“My personal feeling is that citizens of the democratic society should undertake a course in intellectual self-defence to protect themselves from manipulation and control” (Chomsky, 1989).
As one of the three privileged Akwa Ibom civilians trained by the Israelis in a classified operation powered by Gi2 technology, utilised to end the ugly spate of kidnappings during the tenure of Sen. Godswill Akpabio as Governor of Akwa Ibom state, it behoves my patriotic sense and good conscience to set the records straight and enlighten our people on one of those very sophisticated policy actions undertaken by his (Godswill Akpabio’s) regime to check criminality in our land.
I have been amused by the vortex of politically motivated propaganda spewed on different media platforms as campaign invective, suggestive of the likelihood that the security situation of that time may have been regime sponsored, just to cast a slur on the towering profile of the distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio. The problem is that political propaganda when taken too far becomes a vice capable of destroying the fabric of mutual trust, an ingredient necessary for propelling our society on the path of development, hence my twig of sane information for the liberation of warped minds.
As admitted by Sen. Akpabio himself during the interview he granted the Comfort FM crew in Uyo on December 27, 2018, every regime has had its own set of insecurity imperatives to grapple with. This is a universal truth which is shared by governments and organizations all over the world, non is spared and non is too civilized to escape it, rather, it appears that the more sophisticated a society is, the more complex the level of criminality inherent in it, which of course, always places a burden on the government of the day to device the one best way of resolving them. Yet, of course, the ability of a government/regime to meet the security/welfare needs of its citizens is its defining essence, otherwise government is a failure, the same reason its citizens have it as an obligation, by dictates of social contract thesis, to vote it out.
And so it was that one of the security challenges of the Gov. Godswill Akpabio era was kidnapping. This was not an exclusive experience domiciled in Akwa Ibom State, rather kidnapping was like the new found lucrative crime in the Niger Delta region, even worse in our neighbouring Abia state where a special military task force had to be deployed by the federal government to stem its tide. Were it not for the proactive governance disposition of the uncommon-performer-governor, the same would probably have been necessary for Akwa Ibom State.
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When, on return of one of his over sea trips in 2010, Gov. Akpabio at the Uyo airport (now Victor Attah International Airport) announced that his government was importing technology that was going to be deployed to check kidnapping in the state, I was one of those who received the news with an air of indifference, without the inkling that destiny had spotted me as one of those privileged Akwa Ibomites who would be part of its operation. And so it was that I was trusted as one of the three civilian sons of Akwa Ibom, in the midst of the state joint military forces and the DSS, in the handling of the Gi2 for intelligence gathering which was deployed to stop the spate of kidnappings in the state, long before the crime could be dealt with and reduced in the other parts of Nigeria.
Suffice it to mention that during the course of training and its utilization, the anti kidnapping device and its operations were coordinated directly from the government house, Uyo, under the leadership of the former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Nsima Ekere.
Therefore, when I listen to insinuations that suggest to the contrary, it irritates my mind since I know that it is nothing more than propaganda targeted at the gullible in the public, with the sole aim of tarnishing the image of the same men/regime whose policy actions drastically reduced and ended the version of kidnapping that bedevilled Akwa Ibom State at that time. That would be most unacceptably puerile as common sense would wonder how a government that deployed much more than “moi moi” resources to check that level of criminality would have been the same that sponsored the crime. The syllogistic implication is apparently asymmetrical.
We must be enlightened to the fact that in leadership, the drive to solve problems the uncommon way can only be propelled by a passion-crested love; a deep seated love for the people; that kind of love that is more altruistic than a manipulating, campaign season, vote buying tool; and I am persuaded that the objects of this negative campaign propaganda are tested and can do better than their traduced.
Let me use this medium to appreciate the “uncommon transformer”, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio (CON) for that extraordinary faith in me in that rare opportunity to serve my state through the operation of the Gi2. History will remain kind to my Senator.
