By Patrick Obia
The Paramount Ruler of Bakassi Local Government Area and Chairman of Cross River State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH. Etim Okon Edet has refuted claims he vowed to make the State Governor, Sen. Ben Ayade, and other government officials go blind.
In a statement obtained by CrossRiverWatch, the monarch said he was quoted out of context while receiving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate – Prof. Sandy Onoh, and his entourage last week.
He said he was only saying that “politicians are blind to the fact that they only empower politicians forgetting that Traditional Rulers also have custody of the political culture of the people” and never angrily vowed to make government officials go blind after the 2023 general elections.
The royal father questioned: “why should I make government officials blind? Am I God? Am I not still human? Is that what my ancestors taught me to do? How could I prioritize inflicting pain on another person for a perceived wrong?”
He noted that the choice of who to support should not be hinged on ethnicity and tribalism but on competence and character.
The statement reads: “My attention has been brought to an utter misrepresentation of a political opinion I held recently when the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Cross River gubernatorial candidate, Prof. Sandy Ojang Onor, in company with former governor Donald Duke and deputy governor, Efiok Cobham and a host of others visited me as part of their campaign tour for the forthcoming general elections in Cross River.
“In a Monday 30th January 2023 (sic) Today’s News Now, TNN (Volume 10, Number 3, page 3) publication, it is reported that I, Etim Okon Edet, the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, angrily vowed to make government officials go blind for not treating Traditional Rulers well.
“To begin with, this is a glaring instance of quoting a subject out of context. It is a regrettable misconstruction of what I said on Tuesday to my august guests in the state capital. This quality of sensationalism by a seemingly reputable media organization is absolutely unprofessional and in bad taste. The full video of what I said should be published for people to view.
“Why should I make government officials blind? Am I God? Am I not still human? Is that what my ancestors taught me to do? How could I prioritize inflicting pain on another person for a perceived wrong?
“Let it be stated clearly and in categorical terms – I did not angrily vow to maim any government official(s), not now or tomorrow. I am too educated for such childish, myopic fantasies. Besides, such exuberance is not the antecedent of my ancestors. Ayade never promised me a Palace, Obasanjo promised.
“Let me use this opportunity to re-state what I said to my guest: That I need a palace. I want to live in Bakassi. Then, I jokingly said politicians are blind to the fact that they only empower politicians forgetting that Traditional Rulers also have custody of the political culture of the people. I am the number one IDP in Nigeria, and so I want the federal government to resettle us properly. In Hindu mythology, the story is recounted about determination and that PDP should adopt determination to recover their lost egg.
“For me, this is what the forthcoming general elections in the state should be about, not politics hinged on ethnicity and tribalism but on competence and character.”