By Ette Udo Sunny
The Holy Bible advises that no one should embark on a project without first sitting to calculate the cost, to avoid failure and its attendant embarrassment. It is in keeping with this wise counsel that discerning individuals, organizations and governments conduct feasibility studies before they initiate a project of any kind. To this end, cost evaluation of a venture, its expected benefits and challenges, as well as its viability and practicability become imperative.
It is pertinent to state here that our Lord Jesus Christ proffered this advice to us, his followers, warning us against spurious and unattainable project launchings or groundbreakings, ostensibly to spare us the embarrassing waste of resources and dashed hopes associated with it.
However, it is most unfortunate and pathetic that our governor, His Excellency, the Revered Deacon Udom Emmanuel, out of desperation for a scorecard vis-a-vis 2019 polls, has repeatedly failed to avail us primarily, then himself of the time tested benefits of this popular maxim, in appropriating our commonwealth.
Moreover, when we consider that the elaborate ceremony involved in government groundbreaking events sometimes gulp more than the actual project, then one can imagine the colossal waste we have recorded under Governor Udom’s serial groundbreaking saga. A holistic appraisal of the viability of AKEES toothpick and pencil cottage industry attests to this fact.
A popular Christian song has it that Jesus whose faith Governor Udom professes, started his earthly ministry with prayer and also ended it with same. But our self-righteous governor started his governorship with scam and is ending it with scam. Please recall that shortly after Governor Udom’s inauguration in 2015, he organized a colourful and well attended groundbreaking ceremony in Itu, for the siting of an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) plant in that Local Government Area. But the story ended there, no explanations, no apologies.
Be that as it may, there has been no shortage of groundbreaking in the last three and a half years of Governor Udom’s administration in Akwa Ibom State. Although it may be difficult to determine how many addresses he has, as he would say, he is obviously a man of dual personality. Whereas his aides call him Mr. Industrialization, the reality on ground depicts him as Mr. Groundbreaker. To him and his aides, groundbreaking is an end itself.
Regrettably, the governor’s industrialization programme has remained a subject of intense debate, never witnessed before in this State. Udom’s industries comprise the non-existent, the debatable and the controversial. Ibom Air; the mother of all scams and the sad epilogue of an administration born with silver spoon belong to the non-existent class.
Indeed, what is most sacrilegious about the Ibom Air saga is its place and time of announcement. It came on us suddenly like a rain without a cloud. Announced by no less a personality than His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, at no less a ground than the solemn venue of the December 22nd, 2018 Akwa Ibom Carol Night, most probably his very last as governor, the mystery aircrafts are still yet to be sighted even after he assured us that the first batch of the three aircrafts, fully branded would touch down at the Victor Attah International Airport, on December 30th, 2018, and the people said “Amen”.
However, to this day, February 7, 2019, the only things visible about Ibom Air are the three “ground staff” namely, Emmanuel “White Bom Bom” Nicholas, Essien Ndueso and Uwemedimoh Umanah. If this is not a scam, I wonder what qualifies as one.
As stated earlier, Governor Udom started with scam and is signing off with a scam that may not amuse the #Only God# in WHOSE honour he dubiously teethers his campaigns with the fraudulent prescription of DIVINE MANDATE.
Ette Udo Sunny writes in from Etinan
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