Right of Reply: Re: I Used to Eat from Dustbins – Governor Akpabio -By Anietie Ukpe

The publication titled “I used to eat from dustbins – Governor Akpabio” published by Premium Times, was a shocking display of malice, vitriol and profanity. It disingenuously sought to attach a literal meaning to a figurative expression. It was faux pas, poor editorial judgment and a deviation from the high journalistic standard of Premium Times.

In his famous Common Ground address in 1988, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, “I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. I was not born with a silver spoon in my hand, I was born with a shovel in my hand.” Did this in effect mean that Jackson came out of his mother’s womb with a shovel in his hand? Should the slum be taken literally?

Perhaps the writer of this article was born in Buckingham Palace and he is royalty. But he should remember that the greatest man who ever walked the earth, Jesus Christ, was born in a manger and he was covered at birth with swaddling clothes. Swaddling clothes are strips of tattered clothing rejected by their owners. But that did not stop him from fulfilling his destiny as the saviour of mankind.

It is a mark of the greatest grace for a man to admit to a humble background in order to encourage the downtrodden to reach for greater heights. All through history the greatest men have indulged in this noble practice – not because they relish it, but because they share the sacrificial spirit of Jesus Christ and would want their humble beginnings to be the compass guiding succeeding generations to paths of greatness, excellence and acclaim. To be the light of hope for the oppressed.

The insinuation that there is poverty in Akwa Ibom State is another disingenuous lie. In Akwa Ibom State, you have free education from primary school to senior secondary school. This means that funds are freed for parents to plough into something else. In Akwa Ibom State, you have free medical treatment for pregnant women, babies up to the age of five and the aged, this frees money that you would have been used in medicare for these categories of persons for you to plough into something else. In Akwa Ibom State, the quantum of development is outstanding. Akwa Ibom people supply the basic items used for these projects like, sand, granites, gravels, nails, bolts etc. in addition to taking advantage of the employment opportunities. In Akwa Ibom, the Government has done over 4,500 Inter-ministerial Direct Labour projects, and all of these contracts were awarded to Akwa Ibom people. The Central Bank has rated the state to be the best in agriculture because of the loans to thousands of youths and women in the state. So just how did the much-vaunted poverty of Akwa Ibom come about?

The report claimed that Governor Godswill Akpabio got bullet-proof buses for the state. What on God’s green earth is wrong with that? The vehicles were acquired for the state and for the protection of the many dignitaries who throng the state. What would have been used to transport the presidents of Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast around the state at the opening of the Nest of Champions Stadium? You need buses like these to guarantee the safety of visiting dignitaries and satisfy the security demands of hosting global dignitaries.

Akwa Ibom may receive the highest allocation from the Federation Account but it does not make the highest income monthly. Akwa Ibom’s highest donation has been about N20 billion monthly, but it has near zero income from internally generated revenue. Rivers State takes about N16 billion from Federal Allocation and an additional N15billion from internally generated revenue. Lagos State makes about N20billion monthly from internally generated revenue alone. So the writer of this article would benefit from basic research before he embarks on propagandistic treatises like this.

There were litanies of perplexing issues brought up in the unfortunate article. One of them was that multinationals were preferred over local contractors. When the writer becomes a governor let him hire Okon and Sons Nigeria Ltd to build an airport and find out whether it would be granted any license. Let him find out what happened to the mega-projects the preceding administration gave to local contractors and how many of them are still working – or even took off the ground. Two, the governor donated one Sports Utility Vehicle to Tuface Idibia, not two as the writer averred. Note that the governor of Ogun State had earlier donated an Avensis Toyota to a musician in his state and there was no furore. Governor Akpabio simply promised return tickets to 29 persons who would attend the wedding in Dubai (not an all-expense paid trip) and this amounted to about N2 million because flights to Dubai (perhaps Writer has not been there) are among the cheapest internationally.

It is painful to seek to respond to the vexing issues in this treatise of mischief. Suffice it to say that a case of pathological malice on the part of the writer has been established and one would not seek to stretch the matter further and give the mischief-maker the sadistic pleasure of believing that he has succeeded in diverting the attention of productive minds from developmental issues.

While we believe that everyone has the right of response to news in the media, we stand by the integrity of the work of our reporters and writers at Premium Times.