Implementation of rules of engagement doesn’t invalidate Akwa Ibom United

Emmanuel Nicholas

Criticism becomes leprous, barren of evidential support and issued from an intellectually bankrupt source whose capacity for reliable comprehension is suspect, and thereby ceases to be a critique at all.

To read or listen to such a base narrative is like dancing to a broken record: it turns out the same cowardly, vacuous refrain again and again, never producing a single perceptive or valuable insight.

Yesterday I read on social media that a vainglorious individual had stripped and cavorted through the streets of Milan, posing as a woman of woredom and thereby brazenly exhibiting his moral bankruptcy in a desperate, and self‑defeating attempt to discredit Governor Umo Eno.

He spoke like a man suffering the remnant torpor of a night of excess, his pulse fluttering erratically as if a lizard were trapped within his breast; yet, heedless of how he might be judged, he cast his dross into the public square.

His utterances resembled the ribald choruses of drunken revellers: coarse, poisonous, and stamped with intellectual vacuity.

By opening his mouth and spewing venom, he accomplished nothing but self‑injury, leading any sober reader to suspect a serious psychiatric disturbance, one that arguably merits a formal psychiatric assessment, perhaps including neuroimaging, to determine his state of mind and how best to restore him before he descends further into degradation.

Every employment relationship entails clearly defined terms of engagement, including a standardized and acceptable code of conduct. When an employee breaches that code, the employer is entitled to discipline or dismiss that employee.

Governor Umo Eno’s call for a united Akwa Ibom, an appeal for political actors to work together to develop the State, does not conflict with his right to enforce the terms of engagement when members of his personal staff violate them.

After joining the APC, the Governor openly told his aides that they must abide by his stated positions and that failure to do so would result in their dismissal.

He announced this publicly; that fact is decisive. If you retain that fact in mind, you must recognize that disciplining or dismissing an insubordinate aide does not negate or destroy the inclusive unity he advocates.

Criticism would be warranted if he had never communicated his expectations to his subordinates; absent that public notice, his actions would raise legitimate questions.

Likewise, accusations that he privileges members of one party would only be credible if he had directed that employment, contracts, or development be reserved exclusively for APC members, or if he had refused to develop communities whose leaders belong to other parties, or excluded opposition stakeholders from consultation.
Your accusations would have been correct.

Governor Umo Eno’s concept of Akwa Ibom United is fundamentally an inclusionary governance policy. It invites opposition leaders to contribute to the policies and programmes of government, and it ensures that citizens from all political parties can access contracts, employment, services, and participation.

A PDP member can win a contract to construct a road; an ADC member can obtain employment without discrimination; a YPP member can sit at the table with the Governor to negotiate project costs. Akwa Ibom United envisions all parties as co-development agents and beneficiaries of government initiatives.

Therefore, it is baseless to claim that Akwa Ibom United has ended because an aide defiantly ignored the terms of engagement. The Governor’s meekness should not be mistaken for weakness, nor should his commitment to unity and respect for institutions be treated as a flaw. When offering criticism, ensure your facts and reasoning are sound.

Governor Umo Eno’s vision of ” Akwa Ibom united” remains intact: he is empowering citizens across party lines, awarding contracts to deserving sons and daughters of the State regardless of party affiliation, implementing development across the State without partisan bias, and consulting stakeholders in the implementation of his Arise agenda without tribal ego.