By Gilbert Ekezie

Francis Abraham is the former student Union leader of University of Cross River State (UNICROSS) , now University of Uyo. during his time as a student union leader fought for the creation of Akwa Ibom state. He also fought for the return to democracy in Nigeria. He is just picking up his life after a couple of years of battling with an ailment. In this interview, he speaks about his ordeal and other issues.

Excepts

Let’s meet you

I am Francis Eyibio. By the grace of God, I was told in the church to change my name from Eyibio Okon to Abraham and I did.  I am now known as Francis Abraham, but like the law says, all documents bearing my name still remains valid. I am from IbionIbon in Nsiribom local government area. It’s the problem of life that brought me here. I was so sick. I lived in Abuja for 18 years, since 2000 to 2018 and I am a publisher.

Is it books or news magazine that you publsh?

I publish Occasion International magazine,  a human angle magazine , just like Ovation. The health situation became worst in 2010.

Tell us your journey back in UNICROSS?

In UNICROSS, then, I was the first elected president of the student union body. We fought for the creation of Akwa Ibom state when a legal luminary from the state, a former former  Chief Justice of Supreme court  of Uganda , Senator  Herbert Udo Udoma, father of Udo Udoma said it was madness to create Akwa Ibom, I rose up and told him that  it was not madness , but his personal opinion. Then, it was during the military regime and I addressed a world press conference concerning that. That same period he came to Uyo to launch his book and I mobilized other students for us to stop him and ensure Uyo was shut down.

Related News

Thereafter, I was asked to take the students back to the campus and assured that even if the government was going to create only one state, our request would be considered. When the Babangida administration later created the state, it was only two, which was Akwa Ibom and Katsina States respectively. So I got that one. At a point they also wanted to close down UNICROSS because there was no money to maintain it, but I stood up to fight  against that. Incidentally, there was a coup, and the new military administrator said the school should continue, and it became UNIUYO which everybody is benefiting today. If you don’t have students there, you have workers, if you don’t have workers, you have business men. So, everybody has been benefitting in one way or the other from it. Thereafter, we were invited at Sherry Hills Jos for a student leaders retreat, there we told the government that we needed democracy. They brought out their communiqué, but we read our own and today we are enjoying that democracy , courtesy of me.But today, I am nothing, as I have been abandoned. However, I know that with God, I am somebody.

 Interestingly, I have done a lot of things for our people. When I was in Abuja, I was serving as a Special Assistance to Senator Ita Enang, though we parted ways after a while.  I feel sick again in 2018 and sold everything I have , presently, I am now in the village alone, while my wife and children are in Abuja.

Everybody has deserted me, even some of those I helped those days in the university who are now Ministers and Commissioners. For instance, the man that was with me in Sherry Hills Jos, Godswill Akpabio, I did not know him then, it was Labaran Maku who told me he was there standing behind me when I was reading the communiqué. You can see that Maku too was a former minister and other colleagues who are governors, ministers, senators and others. Senator Ita Inang and I were also together in Teachers Training College. I think something is wrong somewhere , and that is why I am telling my story to the world.

Have you tried to get back to some of these people you mentioned, so that they will know your situation?

They know. I have gotten across to some of them. I collected the appointment letter of former Commissioner for Education , Mr Donatus Okon from the VC and gave it to him, and Professor Nsiabasi Ekong who was from my village, was there with me. During my sickness, he came to visit me, so, he knows my situation. Labaran Maku also knows about my situation. The only person I suspect may not know because I have not met him one on one , is  Mr Godswill Akpabio. Labaran Maku gave him a letter to introducing me to him since 2014, but till today, I can’t give the letter. I supported the current governor, Emmanuel Udom during his campaign in 2019 because I published his campaign materials in my magazine, which was circulated free of charge. But, no one of them has been able to help me get across to him. The copies are here. In that same 2019, I published an edition of the magazine for PDP presidential candidate in 2019, Atiku Abubakar , but nobody has been able to connect me with him. For the governor, I sent a letter to him through DHL and I have not gotten a response since then.

What exactly do you want?

Now, I am not so much concerned about the ailment because God has helped me and there has been tremendous improvement. If you saw me months ago, in fact , Iboro could not even recognize me. What I need is something to do. I need something to lay my hands on, so that I can pick up the piece of my life again.  It’s not compulsory I must be in government before I will be somebody. I can be somebody and also employ other people in my publishing job or agriculture. I wrote a proposal to the government about commercial and large scale agriculture.If you have three farms in this state , it will employ a lot of people because those farms will produce about 12 agro based industries. I call it large scale integrated commercial farm. It will be mechanization, but small , so that there will be employment.

I wrote that proposal; we are talking about unemployment; like our state is a coastal state, and seafood alone generates a lot of income for the government. It is sea food that Mozambique uses to earn their foreign exchange. They don’t have oil, sea food and agriculture alone can employ a lot of people. So, what I need is something to spur me to get where to live and do something; not for me alone, but for the generality of the country. All the crime and violence you are seeing today, is due of poverty. There are two dangerous elements on earth , which are poverty and ignorance that combined to breed superstition and assumption. You see, everybody is talking about witchcraft because they have resigned their fate to the elements. If you are wealthy , you will not believe in such superstition.