Akwa Ibom State

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Akwa Ibom State State nickname: Land of Promise
Location
Statistics
Governor (List)	Godswill Akpabio [1] (PDP)
Date Created	23 September, 1987
Capital	Uyo
Area	7,081 km² Ranked 30th
Population 1991 Census 2005 est.	Ranked 9th 2,359736 4,805,451
GDP (PPP)  -Total  -Per Capita	2007 (estimate) $11.18 billion[1] $2,779[1]
Dialling code	??
ISO 3166-2	NG-AK
Website	aksgonline.com
Administrative Areas
Akwa Ibom is divided into 31 Local Government Areas: LGA Website Abak [2] Eastern Obolo [3] Eket [4] Esit-Eket [5] Essien Udim [6] Etim-Ekpo [7] Etinan [8] Ibeno [9] Ibesikpo-Asutan [10] Ibiono-Ibom [11] Ika-Annang [12] Ikono [13] Ikot Abasi [14] Ikot Ekpene [15] Ini [16] Itu [17] Mbo [18] Mkpat-Enin [19] Nsit-Atai [20] Nsit-Ibom [21] Nsit-Ubium [22] Obot-Akara [23] Okobo [24] Onna [25] Oron [26] Oruk Anam [27] Ukanafun [28] Udung-Uko [29] Uruan [30] Urue-Offong/Oruko [31] Uyo [32]

Akwa Ibom is a state in Nigeria. It is located in the coastal south-Southern part of the country, lying between latitudes 4°321 and 5°331 North, and longitudes 7°251 and 8°251 East. The State is bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the South by the Atlantic Ocean and Cross River State again.

Akwa Ibom is one of Nigeria’s 36 states with a population of over 5 million people and more than 10 million people in diaspora. It was created in 1987 from the former Cross River State and is currently the highest oil and gas producing state in the country. The state’s capital is Uyo with over 500,000 people duelers . Akwa Ibom has an airport (Akwa Ibom International Airport) AKIA and two major sea ports on the Atlantic Ocean with a proposed construction of a world class seaport Ibaka (Oron Nation)Seaport. Along with English, the main languages spoken here are Ibibio, Annang, and Oron languages.

Important Cities

Uyo is the capital city of Akwa Ibom State. Eket, Ikot Ekpene, Oron, Abak, Ibeno, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat-Enin, Ukanafun, Etinan are a few of many prominent cities.

History

The people of Akwa Ibom state together with the other members of the old Calabar kingdom were the first to arrive the place now known as Nigeria between 1200-1500BC.

Akwa Ibom State was created out of Cross River State on September 23, 1987.

Demography

The people are predominantly of the Christian faith.The main ethnic groups of the state are:

• Ibibio
• Annang
• Oron

The Ibibio are the largest group, whilst the Annang, which form the second largest group, speak a language very similar to the Ibibio Language. The Oro [Oron] are a distinct ethnic group (akin to Efik )found in five of the state's Local Government Areas. Located at the Ocean contiguous to Oron are a group of Ibibio Eket and another distinct people Ibeno but who speak a similar language. The Ibibio language belongs to the Igboid subgroup of the Benue-Congo language family, which forms part of the Niger-Congo group of languages.

Despite the claim of homogeneity, no central government existed among the people of what is now Akwa Ibom State prior to the British invasion in 1904. Instead, the Annang,Efik/Oron,Ibibio were all autonomous groups. Scottish missionaries arrived in Calabar in 1848. The British did not firmly establish control until 1904. In that year, the Enyong Division was created encompassing the area of the current state of Akwa Ibom, with the headquarters at Ikot Ekpene, an Annang city described by the noted Africanist Kaanan Nair, as the cultural and political capital of Annang and Ibibio. The creation of Enyong Division, for the first time allowed the numerous ethnic groups to come together. This further provided a venue for the creation of the Ibibio Welfare Union, later renamed Ibibio State Union. Though the social organization was first organized as an improvement union and a forum for the educated groups who were shut out from the colonial administration in 1929, some historians have wrongly pointed to the union to buttress their argument on the homogeneity of the groups in the area.^{[citation needed]}

When Akwa Ibom state was created in 1987, Uyo was chosen as the state capital in order to spread development as much as possible.

The people of Akwa Ibom State have not fared better in what is now Nigeria. Though the state is an oil rich area, poverty is rampant. The utilization of the state structure to share the oil wealth means that the Eket(ie Ibibio)/Annang/Oron block with just a single state lives to get a single share while other ethnic groups in the nation with four, five and more states receive larger shares of the oil wealth according to the number of states created for them. The argument from the citizens of Akwa Ibom state has been to abolish using the state structure to share the oil wealth. There has also been the thinking that the state should be divided into two or more states to capitalize on the current revenue sharing formula.

Education

Akwa Ibom State like the other in old calabar region encountered western education first in Nigeria with the establishment of Hope Waddel Training Institute, Calabar in 1895, Methodist Boys High School (MBHS), Oron in 1905 and other top flight schools like the Holy Family College, (HOFACO)Abak, etc. Currently various higher educational institutions spread across the state. Some higher Institutions of Learning in the state include:

• University of Uyo
• Marine Time Academy,Oron
• Akwa Ibom State University
• Obong University,Obong Ntak Inyang
• Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic
• Uyo City Polytechnic
• Apex Polytechnic
• School of Nursing; Uyo, Eket, Oron, Ikot Ekpene, Etinan
• Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit
• School Of Basic Studies
• College of Arts & Science, Nnung Ukim

Politics

Politics in Akwa Ibom state is dominated by the three main ethnic groups, the Ibibio, Annang and Oron. Of these three, the Ibibio remains the dominant and has held sway in the state since its creation. This has led to fear of marginalisation of the Annang and Oron. there has been a turn of event as PDP, the dominant political party in the State, fielded an Annangson, Godswill Akpabio, for the April 14 2007 Governorship elections, which he comfortably won with grass rootsupport. He was sworn-in on the 29th of May, 2007. It is observed that the next Governor of the state (after Godswill 2 term tenure) may be an Oron son or daughter, if the current zoning principle and peace initiative is to be sustained for the interest of the ongoing unity (detribalised) project of the present administration.

See also

• Calabar Kingdom

References

External links

• aksgonline.com: Official website of the Akwa Ibom State Government
• Satellite Map of Akwa Ibom State on Google Maps World Gazetteer
• godswillakpabio.com: Official website of the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State

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Coordinates: 05°00′N 07°50′E / 5°N 7.833°E / 5; 7.833