it can dash out. The government should
not be seen as a Father Christmas, but should only build infrastructure
facilities for a take-off for the people to be self-reliant and independent in
terms of economy.
What is your position on power shift?
Nigerians do not talk about issues. If we were a people that
believe in such things like issues, industry and competence, we would be
looking for resources in the South South. We have it in the person of our
governor, in terms of intellectual capability and in terms of performance. The
managerial acumen, he has it. You know, you cannot just take such material to
the Nigerian market and say this is the commodity I have. Please take it at the
highest level of government. The best way we can sell our commodity, our
material and intellectual capacity is to say let there be zoning, because we
are now looking at the capability in terms of the geopolitical setting and the
population. That is what Nigeria is talking about. The North has a diverse
population while the South has a marginal population. In that case, to make it
even, you now advocate for rotation of power from the North to the South,
rotation among the geo-political zones. At the state level, you talk about
power shift between the ethnic settings that constitute the state. You talk
about the local government, the senatorial district and what have you. At the
local government level, you also talk about clan settings - which clan
has this and which clan has that. It makes room for peaceful co-existence. Look
at what happened at Zango Kataf many years ago and the recent one in Plateau.
It could have been the issue of marginalisation. The entrenchment of zoning is
not actually constitutional, but an agreement for peaceful co-existence. It is
reasonable and I support that power should rotate among every group. At least,
you can always have the best from anywhere.
Is your position a contribution to the meeting of
South South leaders held in Calabar recently?
I really
would endorse the shift of power to the South South, because we are the
producers. We are the fulcrums on which Nigeria rests. Everything about Nigeria
is here. The struggle for power is because of the resources that come from the
South South. We cannot just be the producers of food that feed the entire
Nigerian populace without being the sharer of that food. So I am fully in
support of that power shift. Above all, Mr. President made a statement that
power was shifted to the South West and then the only group that can not come
in 2007 is the South West. That is what Mr. President said. What that portends
is what I do not know, but I know Mr. President is a very firm man, a man of
vision and I have high regards for him. He is a man who believes in one
Nigeria, someone who wants social justice to prevail. To that extent, it means
that the South South has the capability of also looking for that leadership and
we have the materials. Our problem has to do with unity, just as we talk about
the unity of Akwa Ibom as a people.
Still talking about power shift, there is some
dissenting opinion that it may not be a success in the state because the
Annangs are not ready to step into that office. Can you react to this?
If we
advocate for power shift at the centre and you come home to say the Annangs are
not prepared, what materials are you looking for in Annang? You have to define
what you want, the quality of the leadership. Leadership and governance is not
pepper soup and the quality of a governor is not just the man that opens his
mouth wide. It is also not seen in the beauty. We have found materials in terms
of comportment and intellectual capability. You have them in Annang. I
don’t believe in such sectional politics. Any governor that emerges would
be the governor of Akwa Ibom State, whether from Annang or Ibibio extraction.
How can you even define that the Annangs are not Ibibios? Everybody talks about
the cradle of Ibibio land. How did they move? Has anybody been able to justify
the historical antecedent of our migrations? Did we migrate from the north to
the south or from the south to the north? Do we know the history of our
migration? None. So, for me, you cannot even differentiate who is the first
among equals, but we have, out of sheer social relationship, said well, this
man is the first, the Annang man is the second, while the Oron person is the
third because of the numerical strength. Whatever caused the division, you and
I were not part of it. To the best of my knowledge, I used to know that people
were one, until some people decided to differentiate between the
groupings. Before then, there used
to be something called Ibibio State Union which metamorphosed into what was
called the movement for the creation of COR states. Right from 1954 when they
went through all the constitutional arrangements, three brothers were always
representing the people, speaking with one voice. Today, somebody would come to
say the Annangs are not prepared. I know that there are many people in Akwa
Ibom who know that Annang has the capability to serve, because it is just a
matter of change of the flagship - that is the flag bearer. It is not
just a change of the ship. The ship remains an entity, which is the state as a
unit. We only talk of the captain, and in every circumstance, you cannot have
two captains. You must always have one captain, and they are talking about the
post-Victor Attah administration, which I am the deputy today. Who will wear
that shoe of a captain during the next dispensation? Look at the arrays of
materials in Annang that have so far emerged. I know that at the appropriate
time, I am sure that other people would emerge and the people would be able to
decipher who is the best material that can wear the shoe, and also has the
capability to paddle the ship. I can assure you that at the end of the day, we
would have the right captain emerging.
By implication, can we say you have interest to
step into that shoe?
I am
here as Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State to Obong Victor Attah and the
constitutional provision is that I remain in office from now till 2007. You are
talking about tomorrow, and I am talking about today. You were saying today, if
the whistle is blown and the people are not ready, I am saying it would be too
wrong for you to prejudge that by tomorrow, we would not have the people. When
we get to tomorrow, it will define the content. But for today, I am the deputy
governor. I have not expressed any reservation as to whether I would be in or
out. Today I am the deputy governor, faithfully and loyally. In terms of
industry, I have to pray to God to give me the strength to make sure I give the
best to the people of Akwa Ibom
and the best support to my governor to ensure that his vision is
realised within the period of his tenure.
A few weeks ago, you were honoured by the
Traditional Rulers Council of Ini Local Government. What does this honour mean
to you?
I have always been a man of honour. I came into
office as a prince. My grandfathers were all kings in their domains. Then the
state found me worthy in character and industry and offered me through the
Chairman of the then Council of Chiefs, Edidem Akpabio Udo Ukpa, honoured me
with one of the highest titles, the Obom of Akwa Ibom. He did that as the
Chairman of the State Council of Chiefs. The sub units that constitute the
state still decided that they have found something in me and have acknowledged
what they have found. That is why they have been honouring me with various
chieftaincy titles as a mark of appreciation of my service and of course, I
have not reached the peak of my service. Because they have honoured me, I will
continue to honour them. The other
day, it was the Ubokudom of Mkpat Enin - that means I am the right hand
man of Mkpat Enin. As they make me their right hand man, I have in turn
extended my right hand of fellowship to them to come, let’s build Akwa
Ibom State together.
I
don’t know which one will come tomorrow. The one of Ini Local Government,
I was called the Mfa of Ini, which means that without me, Ini would not stand
effectively. It will be shaking. So I am the pillar that holds Ini together and
I am a man of peace, and I will continue to give them peace. I like peace to reign in Ini, I like
prosperity to reign. The state has
found something that is a treasure in me and they want to tap the treasure.
Akwa Ibom
is currently engrossed in boundary disputes with the neighbours in Abia
and Cross River states. You have championed the cause of finding a permanent
solution to this crisis. Can you tell us what the situation is now?
We have
done so much. That is a responsibility the governor assigned to this office. We
have done tremendously well. We have been able to keep Tom Shot Island in Akwa
Ibom, where it was wrongly ceded due to misinformation to Mr. Vice President.
It was ceded wrongly, so it was returned through the intervention of the
President and of course in active discussion with our governor. That is a
settled issue. On the Itu dispute with Cross River, we are still talking.
Boundary issue is not something you can sweep under the carpet or you finish at
a stretch. Otherwise, the boundary issue between Israel and Palestine would
have been over a long time ago before the death of Yasser Arafat, and he would
have died a very happy man as the person who fought the battle and saw the end
for his people. But in these circumstances, he could not. That is how I look at
the boundary. In our own case, it is different because it is expected that
before the expiration of this tenure, we would be able to put bacons on our
boundaries. We would have a clear defined boundaries between Akwa Ibom and Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Abia. We are on course. The field
tracing is now on at the boundary between Abia and Akwa Ibom. They have traced
Obotme where we have the oil palm plantation, managed by NIFOR. We are
currently moving up to the Bende, the Arochukwu axis, where we have six Ibibio
speaking villages that were annexed and given to the then Eastern Region. They
are desirous of returning to Akwa Ibom to join their kith and kin. We hope that
the constitutional provision would be administered so that the process of their
return could be possible. We hope that with the field tracing and the report of
the National Boundary Commission (NBC), we would be able to have a lead way to
put in the legal aspect in place.
What message do you have for Akwa Ibom people?
The
message of hope has been made available by the governor, who is the leader of
this government. What we should
pray for is the actualization of those aspirations of this government, because
if they are all actualised, Akwa Ibom would be a better place. My prayer is may
the will of God be done.
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