By Ilobi Austin
President Azikiwe Goodluck Jonathan very recently invested two
working days of the remainder of his days in office on Akwa Ibom; to commission
projects largely executed by the government of Governor Godswill Akpabio.
Amongst the projects were landmarks like the Airport, power plants and a base
for the Nigerian police.
The qualities of the projects built by construction giant Julius
Berge, was a telling statement on the person of the leader of the state of Akwa
Ibom, Chief Akpabio. No close up relationship with the man but any clairvoyant
would tell, from just observing his carriage, mannerism, speech and dignified
calmness that, he is a man of long vision and stable character, some of his
likes amongst top political office holders today include the Vice president and
his wife, Govs Fashola, Obi, Adams, Sullivan and, Imoke the gentle giant in
Cross rivers and Aliyu Babangida.
Amongst the personalities at the Airport to join Akpabio in
welcoming the president to the state were neighbouring or friendly governors
some of whom have spent equal numbers of days and time as Akpabio in office but
has achieved comparatively less, even with more resources. These chief
executives, in terms of delivering the deliverables from the peoples
expectations of democracy has put up performance which could at best be
compared to that of an average local government chairman with wild fantasies. One
just wonders what was going on in their minds when
they, in company of others, were being driven in motorcades across the state to
different project sites, for official commissioning.
With the one man one vote campaign gaining grounds by the day one is
force to ask what these chief executives hopes to present to the people of
their state in the coming months to the election with even inherited projects
yet to be completed almost four years, after. As for Akpabio who has already commenced the
process of executing God’s will for Akwa Ibom state, he sure needs additional
years at the Government House, Uyo.
Ilobi Austin, an event analyst sent in this piece via thinkingaustin@gmail.com