---

---

Nigeria: A/Ibom - Writers' Role in Development

Fidel Odum

21 October 2007

---

opinion

Lagos — Samuel Effiong's article "Re: Attah's Projects and Facts On Ground", serialized in some national newspapers, including Daily Champion, October 4, 2007 and This Day, October 7, 2007, was built on error and is, therefore, inadmissible as a valid contribution to the ongoing controversy on Akwa Ibom State initiated, in the first instance, by the unceasing attacks on Obong Victor Attah, the immediate past governor of the state.

According to Effiong, " Fidel Odum must have been so desperate to justify his worth and wage that he did not mind describing a sitting governor as a 'scoundrel'." In my article, which he was responding to, the only use of the word "scoundrel" appeared in my concluding sentence: "But what is happening now shows that Akpabio might have another agenda and this will, if not checked, reduce Akpabio to a scoundrel." The operative phrase is "if not checked." This is simple enough.

My article was aimed at clarification of certain facts, which I witnessed as a writer during Attah's administration. Secondly, it was a piece of counsel freely offered to Governor Akpabio to study closely his predecessor's projects and to make a rational decision on the way forward and not pay much heed to the self-interested voices of disgruntled politicians. If Obong Victor Attah's projects are indeed sound and laudable, logic and truth demand that his successor (Akpabio) should do well to complete them and share the glory with the man who initiated them. To do otherwise would incur him the verdict of history as a scoundrel, in view of the value of these projects and their viability. As a writer, I always endeavour to write what I mean and mean what I write.

Samuel Effiong rightly observed that I have been writing newspaper articles for years. It would have been, therefore, out of character for me, after so many years in the media, to describe a governor, incumbent or past, as a scoundrel with or without justification. That would tantamount to insult to both the person and office of the governor. It is simply dishonorable to misquote any source in order to justify one's thesis, as Effiong has so shamelessly done in his article. However, it is entirely up to his employer or client to decide if this is the quality of writing that will sell its policies and programmes over the next four years.

So far, Governor Akpabio's team has adopted an adversarial position vis-à-vis the immediate past government of Victor Attah. Not surprisingly, the articles Akpabio's defenders find unpalatable have been rejoinders to the unceasing onslaught being unleashed on Attah, beginning from the first week of Akpabio as governor. The last series of these attacks came through press reports that some Federal parliamentarians had been sent out to assess Attah's projects, a bungled assignment which only professional experts could have done convincingly if the intention was good from the outset. Almost all analysts who have been following these purported evaluations of Attah's performance have been astonished by the glaring contradiction between Akpabio's putative goodwill for Attah and the vitriol, on the other hand, his aides and associates have been pouring on Attah's good name.

The ongoing cat and mouse game being played with anonymous writers will not help the Akpabio administration. Many are bound to ask, who is Samuel Effiong? Is he a member of Akpabio's administration who cannot identify himself and his post because he does not have the courage to unmask himself, especially in view of the fact that the truth and logic of the argument at hand are heavily weighted against those trying to discredit Attah? On my part, my name is Fidel Odum. I am a citizen of Nigeria and a writer of many years standing, who has reached the pinnacle of my career as editor and managing director. When I was a Special Assistant (Political Affairs) to Governor Jim Nwobodo in the Second Republic , I wrote many articles promoting the Government and the leader of the party (NPP), Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. I did not have any reason to hide because my conscience was clear.

Anyone who has seen the disgraceful state of our urban motor parks and how they breed touts and criminals should be impressed by Uyo's motor parks which, by their sheer design and beauty, scare criminals away.

Likewise, anyone who has seen the mess and filth caused by saw dust in some of our cities will do well to visit Uyo and see its two timber markets, complete with tarred streets, drainage systems, facilities for banking, post office, eateries and, above all, specialized sections for woodwork and disposal of saw dust and so on.

This is modernization in process and in progress for which Victor Attah deserves praise. Wicked men should not be allowed to bury the fact that these projects were conceived and delivered by this architect, himself a former president of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. Many of these architects, such as the Head of the School of Architecture of the University of Nigeria ( Enugu campus) have given eloquent testimony of how they were invited to Uyo by Attah before the commencement of the projects and at the commissioning. The Ibom Plaza , which replaced the old inner city market of Uyo, is a model for our state capitals to emulate in providing befitting shopping facilities for our cities, while the model secondary schools by far look better than many of our new university campuses. Perhaps only visitors coming from poorly developed towns can appreciate these architectural masterpieces better than residents

Samuel Effiong, should get up from his cosy office at Uyo and visit these projects, both the completed and the ongoing. That he did not visit the international airport/hangar was evident in his confusion between what he called "hanger" (i.e. hangar) and the MRO which he said has no foundation yet. MRO (Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul) is the same thing as hangar and in this particular airport has gone past the foundation stage. The runway, which he said, has laterite only on one kilometer, and no asphalt, indeed is 31/2 kilometers and is more than 90% complete with laterite, while more than half of that length had stone-piles ready to receive asphalt, as at the time we visited. I state all these as a witness of truth who visited this site and other Attah's projects.

Finally, Mr. Effiong tries to over-emphasize the point of Odum being a paid agent of Attah, repeating this in paragraph after paragraph. We live in a country suffused with suspicion and one reason many are having sleepless nights in Uyo is because some of Attah's projects, by their very nature, are expensive, such as the Ibom Power Plant and the International Airport/Hangar. Once Nigerians hear about huge contract sums, there is always a suspicion that there must have been kickbacks. On the other hand, I read of recent that Akpabio signed road contracts valued at N43 billion for roads of about 43 kilometers. This translates to N1 billion per kilometer. I know that most people would shout and ask; N1 billion per kilometre of road?

Also, any time a leader is defended against defamation, there is an assumption that the writer or writers have been bribed to defend evil. Let those who think this way, keep guessing. But I will only repeat here that I have met Victor Attah for a few minutes in the company of other media men and was present on occasions when he spoke. What has befallen him in Akwa Ibom today is exactly the reason why some good men hesitate to go into politics in order to keep their good names protected from calumny and vilification. Also, it explains why some leaders groom successors in order to avoid treachery and the wickedness of those who will always oppose the truth.

All is not lost or late for Godswill Akpabio. He can rectify the discord, which his aides are fostering by reviewing his team and employing men and women of peace and goodwill.

Odum wrote from Lagos

Be the first to Write a Comment!

---