Attahs reception at Asan Ibibio A semiotic analysis BY Iboro Otongaran If any event can be said to be rich, in fact, superabundant in symbolic, anthropological, cultural, political and even semantic content and therefore easily a godsend for semiotic analysis in a search for meaning, the event at Asan Ibibio in Uyo on 5 September 2014 offers a hard-to-ignore case study. On that date, at the cradle of Ibibio civilisation, anything from one to two million people gathered to honour one man and proclaim him leader of Ibibio people. Those gathered were Akwa Ibom people, most of them from the Ibibio stock, along with their compatriots from other ethnic nationalities within and outside the state. The man honoured and crowned leader was HE Obong Victor Attah, governor of Akwa Ibom State from 1999 to 2007. The reception, according to the organizers—Ibibio Elders and Leaders—was meant to achieve a dual purpose: welcome Attah back from the National Conference where he served as co-chair of the committee on Devolution of Power and honour him for his work during his time as governor of the state. Styled a grand reception, the fest lived up to its billing, and even up to the pre-event hype. It was grand in every sense of the word. The attendance turned out to be the political equivalent of a sell-out pop concert. Around two million people packed into the arena called Asan Ibibio, filled it to overflowing and spilled on to adjoining roads and every nearby vacant space, tying up traffic in a never-yielding gridlock. All of this in pouring rain. It was an occasion dripping with symbolism—and pregnant with paradigm-shifting meanings. Let us start with nature. It was a day made soggy by pouring rain. Yet the weather couldnt stop the party. And not even the traffic snarl that stretched in all directions for about 10 kilometres could hold the people back nor dampen their enthusiasm to witness the making of history. A rival rally in another part of town apparently staged as a counter to the Attah reception did nothing to stem the flow of human and vehicular traffic in the direction of the reception ball at Asan Ibibio. The resolve appeared to have been, Neither nature nor man would stop us. Every aspect of the reception was laden with meaning. The proclamation of Attah as the overall Ibibio leader appears to have gone down well with his people, given the mass, enthusiastic turnout at the reception. The only comparable event in the state that I can recall in terms of how the reception for Attah seized the popular imagination was the inaugural landing of a plane at Ibom International Airport in September 2009. If it were an electoral contest, the level of support for the former governor measured by the reception fervour would have been described as overwhelming mandate. In a cultural setting such as the occasion at Asan Ibibio, the phrasing would be popular authority. There is no debate that on that day at Asan Ibibio, Attah received overall authority to lead and speak for Ibibio people. The flipside in this semiology is followership. If the people have given Attah such pan-Ibibio authority to lead, it does not require any leap in imagination to conclude that he will enjoy mass and loyal followership. A leader is as strong as the dedication and loyalty of the followership that gives his leadership the needed traction. The event at Asan Ibibio which symbolised overall endorsement, a sweeping approval of Attah as the paramount Ibibio leader means that henceforth Ibibio will speak with one voice and act in one accord on state and national issues. The political explication of such prognosis is huge: it means the advent of a material force that is unstoppable. As a denouement to the reception, Attah made a great speech. At once a reflection on the past and a compass to the future, the Asan Ibibio declaration by the newly crowned paramount Ibibio leader, Ubokudom Ibibio, may yet prove the turning point in the politics and development of Akwa Ibom State. The nugget of the speech was a call for a level playing field for all aspirants in the processes leading to the selection of a successor to Governor Godswill Akpabio and a repudiation of zoning. But trust Attah, an intellectual in politics with predilection for scholarship, he sought to earth his view on the matter within the context of the political currents and sentiments in the state by saying though zoning would be a major sentiment with some people in the choice of the PDP flag bearer for the gubernatorial election next year, there were other more compelling considerations that could not be kissed off for zoning. For him, one of those considerations was “the crying need to take back the state and return it to the people to be developed and used for the benefit of all.” He laced on the icing by adding that the coming succession would be a collective decision of the people, and not an imposition by one man. It was a resoundingly clear message. Every effort by a few naysayers to distort what Attah said, which was actually a regal seal on the chorus of the majority of Akwa Ibom people, is an expression of the innate human instinct to discredit and reject information that is inconsistent with ones wish. There is explanation for it in cognitive dissonance theory: those discomforted by discordant information slip into denial to be able to sleep well at night. On the whole, the event at Asan Ibibio two weekends ago points to a new dawn in organisation, a fresh threshold in political sophistication and acuity. It may well be the game changer in the race ahead. Culled from Reference Nigeria 15 Sept 2014
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 00:31:06 +0000
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