NOTE: This an Opinion of JANET EKONG
Chief Dr. Godswill Obot Akpabio really needs no introduction even to Nigerians in diaspora. This is a man that straddled the political landscape of Nigeria like a colossus and most remarkably, from the obscurity of a minority and pedestrian State like Akwa Ibom. Some even say he was the ‘de facto’ Vice President because from East to West and North to South, his contributions and influence was felt tremendously in the political manoeuvrings of the then ruling Party.
However, for the benefit of anyone who may not know him, he is the immediate past Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State for eight years and presently the Minority leader in the Nigerian Senate. Chief Akpabio as governor of Akwa Ibom became the face and the chief marketer of the brand called Akwa Ibom and was able to totally re-engineer, remould and reposition the brand nationally and most importantly, internationally. Some argue that the first seeds were actually sown by Obong Attah through his fight for resource control which greatly impacted the State’s fortunes. True, but it still wouldn’t have amounted to anything without the personal style, vision, strength and doggedness of Chief Akpabio to propel us to the next level.
At all fora, (and he had many) he marketed the infrastructural renaissance he was championing in the State and sold the opportunities available in the State to foreign investors which he successfully attracted to the State. But the massive physical infrastructure or his generosity aka stomach infrastructure is not the focus of this piece. It is about the silent evolution in the consciousness of the average Akwa Ibomite that inadvertently occurred as a direct consequence of the boldness, visibility, big- thinking, achievements, confidence, local/international recognitions and political influence of Dr Akpabio especially on the National stage. These attributes have become the bedrock and the building blocks that is gradually and furtively reconstructing and remoulding the mentality of the average Akwa Ibom citizen. This is what I call Mental Infrastructure – the new can-do spirit, pride and self-confidence which has facilitated and catalysed the escape from the cocoon of mental poverty that has imprisoned the capacities of Akwa Ibomites for several decades.
I use the word “inadvertently” because former Governor Akpabio did not included this in his agenda or political manifesto and I am not also aware of it being in the PDP manifesto. Whether you like Akpabio or not, believe in his achievements on not, you can’t deny the fact that he repositioned Akwa Ibom State in national consciousness and reckoning and in the world map as well. The fruits of our reconstructed mental infrastructure is already manifesting in several sectors. It has given expression in the visibility of our youths in music, performing arts, academics, sports (Akwa United) and an elevated consciousness in the politics of the State and Nation as a whole. Even the vigour and tenacity in which the opposition in the State fought to wrest power from the so-called Akpabio influence was invigorated by the renewed self-confidence and can-do spirit awakened by the Akpabio phenomenon.
For a people who were noted for their timidity, vassalage and as laggards conditioned by several years of psychological battering in old Cross River and debilitating poverty, it was an extraordinary transformational leap to witness the serial successes of Akpabio in all sorts of political manoeuvrings and battles including his feat in becoming the Senate Minority leader as a first term Senator. Whatever the overt or covert costs of the physical and stomach infrastructure throughout the tenure of Chief Akpabio, in the long run, it would pale into insignificance in comparison with the rippling generational effect of our new mental consciousness. As the Buddha put it “The mind is everything. What you think you become”.
The newly reconstructed mental infrastructure will boost our capacity to succeed in all spheres of life, support an evolution of a new generation of proud, exposed and confident Akwa Ibomites with innate aptitude to hold their own anywhere in the world. The power released by lifting the mentality of a whole people (about 5 million) in this case is incalculable and its effects from parents to children and grandchildren is basically infinite. This was the weapon United Kingdom’s Churchill employed to galvanize a people at the verge of defeat to ward off German domination during the Second World War.
Just like Churchill, by words and display of optimism and confidence, Akpabio has elevated the consciousness of the Akwa Ibomites to the next level in a mental struggle to defeat our littleness and mental inferiority and the effects will continue to reverberate down generations long after he is gone. It is for this reason I tagged this feat – Akpabio’s greatest Legacy.
Ofcourse the second best legacy he has bequeathed to the Akwa Ibom people is the choice of Governor Udom Emmanuel as his successor. Governor Emmanuel’s actions so far conform to the different attestations of several Nigerians on his unique mental capacity which is what the reborn Akwa Ibom needs right now. I shudder at the thought of a mentally renewed Akwa Ibom in the hands of a person still within the self- limiting envelop or someone not fully weaned from our hitherto, micro thinking. It would be akin to painstakingly building an edifice and demolishing right after.
Though mental evolution is naturally slower in some than in others, even a handful of Akwa Ibomites fully weaned from mental inferiority and timidity syndrome, can elevate the State several rungs up the ladder to socio-economic prominence. A case in point was the power of just one man, Nelson Mandela, who lifted a whole country out of debilitating inferior mentality through his own mental strength. In a few short years, I foresee Akwa Ibom in the vanguard of the Nigerian State in terms of innovation and industrialization. Akwa Ibom DAKKADA!!!
JANET EKONG – AN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT EXPERT WRITES FROM ABUJA
