For reasons best known to him, Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State has never been, and is still not, a fan or a genuine admirer of President Goodluck Jonathan. While many Nigerians wanted the then Vice-President to assume the functions of the presidency when YarArdua was ill, Akpabio did everything within his power to thwart the move; he lobbied members of the Federal House of Assembly and even bribed some of them not to support the idea. After the death of President YarAdua, the last thing Governor Akpabio wanted was to see how the rest of Nigerians agreed to confirm Mr. Jonathan as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And Mr. Jonathan was aware of Akpabio’s intrigues; at one time he even confronted governor Akpabio.
Now, Governor Akpabio has been following President Jonathan around, like a little puppy, to the point where Akpabio has become a national embarrassment. The Protocol officials who work for Jonathan have tagged Akpabio the tile of the “follow follow governor,” because everywhere the president visits, Akpabio must make sure that he too is present. To Akwa Ibom people, the behavior of their governor is making them feel uncomfortable. And they just can’t understand why the governor is behaving the way he does.
Sources say Mr. Jonathan himself has confided in some of his well-placed kitchen-cabinet members that he wishes Akpabio would go away. Jonathan says he doesn’t mind meeting Akpabio in the presence of others. But, what the president loathes is the one-on-one meeting, which is what Mr. Akpabio craves for. It is not that Akpabio is posing any security, or physical risk to the presidency. No; not all. The problem is, President Jonathan does not feel comfortable around a man known by his own people as a failed leader, whose administration is associated with cultism, kidnapping, money laundering, lies, assassinations, armed robbery, murder, and other vices.
Within Nigeria, governor Akpabio has done nearly everything under his capacity for a one-on-one-audience with the President, but to no avail. It is well known how he even made several attempts to recruit the services of former President Shagari, Edwin Clark, and a Paramount Ruler in Bayelsta State (just to name a few) to help him have access to the President. Mr. Shagari flatly rejected his request and it is doubtful if others agreed to help Mr. Akpabio.
Recently, when the President of South Africa invited President Jonathan to attend the World Cup Soccer event, Akpabio quickly took a flight, invited or not, to South Africa, thinking that if he meets the president in a foreign country, as a State Governor, the protocol would be in his favor to have the audience with the president; a feat he couldn’t accomplish while in Nigeria. While in South Africa, several efforts by Mr. Akpabio to meet with the president failed.
Finally, out of desperation, Akpabio made contact with Governor Adam Oshimhole of Delta State, who was also in South Africa. Mr. Oshimhole decided to help Akpabio have access to Jonathan. Governor Oshimhole called the president in his suite and requested an audience with him. The president agreed. But Mr. Oshimhole did not tell the president that he was coming over with governor Akpabio. When the president’s aides informed the president that Mr. Oshimhole has arrived with governor Akpabio in-tow, he quickly sent a polite message, with apology, to governor Oshimhole that he could no longer honor the meeting with him (Oshimhole). Reports say President Jonathan later called Mr. Oshimhole to explain why he had to cancell the meeting; “I don’t want that man (Akpabio) around me. Please don’t ever come with him to see me.”
Last month, the same scenario occurred when the president visited Rivers State. Akpabio was there too. He also tried everything within his power for a one-on-one meeting with the President, but failed. In March or April this year, when President Jonathan was invited by President Obama for an official visit, Akpabio lied to the people of Akwa Ibom State that he had been included in the president’s entourage. He was not.
When Akpabio arrived in Washington, D.C., because he was not invited for the trip, he had to stay in a hotel different from the one the president and his team stayed. With the help of some Nigerian embassy officials, who thought it odd that a visiting governor was separated from the rest of Nigerian officials, a room was secured for Akpabio in the same hotel which the president stayed. In essence, Akpabio “crashed” into the event. Because of the help, which the embassy officials gave him, he was able to secure a photo-op with the rest of the visiting team with President Obama in the group. Today, Akpabio proudly and conspicuously hangs the picture in the Hill Top Mansion, at a must-see location. Again, Akpabio tried all he could to see President Jonathan, but failed.
People who read this may wonder why governor Akpabio is so desperate to see President Jonathan. Akpabio believes, wrong or correct, that if Jonathan does not forgive him over the efforts which he (Akpabio) campaigned to derail the emergence of Jonathan as the president, Jonathan will pay back by making sure that Akpabio does not fulfill his ambition for a second-term. Because Akpabio is so bent on continuing as a governor, the very thought that he does not stand a good chance for a second-term (which he really doesn’t), is enough to drive the man insane.
But what governor Akpabio may not know, or knows but is in self-denial, is the mountain of evidence available to president Jonathan, which the intelligence agencies, both in Nigeria and abroad, have compiled on Akpabio regarding his money laundering schemes, criminal activities in Akwa Ibom State, abuse of the rights of citizens, kidnappings and assassinations of political opponents, theft and squandering of the people’s money, and other corrupt practices, some of which Akpabio still believes are secrets.
On the other hand, maybe governor Akpabio is privy to what many of us don’t know. But, while he is busy worrying about president Jonathan as the only single man in the entire Nigeria who can thwart his dream for a second-term, he has become oblivious to his rejection by the very people he governs. What Akpabio does not know is that there is a mass movement, in Akwa Ibom State and in the Diaspora, organized to stop him from continuing as a governor. The people of Akwa Ibom State believes him to be an incompetent administrator who has squandered their resources, cause many of them to remain poor and hungry in a State in which peace and security has also been, and has remained, elusive for the past three years of Akpabio’s governance. Now the people want him to go away. They also want and are ready for a change.
The support which the people now give to former Senator Akpan Udoedehe, a gubernatorial aspirant, is a testimony to the disaffection of the people towards governor Akpabio. Anyone who visits Akpan Udoedehe’s house in Uyo, and even when he is in Abuja, will not fail to be amazed at the number of people that go in and out, all day long. They don’t go there to eat, drink, or sleep. They visit Akpan Udoedehe to confirm their support and to send a message to governor Akpabio that his days are up. The more than 300 different organizations for Positive Change, that are spread all over Akwa Ibom State in readiness for the Akpan Udoedehe’s campaign, is a clear testimony that the people are ready for a change, Unfortunately, Akpabio and especially his crumbs-from- table-eaters have refused to see the hand-writing on the wall. But no matter what, Akpabio Must Go and Akpabio Will Go; it’s just a matter of time.
By
Thompson Essien
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