Ibibio Nation Stands Still For Obong Attah Today, September 5, 2014, all roads lead to Asan Ibibio, the traditional shrine of Ibibio people, for a grand reception of Obong Victor Attah, one of the great sons of Ibibio nation and former governor of the state. The reception, our correspondent gathered is significant in many ways. It is first of its kind being organized to celebrate a living legend from the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria. It was also gathered that the reception was to honour him as the leader of Akwa Ibom delegation at the just concluded National conference in Abuja. At the conference, Obong Attah did not just serve as a member of many committees, he was co-chairman of the committee on Devolution of Power, the committee that handled fiscal federalism, revenue sharing, resource control and oil derivation formular, among others. He was said to have performed brilliantly despite attempts by northern delegates to frustrate the committees report. Again, Obong Attah is also seen as the apostle of resource control who during his tenure as governor of the state worked tirelessly to ensure that obnoxious onshore/offshore oil dichotomy was abrogated, thus, making the state the largest oil producing state in the country. The result of the struggle is said to be the reason for the huge revenue earned currently by Akwa Ibom State. Meanwhile, friends and associates of the former governor have continued to pour encomiums on him. They described the septuagenarian as an indisputable political leader of Ibiono nation. Among those that hold such view is Obong Akpan Obot. He described Obong Attah as “a true legend, a man of honesty and integrity who is cherished by his people for his commitment to promoting the best welfare of Akwa Ibom people and the South-South geo-political zone”. He noted that the reception is worth giving to the former governor for this role at the National Conference noting that Obong Attah “shone like a million stars”. Our correspondent learnt that the reception may not be un-connected to the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state. Many political heavy weights and governorship aspirants are said to align with him to wrestle power from the incumbent governor. It was also learnt that the reception was organized to help him re-launch himself into reckoning after drifting to the political wilderness following his failure to install his son-in-law as his successor in 2007.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 11:21:08 +0000
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