AKWA IBOM STATE COMMISSIONER OF WORKS IN A BLACKLIST

By Osondu Ahirika

There is a cold war brewing against Mr Ephraim Inyangeyen. If you don't know him, he is the Honourable Commissioner for Works, Akwa Ibom State. The hawks are trying to trap him in their encirclement and swoop for the kill. The wolfs are baying for his blood.

It is an open conspiracy, regardless, how hard they try to mask it. Nothing will placate, appease or assuage their beef, but have Inyangeyen's head on a platter of gold, as did Herod's daughter, the head of John the baptizer.

The assymetrical war waged on Inyangeyen, albeit with indirect subtlety, rages from many  fronts, but has a unified command. Political opponent's, the home front, fifth columnists and their hirelings, are on the project. The ultimate goal is to pressure his(Inyangeyen's)  boss, His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel to sacrifice his 'Last Man Standing', as they describe him.

The date was Friday November 10, 2017, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Zone 'F' (South South) converged in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital for their Zonal Conference held at the Emerald Event Centre along Edet Akpan Avenue.

 On that occasion, then Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Barrister Onofiok Luke who was a Special Guest of Honour speaking about Commissioner Inyangeyen, said,
 "I want to thank the Governor for not believing every story...If he believed everything they had said about his hardworking Commissioner for Works,  Mr Ephraim Inyangeyen, he wouldn't be standing here today to be honoured deservedly by the NUJ. Akwa Ibom State would have lost that rare passion, sincerity, capacity and results, this goal-getter brings to bear in his office and thereby helping this government to succeed."
Not done, Luke added, "There is so much blackmail in this government by people who want to hold the Governor captive and turn him into a slave..people looking for political relevance. But I thank God they did not succeed and I thank the Governor for remaining the good God fearing man that he is"

It was a scud missile that strangely drew applause from the packed hall.
Folks ', whereas Barrister Luke's decrial was for the blackmails targeted at bringing Inyangeyen down by some influential persons out there, who were vehemently demanding he be sacked,  truth is, the Inyangeyen must be destroyed gang are  now more vicious than they were then.

That brings me to the first blackmail Ephraim Inyangeyen suffers. They say, he is becoming too popular in the media. They(detractors) say the focus is shifting from the governor to him.  Names like ' Super Commissioner', 'Deputy Governor' and what have you are coined to vilify him. But, in their heart, they know that they lie. They see GOOD, but laden with dead conscience, call it, EVIL. Inyangeyen's media blitz is nothing but a genuine effort to effectively report the Governor's achievements in the Works Ministry, where of course, he gets a mention.

Away from that, they say he is making millions per kilometer of road. At a time, it was even bandied that, he had diverted money earmarked to construct the Atan Offot road. Although a very vocal person, his stoic silence was a loud response to the smear campaign. When that road was commissioned, nobody made a retraction or apologized.

Our people don't know that, majority of the roads being constructed by the Udom Emmanuel administration are implemented through the Alternative Funding APPROACH, ALFA. This initiative implies that, the contractor sources his own fund to execute the project, while the State Government guarantees payment, at convenience and based on work done. Truth be told, many of them are yet to be fully paid given this administrations meticulousness in crosschecking projects execution.

For those who say, Inyangeyen is taking percentages to compromise the quality or specification of job awarded, One wonders how tenable it is, for him ask for kickbacks from contractors who are struggling to raise money to finance their business. Many of the contracts have rather been terminated by the State Government, where contractors failed to demonstrate capacity to function under the ALFA arrangement.

Inyangeyen has refused to compromise on projects and contracts awarded. It riles those who call themselves, 'System men'. He will not cut corners or ask for kick backs. Reason he stands on moral high ground when cracking down on erring contractors.

 For those roads, they say have failed, critics conveniently avoid his explanation that, final asphalting is yet to be done on those roads as only the binding course have been executed. Of course! When that is done and concluded, the story will be different.

When they accused him of fighting the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, over road projects embarked upon by the agency, they stand truth on its head and circumvent it with 'comforting' lies.

Currently, no less a significant statesman as the Honourable Minister for Niger Delta affairs, His Excellency, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, has knocked the NDDC for the very failures, Inyangeyen was attacked for berating.

Before now, the general disgust was that, local contractors were ignored by the previous administration's in the State. The Udom Emmanuel led administration through the Works Ministry moved to alter that, and give the Indigenous construction companies a life line. The result? Inyangeyen is being crucified for allegedly, bringing in 'Learner Incompetent Construction Companies' to do shoddy jobs and waste resources.

That is not altogether true. Apart from funding issues, the inclement weather, orchestrated by the universal climate change also takes it's toll on the progress of Construction work. Where Inyangeyen finds reason to clampdown on any erring contractors, the same highly placed people, in the 'honorific' club of Stakeholders, will shout him down as high handed and power drunk.

Inyangeyen is facing severe challenges with sometimes restive communities, agitation by youths, compensation and demolition issues, traditional injunctions and unbridled criticism by a section of the media, who are miffed, he is allegedly, not carrying them along.

Truth be told, his detractors, for political reasons, will give an arm to have Ephraim Inyangeyen out of the way. If given the magic wand to wave, they will take him out. That will strip his principal bare of a dependable support base, who knows nothing other than serving the governor, faithfully and with all his heart.

Being human, Ephraim Inyangeyen has one virtue, which as far as politics concedes, is ironically a 'flaw'. Which is - He wears his heart on his face. He is so real. So genuine. So straight forward. So down right plain that, he does not suffer fools gladly, indulge mediocrity or give room for intrigue.

Unfortunately, that's not how politicians operate in our clime. He stands out from the pack that believes, Political maneuver, scheming and treachery is a credit of one's 'sagacity' and makes you a smart politician.
That's reason, they want his head on a platter of gold. Just that, God has tied their hands and they can't find occasion to perform their enterprises.
I don't pity Inyangeyen. Rather, I encourage him to soldier on and remain unwaveringly loyal to his boss. Just like, Alhaji Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, whose hard earned trust and absolute confidence by Mr President has won him few friends, so will Inyangeyen, who has found favour and earned Governor Emmanuel's faith 'enjoy' the fiery darts of competitors.
A certain politician had a frank conversation with me. He opined that, every administration will ultimately be forced to sacrifice the strongman of it's kitchen cabinet. According to him, Obong Attah ditched Mr Idorenyin Udokpo and Hon. Emmanuel Obot whilst Chief Godswill Akpabio jilted Bishop Sam Akpan and later, Obong Umana Okon Umana. This allusion however, doesn't add up to Governor Emmanuel dumping his major dependable aide to please the political Hawks whose endgame he can't determine.

I am aware that, as 2023 fast approaches, and the last fight has since commenced. In  the coming war on Inyangeyen, we will find assailants intensify their plot on all fronts. They will concoct more tales and recruit new willing allies. They will enlarge the web of conspiracy. The cacophony of 'Ephraim Inyangeyen is the problem' will not abate.
With this in view, I plead the earlier stated thesis of Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke,
"There is so much blackmail in this government by people who want to hold the Governor captive and turn him into a slave..people looking for political relevance. But I thank God they did(will)  not succeed..."