Why Not Onofiok Luke?

Why Not Onofiok Luke?

By N. T. A. Efo

        I had just one encounter and I knew that some legislators, including Onofiok Luke, a lawyer and member representing Nsit Ubium State Constituency, were i

n the House of Assembly for serious reasons – to represent their people in the scheme of things in the State; to make extant laws for the people of the State and make sure the executive arm of government performed at the dictates of the people’s conscience.

        It was the day newly appointed commissioners – some were returning – in Governor Godswill Akpabio’s first second term cabinet were before the House for screening. The screening was anything, by any standard, screening.  It was more or less a sing - song afternoon, the lead vocalists being the legislators representing the nominees who in their choruses asked for those they sang for, to be permitted to take a bow and leave.

        It was few days after the Senate in Abuja had screened ministerial nominees. In Abuja, there was screening in all the sense of the word screening.  Though some Senators amongst them were told to take a bow and leave, some of them were still asked some questions pertinent to their nomination.

        You could see how disillusioned. I and some great minded Akwa Ibomites were, to watch the charade called screening at the State House of Assembly. Few people, including Luke, tried to ask questions but were overruled by the Speakers, who most times led the refrain in singing the praise of some of the nominees. On more them one occasion, he had tod the nominees, before putting the vote to the floor; “I know you performed in your office last time.  This time I know you will perform better”.  Who would ever not get cleared before such an Assembly?

        Immediately the charade was over, I called Luke and Bassey Etienam, another lawyer and member representing Urue Offiong Oruko State Constituency.  They had just left my circle in the Forum of Personal Aides to the Governor and moved to higher grounds.  So, I could easily connect with them.  They both picked the calls – they still pick my calls anyway – and based on their answers to my complains about the screening, I knew the duo were in the House for serious business.

Luke told me he had prepared questions for each of the nominees.  He never had the opportunity to ask them. Ditto Bassey. Why? The leadership decided to conduct the screening in a manner that did not allow the House to function, and the public to calibrate the scales of those to secure them.

        There are cries already in the public domain about the quality of representation thrown up by the last election.  Some say most of them can not really point hands to any valuable experience other than God’s favour and political brinkmanship.  In such cases, some believe it is only an experienced, informed, articulate, creative, sound and intelligent leadership that will make the new set of parliamentarians change agents.  Change sweeps across the nation.  All Nigerians yearn for change.  All Akwa Ibom people whether in the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, the All Progressive Congress, APC, the Labour Party, other parties and even non-political citizens, yearn for change.  The change we yearn for is not about a change in leadership – though it is very important – but mostly a change in the attitude of leadership – in the things they say; in the things they do and in the things they accomplish.  People keep questioning the rationale behind a new five star hotel in Uyo and the four star hotel in Ikot Ekpene.  Yet, we put money on them and I join in betting that in two years, the two hotels will go under.  Why?  The local economy cannot feed them – with the Le Meridian Ibom Hotel and Resort being in a prime location and unique point to keep floating – not swimming - if you know the challenges of power, management et cetera, facing them. It was the House of Assembly which could have advised the government against such investments but allowed it.  All the Hose needed to do was to set up a team of consultants to look at the pros and cons of such investments and report back to the Executive.  I am sure no team could have adviced them to praise the Executives for such projects.  Ikot Ekpene needed an international market, one probably around Ikot Umo Essien axis where goods from Aba could upload for people to pick them and move them into Calabar, Eket, Uyo and the interlands, much more than a four star hotel.  Who will sleep in those hotels?  Certainly not the local populace who struggle daily to keep body and soul together.  Certainly not also the back up tiny business clan and political heavy weights who will prefer the quiet of the Nwaniba beach front to the noise of the Ikot Ekpene Plaza.

        Anyway, this piece is not about the hotels and some other misplaced investments that have left an opportunity cost in our lives.  There is still poverty glaring in the wanton display of desperation to catch any cash that drops from the Executive table. Tell people money is being shared on Wellington Bassey Way end and see the multitude that will go queue to up sometimes forever.  Sometimes without making a dime at the end.

        The function of the House of Assembly is therefore, very important, in the management of our resources to make sure that the executive gives us our vote’s worth.  We give our vocies to our representatives once we send them to the House.  My voice is now literally bequeathed to Emmanuel Bassey Ekpenyong, member representing Ini State Constituency.  On the national scene, I need to pass all my thoughts to Engr. Iboro Ekanem who will represent Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency and, of course Chief Godwill Akpabio at the Senate.  That is how democracy works. The trio need also to be in constant touch with me and other constituents to feel our pulse on all areas germane to our progress and development.

        It is on this note that I support a vibrant House of Assembly in the coming dispensation.     We have played too much of politics.  We need to move on.  From my fore-arguments, I look forward to a legislator in the mold of Luke to take up the leadership.  Thank God for the rules in the House, Luke belongs to the group of five returning legislators eligible to be voted in as Speaker.  Those who talk of setting aside the rules to allow new members become Speaker do not know how the legislature works.  The clerk cannot preside over such function.  The clerk’s duty is to see to an inauguration and the election of a Speaker.  The law can only be changed after a Speaker has been elected.

        By the zoning arrangement in the PDP, only two legislators are from Uyo Senatorial District.  Aside Luke, there is another lawyer Ime Okon from Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area.  Like Luke, he is said to be sound, intelligent, matured and experience.  He actually fits the bill the way Luke fits.  But the Speakership is not all about the maturity of age, which many agree Luke also possesses the maturity to the degree of his youth. The maturity of a young man like Onofiok lies in achieving so much in so short a time.  In the achievement lies an experience age cannot bring about.  This is maturity.  An elderly person who has no achievement and experience to colour his conduct in life is not matured.

        For Okon, many say he is being sponsored by the First Lady, Mrs. Uloma Ekaette Akpabio and Sir Emem Akpabio, fondly called the Godfather and the Leader.  For Luke, he is said to be backed by the Governor, the Governor-elect and incoming legislators led by Hon. Nse Ntuen, Chairman of Essien Udim Local Government.  These connections may be mere beer parlor gist though and cannot be taken with a pinch of salt.  But that is what I heard.  I also heard the First Lady-God help her; she’s too mentioned in the whole mix, including the fact that she is to produce a woman Secretary to the State Governor, SSG, from Oron nation; pray what will Udom Emmanuel’s wife produce – is also considering the Deputy Speaker, Udo Kerian Akpan, as an alternative.  Akpan is a good guy, experienced, matured but lacks the moral ground to stand on, being from the same area the Deputy Governor is from.  People are asking whether there is palpable fear that there may be a re-run and in an event Umana Umana wins, Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District will be out in the cold. That shows a lack of confidence in the process that produced the Governor-elect and this shouldn’t be.  Afterall, PDP swept all polling units.  I hope nobody is trying to make us believe otherwise. 

Seriously, Luke exemplifies the new Akwa Ibom we envisage.  In Luke’s speakership will Udom succeed? Udom does not need a rubber-stamp house.  He needs a House that will engage him in robust debates which result will benefit all of Akwa Ibom State.  Luke is well concreted to both returning and incoming members of the House.  In this lies a unified House where no caucuses will be formed to the detriment of the new Akwa Ibom which we all envisage.

        Whether or not the aspirants are supported by powerful forces, the final authority lies in the members of the House which I implore to please, set sentiment aside and vote in Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke as the next Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly. In Luke will they have their independence and freedom to fully cooperate with the Executive to the full extent of fulfilling their separate powers to the full benefit Akwa Ibom State.

Efo, a public affairs analyst, writes from Uyo

UNIVERSAL ENERGY CRISIS: PLANS TO INCRIMINATE UNION UNCOVERED

UNIVERSAL ENERGY CRISIS: PLANS TO INCRIMINATE UNION UNCOVERED

Plans to incriminate and subsequently sack its workers have been uncovered barely 24 hours after a protest by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) branch of the Universal Energy Resources Limited (UERL) against the unfair and inhuman treatment meted on them by its Management.

The Management, through its Shared Services Manager, Mr. Solomon Echerebor, has made uncivilized and unlawful attempt to break into the company’s corporate headquarters so as to link it to the union.

A highly paced member of the union who does not want his name on print hinted our reporter, according to him: “The Management, instead of solving the pending problems and issues raised by the worker asked Mr. Solomon Echerebor to break into the company’s premises and probably take some of the official cars and other incriminating documents. They are looking for a way to indict us so that they will have a reason to sack us. It is unlawful to break into premises that are under lock and keys.”

An insider, who noticed the move by Mr. Echerebor, said “the intruder said he was instructed to break into the compound and carry vehicles that will assist the company’s Project Manager, Engr. Steve Okoko, and other senior staff outside.”

Our investigations revealed that the protesters, who had a prayer session early today, are fight against Management refusal to honour and implement tripartite agreement, victimization of our Union members by the Finance Director, Mr. Basil Monwe, refusal to train staff and unfair labour practices by Management.

PROTEST ROCKS UNIVERSAL ENERGY

PROTEST ROCKS UNIVERSAL ENERGY

… As Workers Sealed off Headquarters, Halt Production

Frustrated by the unlabour practices of its Management, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) branch of the Universal Energy Resources Limited (UERL), sealed off the company’s Headquarters, Uyo, to protest the development and assault by the Finance Director, Mr. Basil Monwe.

Gathered as early as 7.am, the aggrieved workers chanted solidarity songs and moved peacefully with placards that read: “We condemn Management unwillingness to negotiate Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Union. This is anti-Labour; Who owns Universal Energy? Is it Akwa Ibom State Government or Seven Energy? Akwa Ibom must know; Stop threat to life, victimization, tribal sentiment, FD must go; Universal Energy/Seven Energy Management does not respect communiqués and tripartite agreements; Say no to Seven Energy Slavery; Seven Energy don’t kill UERL.”

Top on the minds of the protesters were the issue of abuse of its members by the Finance Director, Mr. Basil Monwe; casualization of staff and outsourcing of manpower, and over deduction of its members’ allowances and pension.

Also, the protesters expressed their displeasure over what they described as ‘unLabour disposition’ of its Management, which recently announced commencement of crude oil production from its Stubb Creek Field following the approval to embark on delivery of oil through the ExxonMobil’s Qua Iboe Terminal, which came on stream in early February 2015.

Lamenting a promised First-Oil-Bonus, a protester, who does not want his name on print, said “there is only one solution to this problem. The Management must be sincere to all its policies thereby treating its staff as human.”

When contacted, the branch Chairman of the Union, Comrade Edidiong Uyouko, said the protest was as result of “Management consistent and deliberate refusal to re-negotiate on expired Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that is subsisting, non-implementation of clauses in the CBA, refusal to address 26 outstanding wage re-opener items.”

“Our protest today is as a result of Management refusal to honour and implement tripartite agreement, victimization of our Union members by the Finance Director, Mr. Basil Monwe, refusal to train staff and unfair labour practices by Management,” he stressed.

Effort to speak with company’s Project Manager, Engr. Steve Okoko, proved abortive, however, its Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Aniefiok Iwaudofia, said the protest was a husband-wife quarrel, adding that Management was ever ready to better and improve working conditions and welfare of its staff

Mr. Iwaudofia urged the protesters not to aid the destruction of life and property while bringing to bare their grievances and assured that Management was seriously looking into the issues raised by the union.

Universal Energy Condemns Impoundment Of Tanks By Mbo Youths

Universal Energy Resources Limited (UERL), an indigenous firm and operator of the Stubb Creek Marginal Oil Field, has condemned in strong term the recent impoundment of its oil tanks by irate youths in the state under aegis of Mbo Youth Development Association during a Maximum Efficiency Rate Test (MER) on its oil wells, a prerequisite by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

The Management, through a statement made available to newsmen by its Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Aniefiok Iwaudofia, said “crude produced as a result of the MER test were stored in rented tanks since 2013 which was eventually pumped through our pipeline when we commenced production. Those rented empty tanks were therefore released to the contractor and were being transported out of our field when they were wrongly impounded by Community Youths.”

“All allegations made by the said Community Youths are wrong and unsubstantiated just as their actions in disrupting the smooth exit of those hired empty tanks were uncalled for. We want to reiterate that Universal Energy does not truck crude using tanks but uses approved pipelines to deliver crude to Mobil QIT,” the statement further stressed.

The Management also said the company had put in place avenues upon which enquiries could have been made officially by the youths in respect of its operations through an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the host communities.

According to the statement, “by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) existing between ourselves and our Host Communities, we have put in place avenues and channels upon which enquiries could have been made officially by the Community in respect of movement in and out of our Operational Base. Regrettably those avenues/channels were not utilized and trucks conveying those empty tanks were impounded by Community Youths.”

“We wish to also reiterate our commitment to maintaining the highest standard of Social Responsibility within our Operating Environment and to respect the Host Communities where we operate.”

The company, which said it imbibes best practices in its operations and frowns at all insinuations to the contrary, wished to correct all negative impressions created by the unwarranted actions of the youths.