Akwa Ibom’s Overrated Young Politicians and the Burden of Governance

‘ But understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive and disobedient to their parents, ungrateful and unholy.’ 2 Timothy 3:1-2. The Holy Bible is an encyclopedia of knowledge and true reference to our past, present and future. When you look at this verse, you will agree with that the ugly events that enveloped Akwa Ibom State in the last two weeks can be attributed to the youthful exuberance of the state helmsman and his lieutenants. That is the catastrophic result of promoting an individual above his competence. When something goes wrong, you do not rush to blame others. Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity and integrity. When Governor Udom Emmanuel threw decorum to the gutters by referring to his former boss, now a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a man of no second address, one needs to ask him, how come the Senator has no second address after holding a commissionership position for six years and being governor for eight years? Interestingly, the man he described as a man of no second address has been Senator for three and a half years now, a solicitor and advocate for 31 years. One begins to wonder if it is only a former staff of Zenith Bank that has second addresses in Nigeria. In Yorubaland, we believe that the boss may not always be right, but he is always the boss nonetheless . Have you ever seen Governor Ambode of Lagos State, abusing Asiwaju Bola Tinubu publicly as Emmanuel did to his former boss? Our orientation and training in Yoruba land will not allow us to descend that debasingly low. This clearly shows Emmanuel’s naivety, as well as his being unworthy of the executive office he presently occupies. You can only see people’s true colours when they think you are no longer beneficial to their lives. Isn’t it pathetic how we waste so much time on certain people and in the end they prove that they weren’t even worth a second of it? It is amazing how people misbehave towards their mentors when they assume they have grown in importance. Power indeed intoxicates, and absolute power intoxicates absolutely. This is how a man can descend so low to bite the fingers that once fed him, and as they say, fire burns, and most disastrously too, and it will surely do same to Emmanuel at the fullness of time. Ultimately, Emmanuel is traveling on sinking ship.