I am not even going to be pretentious in this write-up. This is going to be a deep intellectual discussion aimed at better understanding the paradigm shift as contained in the recent movement of Mr. Udofia from the PDP to APC.
As a Master of Science Degree holder in Political Science, I once wrote a seminal paper on the dialectics of a paradigm shift in the political process
In the paper, I argued very strenuously that since politics was being played by humans and humans by their very nature remain dynamic and fluid, the process of engagement and achieving set goals and visions within this context must also remain fluid.
The only caveat is that ideology must at best remain constant, but the human relations and platforms can follow the lines of the human dynamic interface.
Please before we start saying that this is too much English and ask if this is what the delegates want to hear, let me state categorically here that I am not writing for the delegates or the many mutants who pervade our political system but for the intellectuals who study and chronicle our politics for intellectual and historical purposes.
My discussions with Mr. Udofia last week threw this up, even without his knowledge. He had said, ‘ Edgar, my vision remains the same and would use any vehicle available and with the capacity to achieve it for the Akwa Ibom people.
This in a nutshell capsules, a position I had taken at the University of Ibadan in 1991 in a paper that was argued brilliantly by the very best political scientists of the time.
A system that has locked itself up by the denizens who control the levers will only throw up Akan and his plans as a shallow-brained midget if he continues staying there and hoping for the best.
Akan is driven and realizes that he is an outsider. Not an establishment candidate and not a mainstream star but a man who has an appeal to the down throwdden who continue to suffer mindlessly as their leaders serially rape them.
So for Akan, like Water, he has to find himself a befitting passage to flow to the people, and as long as his ideology remains the same – right of center and the clarity of the vision does not demur, then he will move.
This crossing is unlike the others we have witnessed where we have seen people cross on instructions of a godfather or on losing out on the sharing table.
This is totally different. This is based on a sound vision of trust. A trust the people have given him based on his vision and it would be foolhardy of him to just drop it and walk away simply because someone had been told by his God that someone else would take power
If you read this last paragraph very well, you will see a social contract evolving between Akan and the people. The people have listened to him, given him their trust as can be gleaned from the mammoth crowds that follow him everywhere, and he in turn must also as custodian of the people’s trust deliver on his promise.
This was the kernel of my discussions with him. This is where theory meets pragmatic political calculations on the ground.
It is now up to Akan and his team to deepen his engagements with the delegates who now have the keys to the corridor that will open his vision up to the people
For me, I really have no business with the delegates or any of those who hold the keys to the flawed political process, it is for Akan to better arm himself with the intellectual fuel that I am giving him now as he begins to engage his new brothers in his new home.
Me, I am but a writer and a prophet who will continue to say it as I see it.
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu