By Okon Asubong
In the dark days of military dictatorship, there were military apologists and consorts who bestrode the land like colossuses and carried themselves as the lords of the manor. One of them was Dr Ime Umana, who strutted the land with the airs of an accomplished gladiator and boasted to whoever bothered to listen that he was pally with then President Ibrahim Babangida and later the evil General Sani Abacha.
In those days, Dr Umana could at the drop of a hat, bulldoze his way and get a presidential nod for anything he wanted. When he turned up for an event in Uyo and demanded that the Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation should be reading the news in Annang, the then Governor, Idongesit Nkanga, pointed out that everyone understood Ibibio language. Umana quietly went back to Lagos and a day after; the Presidency directed that the State Government comply with his (Umana?s) demand.
Such were his powers that when in Abak Local Government Area, one Gabriel Okon contested for the chairmanship of the Abak Local Government against Dr. Emmanuel Uko, of blessed memory, he showed up late and told Abak people that he had endorsed Dr Uko. Majority of the people preferred Gabriel who had worked more and connected with the people. They said a loud ?No? to Dr Umana. He explained to them that Dr Uko was the only one who came to Lagos to seek his support and, therefore, was the one preferred.
When the people protested, he scorned them. The people took solace that Gabriel had already been approved by the National Electoral Commission to participate in the election. A few days after, he took a trip to Uyo and the next day, Gabriel was disqualified without any reason adduced for such an action. No one could amount to anything or attain any office in Abak without his consent and patronage. He was the alpha and omega of Abak politics and extended his tentacles to the entire state.
Unfortunately in spite of wielding such unrestrained powers and having the ears of the Head of State, Umana never did anything for Abak Local Government Area, except put his friends and cronies in leadership positions. He never asked his military friends to build an industry or road in Abak, he never asked them to build a school or hospital, he never asked them to build a farm or factory. Abak remained a poor place ruled by a rich patriarch.
What is more? One would have expected someone who wielded such enormous powers to make a lot of rich people from among his brothers. That narrative never surfaced. He never facilitated the award of contract to anyone from Abak. He never made anyone rich. He remained, with great pride, the only big fish in a small pond. He cherished the idea of being the only cock to crow in the area.
It was at this time that he arrogated to himself the pitiable title of ?Ufan Ndito Ubwene? (The Friend of the Poor). It was a curious title to begin with. But the story behind it was apparently that he had a grand design to keep Abak people perpetually poor so that he would remain their patronizing friend. That was why he never wanted anyone to prosper. Those who worked with him and seemed to make it were promptly accused of misdeeds or impropriety and promptly sacked from his employ. With such a friend, you do not need an enemy.
There are still unanswered questions about how Dr Umana made his money. The general thinking is that his life turned when the Army paid compensation for the land it acquired for the barracks at Ibagwa, Abak. Dr Umana is not from Ibagwa but he appears to have been the greatest beneficiary of the exercise, according to pundits, some of who were victims of his short changing. He was also implicated in a ring of persons who threatened kidnapping and blackmailed Governor Akpabio in 2010. He was arrested and taken to court. He was the chairman of the Board of Directors when Dele Giwa was killed and while the Organization was battling with the trauma, he announced his resignation from the Board ? apparently to please his military friends. The fact is that Umana has no public spirit.
Perhaps if he had a public spirit and loved Abak, Abak would have been an entirely different place now. He was a gross betrayal to the Abak cause. But God saw the suffering of Abak people and sought to change their estate. Like the Bible says, ?there is a friend which sticketh closer than a brother.? Along came Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio in 2007.
What Akpabio has done in Abak has positioned Abak as a key junction town with accessible roads. The Abak ? Ikot Ekpene dual carriageway with streetlights is a masterpiece. That Abak ? Uyo dual carriageway is another blockbuster thoroughfare. The bridge on the Abak ? Uyo Road is a tourist?s delight and the only such bridge in Nigeria. Abak also has the underground pipe-jacking drainage system, which takes care of the perennial flooding problems, which used to cut the Abak road end of the Abak ? Ikot Ekpene Road. The Independent Hall, which was destroyed in the process, is being re-built even though compensation was paid to the local government for it. At the same time the State Government was able to attract a Federal Government Girls College to Abak has sundry other projects done by this administration, which space would not allow us to broach.
Well in the Bible it is written that when Sanballat heard that someone (Nehemiah) had come to do the Jews some good and re-build the walls of Jerusalem, he was very mad. Dr Umana has been very mad with this administration because he considers them a threat to his title of Ufan Ndito Ubwene, which cardinal avowal is to continue to subjugate the people. He believes that if the Ubwene becomes rich, he would lose all claims to the title. He must work to keep them poor.
Savvy Abak persons have always asked, ?What has Dr Umana ever done for Abak or for anyone from Abak?? Absolutely nothing!!! Like someone once said, ?Show me anyone (from Abak or outside Abak) who has done more for Abak than Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio and I will vote for him in the Senatorial election?? He posed this rhetorical question to folks who questioned why Abak should support Governor Akpabio?s senatorial candidacy. He also made the remark conscious that Dr Umana could have done more for Abak than Governor Akpabio has done but he did not do it because he wanted to remain the perennial ?friend? of a poor and impoverished people.
Source: Okon Osubong is from Abak
