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Tag: Attah

  • Obong Victor Attah clocks 80 in style

    Obong Victor Attah clocks 80 in style

    Obong Victor Attah is one of the few elite who understand the advantages embedded in privacy. For the past seven years, Attah has maintained a low profile, choosing to stay off the socio-political radar. Obong Attah is the immediate-past governor of Akwa Ibom State before Godswill Akpabio took over.

    As you read things, plans are being made to celebrate Attah in a grand style. In a bid to honour a man who has contributed to the growth of his state and the country in general, the Nigerian high society is planning to celebrate one of their own as he clocks 80.

  • A’Ibom governorship tribunal: How Attah, Etiebet, INEC delivered the killer punch

    A’Ibom governorship tribunal: How Attah, Etiebet, INEC delivered the killer punch

    As the Akwa Ibom State governorship election petition tribunal adjourned till August 18 to allow the petitioner, Mr Umana Okon Umana, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), along with the other parties in the case the time to tender a mountain of INEC documents they all pleaded in their filings, it is an appropriate juncture to look at the milestones at the hearing of the petition so far.

    But before going further, let us put the adjournment into context in order to squelch the unfounded rumour that the break was asked for because the petitioner had run out of witnesses. That is far from the truth. The break was discussed and agreed on by all parties who need to sit together and sort the INEC documents, which they had all pleaded, into schedules for presentation to the tribunal at the resumed hearing.  The documents are of such volume that all parties, including the secretariat of the tribunal, have to work together to meet the deadline. Reacting to the motion for adjournment, which was made by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel to the petitioner, counsel to all the other parties agreed that it should be allowed because the break was needed for a “joint venture.”

    For the milestones, rating easily as one of the critical junctures in the hearing of the governorship election petition were the decisions to relocate all the tribunals to Abuja, following security threats to members of the tribunal and witnesses to petitioners in matters before the tribunals. It is important to mention here that a witness from Onna, home local council to Udom Emmanuel, who was declared winner of the election, Hon. Etebom Christopher Itiat, a governorship candidate of the Democratic People Party in the election, was attacked and his house vandalised after going to Abuja to testify for Umana and the APC.

    Equally momentous also was the decision to move the electoral materials in INEC custody in Uyo to Abuja. In light of the discovery by the team of forensic experts working for the petitioners that INEC in Akwa Ibom was destroying electoral materials intended to be used as evidence in attempt to frustrate the petition, the movement was both significant and right in the interest of justice.

    Another milestone was the day hearing began into the substantive matter before the tribunal. What invested that day with so much significance was not just its rank as the first day in the epic legal battle whose outcome will serve as the reference point for dating history in Akwa Ibom State, but more so for the legal fireworks that fore grounded the lone testimony of the day. The lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), for the petitioner had opened the case by calling the first witness, Bishop Samuel Akpan, who was the governorship candidate for Accord Party in the would-be governorship election. Bishop Akpan in the witness box for Umana was an intrusive shock to the respondents, comprising Udom Emmanuel, the Peoples Democratic Party and INEC. They quickly showed it.

    Once they recovered from the shock, they went for the foundation of the case of the petitioner. Their game plan was to truncate the petition at that point with the argument—which could have easily fooled the unwary and the inexperienced—that Bishop Akpan and all the other witnesses that were to come could not testify before the tribunal because they were listed in their initials only by the petitioner in his filings before the tribunal. The trio of Paul Usoro (SAN) for Udom Emmanuel, first respondent; Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) for PDP, second respondent and Dr Onyiechi Ikpeazu (SAN) for INEC, third respondent, contended volubly and for about five hours that it was not allowed in law for witnesses to be identified by initials only, concluding therefore that all the witnesses listed by the petitioner stood disqualified. The petitioner, through his lead counsel, countered with the winning argument that such was allowed for security reasons, namely, possible attacks on witnesses—especially given the manifest truth that Akwa Ibom had been turned into a burning cauldron of violence in the last eight years, the calamity which climaxed in the build-up to and during the elections with some of the most gruesome murders and arsons imaginable. Thirty of the murders occurred on election day. Chief Olanipekun cited authority after authority on the use of initials by witnesses in court until he achieved enthymeme.

    The tribunal, headed by Justice Sadiq Umar, agreed with the petitioner and overruled the opposition. What would have been a fatal blow to the petitioner’s case was thus deftly defused.

    Of all the critical milestones in the hearing so far, Tuesday July 28 stands out as the most significant watershed yet at the tribunal sitting at the FCT High Court in Abuja. It was a day of great moment that lived up to its promise for the petitioner in the election dispute. The day also delivered on its full threat potential to the first, second and third respondents to the petition, namely, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel of the PDP, who was declared winner of the disputed election; the PDP and INEC. The promise and threat, depending on where you stand on the scale of justice, derived from the type of witnesses and kind of evidence that were to be led before the tribunal at the day’s session. They were easily the most ranking witnesses for the petitioner.

    The day’s session began with a back-breaking testimony by one of the high value witnesses, Atuekong Don Etiebet—former minister of petroleum resources, former presidential candidate and former life BOT member of the PDP—against Udom Emmanuel of the PDP, INEC and the PDP.

    Etiebet authoritatively told the tribunal that elections did not hold according to law on 11 April 2015 in Oruk Anam local council area where he comes from and where he was at home to vote on that Election Day. He testified to massive irregularities, including but not limited to ballot snatching, absence of ballot materials at polling units, and bloody violence instituted and directed by thugs and members of the PDP.

    He tendered four materials in evidence, namely, his voter’s card, his press statement condemning the sham elections, newspaper publication of the press statement and a video recording of his visit along with other leaders of the state and members of the APC to INEC head office in Uyo on the night of the election to see whether there was state collation of the ballot as should be the case at the INEC office which was the state collation centre. Etiebet said this was after they could not find INEC collating any results of the “elections” at any local government collation centre in most parts of the state. He said during the visit, they found the INEC head office in total darkness, with no work going on and the INEC REC Austin Okojie nowhere to be found on election night when the INEC head office ought to be a beehive of activities and Mr Okojie was duty bound to be at his post coordinating work. He also told the tribunal that the elders and others in the delegation to the INEC office delivered a written protest letter to the state REC, advising him not to dare call the elections which were irredeemably marred by wanton irregularities and violence. Yet the following Sunday morning, Etiebet told the tribunal, INEC announced the result of the “election” and declared Udom Emmanuel winner.

    Etiebet’s voter’s card, video recording of the visit to INEC head office on the night of the election, and press statement were accepted in evidence by the tribunal and marked as exhibits, but the newspaper reports of his press statement were rejected on the ground that the newspapers were not certified as true copies by the National Library of Nigeria as required by law. The legal team of Umana/APC at the tribunal said the rejection of the newspaper accounts of Etiebet’s press statement was of no legal significance since they were derivatives of the original press statement that had itself been accepted by the tribunal.

    The next witness for the day was HE Obong Victor Attah, former governor of Akwa Ibom State and leader of the Ibibio. Attah, who was magisterial in his deposition and statesman-like in deportment, tendered his PVC to prove that he was a registered voter but could not vote because elections did not hold in his town; he also tendered video recordings and testified orally to the effect that elections did not hold according to law in Ibesikpo Asutan local council area where he comes from. Both materials were accepted in evidence and marked as exhibits. Under cross examination intended to tar the former governor with the brush of partisanship, Attah left the following words on marble for the tribunal and those in and outside its precincts to ponder: “Excuse me my friend,” said Obong Attah to the opposition counsel cross examining him, with a hint of edge to his regal self disclosure, “I was a member of the National Conference and I personally coined the phrase ‘sanctity of the ballot.’ My concern does not lie with a party but with Nigeria. I want everything to be done right in my country. I am an elder statesman.” No one could fail to be struck by the poignancy of an eternal personal hurt in his voice.

    The super star witness for Umana/APC on the day in question was an NYSC INEC ad hoc staff member, an Ibo lady, who told the tribunal how PDP thugs invaded the unit where she served in Mbiabong, Uyo and carted away election materials allocated to the polling unit. She said the hoodlums arrived in vehicles with arms, shouting and hailing the PDP and grabbed the ballot materials under her watch. When she resisted them, she said, they beat her up, tore up her clothing and “threatened to send me to the wheel chair for life.” She said it was one of the good Nigerians who witnessed the attack that brought his jacket to cover her near nakedness. She added that she and her colleagues at the unit had to run for dear lives. She tendered the clothing as evidence, which was accepted and marked as exhibit.

    It was a bad day for the PDP and Udom Emmanuel at the tribunal. The INEC lady’s eye witness account of election violence and the violation of the sanctity of the ballot was so vivid and poignant that those who watched her could see the entire horror movie unfolding before their eyes. But it was also paradoxically so, so surreal.

    Before the adjournment to 18 August, the petitioner had presented his case before the tribunal for eight days out of the 14 days allotted to him to do so, and called 46 witnesses. He has six days left to complete the allotted time.

     

    • Otongaran is the director of media and publicity for the APC governorship campaign in Akwa Ibom State
  • 2015: Attah, others urge PDP, Jonathan to caution Akpabio

    2015: Attah, others urge PDP, Jonathan to caution Akpabio

    Elders of the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have urged the national leadership of the party and President Goodluck Jonathan to end what they called the political brigandage allegedly led by Governor Godswill Akpabio.

    They accused the governor of using underhand tactics to ensure that his “anointed” aspirant for the governorship slot emerges as the party’s candidate.

    The aggrieved elders also intimidated those who opposed the move.

    A statement read by former Akwa Ibom State Governor Victor Attah said there was an indication that political tension in the state could lead to an “uncommon revolt” against the ruling party.

    Attah, who said Akpabio had been feeding Nigerians with tales of his “uncommon transformation”, added: “There is uncommon hunger in Akwa Ibom; there is uncommon anger. There is also uncommon tension, which can lead to uncommon revolt against our beloved party.”

    The former governor said although the people would vote for Jonathan, he expressed doubts that the governorship election and other elective positions would have the same guarantee.

    He stressed that the people would vote for another party, if Akpabio was allowed to impose Udom Emmanuel, his preferred aspirant, on the party.

    Attah, who was accompanied to the news conference by former Petroleum Minister, Obong Don Etiebet; a former PDP National Vice Chairman for Southsouth, Chief Edet Nkpubre; Senator Alloysius Etuk, Obong Ufot Ekaette, his wife, Senator Eme Ekaette, Obong Umana Okon Umana and Chief Helen Esuene, among others, listed the demands of the elders.

    The former governor warned that that any attempt to deviate from the conduct of a free primary would lead to a defection that would have serious consequences on the state.

    He said: “We state, with emphasis, that in view of the widespread disenchantment in the state PDP and Akwa Ibom, Chief Godswill Akpabio cannot claim to be able to singlehandedly deliver the votes of Akwa Ibom people to the President in 2015.

    “Since politics is a game of numbers and other parties have, for sometime, been engaged in an aggressive membership drive, we call on our party at the national level to view as sabotage and a serious anti-party offence, the removal of our membership registers by the state leadership of the party, since six months ago, from all the 329 wards to the Governor’s Lodge or the party’s secretariat in Uyo.

    “We have, therefore, resolved that the registers must be returned to the wards forthwith to enable intending new members to be registered ahead of the ward congresses. We shall not condone any falsification or fraudulent changes in the registers.

    “In firm support of the position of the Acting National Chairman, the NWC and the President, we wish to restate our resolute stand against imposition of any candidate. We urge the national leadership of the party to be very firm at ensuring that a level-playing field is established for all aspirants and to sanction any NWC member found to be aiding and abetting the imposition of any person or group of persons. If a consensus arrangement is to be adopted, it must be done in such a manner that would strengthen democracy. And this is achievable.”

    Attah said the party has been appropriated by Akpabio and his family as part of his personal property, noting that the chairman of the party in the state has not hidden his desire to always obey the directive of the governor.

    Attah, while calling for the removal of the chairman, Obong Paul Ekpo, the Secretary, Mr. Ibanga Akpabio, a younger brother to the Governor, and the youth leader of the party, Mr. Emmanuel Ekpenyong, for allegedly working for the Governor, also called for the authentication of the delegates list that would be used in the for the primaries.

    He warned that “the disruptive changes in the party structures and indeed in the local government council executives have further exposed the party chairman as one whose continuous stay in office is bound to bring upheavals to our dear state.

    He said: “We wish to impress it on you that, regardless of whatever falsehoods you have been led to believe in the past, there is uncommon hunger in Akwa Ibom; there is uncommon anger. There is also uncommon tension which can lead to uncommon revolt against our beloved party in the 2015 elections.”

  • ‘We’ll support Attah’s decision’

    ‘We’ll support Attah’s decision’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ibesikpo Asutan, Akwa Ibom State, said yesterday that the decision on who it will support in the governorship primary rests on former Governor Victor Attah.

    The chapter Chairman, Emmanuel Ukim, said this when an aspirant, Benjamin Okoko, visited him at the party secretariat.

    Ukim said the party would support all aspirants and create a level playing field.

    He said: “We thank you for visiting us today. Ibesikpo people, you have seen a good, humble party man today coming to solicit our support.

    “But Attah will guide us to make our decision because he is our leader. Whoever Attah says we will support is the person we will support but we urge you to keep consulting and by God’s grace you will succeed.”

    Okoko thanked the people for the reception, love and solidarity.  He urged them to remember how he helped Attah win the party ticket.

     

  • Between Attah and Akpabio

    Between Attah and Akpabio

    On Friday, September 5, Akwa Ibom State stood still for the man who has come to be known as the father of modern Akwa Ibom, Obong Victor Attah. The event was a grand reception in honour of the former governor by his Ibibio kinsmen, and a fitting opportunity for the people of the state to say ‘thank you’ to a leader whose personal sacrifices and public stewardship has yielded a harvest of grace and glory for Akwa Ibom State. According to the organizers, Obong Attah was being honoured “in appreciation of his meritorious services to the state and humanity in general.”

    Expectedly, the event was graced by dignitaries from within the state and beyond. Traffic in the state capital was in a jam while the Asan Ibibio venue of the event was virtually locked in with human overflow. As they say, every village has its market day and clearly, that Friday ranked as one such day for the people of Akwa Ibom. It was clearly their day to demonstrate solidarity and love for Attah – the man who put their state in Nigeria’s political reckoning.

    Unfortunately, the man who should have been the happiest person on that day, the chief beneficiary of the Attah legacy, his successor, Governor Godswill Akpabio, was conspicuously absent from the event and also from the state. Perhaps I should declare from the outset that I have never met the former governor in person. Neither have I met the incumbent. Nor do I have any intention to do so. But as a student of contemporary history, I have followed both leaders keenly and have admired them both for very different reasons. And I strongly differ with Akpabio on his refusal to accord Attah honour on this special occasion.

    Governor Godswill Akpabio’s discomfiture with the honour being done Attah has been an open secret. In recent weeks, a number of commentators on social media who came across as the governor’s hirelings have tried to either discredit the reception or smear Attah’s reputation with their tar-brush. The most recent ones include one Uwem Umanah, said to be the younger brother to Aniekan Umanah, Akpabio’s Commissioner for Information and propagandist-in-chief. In a controversial post on some yahoo groups last week, he had referred to the former governor as “senile”, a comment which drew the ire of many right thinking Akwa Ibomites who saw it as the height of disrespect for the elder statesman. It is instructive to note that had Attah not groomed Akpabio into political limelight for him to eventually emerge governor, there would have been no Aniekan Umanah, for one of the Umanahs to insult the respected Obong Attah.

    In another article, after a lame and winding attempt at airbrushing Attah’s legacies, someone writing as a Dr. Davis Ekong concluded that the reception is a “circus show” and was “akin to Sani Abacha being received by the Abiola family”. Really? What is the relationship between the Abacha/Abiola scenario with the Ibibios receiving Attah? Is this just a case of want of simile or is it mercenary mudslinging taken just too far?

    Perhaps for want of a better argument against the fitting honour by the Ibibios for one of their own, a less virulent but no less laughable sentiment has been peddled by yet another group which suggests that Attah’s acceptance of an honour from his ethnic group is parochial and belies his Pan-Akwa Ibom leadership credentials. To this group, I can only say that Attah was first Ibibio before he was an Akwa Ibomite. Was not the foremost Nigerian nationalist, Nnamdi Azikiwe honoured by his kinsmen as the Owelle of Onitsha or did that in any way reduce his stature as Zik of Africa? Or should a prophet never be honoured by his own kinsmen?

    Truth is, by according Attah this honour, the Ibibios are just standing in the gap as a metonymy for the rest of the Akwa Ibom community and the broader spectrum of Attah’s admirers. It was not an Ibibio reception, as could be seen from the crowd it attracted from all ethnic groups and political persuasions in Akwa Ibom State. Attah is a socio-cultural and political rallying point for Akwa Ibom people. His place in the annals of the state’s history cannot be wished away. His contributions in the struggle for the creation of the state are on record. He remains the father of modern Akwa Ibom. He is the progenitor of whatever “uncommon transformation” we may see today. He it was who envisioned the possibilities of a new Akwa Ibom State and deployed his expertise to plan and emplace a foundation for same. Beyond that, he also risked his personal comforts, his political career and even his life to restore to the state her rights to the resources that will guarantee that future.

    Today, Akpabio is the Chief Inheritor of Attah’s legacy. That the state currently receives the highest fiscal allocation among all 36 states of the federation is a result of Attah’s self-sacrificing struggles. It is on record that for the most part of his eight years as governor, Attah never had access to the federally allocated resources that Akpabio receives today in just one year! The least one would expect from such a successor is gratitude to the predecessor who paved the way for his free ride! Whether or not Attah ultimately supported Akpabio’s bid to succeed him is inconsequential here. It was Attah who gave Akpabio his first major break in life by plucking him from oblivion and appointing him Special Adviser in 2002 and later commissioner. While serving on Attah’s cabinet, Akpabio enjoyed an unusually close and enviable mentorship relationship with his boss. Attah even featured him prominently in the political arithmetic of the day by once throwing him up, albeit unsuccessfully, for the position of Deputy Governor.

    So, whichever way one wants to view it, Akpabio owes Attah an immense debt of gratitude, and the September 5 event would have, perhaps, been Akpabio’s last chance to demonstrate this publicly. In fact, pundits have suggested that Akpabio would have stolen the show had he attended the event. He would have demonstrated that he is a governor, not just of the Annangs, as some have contended, but also of the rest of the state. Afterall, has Akpabio not argued on several occasions when it favoured his rhetoric that the Ibibios made him governor and that, historically and culturally, the Ibibio is an omnibus rubric that covers not just the Ibibio speaking group but also their Annang, Oro, Obolo, Eket and other ethnic minorities in the state? So, why would he spurn an invitation from his Ibibio brothers to honour one of their best?

    But, apparently Akpabio is not wired that way. Or maybe his handlers bungled the opportunity for him. Rather than attend Attah’s event, he sneaked out of the state with some of his political allies, including his party Chairman, Paul Ekpo and Commissioner for Environment, Enobong Uwah, both Ibibio sons. This has been interpreted by many as an alibi-creation stunt by Akpabio to help the two explain away their absence at the Attah event. And as if that was not enough, a group under the auspices of Akwa Ibom State Youth Caucus attempted to divert attention from the Attah reception by holding something called “Akwa Ibom youth day celebration” on the same day. The so-called “youth day” was evidently a rushed after-thought, as could be seen from its shallow programme content, shabby implementation and the fact that it came almost a full month after well meaning youth across Nigeria and the world over had celebrated the “UN international youth day”, usually held on August 12 each year. That AKBC TV, a state-owned medium, would beam the so-called youth event live rather than give coverage to the landmark event at Asan Ibibio shows just how far Akpabio’s government could go with politicizing Attah’s heroism. I think that such diversionary politics is, to say the least, petty, cheap, shameful and unbecoming of Akpabio’s stature as governor.

    In all, Akpabio’s response to the decision of Ibibio, and by extension, Akwa Ibom people, to honour Attah should have been driven by respect – that traditional deference we reserve for our elders – and the knowledge that someday he too would become a former governor and an old man.

    •Dan, a journalist, wrote from Atlanta, USA

     

  • Attah warns against imposition of candidates

    Attah warns against imposition of candidates

    Former Akwa Ibom State Governor Victor Attah has supported the zoning of the governorship seat to Eket Senatorial District.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain also warned against the imposition of candidates, especially the unpopular ones, for any position.

    He said there were other factors to consider, besides the zoning.

    Attah spoke at a grand reception for him by the Ibibio, the largest ethnic group in the state, and installation as the Ibibio leader at Asan Ibibio, Uyo.

    He said: “As I look round, I see a number of faces here of people I know are aspiring to the high office of governor of this state. A large number of those aspirants are from Eket Senatorial District.

    This is as should be expected because of sequential logic that after Uyo and Ikot Ekpene it should be Eket but there must be a level playing field for all the aspirants.

    “This is particularly true at this time when there is such a crying need to give hope back to our people; to restore their confidence in their government and to rebuild the state. Zoning will certainly be a major consideration but at a time like this, certain other compelling determinants cannot be sacrificed on the altar of zoning alone.”

    Attah also warned against imposition of candidate.

    He assured the aspirants eyeing the 2015 governorship seat that there would be a level playing field.

  • Attah’s reception: A grand deception

    Attah’s reception: A grand deception

    Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency, Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah is an honourable man.  At least his pedigree affirms this unequivocally. His aristocratic background provided for him the best affordable education during his time- a secondary education at Saint Patrick’s College, Calabar and tertiary education abroad. The training burnished him into a thorough bred professional architect who had the enviable distinction of leading that professional body.

    When Obong Attah ascended the high office of governor of Akwa Ibom State in 1999, it was seen as the return of the aristocrat to his people. Many feared that there would be lack of seam and sync given his blue blood cultivation. They further noted that his long absence from home, his lack of intimate affinity with the home people and apparent lack of grasp of political chicanery may combine to make him a stranger to the politics of the state. Despite these considered deficiencies, Obong Attah, possessing of iron-cast courage and will plunged into the exercise and made the best of it.

    As governor, he broke new frontiers. During the resource control imbroglio, Attah fought doggedly, redefining the national perception of Akwa Ibom man hitherto construed to be timid. At every public forum, he gave a good account of himself in conduct and public communication. His dignified and urbane mien may have been part of the reason why he was made chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum. His conduct of the affairs of that office and his vociferous agitation for resource control gave him a notable standing in national politics.

    Unfortunately, he misread the attention he received. People applauded him for having the courage to confront the then President Olusegun Obasanjo who had assumed the place of a political deity that all had to worship and pander to. Attah broke Obasanjo’s myth and earned public plaudits.

    But he thought the plaudits translated to political popularity and an invitation for him to contest for the presidency. With excess cash in his kitty, he girded his loin preparatory to making his son-in-law a governor and himself President. It was to be a well-choreographed dynasty at the centre and the state. Unfortunately, sufficient thinking was not invested in the process and dispassionate and objective analyses were not done. Working from two flanks at the same time, the centre could not hold. As for the son-in-law, because of his careless attitude to the people when he was in office as commissioner, even the best salesmen in the state could not market him when it mattered most. At the centre, Attah’s ambition did not enjoy the support of the then President. In fact between the two, there was no love lost and so was made to kiss the dust at the two fronts owing to political miscalculations.

    Attah’s public estimation began to flag when he adopted an adversarial role against his protégé and successor. Many were worried that having attained the almighty septuagenarian status, he should have rid himself of the baggage of pettiness. His unsavoury letter to Governor Godswill Akpabio in which he compared the latter to notorious leaders like Hitler and Mussolini was an eloquent expose of this fear. The altercation deepened necessitating many attempts at mediation. Obong Attah was said to have remained implacable further fuelling fears that he carried the baggage of hate against his son. This type of perception did incalculable damage to his well-earned reputation.

    His public rating nose-dived more gravely when some ethnic jingoist goaded him into an ethnic war in which they accused Governor Akpabio of conducting pogrom against Ibibio sons and daughters through incessant kidnapping and killings. It was the most scandalous thing for someone of his pedigree to be associated. But those well-heeled in political shenanigan lured him into that booby trap and used his name to attempt at credibility with their specious allegations. Of all the names dragged into that arid piece of bigotry, only Obong Attah’s name rang a bell. The rest were mere provincial labels that stirred neither interest nor recognition.  The consistent efforts of Ibibio jingoist to pigeon-hole Obong Attah and give him the ignoble colouration of ethnic warlord or ethnic bigot is at best a disservice to him and the state.

    Recently, news has been making the rounds that some of the jingoists have banded themselves together to pursue an ethnic agenda which they couched as reception for Obong Victor Attah. And when yours truly asked the purpose, one of them squawked the inanity, “that they are receiving him from the National Confab”. Obong Attah is now a pawn to be used in the pursuit of ethnic card. Seven-years ago, he was the butt of their jokes, treachery, insults and recrimination. Today, it is convenient to dust him, hoist him as a totem and use him to stoke ethnic acrimony and discord.

    Obong Victor Bassey Adiaha Attah finished eight-years as governor of Akwa Ibom State; he was not received by these charlatans who confess love for him today. When he erroneously arrayed salvos against the present administration which drew a rash of criticisms from members of the public, these bigots were nowhere to be found. When Obong Attah had issues with his membership of Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party, he did not as much as draw a message of solidarity or protest from these foes in sheep’s clothing. Even when the man’s wife died, their level of participation was either insignificant or non-existent. What is the value of this reception? This is not the kind of politics those who plan to be leaders should engage in. This is stoking ethnicity to an inflammatory peak.

    We are told that a few moneybags who are bankrolling the dubious reception have contributed the hefty sum of N50 million. How much did they contribute when Attah’s wife died? Why was Attah’s reception delayed for seven-years after he left office? Is being a confab member greater than being a governor for eight-years? Why is this reception coming just before nomination and 2015?

    It is all queer politics, ethnic politics. Former governor Attah must reason these realities logically. We must think and find these answers to avoid lending ourselves as pliable materials to those intent on playing roguish politics. We must decide as Akwa Ibom people where we stand on matters of honour and ethnic harmony. We must rise to the occasion of contending falsehood, ethnic bigotry with the saner politics of ethnic cohesion. Former governor Victor Attah must resist being used by these renegades to further their selfish agenda. He must know that he is an honourable man.

     

    Akpan contributed this piece from Uyo.

  • Nigerian Football: Attah hails Maigari’s administration

    Nigerian Football: Attah hails Maigari’s administration

    The team coordinator of the Super Eagles, Emmanuel Attah, on Thursday hailed the Aminu Maigari led Nigeria Football Association (NFA) for the rising profile of the nation’s football.

    Attah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Cape Town that Nigerian football had never had it this good in recent times.

    “It all boils down on the leadership under Alhaji Aminu Maigari who has done immensely well,” he said.

    “And I think his background as a former footballer, and who also at a time sat on the board before becoming the president, has really helped in moving the national team forward.

    ”In spite of the hiccups in the past, he has been able to carry everybody along and in conjunction with the minister of sports.

    “We now have relative peace in football and I must commend them for this CHAN programme to qualify for the first time. `And now not only qualifying for the competition we are heading toward getting the trophy by the grace of God, so I really commend them and they supported this team.

    “We don’t have any problem, the whole team is well motivated and we are looking forward to Feb. 1.”

    The Eagles would play the quarterfinal match against the Atlas Lions of Morocco.

  • ATTAH: Eagles won’t lack team spirit

    ATTAH: Eagles won’t lack team spirit

    Super Eagles’ Co-ordinator, Emmanuel Attah has stressed that the country’s senior national team won’t be bereft of team work and proper blending in their build-up to the Brazil 2014 World Cup against the Flames of Malawi.

    Speaking with SportingLife in a brief chat, Attah explained that the stability in the choice of the players called up by the team’s head coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi and the willingness of the players to grab fast the technical instructions from the technical crew would make the Eagles formidable against the Flames.

    Attah also hinged his optimism on the fact that the European League season is in full swing which he opined would make the players physically fit and raring to go on Saturday.

    “By the God the team is ready. The Super Eagles are raring to go. We have been playing together for quite some time now. There won’t be problem with blending and understanding among the players.

    “It is also thrilling to note that the season in the whole of Europe and other African nations is on and the players are fit and raring to go. By the grace of God that day will be for Nigeria,”Attah told SportingLife.

  • My tongue ached for three days after my first kiss – Ex-Governor Victor Attah

    My tongue ached for three days after my first kiss – Ex-Governor Victor Attah

    Obong Victor Attah is an accomplished architect and former governor of Akwa Ibom State from 1999 to 2007. A man who does not believe in sitting on the fence over an issue, he once led a protest as a student at the Ahmadu Belo University Zaria, Kaduna State over alleged frustration of Nigerian architectural students by the then British lecturers. Long before then, he had protested against his parents’ church, Qua Iboe Church, by opting out to join the Catholic communion for refusing him baptism because he was too young to raise the required dues. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, in his Abuja office, Obong Victor Attah spoke about his journey in life, regrets, his first kissing experience and sundry issues.Excerpts:

     

     How would Obong Victor Attah describe his essence?

    There is really no one essence to describe a man. Your question is a multi-dimensional one. That is, if you were to ask my staff what kind of man I am, they will define me as a type of employer that they know me to be. And if you ask any member of my family what kind of man I am, they will define me differently by telling you that I am the kind of husband, father and grandfather that they have known me to be. Similarly, if you were to ask my political associates what kind of man I am, they will also tell you that I am that kind of politician that they know me to be.

    So, you asking me about my essence, all I can tell you is that I try to be a decent human being with principles that will stand me before my Creator and I can only say that I have done my best.

     

    How would capture the kind of family were you born into?

    Without sound immodest, permit me to say that I was privileged to have been born into the family of educated parents. My father, the late Bassey Attah was the second Nigerian ever to have a university degree in Agriculture and the first to obtain a Master’s degree in the same discipline. My wife also, was an educated woman who was a school teacher. So, I can consider myself born into a privileged family.

     

    Coming from a background where you father was Nigeria’s second graduate of Agricultural Science, and the country’s first Master’s holder in the same discipline, how were you inspired or influenced by all of this, educationally?

    I was positively inspired. I grew up to realise the value of education in human development. My father believed so much in the importance of education. When he returned to Nigeria after completing his education in the U.S., he was sent to Moore Plantation in Ibadan and later to Oil Palm Research Station (OPRS), which is now called NIFOR, in Benin, Edo State. Much later, he was sent to the Cameroun. This was a time when Quinine was our only cure for Malaria. So, my father was the one who developed and grew all the Quinine plantations used for the treatment of Malaria then as well as the banana plantations in the Cameroun.

    The reason I am telling you this in relation to education is to let you know that I was born at a time when he was leaving for his studies in the US in 1938. He returned to Nigeria in 1945. He studied through the Second World War years.

    Upon his return, to Nigeria, he was moving his children of whom I was one of the seventh from one part of the country and from one station to another. I remember that in those days, even when you studied English as a language, you actually taught in the mother tongue.

    So, at Moore Plantation in Ibadan, we were trying to study Yoruba, which we eventually did not speak. In Benin, we were also at the OPRS trying to speak Edo, which we also did not speak. It was the same situation in Cameroun, trying to learn one of the languages, which we ended up not speaking.

    With this unsettled life, my father felt if we went on like that, we were not going to be educated if we continued like that. So, he sent my mother along with the rest of my siblings back to Uyo so that we could live a settled life and pursue our education. His decision was a demonstration of how much he loved education. He made sure we did not only have to go to school, but a school good and decent one at that. He was determined to push us as far as he possibly could, educationally.

     

    How was your growing up like?

    I must say that it was quite interesting. When you grow up in what could be described as a privileged family, certain things come your way naturally or as a giving. There is this story that I am going to tell you without mentioning names. There was this incident in which someone, in an attempt to abuse us, told my siblings and me that we were trying to be like the joneses. But someone else who was listening, quickly stepped in and said the family we came from, were the real joneses and so we could not be trying to be like the joneses.

    While we were growing up, one of the enduring lessons our father taught us was humility and obedience to law as the essential ingredients, if we were to grow up as complete personality. As a child, my father preferred I studied engineering, but I was rather excited studying architecture because it was more of a creative endeavour than engineering.

     

    Given the kind of family background you belonged, what sort of awe or respect would you say you inspired in your peers and neighbours?

    Fear, definitely not! We did not have to use our position to intimidate anybody. But sadly, I see that happening today. If you are truly and sufficiently educated and you are sure of yourself, then, you do not need to intimidate anybody. However, you can inspire by offering the right thought and the right direction. You must enjoy the benefit of being taken into consideration and being consulted. That is what people expect from anybody in any society. Honestly, if you try not to open your mouth too wide when you are sure of your subjects, people will definitely respect and look up to you.

    While growing up, I found out that this was not too difficult to do because people just expected that I should know everything under the sun. So, even when I did not know, I would ask questions until we arrived at a solution.

    Our father taught us three things that would help us go through life: always say please; always say thank you when someone does something nice to you, even when you paying someone for doing something and finally, do not ever hesitate to say I am sorry to even the most lowly because you can do something wrong to him or her who is the most lowly in your midst.

     

    How rascally was young Obong Victor Attah?

    To be honest with you, I really do not know whether to call it rascality, but I was very firm on my principles. So, I do not know if that was rascality. Today, I am a Catholic and a knight of the Catholic Church, but my parents were Qua Iboe and they died Qua Iboe. I can tell you the story quite simply. I was Quo Iboe, grew up in Qua Iboe where I did my baptismal exams and passed successfully, but on the day of baptism, I was told I was too young and too small and would not be able to pay the church dues and stuff like that. Before then, I could not recall ever crying like I did following that disappointment of not being baptized. I was still in elementary school and was quite young then. I returned home that day and looked at my parents in the face and told them ‘if your church baptizes people simply because they could afford the church dues, I am not accompanying you to that church again. So, if you want to call that rascality, so be it. But I will describe that as standing on principle. From that day, I stopped being Qua Iboe. After that I went through different Christian denominational churches until finally, I decided that I wanted to be catholic.

     

    So your leaving Qua Iboe was more of what could be described as a rebellion or protestation?

    My Catholicism was not because I was born into it, but to borrow your word, it was more of protestation. That protestation marked a certain milestones in my life. That protestation also went with me when I was a student at the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State, which is now the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU.

    At Zaria, I discovered that architecture was one subject Nigerians were not doing very well in. they could pass in several other subjects, but in architecture. So, I embarked on a protest. I went to our student union leader and said to him that something was wrong. How come that they would admit about 30 of us and that number would suddenly drop to half when getting to our third year and then to about three in our final year? Even then, some of the three ‘surviving’ ones would still not pass very well.

    So, what made me to protest very strongly was that most of the young Nigerian architectural students who were purportedly not passing their architectural exams found their way to England and did very well, even better than some of the English students in the same architectural course. Do not forget that at Zaria, we were being taught by British lecturers. So, I put two and two together and came to the conclusion that there must be something fundamentally wrong somewhere. If it was that we could not do very well in architecture, then these Nigerian students who left Nigeria for the UK should also not do well over there. So, I protested.

    So, I acquired the distinction or reputation, if you like, of being the first person to engineer a students’ protest in Zaria, which later became ABU in 1960. Following the protest, there was a major inquiry at the end of which it was recommended that the British lecturers in ABU Zaria would never allow me to pass out. I was a private student because my father was paying my fees. That was how I was sent abroad to study.

    So I found myself in a British school in the UK and I did very well. It was discovered that my protest had a basis. It was only when we had our independence that for the first time, a Nigerian became Head of the Department of Architecture, in the person of Professor Adeyinka Adeyemi, that we got know what the secret was. It was clearly established that the British were finding it difficult to graduate African professionals, but mostly in architecture and the building industry not only in ABU but everywhere.

    The reason for this was simple. The British had just returned from the war and could not all be absorbed in the workplace. So, they were being sent abroad. The implication was that if we qualified too early and too many, there would not be room for the British war returnees. That was why we were failing and failing and failing but would go to the UK and do very well.

     

    Given the nomadic life your father lived, having to be moved from one part of Nigeria to another a result of his profession as an agricultural officer, you must have imbibed many cultures. How much of these varied cultures would you say shaped your worldview?

    Well, the word nomadic, as you used it, would be rather too strong. But that being said, I will say that the experience exposed me very early to the country, Nigeria. We had been in the west, east, north and even as far the Cameroun, the Southern part of Cameroun. That is why when I tell people that I know Nigeria very well, I am not just making an empty boast.

    I did not speak any of the languages of the areas we lived. But the experience, however, made me to appreciate the richness of our vast cultures. It also made me to understand why certain people do certain things in a certain kind of way. I can almost certainly anticipate what their behaviour and reaction will to be.

     

    So what values would you say the different cultures you have had romance with inculcated in you?

    They inculcated tremendous values in me, because the different cultures made me a lot more tolerant of other people’s attitude and idiosyncrasies and their way of life. It taught me to be more accommodating of others, just as it has helped me to be a lot more understanding of the various people. It has also been helping me whenever I want to argue for or against certain things. For instance, if there is an issue and which I need to make an input, I should be able to say to whomever, that from the part of the country you come from, your culture does not support your position on this or that issue. And owing to my interaction with different cultures, I can afford to look at anyone in the face and say to him or her without any fear of contradiction that your action would not be permissible in your culture if you were to do that back home.

     

    As a Christian and a catholic for that matter, how often would you turn the other cheek if wacked on the other one?

    (Prolonged laughter) The scriptural requirement of turning the other cheek has been very severely abused. When God said we should turn the other cheek, He did not say we should be timid. He did not say we should be cowardly. He gave us the spirit of strength and of good understanding. If you are confronted with evil, will you close your eyes to it and turn the other cheek simply because the Bible says we should turn the other cheek? If you do not confront it, I do not think you are going to have any kind of success at all.

    Christ came and confronted the evil that he saw in the world, which led to His crucifixion and resurrection. If he had not confronted what he saw, we would not have had redemption. Let me tell you this and in all honesty, much as I do not like to be confrontational: I do not run away from taking a stance. I can take a stance and as a matter of fact, a very firm one.

     

    But was there a time that you had had to turn the other cheek?

    Very many times I have done so. We have a saying in place which goes thus ‘ekpe tuk, edu guduen’, which translate as ‘do not think the lion as cowardly just because it panics at being frightened’. Do not mistake the lion’s first reaction for cowardice as it might growl and pounce on you after realising that you are just a prey.

     

    Nigeria has continued to have more than its fair share of collapsed buildings. As an architect, what would you adduce as factors responsible for this?

    It is a phenomenon of the non-patronage of professionals in the building sector of the economy. Nigerians like to cut corners and they will always cut corners. If you go to an architect, he is going to charge you his professional fees because that is what he lives on. But if you have to deny him his professional fees, then you must seek the services of a quack. Or better still, you may decide to do it your own way, after all, who cannot build a house? That is what I often hear people say, I know how to build a house. But does that make them professional in the field of building and civil engineering? We have tried in this profession to tell the government that this is all wrong. There should be a dividing line building professionals and suppliers.

    Today, the man who sells sand sees himself as a contractor, another who supplies water at building sites is also a building contractor. So, they are all building contractors and engineers without professional expertise or skills. It is an all comers’ affairs and the government appears to be helpless. Even those who give design approvals do not insist on the design being handled by professionals.

    Occasionally, there is professional negligence on the part of the professional because he does not supervise adequately. And often, it is because the man for whom he designs says he does not want to pay you fees for supervising because he can supervise himself.

    In building, there is a cement/sand ratio for sandcrete blocks, but today, a tipper of sand is mixed with a bag of cement to produce 5000 blocks. The implication is that the building was already designed to collapse. When you build without enough reinforcement, buildings are bound to collapse.

    I can say it with all the conviction and authority that less than two per cent of our built environment is today under the design and supervision of professionals. The rampant incident of collapsed buildings must be looked at from two or more perspectives: we are building so much more now and so, the phenomenon seems to be larger than ever before; secondly, there is media spread so much more widely done now than it was in the past. Then, the media has a role to play by assisting us to tell this government and subsequent governments that the last lawyer to have ever set his foot in any Nigerian law court was Sir Dingle Foot (QC). It was a serious issue raised by the late Chief Obafemi Awolow (May his soul rest in peace), who said then that the man had no business entering the Nigerian court to practice.

    The lawyers have succeeded and the doctors have also succeeded in stamping out infiltration by non-professionals and non-Nigerians. Unless you are licensed to practice law in Nigeria, you cannot set foot in the country to practice law in our courts. For the doctors, unless you are licensed to practice medicine as a foreigner, you are not allowed to prescribe even APC. You cannot prescribe APC unless you are licensed by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). It is a serious matter, but when you come to the building industry, people who are not even qualified to practice in their own country are bringing designs and drawings which we are accepting.

    There is no regard and respect for professionals in the Nigerian building industry and there is no enforcement of our building code.

     

    What would you consider as the high point of your architectural career?

    Have I gotten there yet? In truth, I am looking for things to do now that will be my signature project and I will retire home to the Lord. I am 74 and going on 75. Soon, I should stop practicing. As creative an endeavour as architecture is, your success depends to a very large extent on the client. If your client is very understanding and is able to indulge you and you are able to produce a good design, it becomes a reference point in a long time to come. I am still looking for that client.

    The problem with most of our clients in the building industry is that they are too impatient. Why is it that projects take long years to complete and often abandoned by contractors, yet architects are rushed to produce designs? Professionally, it is difficult to shift a line on a design than to have a structure demolished.

    The closest that I came to agreeing that I have designed a good structure that could be a reference point is the NDIC head office building here in Abuja. And funnily enough, it is the only one among several buildings in Abuja that I can point to as my design.

    What interest me about that building is that a British architect who practices here in Nigeria, and whom I met at a social function said to me that he would tell me what would interest me. I asked him what would be? He said some of his foreign colleagues from the UK came on a visit and he was taking them round Abuja, and as they were going, they saw the NDIC building and asked him to stop, according to him, they said the building looked like it was designed by an architect. They drew closer and took a look at the building. That, to me, is something to be proud of. It turned out that way because my client allowed me enough time to experiment with designs.

     

    Do you have a habit and if yes, what would that be?

    Yes, I have a habit and the habit is hard work. It is a habit that people have complained about. The fact is that I enjoy what I do. But that is not to say that I do not recreate. I go on vacations every year. I do that with my family so that when we come back, we have things to talk about together. But once I return to Nigeria, nothing else takes the place of work.

     

    What has been your saddest moment in life?

    My saddest moment was to have lost my wife to the cold hands of death. That was the best companion that I had who made life very meaningful to me.

     

    Despite that there were many beautiful Nigerian women, why did you have to settle for a woman from the Barbados?

    You should have asked me where we met. Anyway, I will give a simple answer. I met my wife while in the university in Leeds, England. Again, let me borrow your word, after my protestation at ABU, I was sent to continue my university education in England. I was so young then that my father tried to persuade me to return after my graduation to marry a Nigerian lady, but my younger brother had to personally write to my father asking him to leave me alone to marry whoever that my heart agreed with. He told my father that it was a matter of market availability. He said if I had reached marriageable age and the only available market to me then was what surrounded me in the UK. So be it. That is the kind of family I come from. So it was a matter of market availability.

    If I was in Nigeria at the time I wanted to marry, it would have been a Nigeria because I would not have left Nigeria in search of a wife in Barbados. But I have no regret at all that I found the kind of wife I did. She was a wonderful woman.

     

    How disappointed was your father with your decision?

    He was not disappointed. Rather he was so pleased that I married someone he came to regard as a daughter. He was extremely happy with the choice I made.

     

    If you had a second chance, where would she come from?

    (Cuts in) Are you suggesting that I marry again? But if that were to happen, this is the available market now. There will certainly be no need of going back to Barbados to marry another wife.

     

    So, has His Excellency started receiving applications from suitable applicants from the available market?

    (Cuts in with prolonged laughter) Do you advertise for this? No, nobody places an advert for a wife. It was just a few months ago that I buried my wife. So let us leave that for the time being.

     

    What was that invaluable piece of advice that your father gave you and which you have taken along with you up to date?

    He told my siblings and me to always remember three things: to say ‘please, thank you and sorry’. He added another: remember that hard work has never killed anybody. But if you do not work hard, you might die of starvation.

     

    What is your biggest motivation in life?

    I am motivated by the desire to succeed. If I accomplish a task and it turns out successful, I feel like doing more. Success is my biggest motivation.

     

    If you were to go back 45 years, what is that thing that you would have loved to do differently?

    Please, I will beg of you not to go back that far. Just take me back to 2007 and I would have insisted that Nigeria should elect the kind of president she should have. I just regret the fact that Nigeria has never been allowed to elect freely the kind of president she ought to have. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that the leadership we have at the moment is bad or anything of sorts. That is not what I am saying. But the fact remains that we have never been allowed to choose our president freely. It is only then that we can make progress as a country. That is all I am really insisting on. I listen to former President Olusegun Obasanjo saying the last time that Nigeria lacks good leadership material. That is not true and he knows it. Why I said he knows it is because it was in his time that we said Awolowo was the best president we never had. Why did we not have him? Yet he was the best material. It was because he was not allowed to be president. It was also in his time that we came up with this theory of twelve two third. Over the years, we have been manipulating and manipulating to ensure that the best man does not get the job. Nigeria has abundant leadership potential and possibilities. So, his statement was not correct.

     

    How was the experience the first time you kissed a woman?

    (pauses) Wait a minute, wait a minute. Please don’t laugh. If you are asking about kissing someone passionately, it was something I did while I was in the UK. It was a feeling I can never forget. I kissed and kissed and kissed that after three days later, I complained to my roommate that I wanted to go and see a doctor because my tongue was aching. I told him I did not know what was wrong with my tongue. I had kissed for so long that my tongue started aching. That was how wonderful it was. It was the person who eventually became my wife. The experience was absolutely fantastic.