Joseph Okon
“No reasonable politician who is worth his onions would remain in PDP and allow his people to be drifting about without a direction. So, I have decided today, the 19th day if January, 2017, to resign from the PDP and move to the party that is bringing peace and direction to this country”.
These were the words of Senator Nelson Effiong, the Senator Representing Akwa Ibom South, Eket Senatorial District while announcing his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP to join the All Progressives Congress APC on the floor of the senate.
This is one of the miscalculated political blunders the Senator has committed in his political sojourn, this may probably be inform by his conviction that he should retire from active politics, hence his decision to embark on political suicide by running away from performing his responsibilities to the people who elected him.
It is a political suicide because none of his supporters then in the PDP will be willing to decamp with him to the APC no matter what. It’s a risk no politically conscious person would want to undertake for a retiree politician like Nelson Effiong. The indices are there to proof it; the Senator as it is, does not possess the required political influence and impact in his senatorial district.
Those who are in the APC already know this, and will not give him any specialty and prominence he may expect. There are those in the APC who are not senators but are more politically relevance in the party than Nelson Effiong.
It’s a political suicide and robbery on the very people who elected him as their Senator. Maybe he has decided on his retirement, and so, does not want to spend money on his constituent, so he cleverly defected to APC to cover his inadequacies.
The Senator is politically blind and cannot see well. In politics, it is expedient to look before you leap, but Effoing has leaped before he looked. He now lives in fool’s paradise believing that he has the necessary support of his people to stir through trouble waters. He said in his recent interview on Planet FM that Oro people are behind him, let him name those political stalwart from Oro who are behind him.
His action reminds me of a dog who had bone in his mouth to cross the water, as the dog was crossing the water, he saw the reflection of the bone he was carrying in the water thinking that it was a more fatty bone than what he held in his mouth; so the dog decided to through away the one in his mouth and dives into the water to catch the bigger one not knowing it was a reflection, on getting inside the water, the dog could not find the big bone he saw, and lost the small one he held in his mouth.
What an irony of life! Per chance Nelson Effiong is thinking that APC holds a better hope for him than PDP who made him, but the truth is that he may in the days to come be facing what befell the dog. It is always good to better what we have at hand and stop dreaming about none existing huge opportunity somewhere.
Self deception may have prompted him to think that by moving to APC, everything from the federal government will be channel through him, and because he feels as a serving senator, he is at advantage position to control the party structure in Akwa Ibom state which he claimed the Governor denied him of having. He may even believe that by defecting to APC, it will give him the opportunity to work with President Buhari and other national chieftains of the APC being the only APC senator in Akwa Ibom.
These are all self-deceptions. It was a hasty decision; he did not have time to consult widely because even the APC chieftains at national and in Akwa Ibom are surprised by the sudden defection. If he had consulted widely he would have known that there is a serious internal crisis in the APC and faction in Akwa Ibom state that made him leave PDP.
Citing crisis in the PDP as the bases of his defection; is it that the APC is devoid of political crisis? It is either Nelson Effiong is politically blind or he does not want to say the truth. He said that he is moving to APC that has brought peace to Nigeria, that is another political blunder. What peace has Nigerians experience since May 2015? Since May 2015, it has been from grace to grass, from better to worst. What peace when families go to bed hungry, what peace when parents cannot pay for their children’s school fees? What peace has APC brought to Nigeria apart from increase pains and suffering?
The test of a man’s integrity is not where he stands in time of comfort, but where he stands in time of crisis. PDP as a party has given Nelson Effiong a lot of political privileges to impact on the lives of his people but blew it. He was a forgotten politician who was never relevant among his constituency. He was a businessman who had his business in Uyo and resided in Uyo. It’s PDP that brought him out despite mass protest from his people in 2015, brush him up, make him comfortable and place him in the office he occupies today. Today he has turned his back on the party with false claims.
He cited crisis in the PDP that warrant his defection; if there were crisis in the party, couldn’t he have use his position as a senator to bring peace to the party knowing that it was for this cause and a day like this that PDP made him a senator? It is true that any man that cannot make peace in his own house will never make peace elsewhere. Certainly, such man should not be taken seriously.
The test of a man’s integrity is not where he stands in time of comfort but where he stands in times of trouble and challenges. Nelson Effiong has failed this integrity test.
By failing to put his house in order, Nelson Effiong should not be trusted with any leadership responsibility because he is not worthy of being a leader. Leaders don’t run away from crisis, they solve it, leaders don’t abandon their people after the struggle, they care for their people; Nelson Effiong does not possess any of these qualities, so he should not be trusted with leadership position.
Apart from the party and political miscalculation, this action of Nelson Effiong leaves a stigma of unfaithfulness and betrayal on the people of Oro nation. The holy book of wisdom has said that whoever that is not faithful in little things, cannot be faithful in plenty. What would have happened if Akwa Ibom people had followed political sentiments that were expressed in 2015 and allowed Oro nation to produce a Governor? Today, our beloved Akwa Ibom state would have become an APC state.
All thanks to our wise leaders who saw this coming and decided to stand firm against Oro nation by making sure that Eket Federal constituency produce the governor.
In his recent interview on Planet Radio (community views), Nelson Effiong postulated none existent agreement that Governor Udom Emmanuel was to serve for one term and hand over to Oro nation to complete the eight years of Eket Senatorial District, this is illogical. If there was such agreement; why didn’t Oro nation support Udom Emmanuel in 2015?
There has never been any such agreement, and Nelson Effiong cannot prove it beyond the realm of political propaganda and blackmail. Why did he not say this before now when he was in PDP? Obviously he is saying this to garner Oro people support but Oro people know better than this. They are wise enough to be fooled by Nelson Effiong’s current postulations.
Probably he is getting intimidated by the numerous endorsement of Governor Udom Emmanuel for second term which is based on performance. He complained of not being allowed to control the party structure and accused the Governor of preparing Akon Eyakeye to take over his seat in 2019. Instead of blaming the Governor, he should blame himself for leaving a lacuna by refusing to act and perform as a senator. As the leader of the party in the state, the Governor is the only man in-charge of the party structure. This is nonnegotiable and there is no point getting angry with the Governor because he has not allowed Nelson Effiong to control party structure.
Based his explanation, if Governor Udom Emmanuel did not allow Godswill Akpabio who is a former Governor to control party structure in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District as Nelson informed in the interview; why should he expect to control party structure in Eket Senatorial District? This is a similar problem that Obong Attah had with Godswill Akpabio because Governor Akpabio then refused to allow Attah control party structure in his ward. Today, Godswill Akpabio is not complaining because he understands better. Maybe Nelson Effoing will understand this when he become Governor in 2040.
It is true that if Nelson Effiong has gotten all he demanded from the Governor, he would not have left the party. Where lays his loyalty to the party? Leadership is not by convenience but sincere commitment and sacrifice.
Beyond his earlier stated baseless reason of faction in the PDP that necessitate his defection, his recent interviews on Planet FM contradict that position. It has also proved that his defection is purely for his selfish quest for political power. As a sitting senator, he could have used his performance to maintain his seat; sadly, Nelson Effiong has no performance to earn him a re-election.
Instead of engaging in an ignoble act of attacking the Governor and calling him all kinds of unprintable names, Nelson Effiong should rather face his political blunders and leave the person and office of the Governor alone. This politics of attacking leaders when certain individual demands are not met should be discouraged as is setting a wrong precedence for the younger generation.
Nelson Effiong should rather be grateful to the party who brought him out of his political isolation after he served as the Speaker of the House of Assembly in 2007. As a forgotten politician, it’s too early for him to bite the very finger that placed him in the position he occupies today. A word is enough for the wise.
Finally, Nelson Effiong stated emphatically that he left PDP because the party is factionalized; the question now is; if APC becomes factionalized, will Nelson Effiong remain in the party? Your guess is as good as mine.
Joseph Okon is a political analyst and public affairs commentator base in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
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