“There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.”
—Lord Palmerston
By Enyeribe Ejiogu
In this period of political speculations, just like in the case of the transfer season of the British, European and other successful football leagues, political permutations are rapidly changing in Nigeria.
Nigerians are daily titillated by news of fresh defections from the so-called opposition parties into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
For quite some time, tongues wagged about the move to make the ruling party more dominant by decimating the opposition and thereby enhancing the re-election prospects of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
Of course, the rumours were roundly trashed, discredited and denied. But unconvinced political clairvoyants, gifted with the third eye of Nostradamus, held firmly to the conclusions they reached after analysing the placement of the pieces on the political chessboard of Nigeria in the ethereal realm, where spirits call the shots.
So, they waited for physical manifestations of what they had foreseen while the suffering and gullible mass of the populace pine away, trying to eke out a living in the worsening economic quagmire roiling the country.
Smug and somewhat unperturbed by the increasing misery and insecurity spreading like cancer, uprooting whole communities, leaving the citizenry petrified, politicians, just like Nero, have continued to play their 2027 fiddle to the applause of the closely knit and empowered group of beneficiaries and foot soldiers who uphold their local and national structures.
Under the surface, the Nigerian political earth continued to rumble while the denials were stoutly promoted on social media and the mainstream media by the army of sycophants.
As these were going on, a massive earthquake measuring 8.7 on Nigeria’s political Richter Scale hit Delta State recently. The aftermath saw the state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, elected on the platform of the seemingly leading opposition party moving with all members of his cabinet and the whole structure of the party from state, local and ward levels into the APC. The former governor of the state, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as well as one of its senators, Ned Nwoko, had previously dropped their umbrellas and picked up the broom, symbol of the emerging political behemoth.
Before the damage done by the massive earthquake in Delta State could fully sink in, the ground in Akwa Ibom began to vibrate with a tremor that gradually grew in intensity and which could not be mistaken, seeing that the man who brought Uncommon Transformation to the state had been tapping on the tympanic membrane of the eardrum of the governor, who got into the Government House in a vehicle provided by the now troubled opposition party.
About 10 years ago when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was used to “woo” him into the ruling party, a sitting senator and former governor of Edo State described his acceptance of the marriage proposal made to him during the administration headed by Mai Gaskiya, as a case of Uncommon
Defection.
With the feet of the Uncommon Defector now firmly and solidly planted in the corridors of power, he has set his eyes and heart on ensuring that the broom is conspicuously displayed in the Akwa State Government House in no distant time.
These developments have not been lost on political pundits. What is certain is that governance has once again taken a back seat across the country.
Governors and legislators who are already in the APC political family are focused on positioning for advantage, to ensure that as the layers of the big 2027 onion are peeled away, they will be favoured with a piece of the action, and thereby remain relevant in the new scheme of things that will emerge before and after the 2027 elections.
But let us backpedal a bit to the quote that precedes this piece. According to Quorra, it was adapted from the original words of the 19th century British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, who while addressing the House of Commons on March 1, 1848 said: “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”
Again, a popular Igbo proverb says: “Look for the black goat when there is still daylight.” Through generations, this timeless saying has remained true and helpful to people who recognise and flow with the wisdom it conveys.
Now, politically exposed personalities in either Labour Party, LP, or the shell of the PDP like Governor Umo Eno, who are caught in the cross hairs of the APC rifle, these are not pleasant times. They must drink cups of coffee brewed from the best quality Colombian coffee beans, to be able to stay awake and understand the moves being made to either woo or drag them into the APC political family. In either case, the people will pay the price with reduced tempo in governance.
Long before the earth under his feet began to rumble, Governor Umo Eno had been focused on delivering good governance to the people of Akwa Ibom State who elected him in 2023 after serving in the cabinet of his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel.
For instance, to mark his second anniversary, he flagged-off key projects, which include the 200-bed Ibom International Hospital, 5,000-seater Ibom International Convention Centre, and the 200-bed Ibom Hotel.
He was also recently lauded for establishing the Akwa Ibom State Health Insurance Agency, launched on September 20, 2024, to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to all residents of the state. So far, the health insurance agency has enrolled over 47,000 residents and is expanding to cover more than 52,000 civil servants and their dependents.
While he mulls the political move that will best protect his permanent interest, he must not lose sight of a critical factor: the people can still stop and derail a political locomotive.
He must continue to deliver good governance that touches the man in the street. One way of doing this is to key the state into the preventive health checks initiative being put together by People For People, a growing programme being organised in-country and Diaspora Nigerians. Another way of delivering good governance is that the government should give due attention to developing a natural agricultural resource with enormous potential for commercial production, which has an excellent national and international market, which a study by Magnum Africa had determined could make substantial contribution to the internally generated revenue of the state.
The socio-economic initiatives of the government must necessarily create employment, make impact by enabling SMEs touch lives in positive ways through services that yield profits for them in return, so that they can pay taxes to the government.
Governor Umo Bassey Eno, who was born on April 24, 1964, served as Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources during the tenure of former Governor Udom Emmanuel. He is the founder of All Nations Christian Ministry International and hails from Ikot Ekpene Udo in Nsit-Ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He obtained a Bachelor of Public Administration degree from the University of Uyo and later got a Master’s degree in the same institution.