Perspectives as Eyakenyi's Second Year Winds Down

Sen. Akon Eyakenyi PhD

 
 

By Otobong Sampson

 December 14, 2020

Politics is a rich source of the illogical. It is the commerce of absurdities. Winston Churchill once thought a politician should be one with the 'ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen'. Mark Twain stretched it to the extreme when he opined that 'politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason'. 

These positions are better understood when placed in the context of the Nigerian society - a country where an average politician is as honest to his electors as Joseph Goebbels would be in his account of The Holocaust. But then, democracy offers a soothing relief as 'the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be'.

In Akwa Ibom and beyond, one woman is standing out. She is standing apart from the crowd. Sen. Akon Eyakenyi has been remarkably consistent in her representation. She soars! Her deep experience in previous offices has clearly helped to serve as a compass in her new direction. Her offerings as a member of the Nigerian Senate have been unarguably impressive - with a personality and physical presence that are ideally suited for her job. But even more remarkable is her ability to equipoise legislative duties with 'progress report' to her constituents. 

Classical democracy oversimplified its quiddity and so exalted the tyranny of the majority to the frustration of the minority. Modern democracy became necessary to redress these imbalances between freedom and liberty, liberty and fairness, and freedom and equity. Fairness to and equity for minorities have shaped her approach to issues and contending interests. Hers has been a representation devoid of eccentricities and political high dramas. 

It's not entirely true the assertion of Karl Marx that 'the oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them'. Politicians such as Akon Eyakenyi are challenging this Marxist contention by their impressionable works. A fine leader, credible politician, the senator's representation serves as a momentary end to an unending process in the quest for a workable society.

Whether it is the intrigues of parliamentary politics or the skulduggery of state politicking, she has maintained appreciable circumspection. 

Esteemable! 

It is a presentation of a leadership theory with flair and charismatic authority - leadership of stature and class.

Unafraid of series of issues which most other politicians have difficulty, in Akwa Ibom, the woman seems to be leading the painful transition to modern political representation which is misleadingly simple. With this, she carefully builds a provocative larger argument that engages thoroughly - one which causes the aspiring to be uncomfortable to see themselves as they had once been.

The eventful youth retreat on conflict management she recently hosted tells her deep desire to weld the fragments of communities in Akwa Ibom South District back into a strong whole. Histories of conflicts across the world are generally attributable to two reasons: one, the actions of statemen and leaders - and two, their inactions when they ought to have acted. 

While some leaders have been held responsible for such eruptions, others have also been celebrated for their sacrificial efforts in dousing flames of conflagrations, breaking fangs of conflict and putting off the heat of tensions. 

It is hoped that Sen. Eyakenyi's passionate search for peace and security will bear successes in the days and years ahead.