Why Umo Eno fiddles while Akwa Ibom burns

BY PETER SAMUEL

The frenetic and noisy move by the Cross River State governor to seize 76 oil wells belonging to Akwa Ibom State and the absolute silence, even absence of behind-the-scene counter measures by Akwa Ibom State governor to stop him remind one of an immortal remark on a similar moment of cluelessness in history: “The emperor fiddles while Rome burns,” which has since become an apt metaphor for listless leadership in the face of a profound crisis.

Senator Bassey Otu, governor of Cross River State, has trained his sight on his quarry since 2024. He has poured his energy and the resources of his state into flipping the 76 oil wells from Akwa Ibom State. He has knocked doors in Abuja and pressed button wherever he believes he could get help. And he has done most of this not quietly.

Yet, his counterpart in Akwa Ibom, Governor Umo Eno, has remained inscrutably quiet, not lifting even a finger, behaving as though he is not aware of what Governor Otu is doing, or as though what the Cross River State governor is doing is just theatre for entertainment. No, Sir! Though Otu is theatrical about his harmful mission, what he is about is not theatre. If he succeeds, as he is bound to in the face of a do-nothing response from Akwa Ibom State government, his success will affect Akwa Ibom calamitously.

First, Akwa Ibom will cease to earn derivation revenue from those oil wells. Second, the state will most likely be made to refund all revenues earned from those oil wells right from the beginning. This will further compound a situation where Akwa Ibom has fallen from being number one in oil production to number three because of listless leadership of the past 10 years with regard to making sure that the right production figures are attributed to the state for its oil wells. By taking its eye off the ball, the state has allowed a decline in the production figures from its oil wells, resulting in a significant loss in derivation revenue.

The facts about the 76 oil wells do not admit of any dispute. The oil wells have been adjudicated upon and found to be Akwa Ibom State assets. Following the ICJ decision on the Bakassi Peninsula on 10 October 2002, ceding the peninsula to Cameroun, the 76 oil wells became Akwa Ibom State assets because Cross River State, by the ICJ judgment, was no longer a littoral state; no part of its territory abuts the sea any longer.

The ownership of the oil wells was further adjudicated upon in 2012 by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which ruled that the oil wells belong to Akwa Ibom State. So there is no ambiguity about the ownership of the oil wells for Cross River State to exploit; there is no crack in the heritage of the oil wells for anyone to sneak into.

In spite of the straightforward case about the ownership of the 76 oil wells, Governor Otu has embarked on his mission of expropriation against his neighbouring state and no one is standing in his way, as though Akwa Ibom State has no leader. Otu started by giving notice of his intention during his election campaign. Since he became governor, he has publicly spoken on the matter on at least two occasions. His latest reported statement on the subject is that proceeds of the 13% derivation from the oil wells are no longer being paid to Akwa Ibom, and that the federal authorities have decided to put the money in an escrow account pending when the dispute is resolved. It would be absolutely absurd to imagine what the governor of Cross River State is talking about because there is no dispute over the ownership of the oil wells. The issue was decided by the highest court in the land. How would people just sit down and set aside the judgment of the Supreme Court? It would be the very definition of anarchy if what Governor Otu reportedly said proves true.

What is going on raises a number of questions that demand urgent answers because the situation is a desperate one. Desperate in the sense that with the current derivation revenue, Akwa Ibom does not have enough to properly fund education for its children, finance healthcare, adequately provide infrastructure, potable water, and above all, provide power to help realise the full potential of the state. So anyone can imagine what will happen when a sizeable chunk of the inadequate revenue is taken away. Even as this is playing out, we should note that the world is one huge copying machine. Other neighbours to Akwa Ibom are watching and waiting, looking to be inspired by the Cross River State’s success.

So we demand an answer to why Akwa Ibom State government is apparently unconcerned about this present and immediate risk to a significant portion of the commonwealth of its people. Governor Umo Eno doesn’t appear to feel that the people of his state deserve to hear from him over the imminent danger of losing the oil wells from which they have earned revenue for 16 years.

We demand an explanation from Governor Umo Eno on why he wants to write such a negative history for himself and harm his state by supervising the loss of the 76 oil wells that former governors Obong Victor Attah, Godswill Akpabio and Udom Emmanuel had handed over as inheritance to the people of the state.

It is hard to say, but what is happening feels like a sell-out. It is difficult to imagine any other explanation for such a methodical abstinence from action of any form or shape in the face of what is to all intents and purposes an attempt at a daylight plunder.

It is beyond the imagination of any sane person why the governor is not at the Supreme Court now to restrain the government of Cross River State and agencies of the Federal Government involved in the matter. It is not clear why the governor is not using his leverage at the National Assembly and other nexuses of power to get justice for Akwa Ibom people.

Maybe the governor is lulled into a state of somnolence by the deafening fanfare from praise singers over his ‘superlative’ performance. But while this goes on it would be worth noting that history would not reckon with the current praise singing. History would be concerned with concrete events like the loss of 76 oil wells that would have helped to provide for the welfare of 6 million Akwa Ibom people, and cut the level of mass poverty in a state that has no reason to be poor.

Even beyond the verdict of history, where is decency and respect for Akwa Ibom people? The governor is the servant of the people who elected him into office. They deserve to be addressed on important issues of governance. Akwa Ibom people should not be so shabbily treated; no one should think they don’t matter. They have a right to know what is going on. They deserve an explanation for this apparent surrender by their state government. They want that explanation now!

Governor Umo Eno should not sit down and be distracted by non-issues of moment, while detractors are working around the clock to undermine the economic pillars of the state. That would be a classic case of the emperor fiddling while Rome burns.

Samuel, a Niger Delta Development analyst, writes from Lagos.