Ordinarily, one should have contended promoting Akpabioism as an ideology is a bye-product of the accolades and honours garnered by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State from corporate Nigeria in recent times.
But that the ideology being entrenched in Nigeria’s political lexicon preceded these numerous honours is a pointer to the determination of its main promoter. As a matter of fact, a gigantic centre, Akpabioist Centre, is being built by the main force behind the ideology at Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Pastor James Bassey, the brain behind Akpabioism and its entrenchment, speaks on his pet project. Excerpts:
Why are you building the centre?
Gov Akpabio
We hope to built the centre as a rallying point for our brothers in the South-south and those of us who are in the diaspora, because we want them to come back to sit, study, learn and activate their mindset towards the development of the state. Akpabioism has become the order of the day; everybody is talking about the concept and ideology of Akpabioism. For you to have success in developing the mindset of the people you must have a place of study.
We also look at Akpabio as a man that must be studied. The idea about the Akpabioist Centre is also to groom the up-coming leaders so that they can have a rallying point. One of the things people should not forget is that when you establish structures; when you are developing yourself to the things that are happening within your environment and your spirit is settled for a study you can develop yourself more.
You are so deep in your belief in Governor Akpabio; are there any other reasons for this?
This kind of people don’t just come, they come once in a lifetime. We talked about Awoism as a concept to Yoruba. The late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was God-sent to the Igbo. God also sent a leader with a spirit of government transformation.
That is why this man must be studied. We are building Akpabism library and in it we will stock and store all the works of great leaders. We are going out of our way to bring in books of all the renowned worlds leaders, not just in politics, but in business etcetera. It will be so good for people to know what makes the founder of Microsoft the richest man in the world. People want to know how he started and where he is today.
Is it a way of entrenching his legacy after he might have left office?
This is one of the things we want to do. When people talk about Awoism, Zikism, Ghandism, Nkrumanism and the likes, some of these people are no more alive, but people still talk about them because of their legacy. Akpabiosm is a legacy we are trying to build around the governor so that even when he is no longer in power people can come around to have a story on him.
In recent days, many of the people in the opposition to the governor will not agree with this. What makes you want to institutionalise his achievements?
The opposition you are talking about are not from Akwa-Ibom. I think they are from the outside, they are not happy because this is Akwa-Ibom. They never believed something good like this can come from Akwa-Ibom because it used to be like one of those states.
Today, Akwa-Ibom is not like one of those states, we have our identity, which the governor has given us. The opposition have nothing to say. Are they going to talk about infrastructural development or what? Are they going to talk about the airport, which is one of the best in the country or the independent power plant project?
Many people will not agree with you that the project is being financed by some banks through you?
In Akpabioist Centre we discuss ideas. We hardly discuss the issue of money or finance because if you discuss money you lose focus. Ideas bring money. Akpabioist Centre is being built by us – you can go out and do your own investigation. We have not gotten a kobo from anybody. I think this is our contribution to the good work the governor is doing. We cannot contribute something and go on to say give us money. Governor Akpabio doesn’t need to do that; he has given us free education and infrastructural development. Today an average indigene of Akwa-Ibom is proud to be from the state.
What is the structure of Akpabioism movement?
We have even entered into an agreement with one of the best film producers in Africa today. We want to produce a world-class film on Akpabioism. By the grace of God, between now and December, the film will be out and shall be launched in Akpabioism Centre.
We have professors, doctors and people from all walks of life who support the idea. We have had powerful conferences in the last two years. The first conference was in 2010 when we brought in a vice-chancellor and professors to give lectures. We have had Professor Jerry Gana too. This year we are going to bring in a governor from the South-West. We are reaching out to some African leaders to come and lecture on the concept of Akpabioism.
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