November 24, (THEWILL) – The take-home of the recent thanksgiving service, which was held in honour of the Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Traditional Rulers Council, Odidem Bassey Etim Edet, was that nothing can break the chord of unity, which exists among the different dialectal ethnic groups in the State.
At the event which was well attended by all the traditional rulers in the State, Odidem Edet, who is also the paramount ruler of Udung Uko Local Government Area, assured that there is no division in the traditional institution in Akwa Ibom State, as all of them are in the same page.
That was so reassuring and satisfying, assuaging frayed nerves and putting to rest the fictitious creation of alleged acrimony in the State traditional rulers council.
That is why we are terribly shocked by the left-winged mercenary article written by one Usenobong Akpabio, whose sense of reason and non-existent integrity can be priced in the showcase as he has bargained to mud-sling Akwa Ibom State Traditional Rulers Council with his blackmail. We refuse to believe the story making rounds that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, capitalising on Usenobong Akpabio’s impoverished condition presently caused him to sell his good conscience for a pot of porridge, just to survive.
In his deliberately biased article, titled: “The Weakening of Traditional Institutions With Legislation: A Critical Look at The Amended TRC Law in Akwa Ibom State”, Usenobong Akpabio stood truth on its head, and only painted a picture of what perfectly passes for a figment of his imagination, as it is at variance with the harmonious relationship between the traditional rulers in the State, across ethnic divides.
One does not need a soothsayer to know that Barr Akpabio, for obvious reasons, deliberately stands the truth in the head. It is even more shameful that he is writing as a supposed lawyer and former member of the State legislature. One now imagines how someone with such a background can make a public display of being bereft of knowledge. Or is he using the TRC law to vent his grievances on his political fate? Where will he start from? Where will he end?
We understand his predicament as a serial electoral loser and he will also lose in this frantic effort to pitch ethnic groups in Akwa Ibom State against each other, with the sole aim of embarrassing the Ifim Ibom Ibibio. Ibibio was not responsible for his failure to emerge as Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in 2011. To him, since he failed to lead the assembly, whatever emanates from there must be condemned even if it is a law that is meant for the good of Akwa Ibom people. Selfish interest!
We also know that he is yet to recover from his most recent failure to become a Senator representing Uyo Senatorial District. To him, Ibibio should have looked beyond his incompetence to send him to the Senate, but they rejected him through the ballot.
This lopsided argument of Mr Usenobong Akpabio has shown that a leopard does not change its spot. The truth is that he knows the truth of the TRC law but he deliberately distorts it to fit into the desire and design of his “bankrollers”. There is no better analogy to corroborate the assertion that an idle man is the devil’s workshop.
This article by Usenobong Akpabio is, to say the least, an affront, insult and attack on Ibibio. Whatever and whoever sent him to come out boldly to insult the Ibibio Nation should also remind him that a man who brings firewood infested by ants to the house should not be surprised when the lizards come to feast on it. He deserves the wrath of Ibibio.
First of all, Mr Akpabio’s likening of the traditional institution of Great Britain to that of Akwa Ibom State is in bad taste because the two operate under different backgrounds and circumstances.
There is also nothing wrong in positioning and repositioning the Traditional Institution in Akwa Ibom State to be at par with those of the Oni of Ife, Oba of Benin and others, and if it requires a law to effectively achieve that, there is nothing wrong with that.
Whether the traditional institution was a creation of the law or traditions and customs is immaterial. But the law can be deployed to strengthen its weak parts for the good of the Akwa Ibom people. And we thought Mr Akpabio was a lawyer!
The Akwa Ibom State Supreme Traditional Rulers Council law DOES NOT aim at making a certain ethnic group greater or more powerful than others like Mr Akpabio would want his vulnerable readers to think in his biased and self-contradictory paid essay.
Yes, the likes of the Alaafins, Obas, Sultans and others did not attain their reverence and influence through legislation, but through consistent respect by their people. It is obvious that such ethnic groups do not have outlaws and sellouts like Mr Akpabio.
He should educate Mr Akpabio that the TRC law has little or nothing to do with the scramble for population as he has erroneously presented but has more to do with coordination and unity of Akwa Ibom State.
The thrust of the law is primarily targeted at having the traditional institution in Akwa Ibom State go out under one umbrella that is blind to ethnic colouration whether of Ibibio, Annang or Oro.
This attitude of anyone who wants to gain popularity or to be given empowerment must throw dirt on Ibibio and should be stopped henceforth. You cannot always learn to write by insulting Ibibio or using Ibibio to impress people.
That the Ibibio are slow to anger does not mean that a ball thrown on a wall should not bounce back. When it bounces back, you can no longer preempt its direction.
Mr Usenobong Akpabio should forthwith desist from insulting Ibibio. He can romance with his new friends, but let it not be a case of slaughtering the highly revered traditional institution of Ibibio or Akwa Ibom State on the altar of his selfish desires.
He is quick to accuse the traditional institution of dabbling into politics. This is deliberate disinformation and banal propaganda to coat his bitter tissues of lies with false candy.
Mr Akpabio should allow the traditional institution to resolve their issues within themselves. This resort to instigating ethnic tension through making inflammatory comments on the TRC law is highly disappointing to come from a supposedly enlightened person like Akpabio.
If it is true that Mr Usenobong Akpabio is acting out Senator Godswill Akpabio’s script just for survival, it is most pathetic. He should not have gone this low because of his predicament. This is the same Senator Akpabio, who did everything to stop Usenobong Akpabio from becoming the Speaker of the State House of Assembly. Or probably Senator Akpabio saw ahead that Usenobong Akpabio is cash and carry. Now he has cashed and carried the vulnerable idle politician.
But Mr Usenobong Akpabio should better desist from making a living from the amended TRC law. It is already in existence, and the traditional institution is getting everyone back on track. Usenobong Akpabio should leave the traditional rulers council alone, and focus on his next election, or better still, his next appearance. There are no cracks in the traditional institution in Akwa Ibom State, none that require the unsolicited services of Barr Usenobong Akpabio.
Written by Usoro P. Usoro Ph.D, A Communication Expert/Political Analyst From Uyo
