By Tonnie Iredia

Etim, an old school mate, has mastery of grassroots democracy having been involved in politics right from our university days (Ibadan of course). The only point he always makes which sounds irrational to me is his assertion that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would for the next 50 years win any election in his state, Akwa Ibom.

When I remind him that the major advocates of that idea had themselves left the party, he assures me that all those who claim to have left PDP are not only on political sabbaticals, but that they are in essence serving as the party’s ambassadors wherever. It was thus with a rude shock that I read media reports a few days ago that some 5,000 members of my friend’s party had decamped to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

My worry was really not the decamping because I know that the 2 parties concerned have an unwritten agreement to occasionally swap their members; my worry was that the alleged latest massive decamping reportedly took place in Obot Akara Local Government Area which happens to be Etim’s place of birth and current residence.

The event according to the media also witnessed the official commissioning of the Obot Akara Secretariat of the APC and a reception in honour of its candidate who recently won his election petition at the Court of Appeal. Painfully, all efforts to get Etim to explain the issue have failed. With calls to all his telephone lines neither answered nor returned, I just hope Etim was not among the decampees. But that does not really matter because changing parties now and again is the norm in Nigeria.

However, with media reports that many Ibom people are unhappy with what they perceive as the unending tele-guiding of Governor Udom Emmanuel by his predecessor, it is easy to imagine that the problem in Akwa Ibom is beyond that of Etim’s local government area. The said tel-guiding we hear results in huge expenses on cosmetic matters which do not impact in the strict sense on the living conditions of the people. A good example is the recent exceedingly wasteful sponsorship of a Christmas carol which has been holding annually since 2008.

The event which was held at Uyo Township Stadium was as usual colourful and indeed uncommon as the government assembled top national and international artistes to perform on the occasion watched by thousands of guests.  No one knows the exact cost of the event as it is not in the character of the government to disclose public accounts. Even the exact amount left behind by the immediate past administration has reportedly remained unknown.

One can only hazard a guess that it must have as usual run into billions of naira and may have surpassed the immediate  past edition which was held on December 13, 2014 featuring some 25, 270 strong Godswill Akpabio Unity Choir. This uncommon choir which is estimated to be the largest number of carol singers on earth is reportedly recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, and is at least 10,000 bigger than the previous record set by the CENTI Choir in Bogota, Columbia.

That some corporate bodies co-sponsored the fiesta does not however make it the priority of the people. Indeed, the poor could not have accessed the event in the stadium. Some may have watched it on television but how many Ibom people have the government empowered to own television sets from where to watch the uncommon event? How many such TV owners had light on that fateful day to watch the event? In short, what did the average Ibom citizen gain from the uncommon Christian extravaganza?

If answers to these questions do not reveal a pro-people policy, it seems irrational to continue to hold the uncommon event especially at this time of economic recession. Interestingly, some 3 months earlier, government had similarly rolled out the drums to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the creation of the state. While the celebration is not in itself a bad idea, should be it done  in a lavish and ostentatious manner as Akwa Ibom did on September 23, 2015? Analysts imagine that it must have cost billions of naira as every official event in the state always involves more than 2 weeks of media campaign featuring billboards, press, radio and TV advertising;  production of branded T-shirts, artistes and entertainers’ fees, Travels, hotels and accommodations to guests & pastors & former governors, Foods & drinks, Mobilization of women form the LGAs, decorations and most importantly expensive LIVE TV broadcast. Is it not instructive that Katsina State which was created the same day did not toe that line of profligacy?

In the midst of all these uncommon things, the government is unable to accomplish the most common issues of governance. For example, doctors in the state last week threatened to down tools following the non-payment of over 15 months of their salaries. The State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in a statement announced that the decision to embark on the strike followed restiveness among members in state government hospitals as a result of their unpaid emoluments. The doctors also complained bitterly that the State Government had employed and posted 61 Medical Officers to various hospitals across the state whose salaries are yet to be paid some 15 months after their engagement

Against this backdrop, the way out is for Governor Udom Emmanuel an accomplished banker to be himself by putting on his professional cap to turn around the economy of the state and engage in purposeful spending so as to earn the confidence of his people. He can for instance; complete the Specialist Hospital which though previously politically commissioned was uncompleted. Such a common project makes more sense than frittering away billions of Naira on singing, celebrations and merriments just to satisfy a sponsor. He should remember that it is people that matters most in governance as shown at his inauguration when an embarrassingly dead silence of disapproval greeted his renaming of the Akwa Ibom International Stadium- the “Nest of Champions” after Godswill Akpabio his predecessor.