Politics Nigeriana is so tricky darkness can swallow up light. Yes, when light shines among Nigerian politicians, darkness comprehends it enough to extinguish and trivialise it. Even as outside insiders, people of light -as few as they are- must never sit on the fence whenever they see darkness trying to snuff out light. To be sure, light is not a saint; light is a 70/80% hater of 100% darkness.
While those who crave clarity on that have to watch this space on September 5 this year, a little teaser meanwhile should suffice. This writer, a journalist of nearly three decades standing, has had the privilege since 2018 to (for the first time) be on the payroll of his home state government. Surely, that grants a certain vantage of access and knowledge which in turn should accentuate the telling of the Udom Emmanuel governorship story the way one has experienced it or witnessed its evolution. It is one story that has not been (and might never be) completely told -partly because of the man himself.
This has always been a concern among the overwhelming population of the pro-Udom crowd. Last midweek, one of the governor’s closest-followers-from-a-respectable-distance raised the matter yet again with me. Let’s just call him Dr. Frank since he would neither have me mention him let alone his full name. He said that if Nigerians had the full picture of what Gov. Emmanuel has achieved in Akwa Ibom since 2015, they would compel him to be President of the country next year.
I found that profound -even if audacious. It reminded me of what I told the governor’s chief press secretary and senior special assistant on media, Mr. Ekerete Udoh, the first day (the second week of June 2019) I reported for duty as special assistant on electronic media to the governor. Alas, it is impossible to report the man that way due to one, the fact that his natural humility coupled with his Christian upbringing abhors overhyping service performance and two, the sheer volume and in many cases the intangibility of the incredible value he adds. Question: when light is too humble to announce its shineability, should opportunistic darkness be blamed for daring to show up like some accuser of the brethren?
Saying that Gov. Emmanuel has not made Akwa Ibom better than he took it over in 2015 is a big fat lie. Udom Legacy Nigeria, a BUSH HOUSE NIGERIA segment that’s been running on radio, television and online since 2018, seeks to highlight the governor’s achievements by getting citizens, residents and visitors to say how they’d remember him post-2023. The data so far collected and broadcast are revealing and iconic. There’s no end to Udom projects and achievements as recounted by respondents.
Furthermore, of the thousands polled so far, there’s no clearcut pool that overrrepeats any of the governor’s efforts. While many talk about the road network or sundry infrastructure, others prefer the industries, and for some the groundbreaking Ibom Air is it. Another pool is peopled by those who maintain that it is the peace the governor has ensured that gives them the kick. Strangely though, most of those who belong in that last pool are not members of Maintain Peace Movement, a group facilitated by the governor to secure the post-2023 future of the state -as it were.
But, seriously, all those who have spoken on Udom Legacy Nigeria have not been able to exhaust the achievements of the second term chief executive. Which leaves you wondering why a tiny minority still quarrel that the man has achieved nothing. I mean, thousands of people over a four year period have not been able, severally and corporately, to list in totality what Mr Emmanuel has achieved between 29th May 2015 and now. Could Dr. Frank be right that the man has achieved so so much?
Looking to come back to that, presently, let me share another interesting aspect of our findings vis-a-vis how the people perceive the Udom Emmanuel years. A great number are not interested in so-called flagship or mega projects. These ones tell you that it is his style for them or his financial wizardry or his ability to allow everyone breathing space or his mental reengineering monstrosity à la Dakkada philosophy. Others extol what I call his sweetnothingness.
Akwaibomight Canadian, 63, who lives in Canada, Chapman Uko, said he would never forget the day they tarred the legendary street, in his village, Etinan, on which he spent his childhood. The street name, Abebed Usoñenyin, is Ibibio for hater of disrespect. Mr. Uko, who comes home regularly, told me that out of respect and nostalgia he went down on his knees to kiss the ground as the street took on a respectable look. The Ontario resident added that he would never forget Gov. Emmanuel for tarring a street nobody ever considered.
Mr. Chapman’s high profile status presupposes that he isn’t playing to the gallery -as we always tend to downplay praise in this part of the world. That fact dovetails with the inevitable conclusion that there is far too much about this governor than many people give him credit for. The investment-banker-turned-politician who prefers to be called a professional in politics, may seem detached but is deep down a deliberate connector of even the tiniest dots. He may not betray emotions publicly the way most Nigerian politicians do but as you would find narrated by person after person in the book, Udom Legacy Nigeria, due out before this or next year end, he’s sympathetic and empathetic through and through.
The man is vastly underrated, grossly underappreciated and generally misunderstood. Yet, an alarming majority of those who have encountered him insist he’s a good man who touches their lives: excellently yet silently. This is the reason or one of them my conversation with Dr. Frank has compelled this entry especially at this auspicious moment of our national and state histories when politics has become more about nonsensification of excellence or excellencification of nonsense. We can play the 2023 politics all we want but I believe that after it all, Mr Emmanuel’s place in the hearts of our people shall remain assured -even doubly.
When he’s long gone from Hilltop Mansion, No. 1, Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo, both his name and tenure shall continuously reverberate on the walls of our collective memory. We shall remember him for things we may not today appreciate. For example, AkwaGiS.
I especially treasure the verve with which the Akwa Ibom State Geographical Information System is run.
I love how no effort or cost is spared to carry the people along, every step of the way, in automation of land instrument processes, development of statewide digital property bank, aerial mapping of the entire state and exploitation of AkwaGiS by different MDAs to support their services. Another example of what we shall miss after Gov. Udom Emmanuel leaves office is his uncanny tolerance. In spite of and despite the enormous powers at his disposal, he has on the whole remained sane, godly and fair-minded. Rather than be the harrasser, he is the one harrassed all too often by opponents.
Plus, his sense of justice. None of the 31 local government areas of the state has been left untouched by his development and appointment spree. For this writer though, the greatest legacy Udom would bequeath Nigeria -beyond his beautiful projects, foundational industrialisation, Dakkada philosophy, dexterous statecraft and peaceable persona- is human. First Lady Martha’s humility, unmeddlesomeness, passion, kindness and motherliness shall forever be a reference material.
Similarly, keeping one Deputy Governor, Mr Moses Ekpo, MFR, throughout the two terms (the first time that has happened in the state since 1999) is an encomium we don’t pour today but which we shall -willy nilly. It is refreshing that a group, Udom Emmanuel Crusaders, has emerged to project and protect his legacy well beyond 2023. Coordinator General, Hon. John Ekanem, and Secretary General, Hon. Ekong Umoh, shared group’s plans and strategies on live radio last week. Every outgoing good leader -especially in a spasmodic memory society such as ours- deserves all legacy-preservation efforts by the platoons of foot soldiers.
If political opponents never want to forget the few minuses of a leader, supporters must go to every length to remember to remind them of the many pluses. That’s how light can continue to confront and confound darkness. The battle between light and darkness is not a joke: darkness never smiles. God bless Nigeria!