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| L-R: Florence Ita-Giwa and Magaret Ekpo |
Efio-Ita Nyok|14 April 2017
One of Nigeria’s controversial social commentator has bore his mind at the news of Florence Ita-Giwa’s defection from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Simon Utsu aired his perspective today via Facebook comparing the legendary Magaret Ekpo and Florence Ita-Giwa. His submissions, I must say, are scathing. Would you agree with him? Hear him out:
On Ita-Giwa Decamping from the PDP to the APC —By Simon Utsu
‘I’ve tried my best to avoid commentary on this topic because Ita-Giwa is a yesterday woman; she doesn’t have much to bring to the table politically but for the sake of personal closure on the matter, here is what I think.
‘I’ve never been a fan of Ita-Giwa. From the onset, I’ve always seen her as a selfish opportunist. To me, she’s a quintessential example of the typical Nigerian ‘bread and butter’ politician. Everything Senator Ita-Giwa aka Mama Bakassi does, is done based on selfish interest. For starters, she was married to and later divorced the late Dele Giwa; the legendary journalist who was murdered by a parcel bomb during the Babangida era. Ordinarily, she should have dropped Giwa from her name as is the norm or if not for that reason, then due to the acrimony that (we heard) surrounded the divorce but she didn’t, and o boy, hasn’t the name helped her in politics so far?
‘Secondly, the Mama Bakassi moniker which she adopted and has used for over 15 years has only been useful for her political advancement – she never used the goodwill it brought her to advance the economic and political interests of the Bakassi people. Florence Ita-Giwa ain’t no Mama to no Bakassi people! Since she started bearing that name, the Bakassi people have been worse off. Bakassi was handed over to Cameroun under her watch and she didn’t put up a single fight – in fact, they were (unsubstantiated) rumours that she profited from it being ceded.
‘To be honest, since I became politically aware as a 15 year old in the 90’s, no Cross River politician has irritated me the way Senator Florence Ita-Giwa does. And this is one of the reasons I hardly talk about her because I clearly understand what she represents. This is someone who just loves being around the corridors of power without adding value to those corridors.
‘In conclusion, Cross River youths should stop fooling themselves around by celebrating or even giving attention to her class of veteran politicians who only come to the table with a nuisance value.
Magaret Ekpo I can celebrate but you won’t find Ita-Giwa’s name in my honours roll’, he concluded.
Do you agree with Utsu’s condemnation of Ita-Giwa? Drop your comments below, please.
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger, the Editor & Publisher of NegroidHaven.org
