Nka Ima Ndito Nsit Atai, North America, Inc.

Posted By webguru on February 3, 2010

Culled from: NEXT
By Ayo Okulaja
February 2, 2010

Last Sunday's kidnap of a former Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Edet Akpan, was a bloody incident that shook his community and caused several deaths.

Sources in Iwok Nsit, Nsit Atai Local Government of Akwa Ibom State, where the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was kidnapped last Sunday by unknown gunmen on his way to worship in the Qua Iboe Church in his village, said no fewer than four persons were killed, while six others have been hospitalised as a result of gunshot wounds they received during the incident, which reportedly lasted for about 15 minutes.

Mr. Akpan, a retired general in the military, was whisked away within the premises of the church, close to his private residence. The state governor, Godswill Akpabio, who rushed back to the state following reports of the incident, is said to have offered his administration's readiness to pay compensation to the families of all the victims.

"No sooner had Mr. Akpan alighted from his vehicle within the premises of the church, than the armed gang, who were sitting inside the church congregation waiting for his arrival, swooped on him, overpowered and bundled him into the boot of a waiting car," said the source.

The source said a woman who saw the former NYSC boss being dragged into the car and tried to raise an alarm was promptly shot and killed on the spot. The church's security personnel, who were said to have been attracted by the gunshot rushed in the direction of the sound, only to be forced to beat a quick retreat by a volley of sporadic shots into the air, as the gang sped off with the politician. In the process, a few more persons were hit by stray bullets.

"General Akpan was virtually folded and bundled like a common luggage and dumped in the boot," the source added.

The church service was said to have ended abruptly within minutes of the incident, as worshippers scampered in all directions to escape.

One of the persons who received gunshot wounds and was rushed to an unnamed hospital in the area, was said to have died shortly on arrival. Six others that were also admitted, including one who lost an eye, are still receiving treatment for various gunshot wounds.

Police talk of one dead

The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom Command, Walter Rugbere said Monday that the kidnappers had made a ransom demand to his family, although he claimed not to be aware of the amount of the ransom demanded because "the Nigerian Police Force does not negotiate with criminals."

Mr. Rugbere told NEXT on a phone conversation that "one suspect has been arrested and we (the police) are on the heels of the kidnappers and we would soon crack them." He also denied reports that four persons were killed in the incident, saying "yes, four persons were shot, but only one died. A soldier and a policeman attached to him were shot, alongside with one man and one woman who were victims of the sporadic shooting," he said. "They are currently receiving treatment as we speak in the hospital."

Politicians' shock

A former Minister of State of the Federal Capital Territory and former senator, John Akpanudoedehe, who has indicated his interest to contest the governorship position in the 2011 elections in the state, said "I have just read about the unfortunate incident. I cannot comment on it, because I am yet to have any details." The former governor of the state, Victor Attah, who is known to be a close ally of Mr. Akpan, expressed shock:

"If this is the kind of do or die politics we are expecting to see in 2011, concerned citizens should begin to go on their knees in prayers for Akwa Ibom," he said.

Visit the links below for additional information:

• Kidnap Victim Has Spoken With Family – Police

Biography of Brig. General Edet Akpan

BRIGADIER-GENERAL EDET AKPAN: (1984-1988)

Brigadier-General Edet Akpan was born on December 20, 1940 in Iwok, in the Nsit Atai local government area of Akwa Ibom State. He did his secondary school in Qua Iboe Mission School, Etinan, before proceeding to the University of Ibadan where he studied Chemistry, graduating in 1967. He also has a post-Graduate Diploma in Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Brigadier-General Akpan was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in the rank of Lieutenant on January 30, 1968. He has held several key positions in the Army, including: Chief Instructor, Nigerian Military School, Zaria, Chief Instructor / Deputy Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Education, Ilorin; Assistant Director, Army 1 Mechanised Division, Kaduna; Colonel General Staff, Army Headquarters Education; and commandant, institute of Army education, ojo, lagos. He is now the Director / commandant Nigerian army education corps and school.

Brigadier-General Akpan is a member of the national institute for policy and strategic studies, and he is married with children.

Brigadier-General Edet Akpan a colonel in 1984, was charged with the daunting challenge of redeeming the image of the NYSC and re-directing its staff and participant to the original mandate of the scheme. He diligently reorganised the programme, placing greater emphasis on fiscal discipline, and then moved to consolidate the gains of the scheme. The NYSC adopted a flag and an anthem to constantly remind the participants of the enduring ideals of the enduring ideals of the scheme.

In addition, he completely re-vitalised the community development service (CDS), introduced sports and drama competitions, and established the revolutionary NYSC farms across the country. The farms have been very successful, for they have helped both to conserve resources and expose corps participant to the realities of life on the farms. It can be safely stated that Brig.General Akpan’s tenure helped to redeem the somewhat tainted image of this important national programme.

Recounting his experience during his days at the helm, the former NYSC boss had this to say.

“I assumed headship of the scheme amidst floodgates of public outrage against the scheme because of the unbecoming acts of fraud and mismanagement by some former key officials of the scheme. Hardly could one scan through the pages of our newspapers then without embarrassing and demoralising stories of condemnation, rage and apprehension against the NYSC management. A number of people called for the scrapping of the National scheme! Morale of staff and corps members dropped to a dangerous level, with consequent loss of courage and confidence. With the police picking up one former key staff after the other, fear and despondency set in among the remaining staff.

Given the above background, the need to restore morale, confidence and accountability among the staff and corps members became the immediate challenge. If the scheme must survive and make progress, we needed to enjoy the support and cooperation of the government and the entire national community; to do this we had to restore the image of the organisation and re-dedicate ourselves to the attainment of the lofty goals of the founding fathers.

Another important issue that adversely affected staff morale and productivity was the problem of inadequate and out-dated management structure. By the time I assumed office in 1984, the scheme had grown in corps members strength to over 44,000 from the inception figure of just over 2,000 in 1973. Unfortunately, the management structure had not changed in relationship to the growth of the scheme, in spite of efforts of the previous NYSC management, for the government to approve an enhanced management structure. The NYSC started with borrowed staff from the states-these were seconded to head the state secretariats as Chief Inspectors. The State Chief Inspectors were on level 14. Between 1973 and 1984, the only additional management structure was the creation of three area offices (North, West and East) with area coordinators on level 15. With this stunted career arrangement it was difficult to motivate staff or retain good staff, let alone attracting new hands into the orgainsation.

The problem of getting the government to approve an enhanced management structure was therefore recognised as a major challenge.

Another major problem was the increasing growth trends in the corps member strength without corresponding increase in the facilities and employment opportunities for their effective mobilisation thus leading to under-utilisation of corps members.

At this time the NEC holders. We either had to find ways of controlling the growth trends in relation to existing facilities and employment opportunities or provide additional facilities and employment opportunities or provide additional facilities and job avenues to cope with the number of participants. This posed another serious challenge.

On the problem of low morale among the staff and corps members, we were happy to observe that our commitment and rededication to accountability and service goals paid off earlier than I had anticipated. In this direction, I had immense joy and sense of fulfillment from the then president, General Ibrahim Babangida. He told me that he was impressed that I was able to restore the morale and confidence in my staff and corps member and also improved the image of the scheme. To put it in his own words, he told me “I don’t know how you did it, I am happy to observe that you have not only restored morale and confidence among your staff and corps members but also in the entire national community”.

On the problem of enhanced management structure for the scheme. This problem had been recognised by my predecessors in office and they had made proposals to government to approve a new management structure for the scheme. Given the usual constraints of bureaucracy and resistance to changes, this problem remained with the scheme into the eighties. During my tenure I made persistent effort for the vertical and horizontal up-grading of the management structure to provide for a Director- General (in place of Director ) for the headship of the scheme.

We succeeded in getting the government to give approval in principle for the up-grading during my time. However, the final fine-tuning approval and implementation caiman 1988 during the tenure of my immediate successor. This collective achievement was a millstone for all those who contributed to its realization.

Another step we took to motivate staff and improve on control and discipline of staff was to do away with the practice of seconding civil servants from states to head some of the state secretariat. As a policy we insist that any civil servants from the state who wants to the work for the NYSC must transfer his service to the NYSC and meet required standards.

Along with this step, we put a police in place for the states that didn’t have senior staff in the scheme to encourage their indigenes to take up permanent jobs in the scheme.

This police went a long way to provide a Federal spread among the senior staff. Regarding the problem of inadequate facilities for effective mobilization of crops members, we addressed this problem in a number of ways – approach was to request government to reduce the number of participants by excluding the NCE holders finally secure degrees, they will therefore still have chance to serve that Government accepted our proposals and excluded the NCE holders from participation from the 1985/86 service year. Thus the strength fell from some 44,000 in the 84/85 service year to under 25,000 in 85/86 year this trend has allowed gradual and manageable growth trends.

Another approval we took was to work towards expanding the facilities and avenue for effective mobilization. Thus we expanded the community development aspect of the service to make it an all- round project as against the previous arrangement whereby the corps members only embarked on a community project for a scheduled period of 2 weeks during the service year. We also expanded the scope of the projects to include farming. Thus, by 1985, all the then 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja had established arable farms. these new projects provided more opportunities and avenue for crops members’ deployment and utilization.

We also addressed the issue of provision of permanent orientation camps for the NYSC as none existed anywhere in the country. We were happy we got permanent camps in a few states as a start. Even though the above measures didn’t solve the problem of under-utilization of corps members completely, they helped to minimize the problem.

As to the legacy I left behind, I can only say that I put in my very best in the service of the National scheme and the nation in general. No doubt, those years at the helm of affairs in the NYSC will remain some of the most glorious years of my military career. I thank my country and God for the opportunity to serve.”.

Categories: Events, Local Government
Tags: