Solomon Johnny is a wannabe, a flippant who likes leading vain discourse. He is always in a hurry speak, write and to use his social media account to bully politicians and disparage their legacies. He does not have the self-discipline to read, ask questions or verify facts before initiating a discussion. This is who he is.

About four years ago, he tried to bully Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke, who was Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, by concocting narratives that were clearly in bad taste to demean and defame the speaker. He attempted to veil that blackmail with bright ribbons to make it look like a “friendly advice”. He almost got away with it save that Luke confront him with facts which discredited the intentional falsehood cooked up, dished out and retailed for whatever presumptuous purpose that meant to serve.

Johnny has a rich credential and long history in mudslinging. Using his now defunct Weekend Global Concord, he mudslinged Chief Godswill Akpabio and his administration. After Akpabio, he turned his energy against Mr. Umana Umana, then Obong Nsima Ekere. Lately, he is after Senator Ita Enang, Mr. Akan Udofia, the APC, YPP, and again, Chief Akpabio.

On Thursday 27th October, he signed off an article asking why Senator Bassey Albert, the governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Congress, did not talk about how he would tackle cultism if elected Governor of Akwa Ibom State in 2023. He told the public that he read Senator Albert’s manifesto. He is not known to be a guy who likes reading. Most of attention-seeking criticisms about government has turned out to be premised on hearsay or common talks he picks from social media.

In the third paragraph of that article, he claimed to have read Albert’s manifesto and did not see where the senator talked about how he will tackle insecurity – cultism. In his exact words “Going through the address out of curiosity, I have discovered a missing link…”. Johnny has not read Albert’s manifesto. He only wants the public to think that he read it.

Albert’s 57 pages blueprint titled “Positive Impact Agenda” has five strategic pillars – security, environment and tourism – is the 2nd pillar of his plan for Akwa Ibom state. Page 22 of the blueprint contains the fine details of his security plan starting with situational analysis, core security issues contributing to crime and criminality in the state, key strategies to tackle them and the expected outcome, tagged “deliverables”. These are printed legibly. Some of the key strategies to tackling insecurity as elucidated in the blueprint are: establishment of Akwa Ibom state security trust fund, digitisation of security and other related services in the state capital, major cities and townships, creating robust structure to enhance job creation/security and other means of livelihoods for the people, engendering peaceful co-existence, empowerment and meaningful engagement of youths, etc.

Governance is serious business. It is more so in Akwa Ibom State where we have great minds with very high intellect. Governance policy is designed methodically. Public policy is not tactless talks or social media banters. Senator Albert has sufficiently identified weak core value system and unemployment as some of the root causes of cultism and has proposed social and economic reengineering strategies that will discourage youths from cultism, in addition to technology-aided policing to ensure all-round security in the state. These are stated distinctively in clear, simple, unambiguous words. The positive impact agenda is not esoteric. It is even summarised in an infograph so that our people who may not have the time to read the document word- for-word can have a glimpse of the summary.
Johnny has chosen to play on the off-side of history once again by launching his usual black propaganda streaks against Senator Albert. Those uncreative attacks of his are now well known by the public because he used it in exactly the same manner during the three previous attempts by Udoedehe to become governor of Akwa Ibom State. One thing about strategy is that ones you use it more than once, it becomes vile, drab, boring, predictable and annoying.

It is now known that each time Udoedehe vies for the office of governor, Johnny would mudsling the leading lights in that contest and would accuse them of complicity in the 2011 pre-election confrontations that led to the unfortunate loss of lives in Ikot Ekpene. In 2011, he accused Chief Godswill Akpabio of sponsoring the confrontations. In 2015, he accused Mr. Umana Umana, an urbane technocrat who contested the APC guber ticket against Udoedehe as being the mastermind of the “kidnappings and killings of Ibibios between 2007 and 2015” and the Ikot Ekpene confrontation. His premise was that Umana was SSG under Akpabio and “said nothing” about those incidences. Quite unthoughtful and presumptuous! In 2019, he accused Obong Nsima Ekere, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress of the same crime. Now, he is accusing Senator Albert. Such flippancy! It is hightime Johnny told Akwa Ibom people who actually stirred the 2011 political confrontations in the State. He must have been a principal witness.

Chief Godswill Akpabio who was governor of the State between 2007 – 2015 when Albert served as Hon. Commissioner for Finance has never accused Albert of complicity of any kind in the security infractions that occurred during that period. No security agency, quasi-judicial or judicial panel or any institution known by law has invited, questioned, charged or indicted Albert for the 2011 security infractions. Therefore, the allegation against Albert unfounded and should be dismissed as one of Johnny’s regular and unfounded ramblings.

Johnny and Udoedehe would say anything to tarnish the image of individuals who have earned public trust – in the guise of politics. In 2018, Udoedehe in a bid to discredit Obong Nsima Ekere, who was contesting for the APC governorship ticket against him, told journalists on camera that Ekere sniffs cocaine. What did he do after such weighty, discrediting and unsubstantiated accusation? He went round the state campaigning for Ekere. They have a trademark in blackmail.

Udoedehe doesnot have what it takes to lead Akwa Ibom in 2023. He will not win the governorship election. A man who could not manage the affairs of his party nor mid-wive a successful party congress in his state despite the enormous powers and resources at his disposal does not have the capacity to manage the affairs of about 7 million Akwa Ibom people. Udoedehe was literally kicked out as national secretary of the APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), by APC governors and members of the CECPC for inefficiency, corruption and maladministration. These weighty misconducts caused APC governors led by Alhaji Abubakar Bello of Niger State and members of the CECPC to unanimously pass a vote of no confidence on him in March 2022.

When an individual faces multiple disappointments in life, self-introspection is advisable. In such quiet moment of soul- searching, the individual can ask himself questions such as “Am I on the right path?”. “Am I living my purpose?”. “Is my creator happy with my self-sanctification?”. Self-introspection can help a straying individual find his focus. Solomon Johnny needs to pause his ramblings and take a self-introspection.

Caleb Bassey