He was a political neophyte when he joined the Victor Attah administration in Akwa Ibom State as Commissioner for Local Government Affairs. When he indicated intention to succeed his boss in 2007, nobody gave him a chance. Today, the story is different. Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio has come of age politically. By 2015, he will complete his two terms as governor of the state. Since he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, Akpabio plans to move to the Senate to, according to him, serve his people who have asked him not to quit politics yet.
As governor, Akpabio, who turns 50 today (Sunday, December 9), believe he has touched the lives of his people. In this interview with Lawal Ogienagbon, Deputy Editor, and Ibrahim Kazeem, Akwa Ibom State Correspondent, Akpabio speaks on his journey in life.
AS your name Godswill a product of your political fortune?
It is a coincidence that my name is Godswill. I think it has more to do with my belief in God. My late brother taught me that everything in life radiates from God and the Bible is clear on that. The ways of prosperity are there, enshrined in the Quran and the Bible, that seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto it. That was what my late mother taught me. My name is God’s will and I believe strongly that God has a divine purpose for every man. You don’t just come into the world and believe that you don’t have direction. You definitely came into the world for a purpose. God placed you in your family for a purpose and therefore God gave me the name Godswill for a purpose. And that name He gave me was for me to do His will and to continuously seek His face and say let God’s will be done in my life. In 2007 when we were going for election, I did not say God make me the Governor of Akwa Ibom. I said let God’s will be done. I believe there is a lot of relationship between my name and my action. It is only through God that things are possible. The will of God is in this administration and that is why Godswill is being done and there is a direct relationship between the name Godswill, what is happening and the fortune of Akwa Ibom today.
You always say you are being propelled to perform by anger, what is the source of this anger?
Any Nigerian who has lived to be 50 years knows that the source of our problem is not lack of resources but how to utilise the natural resources for the benefit of all Nigerians. Every research in Africa and in the world shows that the problem of Nigeria is not availability of resources and how to utilise the resources; leadership is the bane of Nigeria. I became angry with the situation I saw and I said I wished God will give me the opportunity to be a leader so as to show the difference. Why was I so angry? I lived in Lagos and each time I came home, I will not be able to drive my car to my village. My village is sedentary, it is on the road between Ikot Ekpene and Aba, the road that comes from Umuahia, in Abia State. For 29 years I had no road to my village. The federal road between Ikot Ekpene and Aba was totally out of function and all the filling stations on that road were closed down. Even to get Okada to get into the road was a problem. We used to have pipe-borne water in the 60’s and we even saw some of it when we came back from the war. By the 80’s there was no water to drink, people had to resort to streams and I say what is happening in Nigeria. I could enter train in 1973 to Zaria to go and take entrance exam in the Nigerian Military School. Thrity years after, the train disappeared. If by 1990 as a young lawyer I could drive my car from Lagos, from Lagos I could drive seven hours and by the 8th hour, I am in Ikot Ekpene in my state and I would go to a restaurant to eat. From 1990, about 15 years after, the road disappeared between Lagos and Akwa Ibom. Don’t you think there is a reason to be angry? So the question there is what we are going to bequeath to our children if in my own time, the trains the cheapest means of transport have disappeared? I was a young boy of 10 years old when I travelled alone by train to Zaria to attempt to enter Military School. Thrity years after, no train and nothing. So, what about children who are not as privileged? I wasn’t a privileged child, but I was able to find my way to Zaria to take entrance examination. Can you say the same today of children who are orphans? Where would they get money to enter a plane since the roads are no longer there; the trains are no longer there. There was a reason to be angry. That is why when I came, I approached development with anger. I can tell you even as I am talking now the feeling of the anger is coming back but I am trying to reduce it. When I look around and drive round Uyo and I see over 34 to 38 urban roads that we have done, the anger starts reducing.
I was angry because of the decayed infrastructure; I was angry because of the number of children that were hawking in Lagos State from Akwa Ibom. I was angry because every groundnut seller in Port Harcourt was from Akwa Ibom State. I was angry because every single person in Lagos or Rivers states is from Akwa Ibom. I was angry because if you find 50 children that were trafficked from Nigeria to Gabon, 40 of them would be from Akwa Ibom State. I was angry because every house in Lagos or Abuja had an Akwa Ibomite as an housemaid because they had no money to go to school. So, with the policy of free and compulsory education and the inherent triple school enrolment and the number of children from orphaned homes being taken care of here in Uyo, Akwa Ibom children are no longer in servitude. My wife is sending them to school and those orphans now have hope that in spite of their situation in life they can become something and the anger starts subsiding. I am happy now that you cannot easily find an Akwa Ibom child that is about the age of five who is still into slavery and servitude. I was angry because I lived as a young lawyer in Lagos and on one, two or three occasions I rescued some Akwa Ibom girls raped by certain expatriates some of whom were Indians. In a particular estate in Ebute Metta a woman used hot iron on the breast of a 12-year old from Akwa Ibom because she dared to say she wanted to visit home because the father was thinking of sending her to school and the woman asked her. Is school for your type?’ and used the iron on her breast. I went to the police station out of anger to represent the girl. The anger is going down.
At 50, according to you, a man should start counting down. Why?
Do you know why I was afraid to be 50, it is because I love counting up but when you are 50, you start counting down. When you are five and 10 years old, you keep counting up but when you are 50, you can hardly count 50 again.
As a young person, you celebrate first birthday, second birthday, 30, 40 but once you get to 50, you are not likely to count to 50 again. It is difficult to count up to 40 again. When the first 50 is over, can you ever count 50 again? Even if you are to count 50, you are to count down. Very few people in our generation count 50. Even if you were to count 50 you can’t count up again. But it is to the glory of God that one should be 50.
What has life been like in the last 50 years?
Life has been a mixture of ups and downs. I have learnt a lot in the last 50 years. First, as a young child it was very traumatic, I had a lot of challenges. Second, as an adult and somebody with a feeling that you have worked hard and succeeded in life, you also learnt the travails of life that the Mexican play, The Rich Also Cry, which used to be on the television, came to mind. While the poor cry, the rich also cry. At what stage would you really say that life has been smooth? It has been very rough. Everything has been a struggle. The struggle to obtain education, the struggle to get school fees, the struggle to look for a place to do NYSC. As a young lawyer if you go to anywhere they will ask you if you have any Executive Director working in a bank. When you say no, they will send you out of the office. I stayed for two months in Lagos looking for where to do my NYSC, but I couldn’t because they wanted to link your name to a manager of a bank, and through you they will get briefs. But I wanted to practice law. Even I went to the oil industry, those to be taken had already been taken. Those in the oil industry want their children or their relations to do NYSC in those places. Sometimes merit is not recognised in Nigeria. It is only connections and we allow mediocrity to thrive in the society. A lot of young bright people are not given the opportunity to display their talent. So it has been a lot of challenges. It is sadness and joy. Joy in the sense that you have been able to graduate as a lawyer, sadness that it wasn’t possible for you to get a place to do NYSC. Joy in the sense that you now surmounted that problem, sadness in the sense that you could not get a permanent job that could give you decent living. Joy in the sense that you are able to surmount that other aspect and sadness in the sense of the absence of a decent job, the struggle must continue and then eventually you get to a point of saying that I’m a state governor then you discover that the rich also cry. The politicians try to paint you in a colour that is not yours. The only thing that has given me sanity is my dependence on God
Can we now say that at 50, you are now fully developed politically? In 2007, when we were talking about choosing the PDP candidate for this state, it was a tug of war and God used a particular line Chief Ufot Ekaete. Today we hear that you are your own man now, you don’t have God father. How true is that?
I have never had a Godfather in Akwa Ibom State. Your reading of the Akwa Ibom political situation in 2007 is totally wrong. Please, do a little bit of more investigation. Chief Ufot Ekaete was Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He was not in my political campaign team for the governorship of the state in 2007 before the primaries. The PDP primaries, I believed strongly that he had his own sympathy. When you interview him he would tell you who his preferred candidate was. I never had a Godfather before I emerged as the candidate of PDP in Akwa Ibom State. That was why there were so much troubles but I thank him for being a man of integrity and truth. Chief Ufot Ekaete was among the Akwa Ibom elders that came out in my support and said since he has won the primaries, we must stand by his victory not that he was a Godfather who put me to win the primaries. He was among the elders who spoke the truth that we don’t know how the young man won the primaries, but he won it, therefore, he should be given the opportunity to contest a governor of the state. For that, I remained grateful to him but interms of the primaries I had no single elders in the state of national prominence that was in my camp. Infact, I used to dress up some of my PA’s with their chieftaincy dresses whenevr we were going for meetings.
Let me give you a little bit of clarification so that you can understand. In 2006 we had about 56 to 57 aspirants. There was a particular aspirant from Ikot Abasi Local Government Area that had the blessing of the then SGF before the primaries and ofcourse the incumbent governor had a particular aspirant. I don’t want to name names. The elders that should have come together to support another aspirant all went into the race themselves. They all wanted to be governor.
If I wasn’t politically mature in 2006 as you were saying but I managed to win the primaries out of 57 people then that is the kind of political immaturity that I want. Here is the man, young man that was the chairman of rally and mobilisation committee for PDP re-election in 2003 and chairman of the rally and mobilisation committee of Obasanjo/Atiku campaign mobilisation in 2003 for Akwa Ibom State. I went round the state to canvass support for the governor of the state with the youths of the state for his re-election in 2003. He was not political matured but he was the chairman of all the campaign committees for Obong Victor Attah on rally and mobilisation in the state. I organised the 31 local governments rallies for the 31 local governments in the state. I mobilised support in 329 wards with the youths of the state for the then governor to win re-election in 2003. I also organised the PDP Presidential rally at the Uyo Township Stadium that was second to none, never seen in the history of this state. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was so excited and announced that he had never addressed this kind of rally even in Western Nigeria. This was a young man totally politically immature in 2006 and therefore, he became a Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and they had over 539 cases in court on chieftaincy matters but he sat in judgment in the chambers daily and all the communities in court withdrew their cases from in court and came before him. Also communities that never had Paramount Ruler for 14 years withdrew their cases in court and settled them. A community like Uruan that was in court for over nine years was able to get a Paramount Ruler during my time. People felt that he was a man of justice therefore his pronouncement was respected by all because I gave justice to all irrespective of your status. This was the same young who wasn’t politically matured but he was the last to declare for governorship in the state because of the respect he had for the former governor. When he realised that the former governor had his own preferred candidate he refused to go into the race until women went to the primary school and stayed there. Thousands of Akwa Ibom women said they were going to go naked unless Godswill Akpabio declare for governorship of the state. Grudgingly, he was the last to enter the race and when he entered, he never said he wanted to be governor he just told Akwa Ibom people, let Godswill be done.
Do governors need a summit to come together on regional integration? For instance, we have BRACED commission in the South South and given the incessant border disputes between governors over allocation of oil wells. Don’t you think the regional integration is being threatened?
Also what has happened to the Southern Governors’ forum?
I am actually not an activist at 50. I am a governor at 50. So what you are talking about will be a better question for people who are involved in activism. I won’t know much about it. It is a very good idea but it is not the oil well that will divide the South South. There will always be differences. But we must focus on things that unite us and one of those things is how to integrate ourselves economically. We can do things that will be of general advantage to our people. The oil wells you mentioned are things that could divide the people. Let us not focus on oil well. Let us focus on economic integration.
You talked of economic integration, for instance, Uyo-Calabar/Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene road are in the state of collapse? The roads though federal, can there be an integration between the three states?
I am working on how the three sister states can collaborate for the repairs of the road. I have written to President Goodluck Jonathan and he has given me approval to work with my brother states of Abia and Cross River and ensure that those roads are not only done but they are dualised. I got the approval from the Federal Ministry of Works. President Goodluck Jonathan graciously granted the approval and that for me is how to integrate the state. that is why I said let us focus on things that will benefit our people and not on things that will divide us. The oil well is all about money issues but if we focus on truth then there will be no conflict. The reality is that for instance, I don’t want to speak for Bayelsa and Rivers States but if what I am hearing is true that these were the issues that were done in the year 2000 and not things that were done in 2012 then you can see that the protagonists are a little bit unfair to the president because the reporting tends to give the impression as if it is being dine under the presidency of Bayelsa. For instance, look at the Akwa Ibom issues, it was settled even in the Supreme Court in 2005 when Cross River State went to the Supreme Court. They explained to Cross River State that if Bakassi goes to Cameroun, there is no way you can talk about oil well on the deep sea, yet, the current administration still went back to the Supreme Court. I tried everything possible to stop them from doing so. I even wrote a letter to them saying that it was unnecessary offering assistance at that time but they still went to court. So those are the issues. It is the individual attitude that could threatened, the unity of the South South because oil wells are not movable assets. They are permanently fixed. If we all believe in justice and speak the truth then there will be no conflict in the regard. As a governor I decided that the best way to move forward is to focus on things that can unite the South South and not on things that can divide the South South. Let the BRACED commission concentrate on economic integration, commonality, and comparative advantage in agriculture and how we can create wealth system for our people. Right now I am intervening on the road from Arochukwu to allow the people from there get to Akwa Ibom State. so that they can also make use of the Ibom International Airport. That is also what informed my request to Mr. President to grant me permission to dualise road from Uyo to Aba in Abia State and from Uyo to Calabar in Cross River State. I am going to be working with my brother governors in that regard so that we can create common facilities/infrastructure that will enhance the living standard of our people and not to focus on things that divide us. That is why I said at 50 I will never be an activist. I will only be a man who speaks the truth.
What is your position on the call by some sections of the North calling for the review of the Onshore/Offshore dichotomy?
That was a settled issue. We should not reopen old wounds. Even when that policy was in place the entire Nigerians described it as obnoxious. Obnoxious in the sense that it was a clear case of an unjust policy and then Nigerians decided to find a solution to it. They went through alot of processes before finally arriving at a compromised position. I need to tell you that thousands of oil wells in Nigeria are still offshore. The onshore/offshore dichotomy is still there but the compromised position was that for oil wells between 200 meters isobaths, we should pay derivation but oil wells beyond 200 meters isobaths, no derivation because that is almost like international waters. So, oil wells within the shadow waters that impacted alot on the aquatic life with the region and affect the livelihood of the people who are predominantly fishermen and the impact of the oil spill also spills on the land and destroyed the possibility of agriculture. Since the people are riverine and depend on the water but the water is already black as a result of the activities of oil exploration. They should get compensation. So, we got to a compromised position. The position was that we should pay derivation up to 200 meters but some of my colleagues in the North when they are granting interview, you hear them saying 200 nautical miles. Nigeria doesn’t even have the capability to police up to 200 nautical miles. So you have to correct some of these distortions. These things are being done and propagated in order to confuse and cause bad blood between the north, the south south and oil producing communities. That is not the correct position. The reality is that the dichotomy is still there. I give you an example, if dichotomy was totally removed, the highest oil producing states in Nigeria will not be in the South South, it will be Lagos State. That is where you have Bonga Oil field that produces up to 800,000 barrels per day but it is deep offshore. It is beyond the 200meters isobaths. That is why Lagos is not a derivation state. That is the simple truth. There are lots of thousands of oil wells in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom that are beyond 200 meters isobaths that we are not getting derivation on but the ones within 200 meters isobaths that impact on the landmass should be regarded as part and parcel of the land for the purpose of derivation and yet people are not still happy. In 2012, when American decided to quadruple oil production and trying to compete with Saudi Arabia in oil production and our greatest partner is America. Shouldn’t we be worried that a time may come that oil will have no value? It is a time we should be talking of more dependence on oil instead of thinking about how to diversify the economy?
From Nassarawa to Zamfara we have mineral deposits. From Jos, we have bauxites everywhere in the North. There is no part in this country that God has not embedded mineral resources in the soil. Why don’t we set up corporation and even increase derivation to make it attractive to our sister states to go into major exploration and exploitation of these mineral resources so that we can diversify our economy. We have things embedded in the soil all over Nigeria, we have not talked about that, we are depending on crude oil. Is it the time in 2012 that we should be talking of how to grab more oil so that we can share more revenue while forgetting the environment impact on the people such as oil spill, gas flaring that is affecting peoples’ lungs, acid rain and the rest of them.
I am not into that argument. I want to thank the President and the Attorney General of the Federation who issued a statement and pointed out that that was a settled issue. That Nigeria should move forward not backward. That is an issue that will move the country backward. For me I want to move forward. If we start the issue today, it means that we are moving backward and we are not patriotic. Also that some people are elected to destroy Nigeria and I think it is important for us to bring leaders into this country who will rather build this country than dividing the country.
You have a grass to grace story. What is the greatest lesson you have learnt in life and what impact do you want it to have on the lives of people?
Perseverance is the key. If you persevere you will succeed. Then don’t depend on your ability, depend on God. Any child no matter the circumstances of your birth, persevere, work hard and realise that there is only one place in the world where success comes before work and that is in the dictionary. That is where you see S before W. In real life, it is work before success.
Before you got married, what was your relationship like with the opposite sex?
I was very timid because I was a very poor man. You know you only have confidence when you have money in your pocket. So, I congratulate young men who are handsome and rich. But the rest of us who are good looking even when girls try to get close to you, you will think they are trying to mock you. I have not always been a ladies man. Humanity gets attracted to my personality. That is why when I was a student in the university I didn’t join any cult because I felt I had too many friends and therefore I was a cult onto myself. So, I said how can you carry a cult into a cult. Already the name Godswill Akpabio was an attractive name. I am very sociable and a mixer. I have always been that kind of person all along. In secondary school, I was a general senior prefect and I have the largest number of school sons. Everybody wants to be Goddy A school son. Instead of me having school sons that washed clothes for me. I washed clothes for my school sons. I washed plates for them, they stayed with me and I have to make sure they are clean. I will ask them my friend have you changed your pants today, they would say Goddy A I want to be your school son. I would tell them if you want to be my son you must be clean. I rather served my school sons instead of them serving me. That was why I had many school sons. So, that kind of personality has always been there for me.
I was the speaker of the Students’ Union Parliament in the University of Calabar. The students said I should contest for president but I refused. I pulled out in the last minute because of family considerations. They said they had the money to sponsor me for president but I told them supposing the union is dissolved and I am sent home, will I start over as a poor man?
