Governor Emmanuel:Why I don’t jump ship

By Emmanuel Aziken,

Political Editor

For one who rose to the zenith in his profession, Mr. Udom   Emmanuel was not expected to shed the demeanour of a banker within three years of his exit from Zenith Bank. It was as such not surprising that his engagements in governance are severally viewed with the perspective of an adroit banker checking for loopholes in a business proposal.

When Governor Emmanuel arrived this past Monday for the interactive session with some newsmen in a five-star hotel in the Ikeja area of Lagos, it was obvious that lessons he learnt at Zenith Bank have come handy in navigating the state in the difficult times the country has found itself in.

An insight into that realm was when he was asked how his state that depends heavily on federal allocation is fairing in the wake of the recession. It was a question that that showed the governor’s witty but yet purposeful thrust in governance.

To him, the recession is an opportunity just as death is an opportunity for the casket maker!

“If somebody dies now, while the relations of the person are crying over the death, the man selling casket there is happy that there is going to be market!”

Giving more technical insight on how he has been able to steer the state out of recession, the governor affirmed that challenges faced by many states including failure to pay salaries and pensions were for him no issues. Indeed, they are not reckoned as achievements as according to him such is taken for granted in Akwa Ibom.

“Once you differentiate between what cash and money can do, you will know where you are going to. I think that’s the edge we have over certain people who can’t create money. I think we can create money even in a period of recession, but we may not have cash. If you are looking at what cash can do, it will affect everybody.”

“But if you look at what money can do, it may not affect everybody because it’s not everybody that has the capability and the capacity to create money during a recession. But I think we do.”

It is perhaps in that light that Mr. Emmanuel said that he had outlined policies and programmes that would make Akwa Ibom stand out in the midst of the economic challenges many other states are going through.

That effort is seen in the several projects aimed at boosting industrial capacity; some inherited and many conceived by the Emmanuel administration. Among the new projects that have taken off and cascading in the local economy is the pencil production project which is the first in the country another is a scheme to utilise local palm wine sourced by palm wine tappers into ethanol.

Despite his princely background, Governor Emmanuel makes no pretence about the manufacture of pencils being a pedestal for further growth in the state’s economy.

“It doesn’t pay us as a country to import a whole pencil when we have so much unemployment and so much of those things we can also use in making our own.

“So, we have our blueprint, and we are looking at not just pencil; even the basic plastic materials that we use on a daily basis, those are things that we believe that small and medium scale enterprises can produce on a daily basis because those are things that people use on a daily basis.”

If the governor has been consistent in applying his banking background in the development of the state, how far has he been in steadying the political currents in the state? That was an issue for the journalists especially given earlier whispers that he was set to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on whose platform he was elected.

Is it true that he contemplated defecting?

“The answer is no. I’ve never considered that. It is unthinkable that a pillar of PDP like me will think of jumping the ship. In my entire lifestyle, I don’t jump ship; I’m a very loyal person,” he said.

“I can’t go anywhere. PDP is my blood. So, I can’t go anywhere outside PDP. PDP can never die. PDP is the largest party in Africa. Forget propaganda. PDP is the only party that if you enter any ward in all the 774 local governments in this country, and you mention PDP, nobody will ask you what you are referring to.

“In fact, PDP in my State is like a religion. PDP is the only place that you can see quality leaders.

In my State today, if you enter and ask anybody in the local community who is the party chairman, they will mention the PDP Chairman. Even from the airport, ask them that you want to go to the party chairman’s house and see where they will take you to. It’s the PDP Chairman that they will take you to straight.”

“Is there any other political party? The answer is no. It’s one party that I know, and that is PDP. I don’t know of any other party. Anywhere you see me, know that you’ve seen PDP,” the governor said with a great aplomb.

Indeed, throughout the about ninety minutes the interactive session lasted, the governor did not for once mention the name of the All Progressives Congress, APC which following the 2015 elections turned itself into a fortress for all them that fell out from the internal scheming in the PDP.

Mr. Emmanuel’s predecessor in office who is now the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio had a larger than life presence as governor. It was as such not surprising that there were expectations that sooner than later that the two men would clash. Though whispers of such continue to be served in the gossip mills around Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, the session with Mr. Emmanuel was an opportunity to hear from the horse’s mouth.

Does he have issues with his predecessor?

“I’m not aware of that, depending on what you call issues. You know there are two types of issues; issues of development. If you listened to my speech on democracy day, I said our politicking is pro-development. If you are talking that we are having issues of developing the state, of course, that’s how we do our

politics. But if you say issues, I don’t know of any issue.

“The day I was voted into power, I was not voted to have negative issues. I was voted to have positive issues, and those positive issues have been part of development of the people and resources of our state. So, we don’t have any issues in the direction that you are looking at.”

“When you read those things, just ignore. There has never been any issue, and there will never be,” the governor said assuredly.

However, the governor was faced with a tricky issue when this correspondent first commended him on the construction of the state of the art hospital in Uyo which the minister of health, Prof. Isaac Adewole said in May 2016 would put an end to medical tourism outside Nigeria.

Given the minister’s assertion, Governor Emmanuel was asked what he made of President Muhammadu Buhari’s resort to the United Kingdom for the treatment of an ear infection two weeks later.

It was a question that showed how successful the governor had become more political.

“In life, we must respect our bosses. I have absolute respect for anybody who is on top of me. So, I don’t discuss anybody on top of me,” the governor said with much tact.

As the session drew to an end, the governor was taken to task on his claim of the dominance of the PDP in Akwa Ibom. If so, how come that the senator representing him defected from the PDP to the APC a few months ago.

For a governor who claims to be focused on discussing ideas and projects, there was no escape from discussing a person at this time.

“Talking about my Senator who jumped ship, at times, that’s why I say that if we played politics this way over the years and we haven’t seen so much, it’s time for us to change our ways.”

Rebuffing insinuations that Senator Nelson Effiong who represents him was prompted by him to defect to go to APC to prepare grounds for him, the governor toughened up saying:

“Looking at the PDP blood in my system, do you think anybody can tell me I’m going to any other party? The answer is no. Then you also look at the character of the person and then you can determine what the person can do. You don’t deceive people.”

“Could this person have succumbed to external influences? The answer is yes. Since the person jumped ship, who received him at the other side? You know even when you die as a bad man the devil is always there to receive you.

“If you die as a very evil man, the devil waits for you to receive you into hell. But if you die as a good man, the angels will receive you into heaven. But this man, who received him at the other side?” the governor asked wryly.

 

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