There has been a booming resonance from the opposition party’s governorship aspirants for over six calendar months now as they have been engaging the electorates and their party members across the state as part of their sensitization of the various publics and campaigns for the top job, while the aspirants in the ruling party in the state seem to have activated the sleep mode on their ambition.
Sandy Onoh, Gershom Bassey and the educationist, Arthur Javis Achibong have all been traversing different parts of the state, meeting with critical groups, engaging with the youths and women while strategising with stakeholders of their party to find support and consensus agreements on their candidacy. Some of these aspirants have gone ahead to unveil some sectoral blueprints of their general governance corpus and targeted sector solutions to key challenges going forward and are already resonating with the various publics.
In the ruling APC, only Engineer Ben Akak has found the courage to hit the bricks in a bullish attempt to seize the stars and bring them home. He has been up and about explaining his agenda for Cross River State and why he believes that he is the best person to take over the reigns of power after Governor Ben Ayade’s tenure expires. Young, with no public office experience and bold, Ben Akak has forced the conversation to be about himself while the rest continue to recline behind the ornate woodwork of their soft comforts, waiting perhaps for Bertold Bretch’s GODOT.
The other leading aspirants like Bassey Otu, Bassey Ndem and Asuquo Ekpenyong Junior are probably still having a deep in the pool with a glass of vintage wine in hand or smoking a fat stick of rich Cuban cigar while waiting for their turn in Governor’s Office, Calabar, as their natural inheritance. While one may excuse Asuquo Ekpenyong Junior for his reticence and relative inactivity because he is still actively serving the Governor and the state as Finance Commissioner and trying to avoid a conflict of interest, what in God’s molten earth is keeping the others from hitting the road and shaking the bush? For John Owan Enoh and former minister Usani Usani, it appears that the rain may not fall again after the rumbling thunder and lightning in the sky.
By now the airwaves and social media ought to have been abuzz with news of their political activities and engagements rather than this deafening silence of the graveyard that is lulling everyone to sleep. There is nothing in the political rule book that says that while waiting for the Governor’s ultimate nod one should not begin to meet with people and groups, hold press conferences, embark on roadshows, feel the pulse of the electorates and unveil the inner workings of their minds to the critical stakeholders.
No APC aspirant has been able to say one word about what they plan to do with Cross River State were they to receive the angelic consecration and become Governor in 2023. None seem to have conceptualised the size of the challenges that lay ahead or the solution thereof. There have been no snippets of their manifesto, political philosophy or economic blueprints other than paying deceptive obeisance to the sitting Governor and perhaps chanting ‘loyalty, loyalty, loyalty ‘ behind closed doors.
The electorate are not as deaf and dumb as they used to be, the herd mentality may also not long abide either. The rise of the social media has rejigged the aggregates in political conversation and debates, living the aspirant with their own fate in their own hands. The earlier the aspirants of the ruling party practically come into the fray the better for them and the party. There is no alternative to hardwork in all fields of human endeavour. Let the aspirants stop turning round and round in the city of Calabar, Obanliku local government area is 300 kilometres from the state capital.
Kidzu writes from Calabar.
