Tuesday February 4, 2025 | TheNewsDESK
By Essien NDUESO
With the new year message from Distinguished Senator Ita Enang, on the barrage of attacks against both the incumbent and immediate past Governors of Akwa Ibom State, it is now becoming clearer than daylight, that the big masquerades are gradually emerging from the forest of oblivion.
Senator Ita Enang has been a prominent figure in Nigerian politics for over three decades, holding various positions, including serving as a Councilor, Deputy Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, a three-term member of the House of Representatives, a one-term Senator, and a Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters and Niger Delta Affairs. While his long tenure in public office is undeniable, the real question is whether his presence has translated into tangible benefits for his constituents. That, however, is a matter between him and his people.
For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Ita Enang should serve as a perfect example to students of politics on how not to be a public servant. His political trajectory is one marked by desperation for power rather than a commitment to public service.
He first served in the House of Representatives for two terms from 1999 to 2007. In 2007, he sought the Senate seat but lost in the primaries to Senator Effiong Bob. Instead of accepting defeat, he returned to Abuja, used his political maneuvering, and came back with the PDP ticket for the House of Representatives—a position he never initially contested for. He went on to secure a third term in the House, denying his kinsman, Dr. Henry Archibong of that opportunity.
In 2011, he finally found himself pushed into the Senate. However, his performance—whether good or bad—was not enough to earn him a second term. During the 2015 election season, as a PDP member, he supported President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election and also backed Udom Emmanuel, the PDP’s gubernatorial candidate. Yet, when he failed to secure the PDP Senate nomination, he defected to the APC, shifting his allegiance to Umana Umana, who was running against Udom Emmanuel.
This pattern of political opportunism was rewarded. He secured a presidential appointment as Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate). Whether his performance in this role was commendable or not is open to debate, especially given the controversies of budget padding and missing budget documents that characterized legislative affairs under his watch. Eventually, in 2019, he was reassigned to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as SSA on Niger Delta Affairs—a move widely regarded in political parlance as a soft landing. It is instructive to note that throughout that period of his service as an office boy in Abuja, Chief Ita did nothing other than assuring that the Ikot Ekpene-Itu-Odukpani Highway project will be completed each year beginning from 2016. It was not until 2022, when the tenure was winding down, that he came back to start campaigning across the State for his Governorship ambition, that he started insisting that the project was stalled by the Udom Emmanuel administration. “If Udom Emmanuel had agreed to bring money for us to pay compensation to property owners, the federal government would have executed the road project,” he roared from one radio station to the other. Of course Akwa Ibom people are not dumb and would not buy into that skewed mental maneuvering. He could not even secure a nomination from his party as he watched his cookies crumble like a pack of cards, in favour of Akanimo Udofia.
Now, with the dust around the 2023 elections settled and Akwa Ibom’s political landscape calm, Ita Enang has sauntered in with his archaic and crude rhetoric. His involvement in the ongoing political discourse—especially regarding petitions against Governor Umo Eno and former Governor Udom Emmanuel—raises suspicions about his true motivations. While his direct involvement in the frivolous petitions remain unconfirmed, his sudden reappearance and media outbursts suggest a calculated effort to insert himself into the political conversation.
For a man who has held power for over three decades, one would expect him to bring forth a truck load of achievements, highlighting his contributions to governance. Instead, his legacy appears to be one of relentless political manipulations and self-preservation, begging the question of, where lies in his lexicon, the principle of “second address” outside politics? As a trained lawyer, one would expect that he could return to active practice, running his now defunct’Ibom Chambers’, which he once operated before being submerged in politics. Instead, his insatiable appetite for power has completely drowned his professional background.
The reality is that the former senator’s political influence has significantly weaned. Even within the APC, his party holds no basis in Akwa Ibom State. The party has no functional office, and has no record of any meeting since the 2023 elections.
If Enang were truly committed to public service, he would be engaging the people of Akwa Ibom with evidence of his achievements rather than launching media attacks against those who have served the state diligently. Instead of using the current political climate as an opportunity for self-reinvention, he has resorted to old tactics of political scheming and baseless accusations.
Senator Ita Enang’s career serves as a cautionary tale for young politicians. His pattern of political survival at all costs, without tangible developmental impact, is a stark reminder of what leadership should not be. Politics should be about service, impact, and legacy, not a lifelong struggle to cling to power.
Today, while Akwa Ibom moves forward, Ita Enang remains trapped in the past, still seeking relevance in a political landscape that has largely moved on without him. His desperation is evident, but history will judge whether his decades in power amounted to true service or mere political endurance.
