The Reception of Obong Victor Attah: Lest We Forget

By Davis Ekong

Over seven years after Obong Victor Bassey Attah mounted the podium, delivered a farewell speech and made his exit as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, some brothers from Ibibio land have perfected plans to organize a reception for him. The controversial reception has been the subject of high-level vacillation as some say that it is to celebrate his reign as governor and others claim it is to welcome him back from the National Confab. Whatever their intention, let me begin by congratulating Obong Victor Attah on the reception and wishing him well.

Obong Arc. Victor Attah,
former Governor of AKS

But as an Ibibio man, one must confess with utter befuddlement why it took seven and a half years to remember that our brother and friend should be “received.” The pertinent questions are: “What, on God’s green earth, are we receiving him for or from?” “Why are we receiving him now? Or is the reception an afterthought?” “Are we receiving him like a conquering warrior who went, saw and conquered Akwa Ibom State, and came home with the spoils?” “Is he (Attah) accepting to be received by a section of those he governed because he lacks a state-wide relevance and thus needs some historical rehabilitation from a handful of his kinsfolk?” “Do we have a history of such receptions in Akwa Ibom State in particular and Nigeria in general?” “Why was Dr. Clement Isong not received? Why was Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga not received? Was Udoakaha Jacob Esuene not received? Why was Edet Akpan Archibong not received?” “What is the real purpose of this reception?”

While I leave it to the organizers of this curious reception to puzzle over these posers, I will want to rejig their memory a bit with some pieces of history. Surely there are scores of things we may have remembered in order to wake up from our slumber and think of a reception for our septuagenarian. But one sure wishes it were organized while some of those who raised alarm over his dismal performance were still alive. Elder Statesmen like Prof I. I. Ukpong, Hon. Justice Effiong Idiong, both of blessed memory and many more.

Lest we forget, in the course of the Attah administration, Senator Anietie Okon and Chief Assam Assam at various times described the administration of Attah as “the days of the locust policies.” By which they meant days of famine for Akwa Ibom State when the “locusts” ravaged the land. Assam E. Assam, SAN, in a 20-page open letter to Obong Victor Attah, titled “The Reckless and Criminal Looting of Our Resources,” published in Newswatch magazine of March 20,2006, examined the failures of that administration, especially the several billions of State funds expended on projects that could not (or were never intended to) see the light of the day. He (Assam) concluded by describing the claim of Attah to good governance as “mere sophistry” and the height of “voluptuousness and chicanery.”

Lest we forget, throughout the administration of Arch (Obong) Victor Attah, Eket Senatorial District did not benefit from any project, which amounted up to one million Naira from the State Government. He never tarred even a single kilometre of road in any of the oil communities – the worst hit was Oro nation, where a single government dime was not spent on any form of development. The Ibom Power Plant was built through loans and I have it on good account that even after controversially spending over $125million, the State Government still owes AfriExim Bank and Diamond Bank $38million for loans collected by the Attah Administration to build the plant.

But the news is not only that this project was loan-built, it is that the turbines obtained with this huge sum of money were second hand and one of them is completely unserviceable. This is why the plant has not been able to produce up to a hundred per cent capacity despite the huge amount, I understand, is being expended to keep the two manageable turbines running. We should remember this as we receive the man who conquered Akwa Ibom State. You receive conquerors – not leaders – so please bear with us.

As we receive Obong Victor Attah, let us bring to mind the mismanagement of the Ibom Airport project, which it conceived in 2001 and contracted to a Wall Street Portfolio company known as DynCorp LLC to construct. All that DynCorp did was to clear the site and was paid over $200 million (two hundred million dollars) with a proviso in the contract for them to finish the airport and land a plane there in 2014. As at 2007 when Attah left office, we could see nothing beyond earth works - even after $50million was paid as proprietary fees. Out of this amount, a fellow Diasporan and taxi driver turned Engineer – Ime Ekanem - admitted to getting $10million intellectual fees for suggesting the project. The failure of the project and sudden abdication of site by DynCorp in 2008 have thrown the State into needless arbitration. One is tempted to ask, “Is this what we are celebrating?” The spoils of the conquest of Akwa Ibom!

That the airport project was made a reality by a new Administration in record time through a new contract, integrity and sound project management by a team led by Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga (yet to be received) is not important to our ethnic jingoists.

As we think about the questions posed earlier we should remember that Obong Victor Attah left uncompleted projects which total completion costs amounted to over $5.3 billion (about one trillion Naira). Some of these white elephant projects include Ibom Science Park (for which N5.3 billion, 90 per cent of the contract sum, was paid upfront to SB Julles of South Africa, which according to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly during its investigation, did not reflect the poor milestones recorded, yet the company absconded with the money with only 20 per cent of the work done); Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort (which had only 17 rooms as completed with the commissioning of the foyer hurriedly done in 2007); Akwa Ibom State University ( which was sited in a swamp in Ikot Akpaden, after billions of Naira were expended, there was nothing to show for the school) and a lot more.

As an academic I am happy that while these ethnic jingoists embark on the rehabilitation of Attah, schools will soon graduate its first set of students – thanks to the Administration of Governor Akpabio. It should be further noted that in the eight years of the conquest of Akwa Ibom, the State Polytechnic at Ikot Osurua and the College of Education, Afaha Nsit were left in a state of total disrepair and dilapidation. It is not on record that Attah ever visited any of these schools, even though he was their Visitor.

However, I am happy that your reception is coming at a time when Nigerian children are enjoying free and unfettered access to education in Akwa Ibom State. I recall how helpless the situation was in the Attah years and how so many children were thrown out of school. We are yet to forget the adoption of an eleven-year-old brilliant son of a widow by then President Obasanjo at Onna local government area during one of his state visits. Adopting a child under the nose of a Governor, from the warmth of his mother, could only happen in an Akwa Ibom with Attah in charge.

Lest we forget, the “Emperor” we are celebrating today lived in a dilapidated Government House built by the military. It had structural defects and he jostled for space with rats in Government Guest house for eight years. Let us pay special tribute to the Attah Administration for its rat-friendly reception. We recall with sadness the experience of the then First Lady, Chief Mrs Stella Obasanjo (may her soul rest in peace) when she visited Akwa Ibom to spend a night in the Presidential Lodge. She ran for dear life to Calabar in the night when it appeared that the roof could fall on her – not to mention the rats, which kept scurrying around the First Lady’s abode.

Lest we forget, the Emperor was and still is a catholic. The Catholic faithful of Ikot Ekpene Diocese may today have forgotten the failed promises by Attah to construct a one kilometre road named after the first Cardinal from West Africa, Dominic Cardinal Ekanem. It is good that those who have found it worthy to receive the Emperor, may have forgotten this bit of history because there is a beautiful, well-paved road with street lights. For the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene, “Truly dry bones have risen again.”

Lest we forget, the Attah years were the worst in terms of healthcare delivery. It should be noted that doctors and allied professionals were on strike perennially throughout his tenure, and even ushered him out of office with a ten-month industrial action. Should I remind us that the entire system did not have a single medical consultant at the time Obong Attah left office?

One wishes those who would come for this reception from Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area to remember that in eight years, Attah did not construct the Aka Nung Udoe Road. Not to mention his failure to provide electricity for the area. Those who may come from Etim Ekpo/Ika axis would be anxious to see the man who serially deceived them that he would link them to the rest of the state – a situation which led to Ika being cut off from the rest of the state and becoming a hub for terrorism and banditry leading to the murder of the Divisional Police Officer and many other law enforcement agents.

In case we have forgotten, it was during the Attah years that the state came under the siege of armed robbers and became infamous for serial robberies and other criminal activities. There was hardly a bank that was spared, and a cauldron of fear hung in the air.

We should further remember and thank Emperor Victor Attah for writing a personal letter and ceding 76 oil wells of Akwa Ibom State to Cross River State in an effort to curry support for his selfish presidential ambition. Thank God the 76 oil wells were returned after the intervention of the Supreme Court.

We should remember that ceding the oil wells was just another wrinkle in a pattern of self-destruct policies by the Attah regime. This included leading a delegation to persuade the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to drop Obong Uffot Ekaete as the Secretary to the Federal Government. Let us not forget that under the Emperor we had the worst relationship with the Centre in our history and this cost us dearly as we lost on several fronts.

But let us not forget that Obong Victor Attah did not just happen – someone brought him and foisted him on Akwa Ibom State. That man who contrived what he called a consensus arrangement is Atuekong Don Etiebet. Should we recall that after Etiebet forced him on the state, the “Monster” chased “Frankenstein” out of the PDP and drove him into the ANPP. He sought refuge there as National Chairman and only re-joined PDP when Attah was on his way out of office. We expect Etiebet to show up at the reception; after all, his most consistent trait is inconsistency.

As we prepare for the grand reception, we must not lose sight of the Econet/Vmobile network share purchase resale deal. Akwa Ibom people are yet to be told the whereabouts of millions of dollars paid on the shares deal. We are aware that there is a matter pertaining to this before the London Metropolitan Police and other global law enforcement agencies. I advise our dear former Governor to go to the United Kingdom and clear his name before seeking any reception. It is only after this is done that I shall join in celebrating him.

The organizers of this reception should not forget to remind Emperor Attah that he is yet to redeem the N30 million pledge he made to the building of the Asan Ibibio Hall. Thank goodness someone had more love for the Ibibios, pledged and redeemed his pledge. We should not forget that this was the man who brought down Sir Udo Udoma House (the Headquarters of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio) because of a squabble he had with Air Marshal Nsikak Eduok (Retd), the grand patron of the Mboho. I believe some of the members of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio who may reluctantly attend this reception, are yet to forget this sad episode in the history of the organisation. Little wonder Obong Attah’s name is not listed in the Mboho’s Hall of Fame

I must confess that as a true Ibibio son, I thought pensively of this turn of events and it crossed my mind that this was akin to Sani Abacha being received by the Abiola family, or the Alfred Rewane Family after inflicting so much pains on them. Even more worrisome was when I recollected that when Lucky Igbinedion failed to live up to expectation as Governor of Edo State, and was accused of non-performance, his father, the revered Esama of Benin, Sir Gabriel Igbinedion said that “when a child fails in a class, he should be asked to repeat the class.” So are we asking Obong Victor Bassey Attah to try and repeat the class through a proxy? Food for thought.

On a final note, the organizers of this reception have been scampering like a cat on hot bricks from one euphemism to the other, seeking justification for this circus show. Lately they have fallen back on saying that they are receiving Obong Attah from the National Confab. If this were so, one would have expected them to receive all the Ibibios (including former Governor Idongesit Nkanga, Senator Anietie Okon, former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr Ignatius Edet and others) who represented the state in the Confab. This is an afterthought and so it is proper to analyse the stations of the “Emperor’s” public life in order to determine his suitability for such an honour. This is what I have tried to do in this piece.

We hope the organizers of this reception are not suffering from collective amnesia and that this is running rampant in their midst like an Ebola outbreak? A word is enough for the wise.

(Dr Davis Ekong is a post graduate research fellow at the American University, Arkansas, USA. lifted from the Nation Newspapers published days before former governor Attah’s reception at Asan Ibibio on Friday Sept. 5, 2014 ).