ACA: A NEW DEMOCRATIC AGENDA FOR AKWA IBOM POLITICS

ACA: A NEW DEMOCRATIC AGENDA FOR AKWA IBOM POLITICS

Political Pressure groups are to democratic societies what common edible salt is to the soup. Like salt, they help to stimulate other ingredients in the system, in order to arrive at a state where the order can be said to be acceptable.
Any system lacking in them cannot lay claim to democracy since it, most likely would be intolerant of the views they canvass. Which is why the late maximum ruler, Abacha and his apostles’ description of the contraption they were putting together as “home grown” democracy was, to say the least, nonsensical as it was designed not to brook any form of opposition from any pressure group, be it political or otherwise. For democracy as a concept is universal in nature and not context bound. The important thing is that it contains such basic ingredients as mass participation, freedom of expression, respect for the rule of law and not only just but also seen to be so in its operation.
That is the beauty of it, flowering of pressure groups with varying opinions and underpinning philosophies that create room for alignment and choice. But whether they sprout and flourish depends solely on the fertility or otherwise of the political environment. Where the political leadership is fascist or totalitarian, pressure groups find it difficult to thrive.
Conversely, they spring up in large numbers, complete with their war cries with which they penetrate their target populations where the political environment is fertile. It is therefore, not surprising that America is witnessing a near total proliferation of pressure groups in the polity while Russia, a country still wallowing in communist hangover can hardly say the same of its territory.
The emergence, therefore, of Akwa Ibom Consolidation Alliance, ACA for short, along with other pressure groups cannot be unconnected with the tolerance level of the present P.D.P government in the state. It shows that the democratic ambience is right and that the system is prepared to hear the other side of the story.
For ACA as a socio-political group, it has left no one in doubt about its ability to add color to Akwa Ibom politics in 2015. Born out of the internal struggle to create a political culture that is right, just and equitable, ACA has its own war cry and underpinning philosophy with which it markets its ideas on the way forward. That way, it has boldly set the tone for the unfolding future political direction of the state. Its mission is short and simple; to mobilize the masses of Akwa Ibom State to support Mr Udom Emmanuel, a former bank Director and a governorship aspirant from Eket senatorial district, to take over from the uncommon transformer, Chief Akpabio in 2015. When asked why Eket, the affable international president of the powerful organization, Pastor Andrew Unwanta answers confidently that Eket senatorial district has never produced a governor since the creation of the state in 1987. And why Udom, he retorts with that same composure and certainty that ACA believes that Udom possesses in sufficient quantity, the residual capacity to successfully step into the very big shoes that the incumbent governor would be leaving behind in 2015.
With an exposure that transcends banking, international business, industrial sectors and capping it with his current tenure in the public service, Udom has inadvertently won the admiration of the octopoidal group which has a firm grip of all the political units, wards and local government areas of the state.
Its short and pithy war cry, Aka Uke? ( i.e. where is it going ?) and the response, AKA EKET(it’s going to Eket) carries the force, seriousness and single-mindedness with which the group pursues its cause.
Infact, no group (including AKPF during its time) has shown this level of audacity on the political turf since the inception of the state. It is a compact team, made of veterans of the game from all the departments who have also added to the depth of its authority.
Recent events are proven instances of its legendary presence and authority. First was the near total occupation of Uyo township stadium by ACA members during the last democracy day celebration. The second was the group’s inauguration of its National Executive Committee on June 6, 2014 at Ibom Hall grounds which turned out a carnival of some sort. The boisterous crowd, the sea of heads and all the razzmatazz of a typical carnival were on full display.
In all these, ACA has one thing going for it. It is championing a just cause and angling on such a sound logic that even the most belligerent of politicians cannot dismiss with a wave of the hand. It believes that if Uyo senatorial district had served for two terms, totaling 8 years and Ikot Ekpene senatorial district is about rounding up its second term of 8 years too, then it’s only fair and just that Eket an oil bearing senatorial district that has never governed before, takes the next slot. For to do otherwise is to create a Hobessian state of nature, where the right to life is reserved only for the strong and mighty.
It is a situation like this that brought about the concept of power rotation in politics, which came in to tamper with the crudity of democracy in its raw form. Thus, rotation is a conscious response to the critics of the concept of democracy who see it as a rule of the mob. It is a deliberate effort to give it a human face.
Such is the principled stand of ACA. Afterall, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.