Power seekers in Akwa Ibom State with eyes on 2023, are currently locked in a backstage rat race to sucket themselves into Maintain Peace Movement (MPM), a budding political group.
The Movement is being promoted as an umbrella platform to campaign for Governor Udom Emmanuel’s successor. Desperate politicians who want to be ‘anointed’ for any public office in the post-Udom era are repositioning themselves for key roles.
Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Legal Adviser, Emmanuel Enoidem, who has already pitched his political tent with MPM says it is a vehicle to impress on the electorate to continue to vote for the party in order to ensure industrialisation and economic development of the state.
While Enoidem is widely touted to be eyeing a seat in the National Assembly, the pro-Udom initiative is being seen as another instrument by the governor to recruit a capable successor who will vigorously pursue the industrialisation dream of the state.
According to the PDP legal chief who is now atop the MPM, the message of the Movement is to tell Akwa Ibom people that nothing good can come out of the state without peace, and insisted the state doesn’t need cultism or any other form of violence.
“We must be concerned with the issue of peace and security in Akwa Ibom because security agencies alone cannot give peace, rather it is the responsibility of the citizens to enthrone peace’’, Enoidem said, pointing out that MPM is out to celebrate what the Udom administration has done in terms of the security challenges in Ika, Ukanafun, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Oruk Anam and other parts of the state.
Continuing, he said it is not enough to checkmate a cult driven crisis in an area, and pointed out that though violence has not been eradicated 100 per cent but the crisis has been nipped in the bud, adding, ‘’MPM wants to sustain the existing peace in the state beyond the Udom administration’’, stating that whoever will take over from the governor will key into the peace agenda of the group.
On security, he said there is a difference between Akwa Ibom and other states because there is an isolated case of violence or criminality. The prevailing peace in the state has attracted investors and industries into the state and confessed “I am a very strong believer in the Akwa Ibom Project.”
The Grand Patron of MPM is Governor Udom. This initiative is intended to make the legacy of peace in Akwa Ibom enduring and sustainable by ingraining it in the minds and hearts of our people.
Its overarching message is being taken to all the nooks and crannies of the state. “On account of this, as people who have witnessed firsthand and cherished the benefits of peace, we lauded out to plant the seeds of peace across the land.
“For instance, it is an incontrovertible truth that the 3 aircraft that opened the door for the flagship Ibom Air project which has become a watershed in Nigeria’s aviation sector could not have touched down the Victor Attah International Airport if irate and warring youths of the host communities had closed down the airport as a way of ventilating any grievance.
“We also acknowledge the fact that the numerous industries that have created a viable means of direct and indirect employment for several Akwa Ibom State indigenes would not have been sited anywhere in this state if the one who superintends over the affairs of this state did not send a clear message early enough that he is a man of peace.
“Today, with over seven aircrafts in the fleet and counting, the very young but award-winning Ibom Air project has become the airline that defines the path for the nation’s aviation sector and has added beauty to the magnificent brand name that Akwa Ibom State has become.
“As we march vigorously towards the actualization of the Ibom Deep Seaport, we shudder to think what will befall this project, which will stay as a golden goose for Akwa Ibom people, if we do not build on the present legacy of peace that we currently enjoy as a State.
“This is why we have decided to bring the message of peace to a wider audience at the State level. Come, Friday, November 19, 2021, Governor Udom Emmanuel, the Grand Patron of the Maintain Peace Movement will mount the rostrum to amplify the clarion call on every Akwa Ibom person to lend their hands to the patriotic task of sustaining this cherished ideal of peace.
“On that day, he will formally unveil the Movement and Inaugurate the National Executive Committee of the Movement. We, therefore, use this platform to invite all Akwa Ibom people to join us as we converge on the Nest of Champions by Noon on that Friday for this historic event”, Enoidem said.
