IF I COULD READ THE MIND OF THE GOVERNOR

Anthony EKPO BASSEY

My brothers and sisters in Christ, If I could read the mind of the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Bassey Edet Otu, I would still proceed with caution. Not because the mind is unreadable, but because too many people, in recent months, have claimed to have already read it, and curiously, from a distance.

Can you imagine that some of them posted on their respective social media platforms with impressive confidence, that the real decisions would not be made in Calabar? No! They insisted that the scripts were being written far away, in the grand corridors of Abuja. They spoke of “powers at the centre” as if political tickets were manufactured there and merely shipped to the states for distribution. How certain they sounded. How authoritative! One almost expected them to produce receipts. But politics, like a seasoned storyteller, enjoys plot twists.

Brethren in Christ, the time is near now. Close enough for assumptions to begin to sweat. Close enough for certainty to lose some of its voice. And in that narrowing space between expectation and reality, a quiet truth is emerging. A truth that perhaps should never have been ignored in the first place. Truth be told, Governors matter. Not in theory. Not symbolically. But practically.

And for those who anchored their hopes on distant influences, on imagined strings pulled from Abuja, this may be an inconvenient moment. Read this! As far as the All Progressives Congress, APC, is concerned, the architecture of decision-making has taken a familiar shape. What will happen? The Governors shall decide and Abuja shall listen.

Indeed, if one were to stretch the imagination a little, one might say that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ever the political strategist, understands the value of decentralised control. Power, in this instance, is not hoarded, it is delegated. And in delegating it, he has effectively placed the levers of candidate selection where they have always been most potent in the hands of Governors. So, to those who waited for Abuja to speak first, this is not a scolding. It is merely an update.

If I could read the Governor’s mind, I imagine I would see a leader unhurried by the noise, unpressured by distant expectations, and focused instead on the arithmetic that truly counts, which to him are loyalty, structure, electability, and cohesion.

Some of the current National Assembly members would most likely not return. That much is certain. There are those who will return. Those who will return are those ones who have kept faith, who understand the rhythm of party politics, who have not mistaken access to Abuja for independence from home. Others may discover, perhaps a little too late, that proximity to the centre does not always translate to security at the base.

And when the list finally emerges as it will, there will be reactions. There always are. Some will celebrate quietly. Others will question loudly. A few will remind anyone who cares to listen that they were “assured.” But heaven will not fall. It never does.

We have been here before. When former Governor Liyel Imoke made decisions that defied popular expectations especially, in matters as sensitive as senatorial tickets, there was discomfort, even disbelief. Yet, the system absorbed it. Politics moved on. It always does.

So, if I could read the Governor’s mind, I would not expect chaos. I would expect calculation. Perhaps even a few surprises, carefully chosen, deliberately timed. And to those still holding on to the comforting idea that somewhere, far away, a different list is being prepared for them, one can only say: patience. Very soon, the real list will appear. Not from Abuja. But from home.