A socio cultural organization,Ekid Peoples Union has tackled paramount ruler of Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa ibom State, Chief Effiong Archianga, over his recent outburst against the administration of former governor Udom Emmanuel.
The paramount ruler had, in a recent interview, described Udom Emmanuel as the “worst governor, the state had produced and who did nothing for his Ibeno People in his eight years in power.”
Reacting, the group in a statement on Saturday issued to newsmen by its President General, Dr. Samuel Udonsak in Uyo said he was deeply touched by the monarch’s comment, adding that the monarch has chosen to use his exalted position to peddle malicious and unfounded allegations against the former Governor of Akwa lbom State.
According to Udonsak, what the paramount ruler seeks to portray is nothing more than an attempt to distort history and destabilize the peace that Governor Udom Emmanuel worked so hard to bring to the state.
He wondered what would prompt such a diatribe against a former governor who had since completed his tenure peacefully and given his successor the free hand to implement the ARISE Agenda across the state.
He said such utterances coming from a first class chief stand in stark contrast to the verifiable records of Udom Emmanuel’s tenure and are designed to tear down.
“Records that speak for themselves and cannot be erased by propaganda. Before the emergence of Udom Emmanuel, no road had been constructed in lbeno. It was Governor Emmanuel who constructed a 19.5km dual carriage road linking Ibeno to Eket Local Government Area, opening up the region for commerce and development.
“This same governor ensured that for the first time in history, an indigene of Ibeno rose to become the highest political office holder in the entire Eket Federal Constituency”, the statement reads in part.
Udonsak said it was unfair for the monarch to posit that no Ibeno son served in Udom’s government as commissioner, whereas that government first appointed Mr Ekpenyong Enyinna as commissioner before appointing Chief Okpolupm Etteh as his successor.
“These are not indications of a “worst governor”; there are legacies of a governor who believed in equitable development and fairness. Contrary to the paramount Ruler’s bitter rhetoric, Udom Emmanuel’s government was a beacon of inclusive governance.
“Under his leadership, every local government area, including Ibeno, witnessed road projects and infrastructural development. He did not rule for one community or one party. He ruled for the entire Akwa Ibom State, restoring peace and prosperity and giving every citizen a renewed sense of belonging” he added
Speaking on some of the achievements of the former governor, Udonsak said, “Governor Emmanuel did not just build roads and bridges; he built people. Twelve general hospitals were remodeled and equipped. The Itam Multispecialty Hospital was brought back to life, and civil servants were never owed salaries, a testament to his belief in governance as a tool for vice. He may not have been fared well in upsetting all the arrears of gratuities owed civil servants, but he never owed them pensions.
He added that to describe such a leader as “the worst governor” is either the product of a mind clouded by age-related forgetfulness or of a heart hardened by greed and a phobia for peace.
According to him “History will remember Governor Udom Emmanuel as one of the best governors Akwa Ibom has ever produced, a governor who left the state better than he met it, and whose legacies continue to speak louder than any insult ever could”.
