Assassination of Albert Ukpanah, A Pyrrhic Victory

'Victory attained by violence, is equal in value to defeat because it is momentary' –Mahatma Ghandi.

I say this with great danger to me and my family. We cannot live in fear of what men can do. We all must die one day and that includes the Assassin. We must insist on what is right as a record for posterity.Abak's demise is just deplorable and it enforces a really bad proverb about “Abak Ntukeyen Ntukeyen” (Abak has no true elders)!

Between the 1870's to the early 1920's we have recorded history of Abak being a very tough place to subdue. Abak was a very tough place to oppress.

The British Colonial Masters encountered very strong resistance from this region. This is recorded by the Colonial Masters and in their mind it was intense and maybe unified with the Arochukwu Confederacy resistance.

Now fast forward and we have an Abak in which a senate slot seat will be taken away from them and given to a sector that would never allow vice versa in a million years.

Let's be real, nobody in Abak would ever be able to “seize” a senate slot seat from the Ikot Ekpene - Essien Udim-Obot Akara axis in a million years.

That's bad enough as it is but killing people to add to the stupendous situation is just downright nauseating.

Abak 5 should not end up becoming the toilet seat of Annangland ! Abak should not become the place in which you can take the senatoe's seat and then kill as much people as you like and then leave smiling and laughing at Abak. The so called “elders” have a very serious problem in their hands. They are in danger of coming out of this election cycle as the laughing stock of the land. The new proverb will be,” Ours is better than Abak that lost its Senate seat and had all their elders executed”. The assassination of Chief Albert Ukpanah is just the tip of the iceberg. The system has been designed that assassins cannot be caught and the command chain cannot be traced. In the same way anybody can be executed and since the chain of command cannot be traced anybody can call for an assassination on behalf of political advantage. There is no amount of “Chiefdom” that can save anybody from assassination nowadays because their master has no respect for the integrity and dignity of others. The more shocking the assassination, the more effective in instilling fear in the populace which is the petrol for fueling mass sycophancy.

Question for the elders: What prevents the other side from assassinating you guys for just demanding the sellout money? It is better you guys took a stand because receiving money or refusing to do so will not save you from assassination. Actually the assassination of all of you may end up being the cheaper option. People have always seen me as a traitor of the Annangs because I am not a blind supporter of Godswill Akpabio. I have taken my stand because I know that government has a limit to its own tribal affinities (especially this government). If I was in the way of

anybody's ambition would it matter if was an Annang man? I would be as good as
dead. However I wonder who advises Godswill Akpabio? You have so
many people in Ibibioland rooting for your failure. Never in my life have I
seen one person with so many enemies. So where do you go when you start executing
your own Annang people? Is your consolation that they are not from the Ikot
Ekpene-Essien Udim-Obot Akara axis?

Sycophants may applaud but in the world of sane men it
raises eyebrows, if so many people have to die for you to become Governor or a member
of the House of Reps, then so many people have to die for you to become Senator
and then so many will have to die before you become the Vice President and so
on and so forth. In the end, my question would be,” Does blood taste that good?”
Who is advising Godswill Akpabio and his political allies?

Here in the USA nobody dies in the election cycle. It is
you who claims Chief Security Officer of the state as the Governor. Can you
ever back up your claim of Chief Security Officer by having an election in
which nobody dies?

If the so called elders of Abak cannot protect the integrity
of the land and decide to be sellouts for the sake of money to buy Garri to
eat, the damage that will be done will last for ages to come.
What gives me the bravery to talk about the situation at
hand is the fact that nobody is safe in the present dispensation. It does not
matter, how old you are or who you are.

NEVERTHELESS WE DO NOT DESERVE THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
THAT COMES WHEN ONE OF US IS DRAGGED TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE FOR ASSASSINATION. A
SILENCE BASED ON FEAR THAT EATS AWAY ON THE INTEGRITY AND DIGNITY OF A PERSON.
A FEAR THAT REDUCES US TO A LEVEL OF COWS HUMBLY AWAITING SLAUGHTER WHILE
HOPING THAT THE OUTCOME WILL BE SURVIVAL.

I DO NOT CARE ABOUT HOW MANY PROFESSIONALS LIVE IN AKWA
IBOM STATE. Your education is a shame if your right to live has been taken away from you and you cower in fear.

No matter the excuses you have, fear is a choice! Acceptance
of the Status Quo imposed on the people is your choice.

Clayton “Bane” Udoh writes from Mesa, Arizona