As Nigerians roll out the drums to celebrate 21 unbroken years since our return to democracy, a key player in the nation’s governance evolution says Nigeria has a lot to gain from democracy as it offers a strong opportunity for “people’s participation in how they are governed.”
The Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo who had held high profile appointments as a diplomat, State Commissioner as well as a Director-General of the federal government-owned Nigeria Copyright Commission during the military regime is emphatic that the ingredients of the democratic enterprise are fairness, justice and equity which are taking in our contemporary democratic experience.
While fielding questions from correspondents of the NUJ Standard magazine in his office recently, Mr. Ekpo who is also a veteran journalist stated that unlike other forms of government, only democracy offers the platform to talk about the people’s participation in how they are governed” as well as “provide a suitable environment to enable the people speak their minds.
Commenting on the domestication of democratic ideals as a state policy in Akwa Ibom, the Deputy Governor said the present administration in the state was a typical example of a polity that was functioning under the norms of democratic ethos.
According to him, this is the setting that we have in the Udom Emmanuel administration in Akwa Ibom State. The interest of the people is paramount at all times. It’s not what the government wants. The State Government is preoccupied with what will promote the interest of the people. This is what we represent as a government.
Addressing specific gains of democracy in the state, Mr. Ekpo noted that 21 years of democracy has brought a lot of infrastructural benefits and development to the state but stressed that the last five years of the Udom Emmanuel’s administration has been quite phenomenal.
According to him, since this administration came, we have created and reconstructed well over 1,700 kilometers of roads and 40 bridges spread across our three senatorial districts. We have paid close attention to the mobility of the people such that there is no local government area headquarters that has not been linked by good and motorable roads.
On the contentious issue of perennial flooding in the state, the Deputy Governor disclosed that the state had well over 1,000 active erosion sites in different locations but expressed the confidence that with the recent signing of contract on the IBB Avenue major flood works in collaboration with NEWMAP and World Bank, the state is set to address the scourge of environmental degradation.
“We are tackling the flood problem besetting the state holistically. The other project is the gully erosion at St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, which is currently under construction,” Mr. Ekpo said, adding that in view of the enormity of the problems, government is soliciting the partnership of relevant agencies. We have about 1,000 flood and erosion sites in Akwa Ibom State. This is why we have been trying to access the National Ecological Fund and other intervention funds from international donor agencies, he stated.
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On industrialization, which is the flagship of the present administration’s policy, the Deputy Governor described the governor as an investment expert who knows the area to put the state’s monies into, for great yields.
According to him, the governor is an astute businessman. This is why Ibom Air is making waves. At any point in time, the project will yield profit. We are expecting other planes to arrive in another couple of months, adding, we will diversify our routes and also think of the Equitorial Guinea route as the project is managed by seasoned experts.”
He noted that beyond the 26 industrial concerns initiated by the administration, he believes the best legacy of the present administration is the ability to strategically improve the living conditions of the people through the attraction of huge investments.
On the whole, Mr. Ekpo appears to score the nation low on the index of democratic development. He says unlike the experience of other nations, the evolution of Nigeria’s democracy appears to be taking too long with its attendant toll on the corporate development of the entire nation.
According to him, “the failure of the nation’s leadership to enthrone true federalism through the devolution of powers has remained a sour point for Nigeria’s democracy.”
The deputy governor says as long as Nigeria continues in the over-concentration of power at the centre to the detriment of sub-national units, we shall never enjoy the advantage of true democracy.
He is of the strong opinion that this year’s democracy day celebration should be used to brainstorm about Nigeria’s peculiar federalist principle and structure. He therefore stressed that the present crop of legislators owe the nation the duty of effecting a constitutional amendment that would statutorily decentralize powers from the centre to the subunits of states in order to add value to our democratic practice and ensure that the true gains of democracy trickle down to the people.
