Udom Emmanuel will be a Puppet Master.
" Udom Emmanuel is a banker; he knows how to count money he doesn't know how to connect with the people..."
It is said that Triopas, king of the Thessalians, was so determined to complete and roof his own house that he tore down the temple of the Gods, built by the men of old. Hence he was punished with a far more damning fate of insatiable hunger, than the people devoid of a temple.
Tearing down the social fabric of the society by creating man made artificial scarcity is anathema. In the name of building a greed laden future for oneself as a member of a highly corrupt administration in Uyo. Only to release crumbs for the masses in the election cycle that they may scramble and do the bidding of the corrupt and morally inert politicians.In the process tearing down the establish wellbeing of mankind as mandated by God.
We are beginning to see that there is a problem of ignoring the people and hoping that political and financial elitism will save the day. This is especially relevant in the case of Akwa Ibom State where the political and financial elite think that the masses are stupid and deserve no better, than to kneel and worship them all day long. However the people still matter and are more dangerous than any hit squad on earth. Yes they will dump you for a plate of rice.
Eh, I mean literally. The danger of being the only cock to crow and making sure that only your family and wives and cronies see the money and the rest float in poverty is that rice will defeat you in the elections.
I mean oily Jollof rice without meat in it, being giving to the hungry masses. Go and ask about what happened in Ekiti State!
For how long does the present political class in Akwa Ibom State think that they can impoverish the society? Then cover your system with spin and propaganda? Yeah there are fine roads but how many people will ever drive on them? The Banquet Hall will be accessible for what kind of people? How many people will ever enjoy Le Meridian or the new Hilton that is to be built? Myriads of people will never board a plane in the Airport in Uyo! How many people will ever have the cash for treatment in the Millennium Hospital? How many people will be able to afford watching an International match in the stadium at Uyo? Then like true Neanderthals you turn on the people groaning about their lot in life. Living a life of disregard for those who supported the present administration with all their resources and insulting all and sundry who refuse to be intimidated or forced to view things myopically as most backward politicians do. Yeah because of the artificial scarcity you guys have created, There will be a tip in the balance and the election will not go the way your evil mechanizations are targeted.
For primitive individuals that become elite corrupt politicians, the perpetuation of poverty is good business because this determines and separates the commoner from the elite 'Akamba Owo'.
You guys create artificial scarcity that financially punishes the masses, then you finally release funds during the election time for the hungry youths and masses and mark my words that system is tired and outdated. This time around most of the political elites will spend a fortune and fail.
The people are tired of Bigmanism and greedy politicians that are invested in milking the state like cows for all eternity.The next scene of political reanimation will be Akwa Ibom State with the victory of the Hon Albert Bassey at the polls. I predict this because of two reasons namely;
Firstly, Godswill Akpabio has become blinded by hubris. I talked about this when he ignored the USA to go to funny places seeking for investment, when the USA is the Headquarters of global investment. I talked about this when he blew smoke about his fabled 31 industries with the impoverished masses. I also talked about this extensively when he decided to employ AIDN as the political Slave Masters for Diaspora and their historic trip to Slovenia for investment in Nigeria. I talked about this when he made the House of Assembly his rubber stamp group and later got his odious pension law passed. I have talked about a lot of things for those who like to keep record and then finally he wants to create a dynasty. Victor Attah who tried it, should tell Akpabio over a glass of beer what happened to him when he tried it!
Secondly, the person being given the candidature is as stiff as it gets. I have not seen any attempt by this individual to flow with the people. No contact with the people and stiff like ice! I do not even remember seeing a picture of him smiling with people not related to government etc. I have not seen any of his interviews or forays into town hall meetings etc. It seems this individual in question as a SSG is too busy to interact with the electorate.
Thirdly, we curse to the pit of hell the attempt to create a dynasty for the greediest set of administrators we have seen in recent times. We reject Udom Emmanuel's administration alias 'Gov Akpabio extension'. Already the very fact that Udom Emmanuel is so desperate to become Governor that he is ready to become Akpabio's stooge and lapdog is regrettable. No puppetmasters!!!!
Simple Question; how can you solve the problem of the masses, when you cannot interact with them? Is he going to work to win the hearts of the people or is he going to walk like a king handpicked for Hilltop Mansion? I repeat Udom Emmanuel is as cold as ice, stiff as ice. Udom Emmanuel is a banker; he knows how to count money he doesn't know how to connect with the people. Akwa Ibom's version of Mitt Romney. Enough of the big man-that-puts-everybody-in-poverty movie. We need elections that are Free and Fair that makes candidates connect with the masses.
We have heard of the touch that Hon Albert Bassey has with the masses even on this side of the Atlantic. A touch that is strong enough for us to hear the report of his good deeds over here. Too many to numerate. It is of no surprise to us because he has been like this for years now. I am proud to say that Albert Bassey was my classmate in Uniuyo and a damn good footballer too! One thing I will never forget about him was that he always had a heart for the guys and he loved helping people and he still does that today. If you needed help from Hon Albert Bassey he would not turn you down and in really heart wrenching conditions he would surrender the last thing he had to you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we need a Governor that understands the importance of human capital and is ready and dedicated to lifting people up and bringing them to a place of empowerment that will cascade to others. We do not need a Financial Mogul like Udom Emmanuel that has spent most of his life handling transactions for the rich and the mighty. He is a financial elite and a nightmare in the making.
Hon Albert Bassey knows the hunger we felt in the boys dorm of Uniuyo because he was one of us. He knows what it means to have your school fees paid just at the nick of time because of financial struggles. He knows what it meant to finish playing soccer in the field and then struggle to find water to take a bath after that. He knows what it means for us to be straining our eyesight with lanterns when there was no light for reading in the night at Uniuyo. He knows as a Youth Corper what it means to manage with sums of money that is barely enough to survive on. He can connect with the plight of the people. Hon Albert Bassey is down to earth and his experience has been the experience of so many young men in the society today. He knows what it means to agonize for the lack of a job with a living wage. This guy can connect with the plight of the people.
Udom Emmanuel was a Manager at PriceWaterhouseCooper. The kind of place in which only the rich invest. Even here in the USA only the top 1% of the population invest in such places that rival other notables like Charles Schwab,Edward Jones,Goldman Sachs etc. He has been a director in Zenith Bank and I wonder how many people of Akwa Ibom extract have been able to get great incentives from this bank through Udom Emmanuel. I repeat he is as cold as ice and can easily be defeated by Jollof rice like in Ekiti State.
One of the characteristics of Democracy is that it was designed to bring in a breath of fresh air to the citizenry once tenure of a particular administration is over. Every good thing has an ending. Then we now see the desperation of the greedy megalomaniac politicians of this administration that want a dynasty for the sake of their Stomach Infrastructure politics. They forget the masses are part of the system. So we in Diaspora do not care if Team Akpabio takes it personal or wants to kill somebody. We will take the lead and demand for an open election process with lots of candidates. Udom Emmanuel,Umanah Okon Umanah, Hon Albert Bassey etc. A lot of people feel the way we do including the Presidency that Governor Godswill Akpabio takes money to.
Since we are not interested in collecting money from each candidate we meet, we shall take sides early and leave the monkeys to do that . My ideal candidate is Hon Albert Bassey. The rest are so disconnected from the masses that they can be defeated by Jollof rice and I mean it literally.
Clayton Udoh, a socio-political analyst based in Mesa, Arizona