REVEALED: How Pipers Ruin Umana Umana Relevance In Akwa Ibom

_By Edidiong Udobia

“People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.” -Bob Dylan

There is a popular idiom that goes thus; “He who pays the piper calls the tune”. The idiom simply means that anyone paying for someone’s services, can dictate exactly what services the person renders. The “employer” (in this case) can always decide what his “employee” does as long as he is paying. But the moment he stops or is unable to continue paying his employee, everything changes. Business ends.

Enter Akwa Ibom State. The home of pipers, praise singers, sycophants, and yes men. This is the most lucrative venture in Akwa Ibom. To talk about the exploits of pipers and their paymasters in Akwa Ibom will be an uphill task because nobody can talk about it enough.

To say the least, people have been made rich and even live larger than life through this venture. In Akwa Ibom, pipers never run out of patronage. They move from one “my leader, my leader” to another. As long as there is politics, their services are always in need.

For instance, few months ago, many of the pipers were singing the praises of Obong Umana Okon Umana, who they referred to as “the incoming Governor of Akwa Ibom State”, “His Excellency” and “My leader, my leader”. Of course, that was in the heat of 2015 governorship election. They were quick to splash pictures of them “shaking hands”, “possing”, “eating”, “hugging” and doing all manner of things with “the incoming Governor” everywhere on the social media. Apparently, the tunes were harmonious because they were getting paid. Ok, elections came and winner was decided and later affirmed by the Supreme Court and it was not Mr. Umana.

Today, some of the pipers are singing a different tune. Today, the pipers are even the ones leading a campaign of calumny against their once “incoming governor” because they are now getting paid by another.

Umana Umana’s case is only one of the bitter experiences of many “former this” and “former that” in Akwa Ibom. I am not here to tell people how to live their lives. I have no such rights. But I am here to remind ALL those who are paying the pipers today and dictating the tunes, that they should be ready to pay the pipers till the end or be prepared to have their own share of bad tunes. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.

“My leader, my leader, anything for your boys?”