Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture 1666934798, 9781666934793

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Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria

Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria History, Heritage, and Culture Edited by Unwana Samuel Akpan

LEXINGTON BOOKS

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London

Published by Lexington Books An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com 86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE Copyright © 2024 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Akpan, Unwana Samuel, editor. Title: Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria: history, heritage, and culture / edited by Unwana Samuel Akpan. Description: Lanham: Lexington Books, [2024] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This book provides a holistic and historic text on the history, heritage, and culture of the Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria. It offers historical facts as well as critical analysis on tradition, culture, economy, religion, sports, and media of the people of this second-largest minority tribe in Nigeria”—Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2023029977 (print) | LCCN 2023029978 (ebook) | ISBN 9781666934793 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781666934809 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Ethnology—Nigeria—Akwa Ibom State. | Ethnology—Nigeria—Cross River State. | Akwa Ibom State (Nigeria)—History. | Akwa Ibom State (Nigeria)—Social life and customs. | Akwa Ibom State (Nigeria)—Politics and government. | Cross River State (Nigeria)—History. | Cross River State (Nigeria)—Social life and customs. | Cross River State (Nigeria)—Politics and government. Classification: LCC DT515.9.A38 A39 2024 (print) | LCC DT515.9.A38 (ebook) | DDC 966.943—dc23/eng/20230627 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023029977 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023029978 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

First, this book is dedicated to the founding fathers of Akwa-Cross Nation. Second, to the innocent children who were ignorantly and allegedly labeled as “witches,” and as a result were accused, abused, persecuted, stigmatized, humiliated, and labeled in the region. Third, to the twins that were killed in the Akwa-Cross region in the precolonial era. Lastly, to all the elderly people in the region who were ignorantly labeled as “witches and wizards” because they were blessed with long life and gray hair.

Contents

Foreword xi Donald Duke Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii Introduction: The Concept of Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria:   Unmuting Muted Akwa-Cross Historical Facts, Finding   and Situating the Cultural/Traditional Synthesis Unwana Samuel Akpan  1  T  he Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross: The Land, People   and Politics Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan  2  T  he Geography of Akwa-Cross Godwin Jeremiah Udom

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 3  I ndigenous Communication in the Akwa-Cross Region  (1800–2000) Des Wilson  4  R  eligion in Akwa-Cross Societies Ahaziah Umanah  5  H  istoricizing and Factualizing Ethnocultural Ideations and the   Origination of the Socio-Communicative Matrix in Akwa-Cross Unwana Samuel Akpan

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Contents

 6  T  he Economy and Economic Activities in Akwa-Cross Akpan Hogan Ekpo

105

 7  E  thno-Medicinal Plants of the Akwa-Cross Region of Nigeria Okon Godwin Okon

121

 8  A  gricultural Practices in Akwa-Cross Ubon Asuquo Essien

135

 9  N  ative Delicacies in Akwa-Cross Ememobong Anam Akpan, Francis Anthony Akpan, Ubon Asuquo Essien, Mercy Ekwere, and Grace Akpakpan

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10  S  ociocultural Institutions in Akwa-Cross Francis Anthony Akpan and John Bosco Ekanem

153

11  H  istorical Indigenous Feminist Movements and Struggle in  Akwa-Cross Unwana Samuel Akpan and Uduak Archibong

167

12  M  arriage Patterns in Akwa-Cross Region in the   Pre-Colonial Period Francis Anthony Akpan

197

13  A  kwa-Cross Distorted History: Unsung Heroes and Heroines  of the Abolition of Twin Killing in Old Calabar David Lishilinimle Imbua

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14  E  ducational Development in the Akwa-Cross Region Comfort Memfin Ekpo, Thelma U. Ekukinam, and Stella Nwosu

237

15  T  oward Breaking the Wall in the Twin Kernel of  Akwa Ibom and Cross River States’ Relationship Joseph A. Ushie

249

16  C  olonel Utuk: An Account of How Nigeria Cheated  Its Brightest Officer in the Biafra War Ndaeyo Uko

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17  O  ral Account of Select Areas of Forgotten Akwa-Cross  History with Professor Ahaziah Umanah Odudu Okpongete, Uduak Archibong, John Justus Okon, Unwana Samuel Akpan, and Arnold B. Udoka 18  T  he History of the Print Media in Akwa-Cross Anietie John Ukpe and Edang Yolanda Ekpo Bassey

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19  T  he History of Radio Broadcasting in the Akwa-Cross Region Eddy Ekpenyong and Effiong Efa Nyong

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20  T  he History of Television Broadcasting in Akwa-Cross Charles Obot, John Obot, and Victor Ayara

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21  T  he History of Sports Activities in Akwa-Cross Unwana Samuel Akpan, Effiong Efa Nyong, and Austin Okon-Akpan

325

22  A  kwa-Cross: Looking to the Future Unwana Samuel Akpan, Joseph A. Ushie, and Odudu Okpongete

341

Afterword 355 Moses Ekpo Index 357 About the Contributors

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Foreword

Dr. Unwana Samuel Akpan of the Mass Communications Department of the University of Lagos has superbly and expertly edited Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture in a fashion that gives those interested in the ethnology of the indigenous peoples of present-day Cross River and Akwa Ibom States fresh insights into the region. This aesthetically, finely crafted book coincidentally replicates what was attempted in writing during my tenure in office as governor of Cross River State; the conception of the “Calabar Carnival,” which showcases the rich cultural heritage of the Cross River and indeed Akwa Ibom people to a global audience. A cultural carnival that has impacted on businesses in Cross River State and our neighboring sister state of Akwa Ibom and beyond, even to this day. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: Historicizing and Factualizing is metaphorically and figuratively like defining what Democracy is; because it is an authoritative historicized book about Akwa-Cross people (and for others who are interested in knowing more about the Akwa-Cross region), edited and written by scholars of the region and professionals on the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial long-forgotten systemic cultural, traditional, aboriginal, and socioeconomic existentialism native to the region. The book also corrects age-long historical errors about the region that were factually incorrect. Historical themes ranging from indigenous cultures, traditions, sociocultural ideations, indigenous media, indigenous trade, ethnobotany, and feminism to agricultural practices and our famous delicacies and up to our customary practices and religions. Scholarly books that focus on the beautiful Efik traditions and cultures, and other cultures in the region within a precolonial, colonial and postcolonial debate are scarce, and this book is a welcome and timely contribution to the studies’ sequence. The book provides significant historical information to justify the history of modern Akwa-Cross pursuits for growth and development xi

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amid rivalry and growing influence of other geopolitical regions’ cultures and traditions in Nigeria. For government and international agencies, NGOs, scholars, researchers, and students interested in historicized insights on universalism and particularism in Akwa-Cross Studies and the role of the region in contributing to national and international cultural heritage, this book is for you. Interestingly, Dr. Unwana Samuel Akpan has successfully congregated a stellar cohort of rarely found established and young brilliant intellectuals to engage the important and often ignored cultures and traditions of the region and to also correct historical errors from the combined vantage point of oral historical accounts and available literature. The result is a treasure trove— indeed a rich, enriching, and eye-opening study—of the multifaceted aspects of the Akwa Ibom and Cross River cultures and traditions, indigenous media, feminism, and future trajectory. Just as we have Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo studies in Nigeria, here we have a good start for studies of the AkwaCross area. This is an essential text in African Studies that would benefit university students at all levels as well as researchers-cum-experts, policy makers, and the general reader, who is in search of the most current impartial analysis of facts dealing with the region. Therefore, I highly commend the editor and contributors for their serious scholarly outputs in stamping the Akwa-Cross story in digital sites and also charting a future for the development of the region. Finally, I extend my full support and endorsement to Dr. Unwana Akpan for his selfless community service of assembling such a highcaliber gang of scholars with excellent academic and industry experience on the region, an effort that displays our spirit of communalism and togetherness in a manner that showcases a rich cultural heritage, debunked of historical and fictional errors about the peoples of the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria. This work is highly recommended. Donald Duke Executive Governor Cross River State Nigeria (1999–2007)

Preface

The publication of this book, Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture, emerged primarily from an informal intellectual discourse organized by Dr. Unwana Samuel Akpan on “Akwa-Cross: Matters Arising.” Dr. Akpan subsequently shared his exciting experiences from the friendly discussions with Professors Ahaziah Umanah and Joseph A. Ushie, who advised that the vision best served the public in the form of a book rather than as a journal article. Professor Uduak Archibong, who is the current provice-chancellor at Bradford University, and director of Equity and Diversity of the same university, readily and cheerfully bought the idea when it was introduced to her. The robust molding and sprucing up of the dream among these four scholars ultimately culminated in the need to have a fresh and critical response and reaction to a constellation of tremulous national and global events and trends that have conduced to the need for an urgent exploration for commonalities, consolidation of common identities, and the strengthening of the filial and sociocultural bonds among these neighbors and groups that have been co-wayfarers in the journey from the dim past through Western civilization to the present moment of national and global dire straits. The use of the word fresh presupposes that there had been some similar response and or reaction before. This is true. Apart from some of the previous, largely historical, publications on the peoples and cultures of the present two states, and studies on the general intergroup relations among the groups within the Lower Niger, there had been one popular publication entitled Akwa Ibom and Cross River States: The Land, the People and Their Culture. This has remained, until now, the single most comprehensive and most ubiquitous work that focuses strictly on the peoples of these two states. It is a fourteenchapter book with contributions from authors of both the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States extraction, and is edited by the late renowned xiii

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historian, Professor Monday B. Abasiattai, who had taught at various universities including the University of Calabar before relocating to the Department of History of the erstwhile University of Cross River State, Uyo, where he had served, among other responsibilities, as the director of General Studies. That book was published in 1987, which is now thirty-five years ago. Interestingly, one of the contributors to that work, Professor Akpan Hogan Ekpo, is also an important and significant contributor to the present volume. One major question then is why the present work, when the previous one seems to cover the same grounds coevally? Firstly, several events and developments have taken place since the publication of that other work thirty-five years ago, which would justify the need for a fresh examination of the peoples of, and relations between, these two states. There has been, for instance, the ousting of military rule and the replacement of same with civilian rule, which throws up the need for regional and subregional cooperation and understanding in the projecting and defending of the common interests of these two neighbors and erstwhile indigenes of the same former South-Eastern/Cross River State. There have also been the desperate complexities around issues of insecurity and the need for enhanced cooperation and collaboration in the interest of the groups within these two geo-political areas. Further, there have arisen within the country issues that tend to threaten the very existence of the nation, a conundrum that has tended to reincarnate the raison d’être and rationale for the agitation for the sovereignty of the COR States of Cross River, Ogoja, and Rivers of the pre-independence and post-independence eras. Beyond all these, it has become necessary and urgent to assess both the material and human resources’ worth and prowess of these two states to establish what the two states can bring and have brought to the national table as their contribution over the years. This sort of appraisal would serve as a parameter for measuring the cost-benefit profile of our participation in the Nigeria project over the seasons since the existence of the country. What all these entail is that the present book, Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture, is, hence, an entirely new work which, in addition to building on the strengths and shortfalls of its forerunner, has expanded the scope in its coverage of the total current conditions and peculiarities of these two states. Besides, it is a book that is envisioned to lay a solid foundation for the long-lasting cohesion of the entity through digging deep into those shared identities of language, culture, geopolitics, and history that the people share. Further, the peoples making up this area, which glides into the Atlantic coastline, were naturally a vast bowl from which victims of the sad Atlantic Slave trade were scooped, and this has fossilized aspects of their culture and worldview in the New World, as is shown in some of the chapters of the volume. The first section of the book is an introductory page by the author/



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editor of the book, who introduces the concept behind the edited volume. The first chapter dwells on indigenous peoples of the region: the land, people, and politics; while the second chapter captures the geography of the region. In chapter three, the communication patterns of the region are treated, while in chapter four, the religion of the region is explored. Chapter five lists the sociocultural ideations in the region, chapter six examines the economy and the economic activities of the Akwa-Cross region, while chapter seven analyzes the ethno-medicinal plants in the region. Chapter eight looks at the agricultural practices of the region, chapter nine shows the native delicacies of the region, chapter ten looks at the sociocultural institutions in the region. In chapter eleven, historical Akwa-Cross feminist movements and activism are explored, chapter twelve is on marriage patterns, chapter thirteen delves into the distorted history of Akwa-Cross, chapter fourteen is on the history of educational activities in the region, while chapter fifteen bothers on toward breaking the wall in the twin kernel of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States’ relationship. Chapter sixteen is on the contributions of late Col. Utuk to the Biafra struggle. In chapter seventeen, an oral historical interview is carried out, in chapter eighteen, the history of print media is captured, chapter nineteen chronicles how radio broadcasting came to the region, chapter twenty is on the history of television in the region, chapter twenty-one is on the sports activities in the region, while chapter twenty-two is on the development trajectory of the Akwa-Cross region. It is expected, therefore, that this book will contribute to connecting the traditional world of Akwa-Cross homeland axis of Nigeria with its sons and daughters both in the Diaspora and among the transnational migrants who share Akwa-Cross ancestral lineage globally.

Acknowledgments

First, my appreciation goes to God who gave me the inspiration for this book project, and made it possible. I am grateful to you all (contributing authors) for being part of this success story, and for all we have collectively accomplished during the long gestation period of this edited volume on Akwa-Cross. We all did it! As I surveyed the last couple of years of putting this book together; for me what stands out is not this printed copy, but collegial commitment, support, and of course faces—faces of the chapter authors who enriched me and sharpened me in diverse ways—especially those senior colleagues, erudite and budding scholars through our email exchange. Based on your cooperation, suddenly some things I thought mattered to me no longer do, they lost relevance; and I have just realized that only humans last—I mean touching the lives of others, especially how you treat others and contribute to your community. Therefore, I would like to express my deep appreciation to these esteemed and reputable chapter authors of Akwa-Cross origin resident in different parts of the world, who responded promptly through the submission of their papers. Thank you for your significant show of support and solidarity. In addition, a special appreciation goes to those who helped in the peer-review process of the articles. Second, I humbly acknowledge God’s abundant grace, the manifold unsearchable riches of His glory and wisdom upon my life. A project of large proportion such as this requires talents, dedication, commitment, and the hard work of many people. I therefore extend my appreciation to His Excellency, Donald Duke, the former executive governor of Cross River State for agreeing to do the foreword of this book. I am also grateful to distinguished Senator/ Professor Sandy Onor for also endorsing this book. The former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo, thank you too for doing the afterword of this book. Special thanks go to professors Ahaziah Umanah, Joe xvii

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Ushie and Uduak Archibong for accepting to editorially assess the book as associate editors. I also say thank you to Archibong Archibong, Nsikak Akpaette, Apostle Ufford Kish, Bishop Saturday Mark, and Udeme Casmir, who all attended the Akwa-Cross discourse that gave birth to the idea of this book. Special thanks go to the director-general of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), and Mr. Christian Livingstone; the CEO of Xtians Imagery and his client (the beautiful bride in the Efik traditional attire on the cover page), for granting us the permission to use the lovely pictures on the front cover of this book. The Ekpe masquerade picture on the front cover page was given to us by The NTDC. I am also extremely grateful to my family, especially my dear wife, Dr. Maureen, who understood and coped in my days of absence as a result of gathering materials for this work. I thank my parents who first sowed the seed of education in me. Many people have in one way or the other helped with the writing of this book. In a brief acknowledgment such as this, it will be impossible for me to thank all of them one by one. However, I wish to acknowledge and with thanks, the harnessing cooperation which I have received from all the distinguished contributors. Finally, I want to apologize to anyone on whose toes I stepped while I literally hurried my way through the process of gathering and putting together the bits and pieces of everyone’s article to form a single manuscript in honor of Akwa-Cross’s rich story, tradition, culture, and value; especially those by whom my periodic interfering friendly deadline reminders might have been perceived as too frequent, intruding, invading and interrupting. The trespass, most likely and certainly was not deliberate. Thank you for understanding that we needed to get the job accomplished so that our generation and the generations after us would have a book on Akwa-Cross they would be proud of. Thank you everyone and God bless you all! Unwana Samuel Akpan

The Concept of Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria Unmuting Muted Akwa-Cross Historical Facts, Finding and Situating the Cultural/Traditional Synthesis Unwana Samuel Akpan THE CONCEPT The pages of this book are filled with historical and factual essays from some renowned and erudite scholars from the Akwa-Cross region (Akwa Ibom and Cross River States) who have taught and researched in their respective academic fields of calling for decades, and whose works I have read and cited in my “walk” as scholar at different levels; most humbling are people who were my vice chancellors, and others who have taught me at different stages of my tertiary education and supervised my dissertation and thesis as well (undergraduate, postgraduate, and of course at the postdoctoral level). Yes, we might be colleagues today; interestingly, these are scholars whom I hold in high esteem and for whom I have great affection and admiration. For me, it is more than an honor that those who once taught me—I mean my teachers—would agree to contribute chapters to this edited book; it is greatly humbling that these scholars have taken time out of their crowded research and administrative schedules to pen these chapters in our bid to unmute the muted rich traditional and cultural endowments of the Akwa-Cross people and region, documenting these hard-to-find-facts in this book for our next generations and for posterity sake. In essence, the articles that adorn the pages of this book are the historical and factual mental products of a heterogeneous range of scholars across disciplines who employed their years of experience as academics to bring to the forefront pragmatic streams of historical facts, themes, and ideations about the Akwa-Cross region that are all theoretically and epistemologically different in style and in concept, but, intently, all have some sort of originality and organic enthusiasm rooted to their authors’ callings. Perusing through these highly cerebral texts, you would feel a sense of Afrocentric and Afrokological Akwa-Crossity originality, Naija-centric scent, 1

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and the willing attitude of a distinguished set of scholars who actually wanted to stamp their years of scholarship and undisputed rich historical knowledge of the Akwa-Cross region on this book and in the sands of time. And so it feels to me that this book epitomizes the labor of our Akwa-Cross’s academic leaders of thought. Hence this work is premised on part of the lyrics of our national anthem—“the labour of our heros . . . shall not be in vain”; rather are being documented as lenses for explaining phenomena in the field of AkwaCross Studies as a proposed academic discipline in our tertiary institutions across the world. In the last couple of years while patiently harvesting the articles for this edited volume, I have had more than a dozen essays committed at that moment from so many renowned Akwa-Cross scholars around the world, and with more that were still coming in. I am really delighted to have had so many talented and passionate colleagues, teachers, and erudite scholars on board to have worked together on this over the past years. Therefore, this volume is the author’s effort in factualizing, historicizing, de-Westernizing, decolonizing, domesticating, and indigenizing Akwa-Cross scholarship by assembling African scholars across disciplines who are of Akwa-Cross origin with decades of classroom and research experience to document their historical and experiential knowledge of the Akwa-Cross region, being the second-largest minority ethnic group in Nigeria with rich sociocultural heritage. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture is the first and foremost, pragmatic, comprehensive, encyclopedic, broadly experimental and empirical documentation of experiential knowledge, concepts, themes, constructs, and impressions in a book form from the rich Akwa-Cross perspectives and from Akwa-Cross scholars in home and diaspora, and published by an international credible and reputable academic publisher. The historical essays in the book virtually cover all the indigenous traditional and cultural experiences of the major and minor ethnic groups in the Akwa-Cross region. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture is a collection of original, innovative, and ingenious historical articles by Akwa-Cross scholars (home and in diaspora) based on their communities’ culture, nurture, experience, and research findings that will aid in providing age-long historical explanations and facts to the Akwa-Cross story. One of the Guardian newspaper’s reporters (Saanu, 2023, para. 1) opines that a Dutch footballer, Dean James, once said that “the only greatness for any man to achieve in life is immortality.” What is immortality, he asked further? Immortality, according to Brandon Lee, “is to live your life doing good and leaving your mark behind.” In a similar view, an American actor and orator, Albert Pike, made a profound assertion years back that “what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us, but what we have done for others and for the world remains and



The Concept of Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria 3

is immortal.” Building on this statement, another American writer who was a statesman and a scientist, Benjamin Franklin averred that “if you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, you either write things worth reading or do things worth writing about”; hence our efforts (the author/editor and contributors in this edited volume) in rewriting our history, correcting historical errors and imbalances, and reclaiming historical landmarks and feats that were alluded to in other regions that historians failed to credit to the AkwaCross people. The intellectual efforts of these great Akwa-Cross scholars in this edited volume aligns with what the British philosopher, Francis Bacon, the First Baron Verulam (1561–1625) once said. He reveals that “he that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils, for time is the greatest innovator.” Building on Francis Bacon’s statement, our collective resolve as contributors in this historic book therefore synchronizes with what the literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe rightly points out, which is, “Since the bird Eneke-ntioba has learnt how to fly without perching, hunters have also learnt how to shoot without missing.” Just like the proverbial hunter in Chinua Achebe’s quote, these Akwa-Cross intellectuals have also learned how to tell and present their story and history to the world. They have equally learned how to preserve and document their history for the next generation so that it would not be adulterated, twisted, or stolen. This book does two things: first, it corrects historical facts and figures about Akwa-Cross peoples and cultures; second, it fills the academic gap by making available a holistically and historically chronicled expanded text on hard-to-find cultures and historical facts of the Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture is a timely effort in salvaging the forgotten distorted historical facts of the Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria. The Akwa-Cross people are the second-largest minority ethnic group in Nigeria, whose tradition, culture, language and history are fast dying. Prior to this time, there were a lot of distorted historical facts that historians misplaced and misquoted about the region. The Akwa-Cross culture and language are almost going extinct due to Western civilization. Written or documented facts about Akwa-Cross are sparse. The paucity of primary data and literature in Akwa-Cross studies has created a critical gap in African studies scholarship. After examining an extensive literature on African and Nigerian history, it was difficult to find a book that is even remotely close to this text. The themes treated in this book are relevant to almost all the departments of primary and higher learning. The scholars and themes that are treated in the book are rarely found in academic books. In fact, the themes treated in this historic book play a significant part in advancing public discourse on AkwaCrossity and adding to Akwa-Cross pedagogy.

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FINDING THE HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS For decades, there have been anomalies in historical facts and figures concerning the region that emerging scholars have discovered; and as a result there are a whole lot of factual inaccuracies concerning Akwa-Cross that have been taught in primary and secondary schools and in the tertiary institutions. And sometimes, the heroic and pioneering efforts of Akwa-Cross people are not even recognized or well documented. One classical example is the Nsibidi writing that has its roots from the Akwa-Cross region. Nsibidi writing was an ancient form of writing that was used by the Ekpe sociocultural group to communicate among the initiates of the cult group. This famous and historic form of writing native to the Akwa-Cross culture has not really been well documented. The writing was encrypted and could only be decoded or understood by the members of the Ekpe masquerade sociocultural group. The Ekpe masquerade is native to the Efik people in Southern Nigeria, in the West African region. According to Ekong (2021, p. 43): “Nsibidi, scripts and ideograms were invented in Ekoi (Ejagham) in today’s Cross River State of Nigeria. It was used for communication throughout the Cross River Basin of South-Eastern Nigeria, and beyond.” Ekong (2021, p. 56) also reiterated the fact that, “In spite of its spread in ancient times, it seems Nsibidi is not accorded adequate prominence in modern art forms.” The Nsibidi form of writing points to the fact that it is factually incorrect for Western scholars to assert that Africans did not have any form of writing or documented history. Nsibidi writing is the prototype of computer binary writing. The members of the Ekpe masquerade used Nsibidi as a form of a password to communicate among themselves, especially the date, time, and venues of their meetings. The Ekpe cult members used ideography, which is ideas or ideology expressed in symbols to communicate among the initiates. This was a form of the modern digital technology password that prevents intruders and is used for security reasons. Ekong (2021, p. 55) reveals: A close examination of Nsibidi symbols in respect to their qualities reveals that they are cryptic—they are replete with hidden meanings that are not easily seen or deciphered. Therefore, systems of the symbols were used for secrecy or brevity. They are indicative by their forms and the relation of their parts to suggest the intended idea(s).

Therefore, before the concept of passwords for our phones, computers, and other gadgets, Africans (Akwa-Cross people) invented the idea of passworded messages. Up till this time, Nsibidi, which is one of the oldest forms of writing in the world, has not gained enough global attention or interest as a means of communication for Africans in those days, hence the notion by the West that Africans did not have writing history.



The Concept of Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria 5

Figure 0.1.  Ekpe masquerade. Source: The Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation and Tour Nigeria

In a similar development, take for instance, the amazing classic and epic Efik literature in the form of the Efik folk novel Mutanda Oyom Namondo, written by an Akwa-Cross indigene, E. E. Nkana, in 1953; depicting the vast and rich traditional ancient cultures of the Akwa-Cross people of all generations, which has not received the kind of national and international attention, recognition, accolades, and laurels it deserves, just like the iconic Things Fall Apart. This generation might not even remember the classic Efik novel Udoabara Ikang because we have not documented it in the annals of our history. This obviously is the failure of the Akwa-Cross region to document and project its efforts. Therefore, this book seeks to correct these errors and to reveal a lot of historical sociological inventions that originated from the Akwa-Cross region that were transported to the other parts of the world and up till today are still used in these places around the world. A very good example is the Calypso music that originated with the Akwa-Cross people but was taken

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by the Europeans in the seventeenth century and refined to what it is today. Most of the texts that are dedicated to African history in relation to ethnicities, such as books on the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo peoples of Nigeria, capture the cultural context and the history of these indigenous peoples; however, they have no detailed information about the Akwa-Cross peoples and cultures. Interestingly, the cultures and histories of these major ethnic groups in Nigeria have been studied extensively; unfortunately, there is no one academic book that captures the peoples and cultures of the Akwa-Cross, hence this book. PARADE OF SCHOLARS Recently, a good number of Akwa-Cross people both at home and in the diaspora are beginning to crave for knowledge about their ancestral and indigenous cultural heritage and history. There are increasing numbers of researchers interested in these areas, as well as the scholars who have shaped the field, going by recent and emerging work focusing on Africans, especially Nigerian-rich history as it contributes to the world’s cultural heritage in the last decades. Researchers and scholars often depend on oral history for research and teaching, hence the importance of this historic book. One of the contributors in the book who is a scholar is almost eighty-three years of age and has firsthand knowledge of the cultures, traditions, and history of AkwaCross. The Akwa-Cross are indigenous people from Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. This is the region with the largest crude oil deposit for the sustenance of Nigeria’s economy. This edited volume is a first of its kind effort in correcting a lot of historical errors concerning the Akwa-Cross peoples and cultures of Nigeria that were distorted due to the inability of the scholars from the region to document the facts and figures in this cultural historical region. There has never been any book that captures the indigenous Akwa-Cross people in its entirety in their aboriginal habitat in the way this book has done. The contributors in the book are scholars with decades of firsthand knowledge in Akwa-Cross culture, traditions, and history. The contributing authors are successful and grounded in their respective research tracks. The author and editor of this edited volume is from this region. He was fortunate to find elderly members of this region who had firsthand knowledge of the cultural and historical happenings in this region spanning scores of decades. This book does something different by assembling age-long Akwa-Cross scholars and elders with decades of cultural experiences in Akwa-Cross arts, history, and artifacts, using available parchments and oral history tradition in penning their accounts concerning the several sectors of this region. The book serves as a resource for library research in an area where information on leading



The Concept of Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria 7

scholars in these research tracks is scarce in academic literature. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture fills a major gap by offering a single text with fresh insights that addresses the scarcity of works in Akwa-Cross sociological history. SITUATING THE AKWA-CROSS HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS The book also provides readers with a plethora of new and revealing historical facts never known about the Akwa-Cross peoples and cultures. After reading the book, readers and scholars will be able to go back and correct the decades of historical errors about the Akwa-Cross region in their research papers and in the classroom around the world. Each scholar, from their expertise, offers deep insight into the different fabrics of the Akwa-Cross cultural historical heritage. The book examines the entire sector of the Akwa-Cross region. This book does that from an assemblage of global perspectives from different Akwa-Cross scholars in the areas of history, media, communication, arts, sports, and feminist studies. As of today, there are no books that are similar to this edited volume focusing on Akwa-Cross in its entirety. This book syncs with the present-day twenty-first-century multicultural Akwa-Cross history, realities, and challenges. by focusing on correcting distorted historical facts and figures about Akwa-Cross in multiple sociological, cultural, and historical ways. In the light of this, I therefore propose with some sense of urgency that there should be courses at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of our education in Nigeria that offer the Akwa-Cross Studies. It is this inclusion that will preserve the Akwa-Cross rich cultural and traditional facts. For those of us who are in the administrative positions to recommend educational policies, we must not fail to plant this historical tree today for the benefit of our next generation. We must be bold enough to present this to the appropriate authorities for quick implementation if we are to preserve our rich cultural values. We must not act the way the former chairman of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), Professor Patrick Lumumba describes Africans’ egocentric attitude. In my Facebook page on 8 May 2023, I posted one of the speeches of the renowned professor of law, who reveals that: If you ask people to think about 5 years, they think it is too far, they will ask you, “will I be alive in 5 years?” We Africans sometimes believe that we must plant the tree and enjoy its fruits. No, we cannot . . . Wisdom has demonstrated not once, not twice, that those who plant the tree must and indeed never eat the fruit, their joy is in planting the tree that history may remember them. I’m submitting to us that we must decolonize our minds. Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o was right

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Unwana Samuel Akpan

that it is the decolonization of our minds that will be the beginning of our proper appreciation of where we want to go. (Lumumba, 2023)

If Akwa-Cross historical trees must be planted, Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture should serve as a supplementary text for graduate and undergraduate courses that focus on African and Nigerian history, especially for students and scholars of the Ibibio, Annang, and Efik languages; African forgotten histories and cultures; grassroot media; feminism; sociology; and so on. These courses are found in a number of departments including history and international relations, media and communication, broadcast content, organizational communication, communication and culture, health communication, sociology, and allied social science fields and programs all over the world. This book fills the knowledge gap in Akwa-Cross culture in universities in Nigeria, especially for General Interest Courses (GIC), and departments of history in the West African region. This is because the Akwa-Cross culture is displayed in some parts of Sierra Leone, Ghana and Cuba. I find immense joy in authoring/editing this historic volume and I do hope that everyone within and outside the Akwa-Cross community will treasure the hard-to-find contents inherent in this book. Therefore, I hereby present to you Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture! REFERENCES Akpan, U. S. (2023). “Professor Patrick Lumumba’s Speech on Facebook.” Post by Unwana Samuel Facebook, May 8, 2023. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story _fbid=pfbid04nfJyUrSZhkrFcrUu7y92gaVJi2TWXEuV6ABySJNHhfduqH78aNt N2mpEcaAorYQl&id=100000220749548&mibextid=Nif5oz. Ekong, C. (2021). “Adaptation of Nsibidi Scripts to Ceramic Art.” Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research 18(3), 56–75. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/lwati /article/view/215442. Saanu, S. (2023). “Day Ganduje Gave Back to UI.” The Guardian. https://guardian .ng/opinion/day-ganduje-gave-back-to-ui/.

Chapter One

The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross The Land, People and Politics Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

INTRODUCTION Welcome to a holistic across-the-spectrum introduction to Akwa-Cross. It is going to be broadly extensive and factual because the whole book is on AkwaCross. What you are not going to have in this chapter, the rest of the book shall make available to you in the various chapters that follow. For a book on the geo-polity called Akwa-Cross, it is necessary to introduce you to the peoples and polity so called. This is the essence of this first chapter. The polity Akwa-Cross is most accurately restricted to the people who lived and are still living in what was the then Calabar Province of Colonial Nigeria, from 1900 to now 2023. The acronym “Akwa-Cross” refers to “Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.” The acronym fuses together a people of two states with common historical, traditional and cultural values, and futures. Akwa Ibom as a state was created out of Cross River State, and this historically, traditionally and culturally qualifies the people from the two states to be known as the Akwa-Cross people. The capital of Cross River State and Akwa Ibom States are Calabar and Uyo respectively. Calabar Province as it was then called, was made up of two geographical delineations, the mainland sector and the coastline sector. Today’s geopolitical Akwa Ibom and Cross River States are made up of what in colonial and pre-independent Nigeria were the Calabar and Ogoja Provinces. During colonial and pre-independent Nigeria, the most outstanding minority peoples in Nigeria, South of the Niger, were people in three provinces of Nigeria—Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers Provinces. The people of these minority provinces, conversant with their minority and vulnerable situations within their geopolitical existence in Eastern Nigeria in particular and Nigeria in general, bonded themselves together in a political movement then known as the COR STATE movement. The COR stood for Calabar, Ogoja, 9

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Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

and River provinces, which desired to form themselves into a separate state or region known as the COR STATE. They carried out their propaganda for the realization of the COR STATE, using one of the foremost newspapers in Nigeria—the COR Advocate, published in Uyo. The virulent political advocation of the COR Advocate throughout the 1940s—1950s led to the setting up of the Sir Foster Sutton Tribunal, otherwise known as the Minority Commission, which sat in Port Harcourt in 1957, to try and sort out the problems of the so-called minority ethnic groups of Nigeria, prior to the independence of Nigeria in 1960. That commission came to the conclusion that the greatest minority problems of the Nigerian nation was the problem of the minorities within the minority ethnic groups of Nigeria. Those who advocated most for the recognition of the minority ethnic groups of Nigeria were themselves afflicted with the fear of the minorities, within their minorities. The peoples of the Old Calabar Province, who were most politically conscious and well educated who are contemporary Akwa-Cross peoples were at the forefront of the minority movements in Nigeria. Who were and are these peoples? HISTORICIZING CROSS RIVER AS A STATE Historical records indicate that the present day Calabar was Nigeria’s first capital (PulseNg, 2023; Historyville, 2020). What is today known as the city of Calabar was originally called Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, but was renamed during the Atlantic slave trade era (PulseNg, 2023). Akwa Akpa (literally translated as great sea in English) had some of the earliest interactions with Europeans, as it was a major international seaport in the transportation of palm oil and African slaves (PulseNg, 2023); and as a result, Akwa Akpa was named Calabar by the Spanish. Another version of oral history has it that the name Calabar—the state capital of Cross River State—was given by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. On September 10, 1884, it was revealed that England, who colonized the region, signed a Treaty of Protection with the King and Chiefs of Akwa Akpa, known to Europeans as Old Calabar, to take control over the entire territory of Calabar (PulseNg, 2023; Historyville, 2020). This could possibly explain the reason Calabar is considered the first capital of Nigeria, because it served as the first capital of the Southern Protectorate, the Oil River Protectorate, and Niger Coast Protectorate. This was, according to PulseNg (2023), “until the late nineteenth century, when the administrative center of the Southern protectorate was moved to Lagos in 1906.”



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 11

In a related development, historical record shows that in the 1960s, state creation was done to curtail, tame, and address the spate of agitations that swept across the newly achieved independent state of Nigeria, as rumors of civil war and a possible breakup of some states from Nigeria was looming. One such state that was created to check this was Cross River State, especially to address the fears of the minorities being dominated or marginalized by the majority tribes. Nkrumah (2016) writes: Historians say, state creation was devised to break the fragile backbone of the then Eastern Region which effectively became an independent state in May, 1967. The argument remains that Biafra counted on the prospects of minority areas as an inevitable part of their new Republic. But there were grumbles and rumbles. The veracity or otherwise of this assertion that state creation was meant to break Biafra may never be addressed, officially. (para. 2)

Cross River State was one such state that was created to curtail minority agitation. Cross River is a state in Southern Nigeria, bordering Cameroon to the east. Its capital is Calabar. The journey for the birth of Cross River State started in 1967 when the South-Eastern State was created. Cross River State got its name from the River Cross or the River Oyono in 1976 (Cross River State Government, 2022; Cross River Hub, 2022; Historyville, 2018). It is a coastal state located in the Niger Delta region and occupies 20,156 square kilometers. The current Cross River State was reconfigured on 23 September 1987, when Akwa Ibom State was carved out of the former South-Eastern State structure which was renamed Cross River State in 1976. Moreover, Cross River Hub (2022, para. 1) recounts that: The South-Eastern State was created on 27 May 1967 from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria by the General Yakubu Gowon regime. Its name was later changed from South-Eastern State to Cross River State in the 1976 state creation exercise by the then General Murtala Mohammed regime from South Eastern State. The present day Akwa Ibom State was excised from it in the state creation exercise of September 1987 by the then regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.

The name Calabar, which is the state capital of Cross River State, was given by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Geographically, Cross River State is bounded to the East by the Republic of Cameroon, to the South by Akwa Ibom State and the Atlantic Ocean, to the West by Abia and Ebonyi States, and to the North by Benue State. Basically, it shares boundaries with Benue State to the north, Ebonyi and Abia States to the west, to the east by Sud-Ouest Province claimed by both Ambazonia and Cameroun Republic, and to the south by Akwa-Ibom and the Atlantic Ocean. The river flows from the Cameroon Mountains and empties itself into the Atlantic Ocean. By land-

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Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

mass, Cross River State is the nineteenth-largest state in Nigeria in terms of size and twenty-eighth in terms of population. Up till today, English, Efik, Bekwarra, and Ejagham are the major spoken languages in Cross River State. The Efik language is widely spoken in Cross River State, Uran in Akwa Ibom State, and as far as Arochukwu in bordering Abia State. Cross River State, as it is geographically constituted, has a population density of twenty per square kilometer, and one-third of the state is covered by a body of waters from the tributaries of the Cross River and the Atlantic Ocean, and this makes the land very fertile and provides abundant aquatic resources for exploitation and exploration (Cross River State Government, 2022; Cross River Hub, 2022). It is observed that two-thirds of Cross River state is covered by tropical rainforest, making it one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Cross River State Hub, 2022). The capital of Cross River State is Calabar, and it is reputed to be one of Nigeria’s cleanest and safest cities (Historyville, 2022); it is also the home of a major seaport. In total, there are eighteen local government areas in the state and these local government areas make up three senatorial districts. The state boasts of some major cities, such as Calabar Municipality, Akamkpa, Biase, Calabar South, Ikom, Igede, Obubra, Odukpani, Ogoja, Bekwana, Ugep, Obudu, Obaniku, Akpabuyo, Ofutop, Boki, and Yala. There is “only one major (Federal) road that connects 10 local government areas from the popular Watt Market in Calabar. They are Calabar South, Calabar Municipal, Odukpani, Akamkpa, Baise, Yakurr, Obubra, Ikom, Yalaa, and Ogoga. The road still goes on to Kastina-Ala in Benue State” (Historyville, 2022). Cross River Hub (2022) and Historyville (2022) narrate that as of 2018, Cross River State was the only state in Nigeria in which former governor Ben Ayade and former deputy governor Ivara Esu are eggheads (professors). Ayade hails from Obudu while Esu is from Biase. Demographically, the state is made up of several ethnic groups, which include the Efik, the Ejagham, Yakurr, Bette, Yala, Igede, Ukelle, and the Bekwarra. The four languages spoken in the state are English, French, Efik, Bekwarra, and Ejagham. The Efik language is dominantly spoken in the Southern part of Cross River State, especially in Calabar Municipality, Calabar South, Akpabuyo, Bakassi, and Odukpani local government areas. Also, the Ejagham language is the most widely spoken language in Cross River State from Calabar Municipality, Akamkpa, Ikom, Obubra. Ogoja, Obudu, and Etung local government councils, even up to the southwest province of Cameroon. Cross River Hub (2022, para. 1) notes that: The Efik speaking people live mostly in the Southern senatorial districts of Cross River, or as its commonly referred to the General Calabar district which includes Calabar Municipality, Calabar South, Bakassi, Biase Akpabuyo, Oduk-



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 13

pani and Akamkpa LGAs. There is also the Qua community in Calabar, which speaks Ejagham. The main Ejagham group occupies mostly the greater Calabar areas of Calabar Municipality, Odukpani, Biase and Akamkpa sections of Cross River state.

Cross River Hub (2022, para. 2) again reemphasizes the fact that “Cross River state epitomizes the nation’s linguistic and cultural plurality, and it is important to note that, in spite of the diversity of dialects, all the indigenous languages in the state have common linguistic roots as Niger-Congo languages.” Cross River State is a home to the rarest animals and plants, and they can be found in forests located in the Boki Local Government Area. And “the highest concentration of different species of butterflies in the world can be found in the Akampa Local Government Area of the state” (Historyville (2022, para. 1). With an average population density of about sixty-five persons per square kilometer, Cross River State is about the most sparsely settled state in Southern Nigerian (Cross River Hub, 2022; Historyville, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). It is believed that Cross River State boasts of being the venue for the largest carnival in Africa, and various annual festivals are held annually in the state such as the Cross River State Carnival (26–29 December), in Calabar, the Yakurr Leboku Yam festival (28 August) in Ugep and the Calabar Boat Regatta (Cross River Hub, 2022; Historyville, 2022). During the Yuletide, Cross River State usually becomes the leading tourism state in Nigeria, especially the capital, Calabar. Visitors from different parts of the country visit the city in droves. According to Historyville (2022, para. 1): Tourist attractions are, the soaring plateaus of the mountain tops of Obanliku, the Obudu Mountain Resort, the Rain Forest and Mountain walkway canopy of Afi, Waterfalls at Agbokim and Kwa, the monoliths at Ikom, Cross River Nationals Park at Boki, and the Obubra Lake at Obubra. Others are the Etanpim Cave in Odukpani, the Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar Marina Resort (which houses the Calabar Slave Museum, the Cinema and a view of the Calabar River where one could take a boat ride around or Oron in Akwa-Ibom State) Calabar Residency Museum, and Mary Slessor Tomb.

Cross River State has different ports of entries. For instance, the state can be accessed by air through the Margaret Ekpo International Airport at Calabar and the Bebi airstrip at Obanliku, by sea through the Calabar seaport, and by road from different parts of the country to other parts of the state (Cross River State Government, 2022). Additionally, the major cash crops in Cross River State can be found in the northern and central parts of the state, and these include cassava, yams, rice, plantain, banana, cocoyam, maize, cocoa, rubber, groundnut, and palm

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Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

produce. While in the south, various kinds of seafood are mostly domiciled. Cross River State Government (2022) and Historyville (2022) reveal that the major livestock in the state are cattle, goats, and sheep; rearing activities are mainly undertaken by the Fulani herdsmen, except in Obanliku at the Obudu Cattle Ranch where organized cattle ranching takes place. The state has a parade of some prestigious tertiary educational institutions such as the University of Calabar and the Cross River State University of Technology both in Calabar, the Ibrahim Babaginda College of Agriculture in Obubra and Technical College, Ugep. Different regions in the state have culture shock, compared to other cultures in Cross River State or in other parts of Nigeria. A classic example is in Obudu, where the incumbent state governor, Ben Ayade, is from, in which the wedding ceremony is done in the groom’s house instead of the bride’s house (Historyville, 2022). Some notable people from Cross River State are Louis Edet (Nigeria’s first indigenous inspector general of police), Etim Henshaw (The Red Devils of Nigeria’s famous football team captain), Margaret Ekpo (The first Aba female member of Eastern Nigeria Regional House of Assembly), Joseph Wayas (The first republic Senate president in Nigeria), Matthew T. Mbu (the first agent-general of South-Eastern State to the United Kingdom), Doland Duke, Benedict Ayade, Kate Henshaw Nutall, Florence Ita-Giwa, Victor Ndoma-Egba, Shan George, and others too numerous to mention. According to Historyville (2022, para. 2), “on Thursday, November 30, 2017, Governor Ben Ayade presented the Budget of Kinetic Crystallisation of N.13 trillion for the 2018 fiscal year to the Cross River State House of Assembly. The budget was the largest for a single state in Nigeria’s history.” It should also be noted that Joseph Wayas from Obanliku, in the old Ogoja Province was the first republic senate president. As of today, he remains the only person from the minority groups in Nigeria to become the senate president. PEOPLES AND CULTURE OF AKWA-CROSS It is not difficult to see the language, ethnic, and dialectical differences that permeate the people of Akwa-Cross. Yet with original or aboriginal fashions, they all have something in common. Men tie wrapper, wear shirts/singlets. The women tie wrapper and wear blouses on top. They eat food with rich grains/vegetables—melons, telfairia, maize, rice, talinum triangulare, okro, bitter leaf, shrimps, crayfish, snails, and other aquatic animals/fishes. They plant and consume tubers such as yams, sweet yams, water yams, cocoyams, cassava, and sweet potatoes. They raise and eat cows, goats, pigs, poultry, rabbits, and sheep for their meat etcetera. While they hunt and eat various



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 15

types of bush meat such as rabbits, deer, antelopes, etcetera, they also plant such fruits as grapes, bananas, plantains, pears, mangoes, oranges, and other citrus varieties. These fruits and vegetables they consume fresh, as refrigeration is unavailable. Their forms of recreation include singing, dancing, swording, wrestling, masquerading, footballing, bow and arrow targeting, hunting, fishing, swimming and dramatizing plays in the evening, especially in moonlight, from their national and social theatres, especially among the youths and other peer groups. It might interest anyone to note that the Akwa-Cross people bear Igbo names, not because they are Igbos, but because of close cultural ties and territorial nearness to their Igbo-speaking neighbors. Oral history has it that during the civil war, a majority of Igbos migrated to the Akwa-Cross region in order to escape the war. The great number of the Igbos who migrated to the Akwa-Cross region refused to return to their native land because of the hospitality, peace, and tranquility they experienced with their hosts, especially the Ika, Essien Udim, Ikot Okoro in Abak, Uruk Anam, Etim Ekpo, Ukanafun, Ikot Ekpene, and Abak Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State. As a result, they intermarried, and called the Akwa-Cross region their home. The Akwa-Cross people had to give their children Igbo names as an indication that they had accepted their visitors next door. This explains the reason one finds Akwa Ibomites, especially those who hail from Abak, Oruk Anam, Ika, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Ikot Ekpene, and Ukanafun bearing names such as Nwoko, Okoro, Egbe, Chukwu, Nwankwo, Nwafor, etcetera. One of the former Paramount Rulers in Etim Ekpo went by the name Chief Chukwu. Also, a former one-time attorney-general of Akwa Ibom State is Barrister Nwoko, from Ika Local Government Area. The males were involved with cultural groups like Ekpo masquerades, which in the precolonial and colonial times, served as the cultural police force in the communities. Ekpo masquerades, purely made up of the men’s cultural group, were prominent during the fallow seasons of farming when women were not involved in farming activities. On the last day that the Ekpo masquerades were going to go public, women were not expected to be found outside their homes. Those young men who were old enough to be initiated, but had not yet been able to be, had to find places to hide. If they were seen outside, they were not only shot at with the arrows carried by Ekpo, but if found and arrested would pay fines and damages that were expensive. They were known as akpo ekpo—that is non-initiates, who were by age ripe to be initiated. The other plays included Ewa Ekong masquerade. These were “handsome” and generally young men’s cultural groups who were knowledgeable about activities of social deviance and would be able to expose their deviant activities by acting as singing deviants to reveal to the society at large

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Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

the activities of deviant persons, thereby causing them to be brought to book, censure, and punishment, including being publicly shamed and declared persona non grata. The women’s social organizations included Iban Isong, which had the authority and mandate to sanction punitively and publicly people found and known to have been involved in contemptuous behavior and action(s) against women in the society. Then there was the Abon Iban, a sociocultural group for all grown up women that saw to the welfare and well-being of the women in the communities young and old alike. There was also another women’s group that was mainly concerned with how to help the grown-up married women cope with the problems and negative aspects of marriages that they had to endure. It was called Nnok Ufok Ebe, concerned with the ordeals and shame the women must endure in the institution of marriage, without such marriages resulting in divorces and public odium, within the marriage families and institution. The following were the typical male social groups that existed and were common to Akwa-Cross people: Ekong, Akata, Ewa Ekong, Awie Agwo, Ekpo, Obon, Uta, Awiaokpo, Ekpofit, Asio Ujo Ekpo, Atama Ukpa, and Utue Ekpe. THE DOMINANT TRIBES OF AKWA-CROSS Although from the tabulated ethnic groups/languages listed below against the Local Government Areas in this chapter, there are indeed numerous tribes and languages among the Akwa-Cross people; the main and outstanding ethnic groups and languages otherwise known as tribes include the following: Annang, Efiks, Ejagham, Ekids, Ekois, Ibibios, Obolos, and Oro. The occupations of the Akwa-Cross people include farming, crafting, carving, Raffia works, blacksmithing, pottery, clothes making and dyeing, mat weaving, and carpentry. All other modern occupations are also undertaken by Akwa-Cross people, as nobody has escaped the influence of modernity and culture universals. THE POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF AKWA-CROSS PEOPLES During colonial and pre-independent Nigeria, Akwa-Cross or Calabar province was divided, first into two geographical zones, the mainland and the coastline divisions. The Mainland part was then made up of six divisions: viz Abak, Eket, Enyong (Itu), Ikot Ekpene, Obobo, and Uyo. The Coastline Divisions included: Akamkpa, Akpabuyo, Calabar, Ikom, and Odukpani. These divisions accommodated persons of various tribes that had distinct cultural

Table 1.1.  Local Governments in Akwa Ibom State, Population, Languages, and Culture Typologies Local Government Abak Eastern Obolo Eket Esit Eket Essien Udim Etim Ekpo Etinan Ibeno Ibesikpo-Asutan Ibiono-Ibom Ika Ikono Ikot Abasi Ikot Ekpene Ini Itu Mbo Mkpat Enin Nsit Atai Nsit Ibom Nsit Ubium Obot Akara Okobo Onna Oron Oruk Anam Udung Uko Ukanafun Urue Offong Oruko Uruan Uyo Source: Authors generated.

Headquarters

Population by 2006 census

Abak Okoroette Eket Uquo Afaha Ikot Ebak Utu Etim Ekpo Etinan Ukpenekang Nung Udoe Oko Ita Urua Inyang Ibiaku Ntok Okpo Ikot Abasi Ikot Ekpene Odoro Ikpe Itu Enwang Mkpat Enin Odot Afaha Offiong Ikot Edibon Nto Edino Okopedi Abat Oron Ikot Ibritam Eyofin Ikot Akpa Nkuk Urue Offong Idu Uyo

139,090 60,543 172,557 63,701 192,668 105,418 169,284 75,380 137,101 189,640 72,939 131,023 132,023 143,077 99,196 127,033 104,012 78,036 74,595 108,611 128,231 148,281 104,057 123,373 87,461 172,654 53,278 127,033 71,159 118,300 309,573

Language/Culture Annang Obolo Ekid, Ibibio Uquo, Ekid, Ibibio Annang Annang Ibibio Ibeno, Annang Ibibio Ibibio Annang, Ika Ibibio Ibibio Annang Ibibio Ibibio Oro, Ibibio Ibibio Ibibio Ibibio Ibibio Annang Oro, Ibibio Ekid, Ibibio Oro Annang Oro Annang Oro Ibibio Ibibio, Annang, Oro, others

Table 1.2.  Local Governments in Cross River State, Population, Languages, and Culture Typologies Population by 2006 National Census

Local Government

Headquarters

Abi

Itigidi

144,317

Agwagune, Ikwo-Igbo

Akamkpa

Akamkpa

151,125

Akpabuyo Bakassi Bekwarra

Ikot Nakanda Ikang Abuochiche

144,802 32,385 105,822

Biase

Akpet Central

169,183

Boki Calabar Municipality Calabar South Etung Ikom

Boje Calabar

186,611 179,392

Efik, Ejagham, Korop, Ukwa, Ito, Derop Efik Efik Bekwarra Tiv, UtugwangIrungene-Afrike Nne, Mehu, Ubaghana, Umon, Isanginyoinyo Bete-Bendi Bokyi Efik, Ejagham

Anantigha Effraya Ikom

191,630 80,196 162,383

Obanliku

Sankwala

110,324

Obubra

Obubra

172,444

Obudu

Obudu

161,457

Odukpani Ogoja

Odukpani Ogoja

192,444 171,901

Yakurr Yala

Ugep Okpoma

196,271 210,843

Source: Author generated.

Language/Cultures

Efik, Efut Ejagham Olulumo, Ikom, Ejagham, Bakor, Mbembe, Yaka Nkum Bete-Bete, Evant, IceveMaci, Obanliku, Otank, Tiv Agoi, Hohumono, Legbo, Lenyima, Leyigha, Lokaa, Mbembe, Cross River, Nkukoli, Yala, Ikwo-Igbo Bete-Bendi, Bukpe, Bumaji, Elege, Tiv, Ubang, UtugwangIrungene-Afrike Ejagham, Efik, Odot, Kiong Ekajuk, Igede, Kukele, Mbe, Nkem-Nkrum Nnam, UtugwangIrungene-Afrike, Uzekwe Agoi Izi-Igbo, Mbembe, Cross River, Tiv, Yace, Yala

Table 1.3.  List of Military Governors and Democratically Elected Governors in Cross River State

South-Eastern State Brigadier Udoakaha Jacob Esuene Major General Paul Ufuoma Omu

Status

July 1975

By military appointment

Military governor

3 February 1976

July 1978

By military appointment

Major General Paul Omu Vice Admiral Muftau Adegoke Babatunde Elegbede Dr. Clement Isong

Military governor

Air Commodore Ibrahim Kefas Air Vice Marshal Gregory Agboneni Colonel Umar Farouk Ahmed Navy Captain Christopher Osondu

Political Party Affiliation

28 May 1967

Status

Navy Captain Edet Akpan Archibong Brigadier General Dan Patrick Archibong Navy Captain Eben Ibim Princewill Lt. Colonel Ernerst Attah Clement David Ebri

Date of Leaving Office

Military governor

Cross River State

Chief Donald Duck Etiebet

Date of Assumption in Office

Date of Assumption in Office

Date of Leaving Office

3 February 1976 July 1978

October 1979

October 1979

October 1983

National Party of Nigeria (NPN)

October 1983

December 1983

NPN

January 1984

May 1984

By military appointment

Military governor

May 1984

1986

By military appointment

Military governor

1986

December 1989

By military appointment

Military governor

December 1989 January 1992

January 1992

By military appointment National Republican Convention (NRC) By military appointment By military appointment

Military governor

Democratically elected Governor Democratically elected governor Military administrator

Democratically elected Governor

July 1978

Political Party Affiliation

November, 1993

Military administrator Military administrator

9 December 1993 14 September 1994

14 September 1994 22 August 1996

Military administrator Military administrator

22 August 1996 August 1998

August 1998 May 1999

By military appointment By military appointment

By military appointment By military appointment (continued)

Table 1.3.  (continued)

Cross River State Donald Duke

Liyel Imoke

Prof. Ben Ayade

Bassey Edet Otu

Status Democratically elected Governor Democratically elected Governor Democratically elected Governor

Democratically elected Governor

Date of Assumption in Office

Date of Leaving Office

Political Party Affiliation

29 May 1999

29 May 2007

PDP

29 May 2007

29 May 2015

PDP

29 May 2015

29 May 2023

29 May 2023

Incumbent governor

First elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but later joined the All Progressive Congress (APC) All Progressives Congress (APC)

Source: Authors generated.

Table 1.4.  List of Military Governors and Democratically Elected Governors in Akwa Ibom State

Name Brigadier General (Rtd) Jonathan Tunde Ogbeha Major General (Rtd.) Godwin Osagie Abbe Air Commodore (Rtd.) Idongesit Nkanag Obong Akpan Isemin

Colonel (Rtd.) Yakubu Bako Navy Captain (Rtd.) Joseph Adeduro Adeusi Group Captain (Rtd.) Eyepeiyah John Ebiye

Status

Date of Assumption in Office

Date of Leaving Office

Political Party Affiliation

Military administrator

28 September 1987

30 July 1988

By military appointment

Military administrator

31 July 1988

5 September 1990

By military appointment

Military administrator Democratically elected governor Military administrator Military administrator

5 September 1990 2 January 1992

2nd January, 1992 18 November 1993

15 December 1993 21 August 1996

21 August 1996 9 August, 1998

By military appointment National Republican Convention By military appointment By military appointment

9 August 1998

29 May 1999

Military administrator

By military appointment

Name

Status

Obong Victor Attah

Chief Godswill Akpabio

Udom Gabriel Emmanuel Pastor Umo Eno

Democratically elected Governor Democratically elected governor

Democratically elected governor Democratically elected governor

Date of Assumption in Office

Date of Leaving Office

Political Party Affiliation

29 May 1999

29 May 2007

29 May 2007

29 May, 2015

29 May 2015

29 May 2023

29 May 2023

Incumbent governor

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) (Senator Godwills Akpabio later joined the APC in 2018, and was elected the senate president on 13th June, 2023). Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Source: Authors generated.

Table 1.5.  Raw Materials Distribution in Cross River State S/N

Local Government Area

Mineral Raw Materials

1.

Abi

Salt, limestone

2.

Akamkpa

3.

Akpabuyo

Limestone, coal, manganese, ilmenite, gold, quartz, glass sand, tourmaline Petroleum, natural gas

4.

Bakassi

Petroleum, kaolin

5.

Bekwarra

6.

Biase

Tin Ore

Agro Raw Materials Palm produce, cassava, poultry, maize, forestry, fruits, vegetables, rice Timber, palm produce, poultry, forestry, fruits, vegetables, rubber, Raffia palm, Gmelina Palm produce, cassava raffia palm, timber, poultry, forestry, fruits, kolanut, fishery Fishery, raffia palm, forestry, Beniseed Maize, Cassava, groundnut, pal produce, yam, beniseed Fruits, vegetables, plantain, banana, timber, forestry, raffia palm (continued)

Table 1.5.  (continued) S/N

Local Government Area

Mineral Raw Materials

7.

Boki

Mica, ilmenite

8.

Calabar municipal

9.

Calabar South

10.

Etung

Sharp sand, kaolin, limestone, clay Sharp sand, clay, spring, water Salt

11.

Ikom

Quartz, glass sand

12.

Obanliku

Talc, mica, ilmenite, granite, spring water

13.

Obubra

14.

Obudu

15.

Odukpani

Lead/zinc, salt, tin, ore, goethite, quartz, muscovite, pure quartz, limestone, clay Kaolin, quartz, glass sand, gold, tin, ore, mica, ilmenite, talc Limestone

16.

Ogoja

Tin Ore, clay

17.

Yakurr

Uranium

18.

Yala

Baryte, lead/zinc, salt

Source: Cross River Hub.

Agro Raw Materials Plantain, banana, fruits, vegetable, livestock, palm produce, raffia palm cocoa, poultry, timber, forestry, cane, ropes, coffee Fishery, raffia palm, cassava, palm produce, rubber, vegetable Fishery, vegetable, cassava, palm produce, raffia palm Plantain, banana, cocoa, fruits, timber, forestry, palm produce, maize, livestock, cassava, cane ropes, coffee Plantain, banana, cocoa, fruits, timber, forest, livestock, yam, poultry, palm produce, rubber, maize, coffee Maize, poultry, livestock, timber, forestry, palm produce, yam, beniseed, groundnut, kolanut, cassava, rice, plantain, banana Fruits, rice, yam, palm produce, poultry, cassava, timber, forestry, maize, cocoa Poultry, livestock, yam palm produce, beniseed, kolanut, groundnut, maize, millet, plantain, banana Fishery, plantain, banana, fruits, vegetable, timber, rubber, palm produce, raffia palm, cassava, maize, kolanut Maize, millet, cassava, poultry, livestock, sugarcane, yam, rice, groundnut, palm produce Fruits rice, rubber, palm produce poultry, timber, forestry, cassava, maize Maize, millet, cassava, palm produce, poultry, livestock, yam, rice, sugarcane, fruits, beniseed



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 23

ways of life and living, including variations in languages or dialects, much of which contributed then and still contributes today to their sociopolitical delineations. During colonial and pre-independent Nigeria, they were collectively referred to as Calabar or Efik people or Calabarians, because the main language spoken, read, and understood by all of them was the Efik language. The Akwa-Cross region and people of today are now accommodated in one and a half states. Akwa Iborn and parts of Cross River state. They are further divided into thirty-one Local Government Areas, which used to be parts of the Calabar mainland region and nine coastline Local Governments, excluding what was then Ogoja Province, which currently forms part of the Cross River State. We shall now attempt to present in a tabular form, the current Local Government Area of the Akwa-Cross region, their linguistic/ethnic groups that also determine their cultural lineages, past military and democratically elected governors and raw materials in the region. Please note that almost all the natural resources that are found in Cross River State can be found in Akwa Ibom State because of their closeness to each other. Moreover, the majority of the ethnic groups in the Akwa-Cross region understand the Anang, Efik, and Ibibio languages, and can speak these languages. The tabulations shall afford us the convenience of doing this introductory chapter in a precise and convenient format. POLITICS IN AKWA-CROSS Politics is concerned with the way communities, societies, and nations organize governance, so as to be able to serve the people existing within such communities, societies, and nations, effectively, efficiently, and efficaciously. It is the science and art of organizing human beings to serve themselves, rule themselves, and function normatively and morally, thereby limiting the pecking orders of individuals and groups within a given community, society, and nation. All societies, therefore, have political institutions along with family, educational, religious, and economic institutions. The political institution organizes the family, educational, religious, and economic institutions into a viable social entity that regulates the functioning of individuals and groups within it. THE AKWA-CROSS POLITICAL INSTITUTION AND POLITICAL NUANCES Politics in Akwa-Cross is known as ukara, meaning “governance.” Governance in precolonial Nigeria was, therefore, organized around the existing and recognized sectors of social existence including the following:

24

Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

a.  Ufok: the basic unit of social existence—the family. b.  Ekpuk: the extended family unit, made up of two or more family units. c.  Idung/Obio: the village, which consists of several related extended families (Ekpuks). d.  Iman: the enlarged groups of villages coming together as a result of sanguinal or blood relations, sharing similar customs, mores, and folkways, including beliefs, traditions, and transactions. Types of Governance in Precolonial Nigeria Ukara Idem: This is how the individual was expected to govern himself within the context of the existing and persisting communal norms, folkways, and mores. Every individual was expected to behave in certain ways to conform to the social norms, mores, and folkways of the community or nationality. The ability of the individual to maintain social discipline and behavior, without deviating abnormally or without being seen as a deviant, meant that they were able to govern/discipline themselves properly. This was known as ukara idem. Ukara Ufok: This was the ability of the family head to properly govern his house without falling foul of the family, extended family, village, and community—that is, iman rules and social order. Ukara Idung/Obio: This referred to the governance of the village, which was undertaken by the village head, a primus inter pares person among the family heads, selected primogenitally and granted the extended authority to exercise power over the village. Ukara Iman: Community or clan governance. A clan in precolonial Nigeria was regarded as an autonomous community or nation, governed by the Okuku or clan head in the Annang or Ibibio Communities, or the Obong in the Efik and related communities of the Akwa-Cross nation. Systems or Methods of Selection of Political Leadership in Precolonial Akwa-Cross Gender orders and birth orders played significant considerations and roles in the selection of political leadership in precolonial Akwa-Cross. This was done to avoid conflicts in the process of political leadership selections and successions. The first male born of every and any family in Akwa-Cross was and is still known as Akpan. The second born male was/is Udo, while the third born male is Udo udo. Roles/responsibilities are casually given to the first three male children of the family. Akpan was the family head; Udo was next in rank while Udo Udo was the supporting person. Family heads



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 25

(Akpan Ufok, village head, Ete Idung, and the Okuku-clan heads were normally selected and designated as such. When family heads and village heads got selected from the Akpan the family heads fell on the Udo, the second born, while the Udo Udo became the ambassador of the ruling system. Females in the colonial Akwa-Cross were not expected to be involved in politics. However, like their male counterparts, female primogenital systems were used in determining their social rules/roles, importance, and designation within families, villages, and communities. The first-born female was named Adiaha, the second born Unwa, and the third Anwanwa. The firstborn daughters were treated as royalty in many communities; they were not married or expected to be married. They assisted the Akpan Ufok or Akpan Obong in ensuring the family, village and community political systems were not only well run and oiled, but that they were stable and well served. They were designated as Adiaha Obong—Queens. If and when they got married, their dowries were expensive, but they were not expected to be completely dissociated from their families, villages, and communities. At marriage, cows were normally demanded and slaughtered for their traditional weddings and the entire villages, clans, and communities had shares from the slaughtered cow meat. The Unwa’s and Awanwa’s were married out to form the Iman’s extended and sanguinal clan/extended family relationships. Political systems in precolonial Nigeria may, therefore, be adequately described as communal democracies, a system of political leadership and successions predetermined by primogeniture and sex-linked appointment/ selections. The selections were culturally democratic, often devoid of selection conflicts and role conflicts. In a family where the Akpan died, the Udo would become the Akpan Ugweme—the new firstborn, becoming recognized to occupy the role of the firstborn by circumstance of mortality of the actual first born. However, in the selection of appointments of village heads and clan heads, only the Akpan were qualified and considered for such selections.

Systems and Methods of Selection of Political Leadership in Colonial Akwa-Cross With the arrival of colonial masters and missionaries into the Akwa-Cross region, politics underwent some political metamorphosis. The political leaders that colonialists and missionaries met were resisting all types of intrusions into their known ways of life and living. The colonialists met stiff opposition to their intentions to change their ways and convert them from their existent belief systems and governance, to suit their intrusive ways of governance and beliefs. Governance was participatory or communal during

26

Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

the precolonial era. The colonialists needed to govern by surrogation, given the resistance they met from the traditional system of political structures of governance. Moreover, monetary considerations were not important, as almost everything done during the precolonial community governance was contributory participation or voluntary participation by citizens in the running of communal affairs. The colonialists and the missionaries came with the culture of financing community services by taxes and the payment for services undertaken by cadres of employed servants. So, Warrant chiefs were appointed, outside the recognized communal leaderships. This introduced an overarching or new class of leadership. The new class of leaders needed to be trained to understand the ways of life and languages of the colonialists, and the colonialists also needed to understand the ways of life and languages of the people. The road to this mutual understanding was fraught with conflicts of interest, roles, assignments, and performances. Distrust and disagreement became introduced into the politics of Akwa-Cross during the colonial era as the meddlesomeness between cultural beliefs, modes of social transactions, values expectations, and sociopolitical transactions persisted. The old orders could not change smoothly. The new orders could not take off smoothly. They needed to be gradually introduced and sustained overtime. Although it took on later, it disrupted and distorted the smooth, reliable, and time-tested political rules, roles, and practices of the Akwa-Cross peoples. So, until today, the conflicts between the warrant chiefs’ institutions and the cultural chiefdoms of the original Akwa-Cross political rulers have led to the corruption in the chieftaincy/cultural political rulership of the Akwa-Cross precolonial institution and today’s political institutions and practices. So, the transition tussle from the communal democracy of postcolonial Akwa-Cross persists. The confusion needed to be removed and the institutional conflicts resolved or managed properly. Since the citizens of Akwa-Cross were both the beneficiaries and sufferers of the intruding colonial and missionary interventions into their traditional governance and political institutions, they themselves had to find the ways to resolve the contradictions. They figured out the way. They resolved to allow those not schooled in the colonial norms and missionary educational system to continue to oversee the chieftaincy institutions and practices, while the Western-educated and more exposed citizens became involved with leadership in the political process and activities. The division of authorities and the interdependence of the elites and the traditional in the governance and political processes of the Akwa-Cross peoples helped bring about the sociocultural harmony needed for a healthy citizens participation and practice of the evolving political order. This accommodative new norm was finally adopted and institutionalized during the postcolonial and independent leadership era.



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 27

Systems and Methods of Political Leadership in Postcolonial and Independent Akwa-Cross The postcolonial leadership, or pre-independence and independence era, started with the Ibadan conference of 1950, during which constitutional and political structures were established for the independent nation that was to be midwife between the colonists and the citizens’ political leaders. I had earlier noted that Akwa-Cross citizens were the better beneficiaries of the outcomes of the interactions between the colonialists/missionaries and Akwa-Cross citizens and the emergent political and social leaderships of the sub-national region of Nigeria herein designated as Akwa-Cross. Certain historical facts need to be brought to light as we try to conclude this section of our surveys. Before amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Provinces of Nigeria, the administrative headquarters of Nigeria was in Calabar, the capital of both the Calabar Province and of the South-Eastern State of Nigeria when the states were created in Nigeria in 1968 during the Nigerian Civil War. Calabar was also the fulcrum of the COR State movement, involving the demand of the three colonial provinces of Eastern Nigeria-Calabar, Ogaja, and Rivers Provinces, because it was the geographical center of the political movement. The citizens of Akwa-Cross had taken advantage of the colonial education policies and the missionaries’ education initiatives to mobilize their local resources to train their citizens overseas, the most outstanding being the Ibibio Union Scholarship awards, undertaken by the six divisions of the old Calabar province, now the Akwa sector of our Akwa-Cross nationality. The beneficiaries of the scholarship and the Divisions/Discipline they represented included the following: 1.  Asuquo Udo Idiong—Abak Division—Medicine. He is credited with having contributed to the discovery of quinine. He died abroad in the United Kingdom. 2.  Effiong Udo Ekpo replaced him from Abak and studied medicine— majoring in dietetics. 3.  Lawson James Nsima, Eket Division, studied education in United States. 4.  Ibanga Udo Akpabio, Ikot Ekpene Division, studied education in the United States. 5.  Obot E. Antiobong, Itu, studied medicine in Scotland. 6.  Egbert Udo Udoma, Opobo, studied law in Dublin and England. 7.  Bassey Udo Adiaha Attah, Uyo, studied agriculture in the United States. The missionaries had established many secondary schools in the AkwaCross Region, then known as Calabar Province, some of which include St. Patrick’s College, Ikot Ansa, Calabar; Hope Waddell Training Institute,

28

Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

Calabar; West African People’s Institute, Calabar; Holy Family College, Oku Abak, Abak; St. Mary’s Teachers Training College, Ediene, Abak; Regina Coeli College, Esene Opobo (now Ikot Abasi); Teachers Training College, Urua Inyang, Abak (now Ika L.G.A); Etinan Institute, Etinan; Oron Boys High School, Oron, among others. Many Convent Schools for Girls in Ikot Ekpene, Clabar, and Uyo, cater strictly to girls education—such as Girls College, Ifuho, Ikot Ekpene; Marian College, Calabar; Cornely Cornelia College, Uyo; Moreover, there were established community educational bodies such as the Annang Peoples Educational Association (APEA), mostly in Abak Division, which was responsible for the founding of many communities’ primary schools known as Annang Peoples Group Schools, scattered throughout most villages in the Abak sector of the Annang nationality group of the Akwa-Cross Region. Many political leaders who were responsible for consummating the independence of Nigeria from the British colonialists hailed from the Akwa-Cross Region. Some of them included Dr. Eyo Ita, who was the first leader of government business in Eastern Nigeria and also a foundation member of the NCNC party; Chief Dr. Ibanga Udo Akpabio, the first minister of education, and of internal affairs and deputy premier of Eastern Nigeria; Chief Okon Udo Affia, the first minister of customary court and chieftaincy affairs in Eastern Nigeria; Chief Ikpe Umoh Imeh, the first minister of trades in Eastern Nigeria; Chief James Emmanuel Eyo, parliamentary secretary of finance and agriculture; Chief E. O. Eyo, the first chairman of the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation—ENDC; and Chief Nyong Essien, the first chairman of the Eastern House of Chiefs. It was leaders like Chief Hon. Okon Udo Affia and Chief Nnyong Essien that fashioned the policies that brought political and cultural harmony between the traditional institutions in Akwa-Cross and Eastern Nigeria, when the bicameral legislature was established in Eastern Nigeria—a separate House of Chiefs to deal with customary and chieftaincy matters and the House of Assembly to deal with purely political and socialeconomic issues, thus making it possible for the old and new orders to coexist harmoniously. The Ojoja Province also had iconic figures: Chief Ignatius Iwong Morphy, the great political icon from Ogoja was a staunch pillar of the Action Group. It is little wonder that he became the only AG member in the Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly, given the effective political machinery that he mounted, particularly in the upper-ends of the Province, until the first coup. South of Ogoja, Dr. Samuel Imoke stood as a counterforce to Morphy. Imoke was of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens. His astuteness led to his election as the Leader of the Eastern House of Assembly. Between these great names were other names like Dr. Okoi Arikpo, Dr. Matthew Tawo Mbu, Chief Michael Ogon, among others. Despite the agonizing peaks of their



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 29

political rivalries and allegiances to different groups, they maintained the peace. Their foothold was not only oiled on the abstracts of their constituencies, these dabsters also had their supporters in check. (Nkruma, 2016, para. 2)

The Akwa-Cross region was the primus inter pares region in the formation of social movement organizations for mobilization of citizens comprehensively. Such social movements included the Annang Union, the Ibibio Union, the Annang Welfare League, the Annang Peoples Educational Association (APEA), Afe Annang, Akwa Esop Imaisong Ibibio, Oro Development Union, Esop Ndito Efik, Esop Nkparawa Ibibio, Ati Annang, Nto Afe Annang, Afi Iwaad Ekid, etcetera. These social movements have contributed significantly to deepening the political mobilization of Akwa-Cross citizens and creating profound senses of community and grassroots participation in the politics of Akwa-Cross in particular and the Nigerian nation at large. I would like to conclude this brief chapter on the politics of Akwa-Cross by saying that the Christian churches, and missionaries from the Church of Scotland Mission; the Catholic Church, the Qua Iboe Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army Church, the Methodist Church, etcetera, through their establishments of primary, secondary, teachers training, trades, and convent schools, have contributed enormously in the production of the political leaders and political policy development of the Akwa-Cross region in particular and the Nigerian nation in general. Politically speaking, Akwa-Cross region has been a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the return of democracy in the country in 1999. It is only recently that the sitting governor in Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade, decamped from the PDP to the All Progressive Congress (APC). Other notable PDP politicians who have decamped to the APC in the Akwa-Cross region lately are the former governors of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Atta and Obong Godswill Akpabio, as well as Umanah Okon Umanah, Senator Ita Giwa, among others. Whether this spells victory for the ruling party (APC), it is only time that will tell. POLITICAL PERMUTATIONS, AGITATIONS AND NUANCES BETWEEN THE TWO SISTER STATES There is a common African proverb that says that no matter how loving siblings are, they might sometimes collide against each other. The two sister states have enjoyed peaceful coexistence with each other for decades, despite minor boundary issues, or oil well issues. They have always found a way to settle their misunderstandings amicably. But one common recurring agitation in the two states is the issue of more states being created from the existing two. It is a known fact that there is internal and external sociopoliti-

30

Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

cal clamoring in several regions in Akwa-Cross that focus on state creation. Some regions in Akwa-Cross have over time demanded for a state of their own, either out of the present day Akwa Ibom State or Cross River State. Although based on political rhetoric and statistics, these demands are not really based on marginalization but on affinity with micro-cultural values. Historically speaking, in the olden days in Nigeria, states were created to reflect geographical and cultural features. Presently, there are some regions in Akwa-Cross clamoring for a state of their own. Some classical examples of such regions are the Northern Cross River State and Northern and Southern Akwa Ibom senatorial districts. NORTHERN CROSS RIVER STATE AGITATION The people of Northern Cross River State have been demanding for Ogoja State. Historically, Ogoja was a Colonial Province on its own. There was Calabar Province, Ogoja Province and Rivers Province. Those were provinces in Eastern Nigeria that were of the minorities. In 1967 when there was agitation for minority movements that sat in Port Harcourt, the minorities in the South-East region were agitating for a state or a region that would be called COR; that is COR State comprised of Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers provinces, just like they had the Middle Belt or Midwest regions which were made up of Warri and Benin Provinces. Joseph Wayas was the biggest face in Ogoja Province. Matthew T. Mbu, also from Ogoja Province, was our first AgentGeneral (ambassador) in the United Kingdom (UK), for Eastern Nigeria’s Region. In those days, each region sent an Agent-General to represent them in the UK. This is because the regions in those days were autonomous. They only contributed money for joint services to the central unit. At the time, the country was practicing a true federation comprised of three regions, and later on four regions, when the Midwest State was created from Western Nigeria. We are no longer running a federation, a Federal State, so we do not have Agent-Generals anymore. Today, Nigeria sends an ambassador to represent the entire country. In a related development, Professor Joseph Usie, who was a student at the time when the South-Eastern State’s name was changed from South-Eastern State to Cross River State, queried the exercise in a newspaper publication, stating that the region did not need a change of name of a state, but the creation of another state from Cross River State known as Ogoja. Prof. Ushie elaborated in a recent interview with one of the authors. In colonial Nigeria we had twenty-four provinces. The twenty-fifth province was in Southern Cameroon. Now we have thirty-six states in Nigeria, and Ogoja



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 31

was one of the provinces. It therefore means all the provinces that were in Nigeria have all become one or two states. And my question is why is Ogoja still not a state? Ogaja Province by then comprised Obudu Division [now Obudu and Obanliku LGAs], Obubra Division [now Obubra, Yakurr, and Abi LGAs], Ikom Division [now made up of Ikom, Etung, and Boki LGAs], Ogoja Division [now made up of Ogoja, Yala, and Bekwarra LGAs], and the erstwhile Abakaliki and Afikpo Divisions [now in Ebonyi State]. These were the divisions that made up the old Ogoja Province. Right now, out of twenty-four provinces that we had then, we now have thirty-six states in the federation, which presupposes that everything that was a province is now a state, either one or more states. But Ogoja is the only province to the best of my knowledge that is not transformed into a state in Nigeria. Ogoja is the only province of the twenty-four provinces under the old Nigerian political arrangement that did not transform into a state that I know too well. Whereas several other provinces were transformed into one or more states. We had Obubra Division, and Obubra comprised all of the present-day Yakurr, Abi, and Obubra local government areas, which all came under Obubra Division. We had Ikom, which comprised the present Boki, Ikom, and Etung local governments. Then we had Obudu, which comprised the present Obudu and Ubanliku, and we had Ogoja, which is Ogoja local government area, comprising Ogoja local government area, Bekwara, and Yala. We also had Abakaliki, we also had Afikpo, these were divisions under Ogoja Province. This shows you how big Ogoja is. It therefore means if Ogoja had been made a state, all these places, and divisions would have been under Ogoja State, and not under the present Cross River State; but still sharing the same cultural and traditional values and DNA. The only divisions that were taken out are Abakaliki and Afikpo, and it is understandable because maybe for the reason that they speak Igbo as a language. But note that we have the same culture with them and even some elements in this Akwa-Cross region are pronounced alike and even have the same meaning. For example, usan means “plate” in Efik, Ibibio, and Annang, and it is still the same in Afikpo and Abakaliki. Abakaliki is now in present-day Ebonyi State, while Afikpo is in the present-day Abia State.

Collaborating Prof. Ushie’s views, journalist and poet Bankong-Obi Nkrumah points out: This is precisely the case with the defunct Ogoja Province. Since its fusion with Calabar, Ibibio, Anang and Oron to form the then South-eastern State, the force that held the people from occupying the landmass from Obudu to Abi together has completely broken into carapaces. Ogoja is one of only two former provinces that have not transmuted to a state. (Ijebu is the other one). Inwardly, Ogoja stands as the only group without an association or unifying force. This lack of a voice has robbed the area of many things. Most of these newbreed leaders don’t even know that the bacons separating the then Northern Protectorate from the Southern Protectorate also passed through Ogoja. They have forgotten (that is, if they knew before,) that it was I. I. Morphy’s tireless efforts led to the

32

Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

recognition and organization of the Obudu Cattle Ranch now renamed Obudu Ranch Resort. (Nkrumah, 2016, para. 3)

In another article, these views were also echoed about the old Ogoja Province: The notion that the colonial entity administered as Ogoja Province represented a Nigerian form of “the frontier” persisted right through the period of British rule in Nigeria. In a late colonial geography, Ogoja and eastern Calabar are referred to as the “pioneer fringe.” Marginalized by the economic geography of colonialism, as a result of its relatively low population density, in contrast to much of southeastern Nigeria, and by virtue of its terrain, crossed by unforded rivers and characterized by heavy, clayey soils which restricted wet-season travel, it could still be characterized in the 1940s as a “traceless prairie [sic]” by one of its most seasoned European observers, and as “the Lost Province” in common colonial parlance. Scholarly exploration has done little to address this marginalization, a fact both pivotal in the administration and development of Ogoja Province and restrictive of our attempts to understand and describe these administrative processes. (Manton, 2014, p. 2)

AKWA IBOM NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT AGITATION Meanwhile, the people of Akwa Ibom North senatorial district, composed mainly of the Annang extraction are also clamoring for Itai State. It should be noted that the people of Ikono local government who are mainly of the Ibibio extraction do not share this sentiment. Popular opinion says they prefer to remain with Akwa Ibom State. A recent newspaper report by Samson Atekolo Usman says: The Annang speaking people of Akwa Ibom State . . . presented a memorandum to the Senate ad-hoc Committee on Constitutional Review demanding the creation of ITAI State from the present Akwa Ibom State. Leader of the delegation and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ati Annang Foundation, Emem Akpabio, made the presentation through the Senator representing Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District in the National assembly, Senator Chris Ekpenyong. According to him, the people of the old Annang province led by representatives from Ati Annang, Afe Annang, Afe Nkuku Annang and Annang leaders of thought decided to submit a proposal and memorandum for the creation of a state to be called and addressed as ITAI STATE from the present Akwa Ibom state with its capital at Ikot Ekpene. They explained that the Annang nation remains one of the oldest nation or nationality having homogeneous aborigines with a population of 1.1 million (projected from the provisional figures of the 1991 National census) covering the eight local government Areas of Abak, Etim Ekpo, Ika,



The Indigenous People of Akwa-Cross 33

Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Obot Akara, Ukanafun and Oruk Anam. (Usman, 2020, para. 1)

In an interview by an online newspaper, Mr. Mark Essien gave a swift counter view to the Itai State project. The headline news report tagged “Southern Cross River should join Akwa Ibom to form Akwa Cross State,” faulted the creation of a new state, Itai State, out of Akwa Ibom State. According to the news report: Ogoja State should rather be created . . . adding that Southern Cross River should join with Akwa Ibom to form Akwa Cross State. “Itai State out of Akwa Ibom is fully rejected. We don’t want it. Rather, let them make Ogoja State and Southern Cross-River join to form Akwa Cross State.” . . . Recall that the Nigerian Senate has proposed the creation of 20 + 1 States to add to the already existing 36 states and Ogoja, one of the oldest provinces is not amongst them but there is Itai from Akwa Ibom. If one could reason from Essien’s perspective, Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State speaks Efik which is synonymous to the Ibibio language of Akwa Ibom State—one could also say there is a strong[er] bond between the District with Akwa Ibom than the rest of Cross River in terms of culture, food, lifestyle, etc. With that being said, Essien’s assertion means, Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Calabar South, Calabar Municipality, Odukpani, Akamkpa and Biase Local Government Areas that made up Southern Cross River will join Akwa Ibom to form the Akwa Cross State, while from Yakurr to Obanliku Local Government Areas of the current Central and Northern Senatorial Districts of Cross River State will make up the Ogoja State. The Paradise learned that Ogoja was supposed to be among the states created in 1996—in fact, the current Ebonyi State was supposed to be Ogoja State but for some political and personal interests, the people’s birthright was sold out. (The Paradise, 2021, para. 1)

SOUTHERN AKWA IBOM SENATORIAL AGITATION In another development, the people of Southern Akwa Ibom State senatorial district, especially the indigenous people of Oron in Akwa Ibom State have also demanded a state of their own. They assert: The people of Akwa Ibom South senatorial district are agitating for the Creation of Atlantic State, the quest is born out of the fact that they feel cheated and marginalized as none of their sons or daughters has ever ascended to the political position of Governor in the state. EVEN as providence tries to favour them and the principle of equity, justice and fair play struggle to lend support, those in the majority seem to have sold out their heart and have their conscience seared with hot iron. Fellow Akwa Ibomites, I urge you to support any credible candidate of Akwa Ibom south senatorial district in the upcoming 2015 guber Race.

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Ahaziah Umanah and Unwana Samuel Akpan

Let’s not forget that we (Akwa Ibom/south-south) are also minorities in Nigeria and providence won’t forgive us, if we don’t give these people their rights and privileges. (Nairaland Forum, para. 12021)

CONCLUSION Despite it all, the people of Akwa-Cross have learned to live together as one culturally indivisible entity, forging ahead and determined to overcome every form of regional obstacle and sentiment that might seem to separate them. The issue of additional state creation is not to put blocks of division between or among the Akwa-Cross people, but to also position the region to square up with the other regions of Nigeria who have more states, This, we think, would produce some political results and advantage that would further catapult the Akwa-Cross region to political relevance, inclusion, and competitiveness. REFERENCES Cross River Hub (2022). “Cross River State.” https://www.crossriverhub.com/about -cross-river-state/. Cross River State Government. (2022). “Cross River State.” https://crossriverstate .gov.ng/. Historyville. (2018). 25 “Interesting facts about Cross River State.” https://www .thehistoryville.com/cross-river-state-interesting-facts/. Manton, J. (2014). “‘The Lost Province’: Neglect and Governance in Colonial Ogoja.” History in Africa 35, 327–45. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/hia.0.0010. Nairaland Forum. (2021). “Creation of Atlantic State from Akwa Ibom State.” https:// www.nairaland.com/1099508/creation-atlantic-state-akwa-ibom#12915825. Nkrumah, B. (2016). “Old Ogoja: A Province Gone under the Bushel.” The News. https://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/09/28/old-ogoja-a-province-gone-under-the -bushel/. PulseNg. (2023). “Was Calabar really the first official capital of Nigeria?” https:// www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/food-travel/was-calabar-really-the-first-official-capital-of -nigeria/bfy18mq The Paradise. (2021). “We Reject Itai State out of Akwa Ibom; Make Ogoja State Instead.” https://theparadise.ng/we-reject-itai-state-out-of-akwa-ibom-make-ogoja -state-instead-mark-essien/. Usman, Samson Atekolo. (2020). “State Creation: Annang People Demand a New State, Present a Memo to the Senate Committee.” Daily Post Newspaper. https:// dailypost.ng/2020/09/30/states-creation-annang-people-demand-new-state-pres ent-memo-to-senate-committee/.

Chapter Two

The Geography of Akwa-Cross Godwin Jeremiah Udom

INTRODUCTION This chapter presents general geographic information on Akwa-Cross. Such information as the landmass of the region, its mineral resources, its topography and the uniqueness of the topography from other regions, the boundaries of the two states (Akwa Ibom and Cross River) that make up the region, the climate and vegetation of the region, among others. The primary sources for data for this paper are drawn mostly from the two state governments’ (Akwa Ibom and Cross River) e-data base, and other independent sources. These state governments’ data were used because of their originality, reliability, and precision of the primary data. THE LANDMASS OF AKWA-CROSS REGION This section discusses the location and landmass of each of the two states. I start with discussions of Akwa Ibom State’s geographical location and its landmass, followed by that of Cross River State. Akwa Ibom State Location and Landmass Akwa Ibom State, nicknamed “Land of Promise” or “Akwa Abasi Ibom State,” is triangular in shape and lies between Latitudes 40 32II and 50 53II North, and Longitudes 7025II and 8025II East (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022) in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The State is bounded to the East by the sister State (Cross River), to the West by Rivers and Abia States, to the North again by Abia State, and to the 35

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South by the Atlantic Ocean. Akwa Ibom State is made up of thirty-one Local Government Areas, which are: Abak, Eastern Obolo, Eket, Ekpe-Atai, Esit Eket, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Etinan, Ibeno, Ibesikpo Asutan, Ibiono Ibom, Ika, Ikono, Ikot Abasi, Ikot Ekpene, Ini, Itu, Mbo, Mkpat Enin, Nsit Atai, Nsit Ibom, Nsit Ubium, Obot Akara, Okobo, Onna, Oron, Oruk Anam, Udung Uko, Ukanafun, Uruan, and Urue Offong (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). Its Landmass is 7,081 km2, with an ocean front of 129 km from Ikot Abasi on the west to Oron on the East (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). The State is ranked thirtieth out of the thirty-six states of Nigeria in terms of landmass (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). Cross River State Location and Landmass Cross River State, nicknamed “The People’s Paradise,” is located between Latitudes 50 32II and 40 27II North, and Longitudes 7050II and 9028II East (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022) in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The State is bounded to the north by Benue State, to the southeast by the sister Akwa Ibom State, to the west by Ebonyi and Abia States, and to the east by Cameroun (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). Cross River State has eighteen Local Government Areas comprising of: Abi, Akamkpa, Akpabuyo, Bekwarra, Bakassi, Biase, Boki, Calabar Municipality, Calabar South, Etung, Ikom, Obanliku, Obubra, Obudu, Odukpani, Ogoja, Yakurr, and Yala. The Landmass of Cross River State, which is 20,156 km2, is ranked nineteenth in Nigeria (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022), and is approximately thrice the size of Akwa Ibom State. Akwa-Cross is therefore bounded to the north by Benue State, to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west by Ebonyi, Abia and Rivers States, and to the east by Cameroun. It has a land mass of 27,237 km2 , constituting about 3 percent of Nigeria’s landmass of 923,769 km2. Mineral Resources of Akwa Ibom State Akwa-Cross region is naturally endowed with various mineral resources, which have immensely contributed to national income. The state is endowed with the following mineral resources: Petroleum (crude oil and natural gas), limestone, clay, salt, silver nitrate, and glass sand (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). The State is very rich in oil and gas resources with the production of crude oil, condensate and gas by Mobil



The Geography of Akwa-Cross 37

Petroleum Nigeria (now Exxon/Mobil) making the State the third largest petroleum producer in Nigeria (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). Other oil companies operating in the State include Elf, Addax and Universal Energy. Mineral Resources of Cross River State Cross River State is endowed with abundant mineral resources which include limestone, gypsum, titanium, and tin ore. Others are brine, gravel, kaolin, baryte, manganese, graphite, clay, petroleum jelly, marble, tourmaline and ilmenite (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). Indeed, the state has the largest and purest deposits of limestone, while marble, tin, and baryte are proven to be in economically exploitable quantities (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). Apart from these, there are granites and other hard rocks that can be quarried for chippings used in the construction industry. The uses of these minerals are as follows: Petroleum: Petroleum is a term used to represent crude oil and natural gas. Some petroleum products and their uses include: gasoline used to power vehicles, compressors, electrical generators, etc. Kerosine: It is also referred to as paraffin used in lighting, cooking, and a primary fuel for powering modern jet engines. Lubricating Oils: It is used to reduce friction between surfaces. Paraffin Wax: This product is used as lubricant to make candles, crayons, cosmetics such as Vaseline, and others. Diesel: Diesel is used to power buses, trucks, gas turbines, railway engines, and external combustion engines. Asphalt: This is also referred to as bitumen. It is used to surface roads and in waterproofing products used in sealing roofs. Petrochemicals: Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. They are basically divided into olefins and aromatics. These products are used to manufacture fertilizers, polish, wax, food additives, synthetic shoes, and plastic bottles. Limestone: This important substance, which occurs in both states, but is very abundant in Cross River State, has many uses depending on its purity and character. The Mfamosing Limestone can be seen 25 km from Calabar along Calabar-Ikom Highway (Nyong, 1995). Limestone is widely used in the manufacture of cement. Some varieties provide lime for the manufacture of bleaching powder, calcium carbide, glass, soap, paper, and paint (Read, 1976).

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Clay: Clay is used for making pottery, construction products such as bricks, floor tiles, etc. Clay also contains some minerals such as Kaolinite, halloysite, montmorillonite, illite, and others, some of which are useful. Kaolinite, for example, is used for the manufacture of fine porcelain and china porcelain fittings. Apart from this, it can be used as fillers in paper rubber and paint manufacture. Salt: This mineral is used for flavoring and food preservation, as well as in dying and bleaching, production of pottery, soap, chlorine, and in the chemical industry. Silver Nitrate: Silver nitrate has large deposits in Akwa Ibom State; and it is used as an anti-infective agent. Glass Sand: This is used for glass-making and for various building purposes. Much of it is mined along river channels. Gypsum: Gypsum is an important industrial mineral. It is used as a retarder in cement; indeed, without it cement will take longer time to set. It is also used as fertilizer, as a filter in crayon, rubber, paint, and in the manufacture of Plaster of Paris. Gypsum could be found about 0.5km south of Odukpani village in Cross River State (Nyong, 1995). Titanium: Titanium can be found in Cross River State. The titanium mineral here is ilmenite. Ilmenite is used in the manufacture of titanium dioxide. Tin Ore: Tin is used in the manufacture of tin plates, for the manufacture of cans. It is also used in the manufacture of alloys such as bronze, copper, and in tin plating, coating, polishing, etc. Baryte: Barite is used as drilling mud, in the manufacture of white paint, high density filler for paper, plastics, and paper. Cross River State has the highest-quality and quantity of barite in Nigeria (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022), and the mineral can be found in the State in Obubra, Yala, Yakurr, Ikom, Biase, and Obaliku LGA’s. Manganese: This mineral is mainly used in the manufacture of alloy for use in the steel industry. It is also used to make clear glass, in dry cell batteries, etc. Graphite: Graphite is used in making pencils, lubricants, and, because of its high conductivity, in electronic products such as batteries, electrodes, and solar panels. Marble: Marble is used in the building industry for interior decoration, tabletop monuments, novelties, and others. Tourmaline: This mineral, which is found in the pegmatites of Igbofia in Akamkpa Local Government Area along the Calabar-Ikom Road, is used as gemstone.

The Geography of Akwa-Cross 39



Apart from these mineral resources, Akwa-Cross is endowed with abundant agricultural resources. Both states are rich in agro-resources such as cassava, plantain, a variety of fruits and vegetables, sea foods, rubber, palm produce, raffia palm, cocoa, forestry products, rice, and yam. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF AKWA-CROSS Topography is an expression of the shape or roughness of a surface, while relief describes the amount of topographic change within an area—that is, the difference between the highest and lowest points in the area. The shape and features on the surface of the earth described in topography include mountains, rivers, lakes, valleys, forests, glaciers, and others. Mountains/Hills Mountains and hills are rare in Akwa Ibom State as the area is low-lying and slopes imperceptibly toward the Atlantic Ocean in the south. In most parts of the state, particularly from the coastal areas of Ibeno, Ikot Abasi, Oron to the central areas of Uyo, Abak, and others, mountains are not found, hills are rare, and the ground surface is covered by the Coastal Plain Sands (the Benin Formation). The absence of these topographic features creates in those areas a low-lying topography, except in the far north of the State where the Ameki Formation and the Imo Shale are visible in places like Ikono and Ini LGAs. In these areas, an undulating topography can be seen. The word formation used here is well understood and frequently used by geologists. However, it is used to describe sedimentary rocks whose beds or group of beds are easily traceable from one location to the other because of their characteristics. The interesting thing about the formations that make up most parts of Akwa Ibom State and Calabar in Cross River State is that they belong to the geological region known as the Niger Delta Sedimentary Basin (Allen, 1965; Reyment, 1965; Short and Stauble, 1965), where petroleum is found. These formations are called the Benin Formation, the Agbada Formation, and the Akata Formation, in order of increasing age (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). The Akata Formation is where the oil was generated, while the Agbada Formation is the reservoir rock for the oil, and where we get it from. Despite the low-lying nature of the Delta where hills are rarely seen, it is the treasure base of Nigeria. It should, however, be noted that the Niger Delta extends to seven other states (Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers).

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Topographic heights in Akwa Ibom are much lower than in Cross River State, for example, in Ibeno the maximum is 24 m above mean sea level, with a minimum of 0 m and an average of 7 m. There is a gradual increase toward the northern parts of the state with a minimum of 20 m, maximum of 84 m, and average of 56 m in Abak. In Uyo we have a maximum of 120 m, minimum of 5 m and an average of 52 m, while in Ikot Ekpene, the maximum topographic height is 146 m, minimum is 7 m, and the average,78 m (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). In Cross River State the scenery is different. The geology of the state has necessitated the occurrence of mountains and hills. Whereas we have only sedimentary rocks in Akwa Ibom State, Cross River has heterogeneous geology where the three major rock types (sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic) can be seen. The hard rock (igneous, metamorphic) terrain has undulating topography where the hills are marked by the hard rocks and the valleys by the eroded rocks from the hills. However, limestone and marl also form hills in some of the areas where they occur. The state is therefore replete with attractive landscape features such as the Obudu Plateau; the Kwa Falls; Agbokim Waterfalls; Afi, Mbe, and Sankwala Mountains; Oban Hills, Oshie Ridge; coastal mangrove and beaches around Calabar; wetlands; creeks; and others. The Obudu Plateau is a high-altitude area with an elevation of 1,716 m above mean sea level and is found on the Oshie Ridge of the Sankwala Mountains (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). It has climbing facilities, cattle ranches and other facilities that make the area an attractive tourist site. The Obudu Mountain Resort (formerly called Obudu Cattle Ranch) is a ranch and resort located on this plateau (Fig.6). This tourist center, which was developed by some foreign ranchers in 1951, has a cable car that carries visitors through a height of 870 m from the base to the top of the plateau (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). This facility gives the visitors a good view of the scenery while bypassing the winding road to the top of the plateau. Another interesting landscape feature and tourist site in Cross River State is the Kwa Falls, located inside the Cross River National Park. This waterfall, which runs on schist (a metamorphic rock), is found in Aningeje Town along Oban Road in Akamkpa LGA, 25 km north of Calabar. It is an extension of the Kwa River. The Agbokim Waterfalls is also found in Cross River State in Etung LGA very close to the border with Cameroon. The waterfalls are located about 320 km from Calabar and 15 km from Ikom. It has seven drops, with the longest drop 75 m (Adeyemi, 2016). Afi Mountain is one of the mountains in Cross River State, with an altitude of 1300 m, and on it is the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary established



The Geography of Akwa-Cross 41

in 2000 to provide protection to important populations of some endangered species such as the Cross River gorilla, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, and the drill and the grey-necked rockfowl (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). This sanctuary covers an area of 104 km.2 Rising to topographic heights of 900 m, the Mbe Mountains are located in Cross River State where covering an area of about 85 km2. These mountains are a stronghold for the very endangered Cross River gorilla (Gorilla, gorilla diehli), and others (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). The Oban Hills form a range of hills in Cross River State and are found within the Oban Hills Division of the Cross River National Park. These hills rise from about 100 m in river valleys to over 1,000 m on their tops (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). This is another tourist attraction in the State. Apart from where the hard rocks form beautiful landscapes in Cross River State, the limestone and marl also stand out as hills. For example, at New Netim (on the Calabar-Ikom Road), the New Netim Marl forms a massive outcrop which develops into caves. Caves could also be good tourist attractions. Some of the rocks that form the landscape in the state have cultural value as they form shrines for traditional worship. Moreover, all the minerals discussed are housed in these rocks. Granites and other hard rocks from these outcrops, which in most cases stand out as hills, are crushed into chippings for building of roads and houses. Hence, quarries are ubiquitous in the State. Akamkpa alone has thirty-six quarries, with ten not functional. Julius Berger, Arab Contractors, RCC, Sermatech, Xin-Xin and Expanded Mining are the biggest Companies in the quarrying business in Akamkpa. Other quarrying sites include the old Netim quarry near Okom Ita, Abini Quarry, and Ohana Quarry. All these mining activities are made possible because the rocks outcrop on the surface. The heterogeneous geology of the state, the mining sites, and the various rock types also make Cross River State an attractive place for geological field work. Geologists are able to see and describe the various rock types in the following areas. The Calabar Flank Some interesting mapping sites for geologists in the Calabar Flank are: 1.  the Nkporo Shales are exposed along Calabar-Itu Road at km 36–40, and 0.5 km south of Odukpani Village (Nyong, 1995).

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2.  the New Netim Marl along Calabar-Ikom Road, close to the entrance into the New Netim Community. 3.  the Mfamosing Limestone at about 25 km from Calabar along CalabarIkom Highway. 4.  the Awi Formation, which lies unconformably on the basement. The sediment basement contact can also be seen around 26 km from Calabar Town. All these sedimentary rocks are within the Calabar Flank, a term proposed by Murat (1972) for the section of the Southern Nigeria sedimentary basin characterized by crustal block faults trending in a NW-SE direction. The Oban Massif After Calabar Flank, is the Oban Massif. This Precambrian basement complex area occupies an area of about 10,000 km2 and is made up of metamorphic rocks like phyllites, schists, gneisses, and amphibolites, which are intruded by pegmatites, granites, granodiorites, diorites, tonalities, monzonites, and dolerites (Ekweme, 1995). Important locations are: 1.  Kwa Falls, in Aningeje Town along Oban Road in Akamkpa LGA, 25 km north of Calabar. 2.  The granodiorites at Igbofia, along Calabar-Ikom Highway in Akamkpa LGA. Most outcrops of the granodiorite are exfoliated. This is where tourmaline minerals can be found. The Mamfe Embayment The next geological terrain after the Oban Massif is the Mamfe Embayment (Fig .8). This is a sedimentary terrain where rocks like arkosic sandstones, marl, sandy limestone, and shale can be seen (Reyment, 1965). Important geological stops here include: 1.  Abini Quarry, where highly bioturbated calcareous sandstone outcrops. 2.  Ohana quarry, where shale facies of Ezillo Formation (Petters, 1995) are found. 3.  Paralic facies of this formation at 30 and 36 km to Ikom from Calabar 4.  Mamfe Formation, located at about 28 km to Ikom to see fluvial facies of this formation.



The Geography of Akwa-Cross 43

The Obudu Plateau Beyond the Mamfe Embayment is the last geological terrain of Akwa-Cross, the Obudu Plateau. It is again a basement complex area where hard rocks outcrop. Ocean and Rivers The Atlantic Ocean is where the rivers that drain Akwa-Cross empty into the southern parts of Cross River State in Calabar, and southern Akwa Ibom in Ibeno, Ikot Abasi, and Oron. The major rivers that drain Akwa Ibom State include Kwa Ibo, Imo, and Cross Rivers. The Imo and Cross Rivers flow along the eastern and western borders of Akwa Ibom, while the Kwa Ibo River bisects the state before flowing into the Bight of Bonny, where it eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Akwa Ibom State derives its name from the Kwa Ibo River. At the southeastern corner of the state is the Stubb Creek, where we have the Stubb Creek Forest, a heavily threatened wildlife reserve with declining crocodile, putty-nosed monkey, red-capped mangabey, and Sclater’s guenon populations and potentially extirpated populations of African leopard and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Akpan-Nsoh, 2018, Eniang et al.; 2016, Baker, 2012; and Ogar, Asak, and Umanah, 2016). In Cross River State, the Cross River bisects the state’s interior before much of the western border and flows into the Cross River Estuary. Two major rivers drain the areas around Calabar, the Great Kwa River and the Cross River. The eastern part of Calabar is drained by the Great Kwa River, which falls from Oban Hills between Mfamosing and Oban at Aningeye (Ekwueme, 1995). These two rivers empty into the Cross River Estuary also, and finally into the Atlantic. The Atlantic Ocean and the rivers in Akwa-Cross are very significant features. The Ibeno beach in Akwa Ibom State, for example, which is located on the shorelines of Ibeno by the Atlantic is the longest shoreline in West Africa, about 45 km (Adeyemi, 2016), and a beautiful tourist attraction. Oron beach is another great site to visit. On the Calabar River (Cross River) is a business and leisure resort, the Tinapa Resort (Fig. 9), located north of Calabar Municipality and associated with the Calabar Free Trade Zone. From the eighteenth to nineteenth century, this river was a slave-catching outpost.

Godwin Jeremiah Udom

44

Table 2.1.  Biophysical Data of Lakes in Cross River State According to Their Sizes Lake Akae-bob Tooka Ebien Egwebe

Wobie Refome

Ejagham Ochako

Location

Area

Vegetation

Aquatic/wildlife

N05.759040° E007.964578° N05.69785° E007.97972° N05.69820° E007.98013° N05.733680° E007.96658°

40 km2

elephant grass

catfish, tilapia

7 km2

elephant grass

catfish, tilapia

30 km2

elephant grass

catfish

900 km2

rainforest

N05.75633° E007.96412° N05.824408° E007.95002°

5 km2

elephant grass

crocodiles, catfish, tilapia tilapia

1,000 km2

nippa palm

N05.921190° E008.87395° N06.807018° E008.792933°

250 km2

raffia

10 km2

savanna forest

monkeys, catfish (guenon) only tilapia tilapia and catfish

Source: Oba et al., 2018.

Lakes Lakes are another topographic feature of interest that could be developed into tourist sites in Akwa-Cross. Oba et al. (2018) identified and studied eight lakes in the state. The biophysical data of these lakes according to their sizes and shapes is displayed below respectively. As expressed by Oba et al. (2018), about 60 percent of the studied lakes are in Biase LGA. The deepest, Wobie Lake, is also in this LGA. The vegetation type and wildlife in each of the lakes is shown in Table 2.1.

Table 2.2.  Biophysical Data of Lakes in Cross River State According to Their Depth Lake Akae-bob Tooka Ebien Wobie Refome Ejagham Ochako

Settlement Ibini (Biase LGA) Etana (Biase LGA) Abanwam (Biase LGA) Urugban (Biase LGA) Ebom (Abi LGA) Abia (Etung LGA) Ekprinyi (Yala LGA)

Source: Oba et al., 2018

Depth 26 59 47 28 63 31 44

m m m m m m m



The Geography of Akwa-Cross 45

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION Climate Akwa-Cross is marked by a tropical climate with variable rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season begins in March and ends in October, while the dry season begins in November and ends in February, with a short interruption (a period of little or no rain) in August referred to as “August Break.” Annual precipitation is about 2,000 to 3,000 mm. However, the current climate change phenomenon has impacted much on this calendar. In Akwa Ibom, the following climatic data have been given: Hottest month: January (84°F or 29°C) Coldest month: August (78°F or 26°C) Wettest month: October (9.6” or 232.7 mm) Windiest month: July (5 mph or 8 km/h)—(AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). Temperature range is from 26°C to 29°C. Relative humidity, which is mostly higher at night, could be as high as 80 percent. Humidity has a maximum in July, and a minimum in January. Evaporation is high, and ranges from 1,500 to 1,800 mm (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022). It should be noted that in the Coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, rain falls almost all year round. In Cross River State, average temperature of 15°C–30°C, and rainfall of 1,300–3,000 mm (Historyville, 2018; Cross River Hub, 2022; Cross River State Government, 2022). The State is divided into two climatic regions as follows: 1.  The moderated sub-temperate within the high plateau of Obudu where the temperature is lower (as experienced in Jos, Adamawa, and Mambilla Plateau) than the regions around. 2.  The hot, wet tropical climate that extends from the southern lowlands to the central and northern hinterland parts. Vegetation The climatic conditions in Akwa-Cross (high rainfall and humidity) are a Tropical Rainforest type. The green foliage of trees and shrubs dominate this region, except in cities where the vegetation type has been abused by developmental projects.

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In Akwa Ibom State, the vegetation makes up a major part of the nation’s Oil-palm belt (AKSG Online, 2012; Akwa Ibom State Government, 2022) which supplies much of the palm oil used in Nigeria. In addition, cocoa, rubber, cassava, banana, yam, plantain, maize, and timber, are planted. Both subsistence and estate farming are practiced. In rural areas, in particular, some of the agricultural products mentioned (plantain, banana, etc.) are planted in almost every compound. The vegetation type in Cross River State varies from Guinean forestsavanna mosaic in the far north to Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests in most interior parts to smaller ecoregions (the Central African mangroves) in the coastal south to the montane Cameroonian Highlands forests in the extreme northeast (Iloeje, 2004). In the forested interior of the state are the Cross River National Park, Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mbe Mountains Community Forest. The wildlife reserves of these biodiverse protected areas include populations of African forest buffalo, Preuss’s red colobus, tree pangolin, gray-necked rockfowl, bat hawk, and West African slender-snouted crocodile. Others are Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, drill, African forest elephant, and Cross River gorilla (Iloeje, 2004). REFERENCES Adeyemi, L. (2016). “Ibeno Beach—A Relaxation Spot for Tourists and Lovers of Water Sport.” The Guardian. https://guardian.ng/ibeno-beach-a-relaxation-spot -for-tourists-and-lovers-. Akpan-Nsoh, I. (2018). “Akwa Ibom Primates on Brink of Extinction.” The Guardian. https://guardian.ng/Akwa-ibom-primates-on-the-brink-of-extinction. AKSG Online. (2012). “Akwa Ibom State: Geography and Location.” https://www .aksgonline.com/about_geography.html. Allen, J. R. L. (1965). “Late Quaternary Niger Delta and Adjacent Areas-Sedimentary Environment and Lithofacies.” AAPG Bulletin (49), 547–600. Akwa Ibom State Government. (2022). “Akwa Ibom State History.” https://akwa ibomstate.gov.ng/about-akwa-ibom/. Baker, L. R. (2003). Report on a Survey of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve. https:// global.wcs.org. Cross River Hub. (2022). “Cross River State.” https://www.crossriverhub.com/about -cross-river-state/. Cross River State Government. (2022). “Cross River State.” https://crossriverstate .gov.ng/. Ekweme, B. N., E. E. Nyong, and S. W. Petters. (1995). “The Precambrian Geology of Oban Massif, Southeastern Nigeria.” In B. N. Ekweme (ed.), Geological Excursion Guidebook to Oban Massif, Calabar Flank, and Mamfe Embayment, Southeastern Nigeria (pp. 1–13). N.p: Dec Ford Publishers.



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Eniang, E. A., G. C. Akani, N. Amadi, D. Dend, G. Amori, and L. Luiselli. (2016). “Recent Distribution Data and Conservation Status of Leopard (Panthera pardus) in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.” Tropical Zoology 29(4), 173–83. Historyville. (2018). 25 “Interesting facts about Cross River State.” https://www .thehistoryville.com/cross-river-state-interesting-facts/. Murat, R. C. (1972). “Stratigraphy and Paleogeography of the Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary in Southern Nigeria.” In T. F. J. Dessauvagie and A. J. Whiteman (eds.), African Geology (pp. 251–66). Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press. Nyong, E.E. (1995). “Cretaceous Sediments in the Calabar Flank.” In B. N. Ekwueme, E. E. Nyong, and S. W. Petters (eds.), Geological Excursion Guidebook to Oban Massif, Calabar Flank and Mamfe Embayment, South Eastern Nigeria (pp. 14–25). N.p.: Dec Ford Publishers. Oba, D. O. P. O. Itu, and E. I. Ntuyang. (2018). “Assessment of Lakes as Ecotourism Potentials in Cross River State, South Nigeria.” Internal Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research 10(7), 1750–57. Ogar, D. A., S. A. Asak, and I. E. Umanah. (2016). “Forest Cover Change in Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.” Applied Tropical Agriculture, 21(1), 183–89. Petters, S. W. (1995). “South-Eastern Benue Trough and Ikom-Mamfe Embayment.” In B. N. Ekweme, E. E. Nyong and S. W. Petters (eds.), Geological Excursion Guidebook to Oban Massif, Calabar Flank and Mamfe Embayment, South Eastern Nigeria (pp. 26–36). N.p.: Dec Ford Publishers. Read, H. H. (1976). Rutley’s Elements of Mineralogy (26th ed.). London: Thomas Murby & Co. Reyment, R. A. (1965). Aspects of Geology of Nigeria. Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press. Short, K. C., and A. J. Stauble. (1965). “Outline of the Geology of the Niger Delta.” AAPG Bulletin, 51, 761–69.

Chapter Three

Indigenous Communication in the Akwa-Cross Region (1800–2000) Des Wilson

INTRODUCTION Communication is one of man’s natural endowments, which has evolved from the earliest form of human speech. The primacy of speech among human communication skills is often seen from both archaeological and religious perspectives. Man is reported to have begun to use speech from about 100,000 years BCE, while symbols are said to have been developed at about 30,000 years ago (Miyagawa, Ojima, Berwick, and Okanoya, 2014). Biblical and Quranic sources point to the first recorded dialogue among the Trinity especially as recorded by Moses in the book of Genesis in the Bible. The world was said to have been proclaimed into existence by God when God turned a dark formless void into what became our world. Moses, though not a witness, reported this event as was revealed to him through God’s inspiration. “Let there be light” is a powerful response by God as part of the efforts to make a “formless void” into the world we know today even though there is no evidence as to the “language” used by God. Nobody knows the language spoken by God. Today there is a light-hearted banter among some nationalities over what language God spoke including the conversation in the Garden of Eden. The Jews claim He spoke Hebrew, but Adam and Eve were a couple that lived in a garden that was not in Jewish land. The French think God spoke the most elegant French, while the English claim it was impeccable English, the Arabs think it was Arabic and in Africa various ethnicities also claim God spoke their various languages. Whatever the language was, we know that the most instrumental use of language is to communicate. Scholars claimed earlier that communication revolved around four communication skills, namely, speech, writing (productive skills), listening, and reading (receptive skills). The modern world has thrown up additional communication skills that are 49

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products of modern information and communication technology. These are visual re-presentation and visual literacy. We can add a communication skill usually regarded as latent—communication without words or nonverbal communication. But whether we believe archaeological findings which are traceable to human remains and artifacts or biblical accounts or other religious accounts that point to creation, what is important is that the above skills cut across several regions of the world. So it becomes clear that human communication began when man came into being. The communication within the Triune God—that is, among the three persons—cannot be correctly classified as human communication but rather a divine communication. It was human communication certainly when man lived as an individual or with his partner. It is unfortunate that we cannot at this point really decipher what was the earliest form of communication outside the scriptures. If Moses had reported that Adam was put in the garden more than four million years ago, no one would have understood him because their numeracy at the time enabled them to count just a few thousands and those who stated higher figures merely exaggerated it! Those who claim a conflict in timing and dates between religion and science are mistaken because even the Bible states that a thousand years are just like a day in the eyes of the Lord. The Koran gives a similar account of the origin of man. The creationists, given the better understanding that we have today, do not necessarily contradict scientific evidence because of the vision of the world we have today. We have stated that language was meant primarily for communication, and it was so. The Catholic Bible, the African Bible (1999) defines communication as an act or instance of transmitting; communicating information; a verbal or written message; a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. COMMUNICATION IN PRECOLONIAL NIGERIA Various Nigerian communities had been communicating among themselves long before the arrival of the early explorers and adventurers who eventually became the agents of the colonial masters. They had used various channels and media of communication since the beginning of time, just as other groups around the world as they migrated from one region to the other. There is no culture that owns communication as a human skill, but we can speak of some nations producing machines that have facilitated the ease of verbal, and sometimes nonverbal communication. The Akwa-Cross Region, known in colonial times as Old Calabar Province, comprises the present states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River, which were together administered as one state from 1967

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Table 3.1.  Modes of Indigenous Nigerian Communication Media S/No

Mode of Communication

1.

Instrumental

2.

Demonstrative

3.

Iconographic

4.

Extramundane

5.

Visual

6.

Institutional

Media/Channels Used Idiophones—wooden drum, metal gong ritual rattle, woodblock etc. Membranophones—skin drum Aerophones—whistle, ivory horn, reed pipes, etc. Symbolography—bamboo rind, Nsibidi, tattoo, chalk marks Music—songs, choral/entertainment music, dirge, elegy, ballad Signal—cannon shots, gunshots, whistle call, camp fire. Objectics—charcoal, kola nut, White clay, egg, beads, flag. Floral—fresh palm frond, plantain stems Incantatory—ritual, libation, vision, prayer Graphic—obituary, in memoriam Color—white cloth, red cloth, yellow, etc. Appearance—dressing, hair style, body language. Social—marriage, chieftaincy, festival spiritual—shrine, masquerade.

Source: Author generated, 2015, p. 37.

to 1987. They were all previously administered as part of Eastern Nigeria (or Eastern Region) with headquarters in Enugu. But the Old Calabar Province had its cultural, political, linguistic, and spiritual headquarters in Calabar. Efik was spoken as the predominant language outside the English language; it was the de facto official language of business, religion, culture, and politics. For centuries, the people in the area had lived together, traded together, intermarried and communicated among themselves in various ways to address their social, cultural, and economic needs. The ethnicities in this region included the Efik, Ibibio, Anang, Ejagham, Bekwara, Ekid, Oro, Yakur, and many other smaller groups that inhabit the coastal littoral of the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. Through these groups and languages the people exchanged culture, messages, and articles of trade. EARLY COMMUNICATION AKWA-CROSS We know that in every human community, communication has been the engine that has driven its activities. From caveman to the city executive, communication in all its forms has contributed immeasurably to the growth of human societies. In 1978, Collin Cherry developed a typology of the

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development of communication technology worldwide. I borrowed this model in my work in 2015 when I presented a model of the stages of growth and development of communication media and channels in the Akwa-Cross region in which I distinguished between traditional media that are indigenous to Africa and modern media that are mainly technology-based (See Fig. 1 below, Wilson, 2015, p. 43). Before this time, I had developed a taxonomy of the modes of communication in traditional society.

Figure 3.1.  Stages of Growth and Development of Communication Media. Author created

Indigenous Communication in Akwa-Cross 53



This led to the development of a table (table 3.1) in which the indigenous modes of communication used in the Old Calabar area, were classified into six modes, namely, Instrumental, Demonstrative, Iconographic, Extramundane, Visual, and Institutional. This classification tried to capture the essence of indigenous communication in all its ramifications. Furthermore, the study, which was earlier conducted in the 1980s, also structured formal and informal channels of communication into nine groups. These were seen as groups that formed the bases of formal and informal communication relationships in Akwa Ibom and Cross River Societies. These groups were (i) economic interest groups, (ii) political interest groups (iii) voluntary organizations (iv) educational institutions (v) social clubs/groups (vi) spiritual/religious groups (vii) social class groups (viii) recreational clubs and (ix) cultural groups. They represent the various dynamic groups that every human society has formed for various purposes. They go by different names in other countries of the world. These groups are used to conduct transactions in their specialized areas of interest. In the process, they employ the tools of communication to achieve these and other interests including information-sharing. It would be injurious to logic to declare them moribund today because of new technologies. Table 3.2.  Formal and Informal Channels of Communication in Akwa Ibom S/NO

Formal and Informal Channels

1.

Economic Interest Groups

2.

Political Interest Groups Voluntary Organizations

3.

4. 5.

Educational Institutions Social Clubs

6.

Spiritual Groups

7.

Social Class Groups Recreational Clubs Cultural Groups

8. 9.

Source: Author generated.

Channel Type Used markets, trade fairs, bazaars, cooperative societies, Esusu, traders associations, trade groups, development unions, chambers of commerce. village/town unions, ethnic unions, political parties, youth vanguards, solidarity movements. Rotary, Lions, Innerwheel, Lioness, Zonta International, Nka Nkaiso, Nka Ikemesit, Environmental Rights Action, Friends of the Needy, Friends of the Earth. schools, museums, libraries, cultural centers, art galleries, television viewing Centers. drinking clubs, fan clubs, television viewers associations, staff clubs, uyo club. churches, mosques, shrines, AMORC, bethels, temples, lodges, witchcraft societies, cults. men-only clubs, women-only clubs, age grades, professional/ labor groups (e.g., ASUU). Uyo Sports Club, Eket Tennis Club, sports supporters clubs, sports festivals, sport arenas. masquerade groups (Ekpo, Ekpe, Akata, etc.) choral groups, Ekid People’s Union, marriage ceremonies, cultural festivals, traveling theatres, religious rituals, etc.

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For example, the product guilds in the market under the bigger umbrella of the economic interest group and operating as market women associations for all the products determine the supply of goods, regulate their prices, discuss measures they can employ to meet new trade or mercantile policies of government, and interact with other groups to ensure the success of their measures. On a daily basis they operate like the modern stock market regulating the rise and fall in prices of goods, which do not necessarily depend on availability but on the shifting interests of the members of the product guilds, which increase or decrease the supply of products so as to ensure they maintain a certain price regime. This style or practice is adopted by all the other product guilds as well as other groups that are organized to address specific group interests. THE ARRIVAL OF THE MODERN MEDIA The modern media of communication, which we know today as traditional media because they have been with us for at least five hundred years if we take the invention of the mechanical press in the fifteenth century as our beginning for the modern print media, not minding the fact that the wooden printery earlier existed in many cultures such as Korea, China, the Middle East, and Africa. Guttenberg’s printing press is said to have been invented in 1440, about four hundred years before the technology got to Calabar in Nigeria in 1846. It is a well-known fact that the invention of movable type by Guttenberg and his partners in Mainz, Germany, led to the rapid spread of education in Europe and around the world. When the first printing press was set up in Calabar by Rev. Samuel Edgerly, it was the trigger to several school and church-based publications that enabled many in the area and neighboring states to be exposed to education. Omu (1978, p. viii) describes the arrival of the newspaper press as an experience made possible by “certain non-African philanthropic interests” that were buoyed by the selfless sacrifice of religious evangelists and zealots. These interests had as their primary aim the desire “to increase the level of literacy.” A parallel development thirteen years later brought another clergyman, Rev. William Townsend to Abeokuta where the Anglican cleric established the first newspaper in 1859. In many commentaries, some researchers have tended to take this year as the year the print medium got into Nigeria. This mistaken motion was largely due to the fact that the newspaper press became more popular in the eyes of the reading public because of the greater drudgery involved in reading books as texts for academic purposes rather than for news, information, and recreation.



Indigenous Communication in Akwa-Cross 55

Rev. Edgerly and Hope Waddell’s printing facility printed largely, religious books and story books even though it also printed in an Efik magazine, Obukpon Efik, which took its title from the indigenous aerophone (obukpon) used in getting the attention of the audience before the news is narrowcast or made known to the public. This publication, unlike Townsend’s Iwe Irohin, did not survive for a long time, apparently because the people were more desirous to read in the language of their new awareness and education. R. H. Carnie (1973) refers to Edgerly as the “Printer in Calabar, 1846–1857,” which clearly shows that Rev. Edgerly started printing before Rev Townsend. The Calabar Press was established jointly by Hope Waddell and Samuel Edgerly, who was the former’s assistant. But later, in the hands of Nigerians, the newspaper became a powerful tool for anti-colonial campaigns. The first Presbyterian newspaper, Unwana Efik, was published in 1885 alongside Obukpon Efik. In 1902 the Old Calabar Observer came out after the demise of the two earlier publications and survived for another two years. The Observer was an English-language newspaper. In 1914, the Aurora, edited by W. Culson Labor, was published. Labor also launched Dawn, another newspaper from his stable, while in 1935 J. V. Clinton published the Nigerian Eastern Mail. M. T. Oduntor Nottidge came out with the West African Advertiser (1935– 1942). The Roman Catholic Mission would not be left out, as they also published in 1936, Catholic Life, and the Ibibio State Union, Ibibio Magazine. In 1950, Dr. Udo Udoma started the publication of the Eastern States Express in Aba under the Ikemesit Publishing Company. Though it was published from his business office in Aba, it was essentially an Akwa-Cross newspaper which was published outside the area and was used to fight issues germane to the interest of the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers people under the COR State movement. Other newspapers sprang up during the period and they included, The Nigerian Freedom, (Calabar, 1951). Nigerian Daily Standard (Calabar, 1953), Chronicle (Opobo, 1955), and COR Advocate (Uyo, 1958), One distinctive characteristic of these publications was their deep involvement in yellow journalism. The Nigerian Monitor (Uyo, 1960) was clearly characterized then as “almost all that a newspaper should not be.” It was a pro-NCNC organ that was set up to counter the COR Advocate and did nothing memorable. Interestingly, the print media came into the Akwa-Cross area through private and religious interests partly because the colonial masters saw them as partners in their effort to make the people more malleable and easier to rule even though difficult to suppress.

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BROADCASTING IN AKWA-CROSS Broadcasting came into the Akwa-Cross area through the Radio Distribution Service (RDS) in Calabar which was a relay service station for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. The Calabar RDS was established at the same time as those in Kano, Abeokunta, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, and Ijebu Ode. As a cable service, it distributed the programs of the BBC. The RDS was established in 1947. The British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Service was essentially set up to provide a source of news and information for the settler population in the colonies. In the words of Peter Golding (1979, p. 294) it was a “service to the settler communities, to provide them with news from home, to reaffirm their authority, and to sustain cultural links with the imperial centre.” Golding further notes, the colonial Plymouth Committee report on British broadcasting policy points to the “imperial anthropology and cultural ethnocentrism” and that this “lay behind broadcasting plans of the time.” This view was stressed more crudely by Turner and Byron (1949, p. 25) when they said: “The average African’s power of concentration over long periods is limited . . . The African likes short plays of the thriller types but not the long-drawn-out serial play . . . The more educated African likes a quiz in English and similar types of programmes.” This of course, was a racist slant to that report because we find that white people like short episodes of programs rather than long ones while Black people prefer long performances. Radio services, started under the RDS in 1947, metamorphosed to a Provincial Broadcasting Centre in 1959 and to a Provincial Broadcasting House (PBH), and at state creation in 1967, these PBHs were immediately elevated to the full status of Broadcasting Houses. The Old Calabar Area known in this article as Akwa-Cross has today given birth to numerous radio stations in the two capitals of Calabar and Uyo. Cross River State has at least eight radio stations, namely CRBC, Ikom; Sparkling FM, Calabar; Cross River Radio; FAD FM, Calabar; Hit FM, Calabar; Correct FM, Calabar; Canaan City FM, Calabar; and CRBC Paradise FM, Calabar. Akw Ibom alone has its fair share of these stations, Redemption FM, Abak; AKBC, FM, Heritage FM, Eket; Gospel Revolution, Uyo; Planet FM, Uyo; Comfort FM; Passion FM; Mixx FM, Inspiration FM, Uniuyo FM, Atlantic FM, Xcel FM, and Atlantic FM.



Indigenous Communication in Akwa-Cross 57

TELEVISION BROADCASTING Television broadcasting is one of the newest of the modern mass media in the Akwa-Cross area given the fact that it became available in the late 1970s. Those who owned television sets were able to receive signals from the television station at Aba in the early 1970s since the Aba Station was the station used by the secessionist Biafra as its television arm during the civil war. However, the equipment for the Calabar station had been ordered by the South-Eastern government under late Brigadier General U. J. Esuene before it was overthrown in a military coup d’état in July 1975. In 1983, the Cross River State government set up the Cross River Television Channel 45 UHF in Uyo, while allowing the federal government to continue to control the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) station in Calabar, Channel 12 VHF. This was after the first television service started in Nigeria in Ibadan in 1959. However, the first cinema east of the Niger was opened by Patrick Solomon, a naturalized Nigerian of Middle-Eastern origin on Easter Monday in 1939 and was the second-oldest in the country. In the middle 1940s the National Cinema was also founded in Calabar. In the 1980s new cinema halls were opened in some prominent hotels in Calabar, thus increasing the number of places where films could be viewed. The cinema was thus a largely urban phenomenon with viewing places established in Uyo (Anwana Abasi), IK Playhouse (Ikot Ekpene), and the now defunct Qua River Hotels (Eket). This past time has since fallen into bad times. None of the three cinemas in Akwa Ibom exists anymore. Moviegoing died a natural death when security challenges in the 1990s led to the closure of all of them. Cinema-going culture resurfaced in the middle half of the second decade of the present century when a private concern, Silver-Bird Cinemas opened a viewing center at the Tropicana facility in Uyo. That is the only known functional cinema in Akwa Ibom today. The films exhibited in cinemas have always been predominantly foreign—American, Indian, European, Chinese, and recently Nigerian films which are largely available in the video format. Only recently have the films been made for the big screen even though the Nigerian film industry, vaguely referred to as Nollywood, in the manner of Hollywood, the third-largest film industry in the world, has made some inroads into the international film market. In recent times, the debate has been on the quality of production and the content of Nigerian movies, which tend to portray Nigerians as fetishistic and dishonest. This has led to a reexamination of the quality of the production and skills of the performers and the movie makers. There is a new effort at remaking the image of the Nigerian film industry. It is being rebranded, as some of the exaggerated actions were amateurish and childish.

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INTERNET AND ICT IN AKWA-CROSS In 1989, the first internet provider companies came on board to offer the public in the United States and Australia direct access to its services. At present, there are ten internet service providers (ISPs) in Cross River State. There are also ten ISPs in Uyo Akwa Ibom State offering a variety of services from internet or cyber cafes to radio, banking, webinars, etcetera. There is today no part of these states that does not have access to internet services except in very remote sections where the Global System of Mobile (GSM) communication network is not available. Farmers, traders, public servants, and other categories of workers use it for communicating with one another in a minuteby-minute interaction twenty-four hours a day. Computer services have made the internet look magical to the ordinary citizen since almost everything imaginable is available in this virtual world. COMMUNICATION TODAY AND TOMORROW The shape of communication tomorrow has been defined today by speed, variability, availability, credibility, and cost. People will continue to seek to communicate at a greater speed with one another, and the sources for doing this will continue to vary. The instruments for achieving this will also continue to depend on availability. Credibility will also count when the content of messages is evaluated. Messages that lack veracity and sources that lack credibility will continue to be treated with disdain and suspicion. The cost of all this will also determine how widespread the technology will spread. The problem with African communication systems today, especially those who have abandoned the obligation to think for themselves, is that they do not know how the modern systems can be woven into the traditional system or vice versa. All they seem to think of is an abandonment of the traditional and a wholesale adoption of the modern system. Thus the indigenous systems used in the Akwa-Cross area can be engaged in a dynamic relationship with the traditional Western mass media, the new media and other information and communication technologies to ensure an effective communication system for the world. This process has been captured in Wilson’s survey (1988, p. 427). In this way we would be engaging in what Wilson (2015, p. 74) called the “villagisation of the media” as a counterpoint to the globalization of the media under the “global village” concept. There is a great future for both the indigenous media of the Akwa-Cross area and the multifarious devices that have been developed in recent times to promote human communication. But



Indigenous Communication in Akwa-Cross 59

Figure 3.2.  Trado-Modern Communication Wilson, 2015, p.54. Author created

the bald truth is that in spite of the numerous communication technologies around us, the most powerful sources for human communication are the indigenous ones, which are interpersonal in nature and operations. CONCLUSION There is no doubt that indigenous communication in the Akwa-Cross area has contributed immensely to the human communication traffic that goes on in the area. As Gusfield (1967) has noted, no new medium replaces an old one even though it can replace some of its functions. The new media today have not and are incapable of replacing the old ones but are capable of supporting and providing new functions for the indigenous ones. Media prognostications have always pointed to the replacement of old media by new technologies, but this has not happened. It is believed that indigenous media and channels will continue to be relevant and protected because of the invaluable roles they play in societies where they are given prominence. REFERENCES African Bible. (1999). Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa. Carnie, R. H. (1973). “Studies in Bibliography.” Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia 26, 265–70. https://www.jstor.org/Stable/40371583. Cherry, Collin. (1978). World Communications: Threat or Promise. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Press. Golding, Peter (1979). “Media Professionalism in the Third World: The Transfer of an Ideology.” In James Curran, Michael Gurevitch, and Janet Woollacott (eds.), Mass Communication and Society. London: Edward Arnold. Gusfield, J. R. (1967). “Tradition and Modernity: Misplaced Polarities in the Study of Social Change.” American Journal of Sociology 72(4), 351–62.

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Miyagawa, Shigeru, Shiro Ojima, Robert G. Barwick, and Kazruo Okanoya. (2014). “The Integration Hypothesis of Human Language Evolution and the Nature of Contemporary Language.” Frontiers in Psychology 5(564). doi:10.3389/f psyg . 2014 00564. ISSN1664-1078. Omu, Fred I. (1978). Press and Politics in Nigeria (1880–1937). London: Longman. Turner, L. W., and F. A. W. Byron. (1949). Broadcasting Survey of the British West Africa Colonies. London: Crown Agents. Wilson, D. (1988). “A Survey of Traditional-Modern Communication Systems in Old Calabar (1846–1986).” PhD thesis University of Ibadan. Wilson, D. (2015). “Ethnocommunicology Trado-Modern Communication and Mediamorphosis in Nigeria.” 44th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Uyo. University of Uyo Press Ltd.

Chapter Four

Religion in Akwa-Cross Societies Ahaziah Umanah

INTRODUCTION With colonization, peoples of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States have been viewed as mainly Christians. Before colonization, we were seen to have been peoples without religious beliefs and practices. When we were seen as having had religious faiths and practices, these were looked upon as heathenic or paganistic. I am, therefore, situating this discourse on Akwa-Cross religion within the contexts of universal religious beliefs and theories. This chapter situates Akwa-Cross religious beliefs and practices within the universe of acceptable religions and religious practices. ORIGINS OF RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS From our studies in cultural communications, religions, metaphysics, psychology, sociology, philosophy and history, there are four theoretical and philosophical schools of thought concerning the origins of religion and religious life and living in every human society (Tillich, 1957). These are: • • • •

the psychogenic origin of religion the sociogenic origin of religion the mythological origin of religion the transcendental origin of religion

I shall now examine these origins of religion within the contexts of AkwaCross belief patterns. in the psychogenic origin of religion, religion is seen purely from the anthropocentric point of view. Religion is, therefore, seen 61

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as originating from man himself (Wilson, 1958). The most outstanding proponents of this view of religion are Sigmund Freud and Ludwig Feuerbach. According to Freud, religious beliefs and practices are consequences of man’s emotional needs for authority and protection. The need of the human child for security has a rebirth, as adults crave a religious personality (Campbell, 1964). Thus, religion is a way through which man, by utilizing intricately disguised childhood psychic models and mechanisms, seeks to remedy the threatening situations he encounters in everyday life (Durkheim, 1915). The holy powers of religious traditions are merely objects of wish fulfillment, different from personal fantasies to the extent that religious illusions are publicly shared (Otto, 1950). Religious wishes and expectations are, for Freud, illusions that have become social phenomena but are manifest dreams of the insecure childlike psyche that has developed neither enough knowledge nor courage to live in an alien and different environment. Religious beliefs are, therefore, entirely human, providing inadequate and meaningless answers to the fundamental problems of man’s existential conditions. Ludwig Feuerbach, on the other hand, believes that religion is an “objectification” of the most primitive needs of man, that all contents of religion and religious beliefs are grounded in human nature (Feuerbach, 1854). Indeed, a man knows himself first in his existence as projected outside of himself into a religious reality. Only after encountering his own objectification as a religious reality is he then able to discover and know and discover his inner human nature (Suzuki, 1956). For Feuerbach, Religion is the history of man’s continuous discovery and uncovering of himself, through the mediation of the holy other. For Freud, religion is a process of wish fulfillment while for Feuerbach, religion is the projection of human nature. Through religion and religious beliefs, man is able to rob the universe of its terrors (Temple, 1934). Thus, within the context of Akwa-Cross Religion and religious beliefs, Afia Ifot (the white witch) liberates; while obubit ifot (black witch) kills. Both forces are supernatural. Within the context of Christianity, God saves; Satan imprisons and kills. Both are supernatural. In Akwa-Cross, with religion, God or the gods communicate and retain their three-fold tasks: (1) they exorcize the terrors of nature; (2) they reconcile man to the cruelty of fate, especially as shown and determined by death; (3) they compensate man for the sufferings and deprivations that civilized life has imposed upon humanity. Man’s desire for conflict-free contexts of social existence gets communicated by religion and religious beliefs—utit afon idara; anyen mfon ase akut mfon. Ugwom iroko abod—nature is inherently good, and it is religion that can cleanse man from his evil nature. These religious beliefs and practices, in terms of AkwaCross religions and religious beliefs, were evidently manifested in their be-



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liefs and practices on fictive kinship. This belief and practice permitted one man to be made to acquire the physical and spiritual properties of another, through the processes of usin ukpong and usio ukpong. In the Western Christian philosophy, baptism enables man not only to follow Jesus Christ but to become one with Jesus Christ. In the Akwa-Cross religious context, the lion is a very powerful and ferocious animal. The person who has ukpong ekpe, if carefully fixed and all the rites and rituals are carefully consummated, that man will be as powerful as ekpe—the lion—because he possesses ukpong ekpe—the soul or spirit of the lion. This conceptualization of Akwa-Cross religious beliefs also falls within the contexts of the Feuerbachian conceptualization of religion as a projection of human nature. Often, we are asked, how do you know that God exists? A doctrinal answer is: I know because I believe. A communicative response is: I know God exists because I exist. If man denies the qualities of a being, he denies the existence of himself. A being without qualities is the being that cannot become the object of the human mind. Such a being is virtually nonexistent, where man deprives God of all perceptual qualities, God is nothing more than a negative being. So to the truly religious Akwa-Cross person, God is not a being without qualities because the Akwa-Cross person is a positive being with recognizable qualities. The theory that God cannot be defined and consequently cannot be objectified or known by man appears to be a product of modern unbelief, unknown to the early Akwa-Cross religious man. For the earliest Akwa-Cross man, knowing God was equivalent to knowing himself to be God as well. Knowing God is to expect blessedness and be blessed and not only for yourself to live and enjoy God’s blessing; this is the Akwa-Cross mantra, because we are a “community people,” meaning: we are communal in nature, and we share things among ourselves. For the AkwaCross people, not helping others becomes a state of disunity, of unhappiness and misery. So, for me as a contemporary Christian and believer in God, God is to me all that He is and all that He is in relation to me and my being. Higher beings cannot conceive of and believe in what they are not as opined by a scholar: Thou believest in love as a divine attribute because thou thyself lovest; thou believest that God is a wise, benevolent being because thou knowest nothing better in thyself than benevolence and wisdom; and thou believest that God exists, that therefore, he is a subject—whatever exists is a subject, whether it be defined as a substance, person, essence or otherwise—because thou thyself existed, are thyself a subject. Thou are a subject only in so far as thou art a human subject. (Frazier, 1969, p. 101)

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Thus, for the Akwa-Cross religious man and the Akwa-Cross religion, before the advent of modern Christianity, because he lives in a house, he builds Nduongo, erects Mfam—akong Akwa—a nonperishable totem and totemic shrine for the gods. Since humans seek roles and statuses for themselves, enjoy and seek ultimacy in fulfillment, appreciate roles and positions of social dignity rather than attributes of social savagery, God is generously granted the attribute of majesty. The religious sentiment of the Akwa-Cross people is the sentiment of supreme fitness—Obong mme mbong, Edidem mme ndidem, Uko ke ekong. God becomes the object of religion. Therefore, with the Akwa-Cross, God is a person—the Moral Lawgiver, the father of mankind, the Holy One, the Just, the Good, the Merciful. What he withdraws from himself, or lacks, what he renounces in himself, he is able to enjoy in an incomparably higher and fuller measure in God. Man as he relates to God denies his own knowledge, his thoughts, so as to place or attribute those to God. Man subsumes his personality in God the Almighty, the infinite, unlimited being—God. He denies his ego and looks at God as the egotistical being, who seeks only Himself always—His honour, His ends. Yet the Akwa-Cross man ascribes goodness to God because he is inherently capable of goodness. For if man’s heart is wicked, man’s understanding perverted, how can man then perceive and feel the holy to be holy, the good to be good? From what we have demonstrated above, the religious Akwa-Cross people project their being into objectivity and turn around to make themselves an object of their projected self-image, converting that image into a subject— God/god. They become an object of God. Since God is good, humanity must ultimately be good. Contemporary Akwa-Cross Christians project themselves through religion, whether in terms of their shortcomings or attributes. They provide ultimate rewards, punishments, and incentives, within the social context. They seek and admire justice, thus institutionalizing the same in the short run, in the courts, church, village or government established legal institutions, while religiously institutionalizing the same, in the long run, in heaven. The Akwa-Cross people, like all people, in their ordinary nature, adore the strong, the durable; deplore the weak and perishable. They desire and need strength. Therefore, prior to the advent of Christianity, the greatest of their totemic gods were ukpong ekpe (the spirit of the God of Lion); ukpong ukpa (the strength of the god of Iroko Tree); ukpong ekom (the strength of the walnut tree that ants and rodents cannot gnaw or destroy, even after it is dead). Thus, we can conclude that religion in Akwa-Cross, as was the case in other parts of the world, was and is still seen to be a matter of the projection of human nature.



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THE SOCIOGENIC ORIGIN OF RELIGION All contexts of human growth and development are found in social relationships and social institutions. The growth and progress of humanity and human society are contingent upon those forces that enable humanity to organize social interactions and relations in such a way that over-destructive and aggressive tendencies are checked, while at the same time attempting to enhance human cooperation, survival, gratification, and protection. These forces include culture, education, and religion. Divine providence may be seen as society viewed as sacred. Therefore, the power and strength of the divine originates from human society. Our religious rites and rituals emphasize and work to increase social cohesion and bondedness. Religious ceremonies and observances contribute to ensuring and enhancing the moral fiber of human societies and communities, including their sustainability and renewal. Religious traditions and practices thus become the foundations for the continuity of society. The origin of religion is, therefore, seen to come from society. Within the context of human social existence, society and its culture are supreme. Sentiments and requirements that society has for the individual, produce the sentiments and expectations that the individual has for himself. When the individual exists harmoniously with others in his epistemic community or larger society, he exists and acts more confidently, courageously and boldly. Such is the case with the religious believer who has or feels the regard of his God. Thus, almost all great social institutions have emanated from religion and religious beliefs. If religion has been responsible for all that is essential for the survival of society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion. Society does not create abstract molds or artificial molds. In creating molds, society gives ordinary existence to attributive existence. Totems are not ordinary sticks cut into shapes and nailed into place; churches, mosques, and nduongo not ordinary houses to be inhabited by men, but houses that men and God cohabit for the glory of God and solace of men, where men and God/gods commune physically and spiritually and achieve not only unification, but also realize physically and spiritually, the essence of personal, social, and transcendental existence. Altars are not just places where sacrifices are offered to appease and appeal to the gods, but institutions, contexts and places where humanity achieves actual unity with the deity. Shrines are the manifestation of the deus in his participatory rituals and ritualistic offering. When one recognizes that beyond the individual there is society and that society is not a nominal being created by reason but a system of active forces, a new manner of explaining human life in interactive and communicative existence, a new manner of explaining men and their interactional environment

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becomes possible through religion. Thus man—the communicating man— begins to know God as the communicating God: the “let there be” and the “let us make”—man/God. With the Annangs of the Akwa-Cross, the metaphor or proverb idehe nka iyong ade iyong, nagwa iyong ade anye, means the essence of soothsaying is not in consulting the soothsayer but in the rapport one establishes with the message’s essence through ritualistic participation and sacrificing. In Akwa-Cross, since the productive and reproductive existence of man, depends on the triangular social existence of man through marriage— Awasi ukod—and the reproductive capacities that only marriage or nuptial relationships can produce—Awasi ajejen—and the population explosion that comes from serial marriages and marriage relationships—Awasi Iman— religion in Annang has three deities as listed above, just as the modern Christian religion also recognizes one Deity in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. THE MYTHOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF RELIGION In all religions, there are mythic motifs, rituals, and practices. These mythic thoughts constitute traditional and constitutional religious beliefs and practices in Akwa-Cross and provide the essence of religious efficacy and fulfillment. In the Akwa-Cross traditional religion, we have such mythic motifs as itiat aruma (thunder stone); eben atidong (the mythic pear tree); mbok inyoon (the genetically abnormal yam with five fingers) that present mythical aura and implications. With itiat aruma, the myth of the anger of the gods is made manifest. With eben atidong, the belief in the myth of human miscegenation in the womenfolk is portrayed. Same is true with the harvesting of mbok inyoon, where a normal yam was planted. In this case, abnormal childbirth should be expected. To cleanse society of these impending myths of social ills, sacrifices and practices that ensure social/individual purifications are required. Such, in the Akwa-Cross religious contexts include Usio Ukpong—a religious ritual that guarantees the liberation of the suffering soul; Usin Ukang or Utie Ukang (the ritual purgation of self from accusations of committal of socially sanctionable acts/crimes; Uduk Inam (the initiation into priesthood of the highest order to ensure the existence of the initiate into a holy state of existence of a human being; Unim Okpong (a ritual of fictive kinship that ensures a telepathic transfer of the desired and desirable personal and social attributes and character, from a particular human being to another human being who is younger). In modern Christian mythologies we have such myths as the arc of the covenant; the mantle of Moses; the consecration of the body and blood of



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Jesus Christ as manifested in the Holy Communion; holy baptism for cleansing the human body and soul; the sacraments of confession and forgiveness of sin; Holy matrimony; confirmation and sanctification; all practiced by Akwa-Cross Christian believers and practitioners. Myths often involve symbols also—such as masks. In traditional Akwa-Cross religious observances mask festivals are revered and are experienced as veritable apparitions of the mythical being that it represents, even though everyone knows that a human being made the mask and that a human is wearing it. Notwithstanding, during the festivals involving the wearing of the masks, like when Obodom Enyong sounds or Eka Ekpo cries or the Akata makes pronouncements, all wearing masks, they are identified and regarded as gods—mythical gods, rather than humans. The actual fact that the apparition is made up of a person connoting a mythical being gets dismissed from the mind of the onlooker. Thus, there is a shift of view from the logic of the normal secular sphere, where there are distinctions between one thing and the other, to a theatrical or stage view, where things are accepted only from the point of view of experience—in the sphere of make-belief. More succinctly, placed with the Akwa-Cross religious experience, there is a belief in witches and witchcraft. Witches in Akwa-Cross are exemplified as follows: A pregnant woman who has carried her pregnancy almost to full term suddenly experiences that the pregnancy is no more, and if she is operated upon in the hospital, a dead lizard is found instead of a dead human fetus. In modern Christianity, robes that clergies wear are seen and accepted as mythical symbols. In the Roman Catholic Mass, the officiating priest, while consecrating the communion bread, says the following words in Latin, Hoc est enim corpus meum—this is my body. And then over the chalice that contains the wine that is to be consecrated into the blood of Christ, he pronounces Hic est enim calix sanguinis mai, novi et alterni Testament. Mysterium fidei iqui pro nobis et pro multis offunditur in remissionem peccatorum (For this is the Chalice of my Blood of the new and eternal testament: the mystery of faith which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins). It is to be believed that both the bread and wine have turned into the body and blood of Christ, after the elements have been consecrated by the priest—that every fragment of the host and every drop of the wine have become the body and blood of the actual Savior of the world—Jesus Christ (Billie, 1939). Finally, let us consider the myth behind closing our eyes during prayers. Would we have to believe that God exists only when our eyes are closed and disappears when our eyes are open? Could it have been a carryover from the mythical belief by Akwa-Cross people that when people die, they become ghosts and that you need to close your eyes at certain times when you reflect upon the dead so that you may not be frightened by their ghosts when they

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appear? A recent convert to Christianity in my own church was perplexed about the Christian practice of kneeling to pray to God, which traditional religious practitioners don’t do. He asked me in Annang Language—Nse ke Awasi aman ase akama nkongo efod afid anam?—What is the meaning and significance to God, of kneeling and bowing your head, so much so that your anus is pointed up and God answers your prayers miraculously as a result of such genuflection? His meditative concern was that before then, he had been sacrificing to his gods religiously without having children, but when he attended the prayers in my church and was only asked to prostrate humbly, pray as described above, he was rewarded with children. Prayer requires a special method of genuflection and special method of behaving. There is a myth that in praying with eyes closed you are able to perceive God. The myth of sacrificing involves the shedding of blood, whether in Christianity or Akwa-Cross religious practices. “The proper expression for our fallible mode of conception, would be that we imagine the world as if its being and inner character were derived from a supreme mind” (Frazier, 1969, p. 146). Mythology as a factor in Akwa-Cross religious beliefs and practices is similar to man’s conceptualization of mythology in the universe of religion. This is because man, by nature, is confounding—mythical. No man knows another man’s heart or thoughts, except as voluntarily or coercively expressed. What is unknown is unheard and hence belongs to the transcendental realm. As the Annangs of the Akwa-Cross would put it in their meta-communication context—“Ifiok ama ajanga agwo, ejak eno obot.” Myth belongs to God. Awasi ajanga agwo ifiok, agwo irionoke akere Awasi. God is an enigma. No one knows the thoughts and ways of God. THE TRANSCENDENTAL ORIGIN OF RELIGION Here the universal belief of religious practitioners is that religious truths are given or revealed to man from above or beyond. Religious truths intrude into the ways and thinking of mankind, revealing to him his inadequacies, his unavoidable limitations, while simultaneously manifesting to man the divine or transcendent realities, beyond human capabilities and capacities. Therefore, when mankind is confronted by the Holy Other, he becomes ecstatic, acquires numinous consciousness, thereby responding in worship and awe, thereby renewing his human existence. Within the Akwa-Cross traditional religious experience, when such situations occur, the transcendental experiences reduce the purely human ego or human self, causing the man to be possessed of powers that are beyond



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human capacity. He is able to forestall or forecast the future, as Abia Idiong; cause the human sinner to confess or reveal his hidden sins and misdeeds (bia ukang); or possess the capacity to see beyond the now—nsiak anyen—that is, the person possesses a third eye, or is able to empower the ordinary person and spiritually uplift him to live and act as God/gods—oku inam—the holy priest of the gods in Akwa-Cross traditional religion. Holiness, within the transcendental conceptualization of religion conjures the existence in the realm of the holy and the undefiled, the mysterious— either in holiness or in the possession of senses and manifestation of terror/ dread. An example of this in Efik mythology is what Mutanda and Ekpo Musufe experienced with Atim Okpoebot in Etok Idim Nsokemkpeting. Within the context of the transcendental, God/god is conceptualized as: a.  absolutely unapproachable—Holy God; Evil Satan; Ekpo Uruak Isong— the ghosts of the departed evil people and Ndem—a terrifying god that is very vengeful; b.  possessing abnormal powers that are mighty and overpowering; c.  being tremanda majestas—that is, awful majesties. In Akwa-Cross religious settings/culture, these beings are Ekpo, Ndem, Mbiam, and Ibok. They may be seen as having the powers to grant retributive justice, thereby punishing the evil and rewarding the righteous. Within contemporary Christian beliefs in Akwa-Cross, the following stories come into considerations: Moses and the burning leaves on the forest trees; Simon Peter’s vision; Joan of Arc’s vision; Florence Nightingale’s calling, Mary and her Immaculate Conception, the transformation of Saul to Paul; the conversion of Saul to Paul; and Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, etcetera. It might be said that with the world becoming more of a global community, we are beginning to be more accommodating with regard to religious beliefs. We now talk of ecumenism. We talk more about the secularization of religion than the making and enforcing of theocracies—contemporary Nigeria not included. The world, other than contemporary Nigeria, talks of Pacem in terris—Peace on earth; goodwill toward man (Billie, 1939). The universe of belief in the trinity of the Godhead—Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, finds reciprocal understanding in the trinity of relational Godhead existent in the Akwa-Cross religious beliefs—Awasi ukot, Awasi ajejen, and Awasi iman in Annang language. The religious world has become the world of communication of thought patterns of humanity.

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RELIGIONS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON EDUCATION IN AKWA-CROSS I want to bring this topic to a close by briefly highlighting how the Christian religion has contributed to the provision of education in the Akwa-Cross region, especially in the primary and secondary educational contexts. The Qua Iboe Church of Nigeria: Founded by an Irish Missionary, Rev. Samuel Alexander Bill, was responsible for founding a few primary schools, the most significant being Ikot Edong High School, which has classes from elementary to standard six, and a secondary school—Etinan Institute in Etinan, and the Samuel Bill Theological Seminary in Ikot Ekang, in Abak Division. There were few other primary schools that did not reach standard six, established in a few villages within the Akwa-Cross Region. The slow pace by the Irish missionaries like Samuel Bill and Etubom Gradon in appreciating the role of education in Christian evangelism led to the breakaway from Qua Iboe Church of the Nazarene Church, through the Nazarene Church Movements. The Nazarene Church started mostly in the Abak Division of the old Calabar Province. The Nazarene Movement started the Annang Peoples Educational Association (APEA) that founded the Annang Peoples Group Schools, spread all over the former Abak Division, for complete elementary and primary school education. These schools became church and community funded, so that all the communities that had the Nazarene Church also had the Annang People’s Group Schools. They were called group schools because two or more villages grouped with the church to fund those schools. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE FOUNDING OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE AKWA-CROSS REGION Monsignor James Moynagh, an Irish priest, became the prefecture of Calabar that encompassed contemporary Akwa-Cross. The area had no secondary schools. By 1934, Father Moynagh founded St. Patrick’s College, Calabar, to help socialize young Akwa-Cross citizens in the Catholic traditions. Thereafter, he founded e Holy Family College, Abak, in 1942 which became the pioneer secondary school in Annang land—an area in the Akwa-Cross region. The thirst for secondary education was enormous and the spillover of secondary school students were accommodated in Regina Coeli in Essene. Thereafter, the spread of Catholic primary and secondary schools became unstoppable. The Catholic church has become a great religious body in the spread of the Church and the use of the Church to spread education, including health education, through the funding of hospitals.



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Perhaps the earliest Church contributor to the founding of Secondary/ Technical School education in the Akwa-Cross region, was the Scottish Presbyterian missionary Mary Slessor. She pioneered the funding of Hope Waddell Training Institute in 1895, in the city of Calabar. Christian religious evangelism progressed with the admissions of young people into Hope Waddell Training Institute. By 1900 the school had forty-two students. By 1919 the school had 31 Ibibio pupils and 82 Efik pupils. The population increased in 1927 to over 50 Ibibio pupils rising to 86 Ibibios and 119 Efik in 1931. Mary Slessor promoted the rise of Christianity, though the promotion of women rights, especially by helping stop infanticide of twins. The killing of twins arose from the belief of Akwa-Cross traditional superstitious religion that twins were evil and abnormal, hence should be sacrificed to appease the vengeful gods that caused such abnormal evil multiple births. Specifically the Akwa-Cross people believed that one of the twins was fathered by the evil spirit and hence considered “devil child.” Not able to determine which of the children was fathered by the devil—hence evil—both babies were abandoned to die. Mary Slessor went on a solitary crusade to rescue and raise abandoned twins. The influence that both traditional and Christian religions have had on Akwa-Cross citizens is enormous. They have grown up to become the most religious and faithful citizens of Nigeria, as well as the most broadminded also. REFERENCES Aquinas, Thomas. (1945). Summa Theological. New York: Random House. Billie, John. (1939). Our Knowledge of God. New York: Scribner’s. Blackstone, William. (1963). The Problems of Religious Knowledge. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Campbell, Joseph. (1964). The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology. New York: Viking. Durkheim, Emile. (1915). Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York: Macmillan. Eliade, Mircea. (1958). Patterns in Comparative Religion. New York: Sheed and Ward. Feuerbach, Ludwig. (1854). The Essence of Christianity. New York: Peter Smith. Frazier, Allie M. (1969). Issues in Religion. New York: American Book Company. Freud, Sigmund. (1927). The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. New York: Liveright. ———. (1927). The Future of Illusion. London: The Hogarth Press Limited Fromm, Eric. (1951). Psychoanalysis and Religion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Hock, Sidney. (1961). Religious Experience and Truth. New York: New York University Press.

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Hume, David. (1948). Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion. New York: New York University Press. Jaspers, Karl, and Rudolf Bultmann. (1948). Myth and Christianity. New York: Noonday Press. Kierkegaard, Soren. (1954). Fear and Trembling, Translated by Walter Lowrie. New York: Doubleday. Lee, R. S. (1949). Freud and Christianity. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke. Martin, C. B. (1959). Religious Belief. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Marx, Karl, and Fredrich Engels. (1958). On Religion. London: Lawrence and Wishart Ltd. Mascall, E. L. (1949). Existence and Analogy. London: Longman’s Green and Co. Ltd. Moore, Charles A. (1944). Philosophy—East and West. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Otto, Rudolf. (1950). Idea of the Holy. New York: Oxford University Press. Sorely, W. R. (1519). Moral Values and the Idea of God. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Suzuki, D. T. (1956). Zen-Buddhism:—Selected Writings of D. T. Suzuki, William Barret (ed). New York: Doubleday. Temple, William. (1934). Nature, Man and God. New York: Macmillan. Tillich, Paul. (1957). Dynamics of Faith. New York: Harper and Row. Umanah, Ahaziah. (1982). Communication and Conflict. Chisinau, Moldova: Scholars Press. ———. (1996). Communication and Social Transformation. Aba, Nigeria: SAMUF Educational. Vahanian, Gabriel, (1957). The Death of God: The Culture of Our Post-Christian Era. New York: George Braziller. Webb, C. C. J. 1926. Kant’s Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Wilson, John. (1958). Language and Christian Belief. New York: St. Martins. Zimmer, Heinrich. (1951). Philosophies of India. Princeton, NJ: Bollingen Foundation.

Chapter Five

Historicizing and Factualizing Ethnocultural Ideations and the Origination of the Socio-Communicative Matrix in Akwa-Cross Unwana Samuel Akpan Foreign historians shouldn’t be allowed to lecture us on what happened during our lifetime in our environments, else they would adulterate our history with facts and figures that are factually incorrect. —Akpan, 2019, public lecture

INTRODUCTION The narratives of some of the similarities and equivalences of Akwa-Cross sociocultural ideations with the Western inventions that you are about to find out in this chapter cannot be found in a book. They say the history of the West was written from the saddle of a horse; sadly, the history of Africa was written for Africans by the West at gunpoint, but it is rarely told from the heart of one African who has experienced these equivalences, as it is expressed in this article. The author was born and bred in one of the remotest parts of Akwa-Cross, and had experiential knowledge of some of these sociocultural ideations; having visited and studied in one of the Ivy League schools in the Global North, he is in a better position to comfortably compare Western ideations with those of Akwa-Cross in the Global South. It is on record that despite all the huge in-roads that Western technology has made in media-morphosis, there are still some African media channels that cannot be done away with, especially in the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria. For instance, the foremost African indigenous media scholar Des Wilson avers: Those media which have defiled all efforts by Western media to cannibalize them and perhaps supplant them . . . the continuous process of information 73

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dissemination, enlightenment and education used in societies which have not been seriously dislocated by Western culture or any other external influence. (Wilson, 1987a, pp. 24–25)

This explains the fact that if one cannot look back, one cannot appreciate where one is coming from, or the mileage covered. If one cannot look back, one cannot imagine what is new, especially within the media ecological epistemology. Former US president Harry Truman once said, “the only thing new under the sun is the history we don’t know.” Additionally, Mohamed Saliou Camara, the former Guinean minister of information and a professor of African Studies stated, “he who controls how you see the world vitiates your sense of reality. He who controls how the world sees you dictates your place in it. He who controls how you see yourself desecrates your identity” (2014, p. 33). This article is one of the author’s attempts to rewrite and correct a fraction of the Akwa-Cross story, and by extension the African story that was distorted and forgotten and is gradually dying out. This piece is part of the author’s undaunted effort to decolonize and de-Westernize, and indigenize African scholarship. It is an attempt of the Lion to write his own story, because according to the renowned novelist Professor Chinua Achebe, as long as the hunter keeps writing the story, it will always favor the hunter. Therefore, first I use critical analysis to offer a multidimensional contextualized study of Akwa-Cross sociocultural and cultural practices (e.g., Akata night masquerade and Nsibidi) that are very similar to the Western inventions, even in the age of digitization and globalization. Second, I give insight into the cultural plurality and civilizational unicity of Nigeria, Africa, and the West. Third, I project patterns of cultural representation, equivalences, and misrepresentations of Akwa-Cross cultures. Finally, I reiterate Akwa-Cross’s need to reclaim its sociocultural inventions and global image in the digitized world. This chapter also brings to the fore a meta-analysis and conceptual framework for examining and explaining the complexities of Akwa-Cross, Nigerian, and African sociocultural practices, life-views, and media that are rooted and grounded in the authentic metaphysics, native knowledge, and cultural values embedded in the Akwa-Cross Akata night masquerade and Nsibidi writing that are still relevant in the digital age. Reinforcing this assertion, Camara (2014, p. 33) opines: At one level, cultures interconnect more directly, borrow from one another more intensely and in some regards, breed what some analysts have dubbed hybrid cultures . . . As one African analyst framed it, the West still treats the rest— Africa more specifically—as mere relics of its colonial empires. The Western world has convinced itself that Western culture is superior and that the cultural patrimonies of the rest of the world are at best exotic commodities for the



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amazement of its civilized self . . . Understandably, therefore, societies are increasingly protective of their cultural identities and, in many regards, increasingly skeptical about, if not outright opposed to, major aspects of globalization.

This explains and strengthens the notion by another communication scholar that, “no one newly introduced mode of communication or combination of new modes wholly replace or supplant the traditional ones. The fact is that they supplement the old ones or replace some of their functions but never all of their functions” (Cherry, 1978, p. 17). In other words, hybridity of sociological invention transpires. Additionally. The chapter will display the cultural realities of time and place of these sociocultural inventions native to Akwa-Cross, while advancing knowledge about the diverse ways the Akwa-Cross people communicatively structure their community to maintain law and order, thereby this exposition factually confronts decades of Western congenital and systemic sidelining and dismissing of knowledge from Africa. This chapter will also dissipate epistemic and ontological postulations or suppositions that treat medieval cultural inventions in Africa and other countries in the Global South less as precursors of rarefied sociocultural, communicative abilities and media proficiency than as a repository of rarely found unadulterated raw fact. The chapter’s goal, also, is to present an array of facts and figures capable of providing a historical overview of Akwa-Cross sociocultural, communicative, and media inventions that underscore transformative thinking characterized by variegated experiences that are often complex and cannot to be studied from a Western axiology or epistemology. I argue that Akwa-Cross’s prodigious sociocultural diversity does not negate its civilizational unicity in the communicative and sociological inventions of the Akata night masquerade and Nsibidi writing, and that the undocumented and misrepresentations of the Akwa-Cross sociocultural inventions that are communicative are misrepresentations of facts, figures, and facets of “Akwa-Crossity” and to a great extent, Africanity—Akwa-Crossity being the biotic omniety of Akwa-Cross civilizational identity. I further argue that the generational dearth of literature, lack of oral history of the region, ignorance, poverty, tribalism, and Machiavellianism are the rudimentary causes of the exploitative misrepresentations and under-representations of Akwa-Cross sociocultural and communicative inventions in foreign media, literature, academia, and political narratives. I wind up the chapter by suggesting that the Akwa-Cross media industry can play a pivotal role in reclaiming and showcasing Akwa-Cross’s global image in the twenty-first century by applying five paradigms: corrective domestic information and communication, corrective national information and communication, corrective continental information and communication, corrective global information and communication, and a deontological self-scrutiny.

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Akata night masquerade and Nsibidi sociocultural and communicative inventions and congruence have generated the unitarian framework within which Akwa-Cross societies have built and sustained a distinctive Akwa-Cross identity, which one can safely and confidently refer to as Akwa-Crossity. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES This article adopts and explores Nsibidic communication theory, Ubuntu, communalism, Maatic theory, and Afrokology, which are all philosophical, epistemological, and methodological approaches to theorizing communication from the African perspective. These serve as the theoretical framework and guide for this chapter. Conventional communication and media theories tend to be conceptualized, constructed, and wove around the notion of Western ideology, or better put, “white supremacy” and “anything white is superior,” to the detriment of media theories from the African perspective. This notion has given birth to radical new kids on the block—a new crop of African scholars who live in the United States and in Europe who are now beginning to theorize, prioritize and reconstruct the concept of African communication. They are beginning to go back to the elements of African communication that the West discarded as being obsolete or archaic and to theorize from the Afrocentric angle. In fact, they have started recording some striking paradigmatic, philosophical, and thematic shifts in conceptualizing African-based and inspired communication theories. In their latest work on “Rethinking African Communication Scholarship,” Eddah M. Mutua and colleagues note that there are growing interests among African scholars “in theorizing from African perspectives”: In Kehbuma Langmia’s edited collection Black/Africana Communication Theory, multiple contributors provide original perspectives on African communication theorizing. For example, some theories developed include the Igbo ethnic communication style; Ujamaa communication theory; the Afro-cultural Mulatto theory of communication; and venerative speech code theory. (Mutua et al., 2022, p. 127)

These theorizations based on African perspectives have sparked interest in revisiting concepts such as the Western deepfake and traces its semblance with the Akwa-Cross Akata night masquerade. Mutua et al. (2022) admonish that “ultimately, efforts to theorize African communication must welcome the larger African project to challenge Western practices about how the African story is told” (p. 134). This chapter brings to the fore the untold story of an African who was born in a rural area of western African, witnessed the Akata



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night masquerade, and writes that before the West invented deepfakes, the African continent had had their own version. Again, we have to adhere to the call of Mutua et al. (2022) that “African Communication scholars must preserve the integrity of telling African stories” (p. 141). Therefore, this chapter digests, explores, and sieves the role of Nsibidi writing as an Akwa-Cross invention and the Akata night masquerade as having a semblance with deepfake through the theoretical postulation of Mutua et al.’s (2022, p. 132), analysis of four recent African communication theories and paradigms: African Communication scholarship has recorded paradigms, philosophies, and worldviews that serve as foundations for exploring African communication practices. Four such paradigms, philosophies, and worldviews are Ubuntu (‘‘humanity,” “humanness,” and “humaneness”); communalism (the sanctity of authority, utility of the individual, supremacy of the community, respect for elders, and religion as a way of life); the African philosophy of Maat (“truth, righteousness, justice, order, balance, harmony, and reciprocity”); and Afrokology (a transdisciplinary approach to reimagine media and communication studies and to unite its practices with philosophical roots in Africa).

First, in my latest media theorization, I propound the Nsibidi Communication Theory (Akpan, in press). Until now, Nsibidi, despite being one of the earliest foremost forms of writing by Africans, has never been conceptualized as a communication theory and deployed for theoretical explanations, hence Nsibidi as a theoretical framework. Nsibidi communication theory is derived from the Nsibidi writing of the Akwa-Cross Ekpe masquerade, where it is only the initiates of the Ekpe masquerade cult that understand the meaning of the writing. The Nsibidi writing took its meaning from each of the symbols assigned by the members of the Ekpe masquerade cult. In those days, due to the strange writings of Nsibidi, the Ekpe masquerade was seen as a secret cult because anything the people did not understand and was only understood by the members was viewed as a secret cult. The word “Nsibi” in the Efik language of the Akwa-Cross people literally means “I cut,” or “I severed.” It also means to separate from or to cut out. According to oral tradition, there was a particular social justice system based on traditional practices of the Akwa-Cross people called ekpe ikpo ukod and Nsibidi to dispense justice to the oppressed. According to the elder statesman, it was common to hear people warn or threaten a defaulter in the community that they should be careful, or else, Nsibidi ye ekpe ikp ukod eye sio fi mbang (be careful so that Nsibidi or ekpe ikpa ukod won’t cut off your jaw). Ekpe ikpa ukod means “Lion’s shoes.” The general notion or perception of the Nsibidi writing was Nsibidic—that is, its meaning is hidden in the Ekpe masquerade and known by its members only. Therefore, the meaning of writings is assigned by community members, and a word has no meaning in itself, the meaning is in the people.

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Second, Ubuntu is a South African sociological philosophy of “I live because you live.” Ubuntu depicts “humanity,” “humanness,” and “humaneness” as aspects of the Akata night masquerade. The Akata masquerade is displayed by humans, thus is “humanness,” and by those who feel the sense and need of “humaneness” that justice should be carried out in the community. Third, communalism here, as postulated by Andrew Moemeka (1998), is the spirit of brotherhood, placing the continual existence of the community above everything else and the making the sanctity of authority that Akata has in carrying out its functions unchallenged in the community. Fourth, the Maatic theory of communication grounded in the classical African idea of ethics and morals in ancient Egypt, as descried by Molefi Kete Asante (2018) depicts “truth,” which the Akata night masquerade stands for in gathering and disseminating secret information to the members of the community. This is what fosters believability among the people. Lastly, “Afrokology” made popular by the works of contemporary scholars such as Dani Wadada Nabudere, Winston Mano, and Viola Milton, postulate the need for the achievements of Africans to be recognized. This corroborates the views expressed in this paper that traditional deepfake was long ago created by Africans, before the deepfake currently found in computerized artificial intelligence; therefore, there is a need to recognize and document this fact. This shows how Akata as a form of rural media uses communication native to the rural people in discharging its duties based on the African theoretical perspectives of Nsibidi, Ubuntu, communalism, Maatic theory, and Afrokology. THE AKWA-CROSS REGION The Akwa-Cross region in Nigeria, like every other region in Nigeria is communal in nature and has been endowed with not just natural deposits but with sociocultural ideations that resonate to other parts of the world. The only qualms about these Akwa-Cross aboriginal ideations are that the traditional patents of these socio-inventions have not been accorded to this region formally, either by the West or our nation, Nigeria. Though some scholars have maintained that mother Africa is the birthplace of humanity, where the inspiration for ideas for modern Western inventions or creations originated (Alagoa, 1966; Stover, 1984; Ugboajah, 1985; Wilson, 1988; Johanson and Edgar, 1996; Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, 2005; Gamble, 2007; Molefi Kete Asante, 2018; Akpan, 2019), and within the framework of this article, the modern deepfake is indisputably one of the creations whose roots and similarity can be traced to the West African artistic creation of the Akata night masquerade in Akwa-Cross. In the United Nations Educational, Scien-



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tific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) list of World Heritage sites; it clearly shows that 79 of the 878 listed sites are in Africa, thereby showing that 9 percent of UNESCO world heritage sites are native to Africa (UNESCO, n.d.). Moreover, a careful study of the Commission for Africa’s (2005, p. 26) report reveals that most Western creations have their roots in Africa’s rich cultural heritage. In a similar development, Oliver Duff, who is the editor of The Independent, UK, in trying to dispel the West’s one-sided assessment of the rich African cultural heritage in one of his articles in 2004, titled: “The Rich Art of Africa Goes on Show to Dispel ‘Caricature’ of a Dark Continent,” avers that a right-thinking scholar would not dispel the similarities of Western creations with those of Africa’s traditional creations. The Akwa-Cross region is endowed with nature’s beautiful sites, such as Obudu Cattle Ranch, Calabar Free Trade Zone, and others, which clearly show that the continent of Africa can be viewed as the cultural meeting point and abode of modern humanity as a whole. For instance, before Edmund Burke in the late eighteenth century in England could come up with the concept that the media is the watchdog of the society in monitoring the activities of the government and exposing them to the public (Norris, 2014), the traditional African society had designed the Akata night masquerade of the Akwa-Cross people to function as the watchdog in the society, monitoring nefarious activities of people and name-shaming them at night. Also, before Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm in 1956 in their book Four Theories of the Media propounded the social responsibility theory of the press, the Akata night masquerade of the Akwa-Cross people was formally designed by African traditional societies to assume the social responsibility of indigenous media in news gathering and dissemination. Similarly, the social responsibility theory of the press and the watchdog concept of the media would have been a perfect theoretical fit for this chapter if I were to adopt them for its theoretical explanations; however, it is an African-based theoretical framework that fits the theoretical explanation of this article. Before the West could come up with the idea of investigative journalism, the Akata masquerade native to Akwa-Cross did this job perfectly by investigating members of the community who got involved in nefarious activities, and exposed them. Despite all these glaring facts, unfortunately the African continent is the only continent that some Western scholars have relentlessly painted in their writing as epitomizing hopelessness, abject poverty, destitution, and backwardness. For instance, The End of Poverty, a book authored by Jeffrey Sachs (2005), clearly showcases African content as artless. This explains why an important African artistic media, such as the Akata night masquerade that originated from the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria was never studied as an African creation that has similarities with the modern deepfake and predates

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modern deepfake, hence one of the reasons for this chapter. Moreover, some scholars in the Akwa-Cross region never thought it wise to investigate and give deep awareness and prominence of the Akwa-Cross Akata night masquerade in their investigations and writings. Sadly, some Africans such as Semple (1911), Lele (1981), Narayan et al. (2000), Alagoa 1966, Obadina (2004) among others seem to agree with the Western scholars in their writings that Africa is culturally backward, artless in artistic productions, poor in cultural and traditional heritage, and has nonmaterial traditions of oral history. Most often, several attempts by early African scholars to trace the similarities between Western creations with early African creations are always characterized by variegated experiences (Dieke, 2000; Bianchi & Boniface, 2002; Easterly, 2006; Broadman, 2007; Gamble, 2007), which, according to some Western scholars, most times cannot be proven or substantiated due to lack of written documented evidence (Hyden, 1980; Saith, 2001; Mercer, 2003; Reid, 2008). These views are not only factually incorrect and theoretically misleading, but also practically unacceptable. This is why a “single story” is very dangerous if we must go by the postulation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s 2009 Ted Talk, especially in a bid to correct historical errors. With these kinds of Western postulations, research in this area to prove these similarities becomes cumbersome and complicated. That is why verifying that Africans’ creations have striking similarities with the Western world’s creations should not be studied from the lens of a Western ontology, axiology, or epistemology, but from the eyewitness accounts of the creators who are still alive and are the beneficiaries of such inventions or art creations, and from African theoretical perspectives. Therefore, basically, one of the aims of this chapter is to explore the similarities of the invention and scientificity of the traditional African Akata night masquerade from the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria with the modern deepfake. Quite a number of Western scholars across disciplines have ignorantly said at one time or another that Africans, especially the natives of the West African region (which Akwa-Cross domiciles), do not have documented histories. Some Western historians (McNeill, 1986; van den Bersselaar, 2004; Decker, 2010; Lorenz, 2011; Austin, 2012), Western sociologists (Balandier, 1963; Munro 1979; Ritzer 2000; Gamble 2007), Western anthropologists (Horton 1971; Asad 1973; Boahen, 1987; Mitchell, 1991) have all made this factual error in their writings, especially when it comes to African inventions that have similarities with Western culture. Some early Western scholars claim that some Western creations are the first of their kind (Rabinow, 1994; Comaroff, 1992; Comaroff, 1997), never found elsewhere in the world. However, a closer look at the annals of African historical societal perspectives would reveal a lot concerning semblances and technological similarities with



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most Western sociological creations. Early African scholars such as p’Bitek (1970), Wilson (1981), and Mudimbe (1988), and more recently, Yager et al. (2007), Reid (2008), Akpan (2019) have proven that most African artistic creations predate Western creations. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is fourfold. First it explores how the ancient indigenous communication systems employed by the traditional Akwa-Cross Akata masquerade in Africa are similar to what obtains in the Western deepfake. It briefly shows how these two communication systems are similar. Second, it shows how, even in a media environment saturated with Western information technologies, traditional media will have a place to play in contemporary Africa. Third, it demonstrates the importance of combining the African and Western media systems employed by the Akata masquerade as a watchdog in the society. Fourth, it demonstrates the fact that the Akwa-Cross region first invented alphabets, forms of writing, the Social Security Number used today by some Western countries, which was called then Nsibidi. Therefore, in this chapter, using these four analyses, the author dismisses the impression that there is no historical traditional deepfake in Africa or any form of writing. Though some contemporary mass-mediated forms of communication are not native to Africa, traditional African societies have had practical institutionalized and structured systems of communication that were used in expressing ideas among Africans; and there are some striking similarities with the Western media systems. Proponents of African indigenous communication systems (Ascroft, 1969; Hachten, 1971; Opubor, 1981; Moemeka, 1984; Ugboajah, 1985; Ugboajah, 1986; Wilson, 1987b; Ansah, 1988; Ginsburg, 1991; Ansu-Kyeremeh, 2005) have all argued that in what the West calls modern mass media systems you could have a trace of what the traditional African societies had already used as a form of communication. A good example is the Akata masquerade, which was a form of indigenous media for the Akwa-Cross people of West Africa. In the study and research of Africa, the indigenous communication dimensions of how Africans used structured communication systems to check ills in the society is often ignored and marginalized. Indigenous here according to (Wilson 2015) means the autochthonous social and cultural attributes and practices that characterized precolonial Africa and are still in many cases features of the social and cultural conditions of people in societies across the continent. Wilson (1988, p. 5) also avers that “in the field of communication, in particular, and more so in mass communication, indigenous forms and dimensions of communication are often dismissed as inconsequential or only casually mentioned in the mainly Eurocentric mainstream research,” and that is why no scholar has been able to decipher the fact that deepfake is a threat in modern information system, until now. Also, according to Wilson (2015, p. 8), “the subject of indigenous

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forms of communication may not seem that significant in an age of complex, fast and sophisticated technologically mediated communication systems,” but to a large extent it is, because the Akata masquerade revealed how deepfake is its semblance. THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNICATION The foundation of communication, be it writing, spoken word or gestures undoubtedly is rooted in symbolism, just like Nsibidi symbols emanating from the Ekpe masquerade sociocultural group. Many cultures in the medieval period used common objects, symbols, and elements that were native to their community to communicate among themselves. That is why communication is native. Communication is indigenous; communication is communal; communication emanates from shared ideology, history, mannerism, and mutual trust. Communication is the system by which humans share and decode meaning among themselves. Atmadja et al. (2021) citing Ngurah and Pramiswara (2020) say that communication is a method used by humans to convey a message or intention and opinion to other individuals; and this interaction happens since all human beings are social beings (Cucklanz, 1997; Christina and Nuraeni, 2020; Putri, 2020). Africans are a communal people who like living in clusters close to each other and sharing things in common. Therefore, communication in this kind of setting becomes effective and cordial because it is rooted in a common shared tradition and history. The tradition of mutual understanding in communication where both the sender and the receiver can decipher messages is what Laurensia et al. (2020) calls “an attitude of communication.” Historical facts reveal that Africans in their crude natural habitat did not underestimate the importance of communication, as they created several elements that helped them in sharing communication meanings. As social beings, communication played an important role in their daily lives as they sought out ways to socialize and communicate for entertainment and education purposes both individually and in the community. No wonder a Finnish professor, Osmo Anterior Wiio (2009), while penning the general definition of communication, believes that one cannot not communicate. In essence, what he is saying is that, be it cultural or traditional communication, the communicativeness of what is intended or not intended cannot be overlooked. That is why communication is a fundamental factor in any socioeconomic, sociopolitical, or sociocultural environment because diversity cum cultural communication is key to media industries. Africans, as all other humans, devised institutionalized ways, methods, and channels by which they could communicate, persuade, interact and argue



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among themselves, and that was what gave birth to the traditional African media. As Chaniago (2020) notes, the mass media is the channel by which humans learn of the world. Schmidt (2020) has sub-grouped the communication process into verbal communication, nonverbal communication, symbolic communication, oral communication, written communication, interpersonal communication, public communication, and mass communication. All these forms of communication are still very much alive and well today, but the mass media as a form of mass communication has undergone a lot of changes and metamorphosed into forms the human mind could not have thought possible. Some forms of mass communication that are traditional and are still popular today despite the emergence of the new media are radio, television, and the African indigenous media. The African indigenous media became very handy during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the traditional newsperson known as the town crier was used in creating awareness for the virus in the rural communities of Africa. SYSTEMS OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNICATION IN AFRICA In Africa, such as in the Akwa-Cross region, indigenous media are structured under the traditional institutions, and they played critical social and political roles in rural communities in Nigeria prior to colonialism and Western democracy. Today, most of these roles that were played by the traditional institutions are predominantly taken over by the government, so the rural people feel the need for a government presence. But according to Wilson (2008, p. 17), “traditional practices still find fertile grounds in both rural and urban dwellers who, even though exposed to the realities of new religions and western civilization, still hold tenaciously to those aspects of culture that serve their inner identities.” This is the reason even some very educated Africans have an understanding that regardless of technology, reliance on traditional forms of communication, such as the Akata night masquerade for information gathering cannot be underestimated. This is because its operations span time and it is situated in institutionalized tenets. The plethora of concepts Africans use in the understanding of their communication space and time underscores the prominent position of certain institutionalized elements. One such example is the Akwa-Cross Akata night masquerade, which played a key role in African society. The systems of traditional media or communication in Africa were highly institutionalized and structured. The system was skewed for traditional values. The believability of the medium was imperative for their survival and society’s functionality. For instance, in almost every rural community in Ibibio, Annang, and Efik lands

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there were different forms of communicating. In Yorubaland, the talking drum is an instrument used in communication, and in the Annang, Ibibio, and Efik lands, the fresh leaf of a palm tree popularly called “eyei” is an element used in communication. When eyei is tied to a vehicle, one automatically knows that the vehicle is conveying a corpse, and if it is tied around a piece of land, it means the piece of land is under dispute and all parties are restrained from entering the piece of land. These systems have been categorized by Moemeka in Akpabio (2003, p. 5), where he lists indigenous media in Ibibio land into two forms, which are traditional and modern ones such as: social forums), town-crier, village market, village school, newspaper, and radio. Also, Wilson (2015) tabularized modes used in indigenous communication in Ibibio, Annang, and Efik lands, of which Akata masquerade belongs. It is clear from Wilson’s (2015) tabulation that the Akata masquerade is an institutionalized form of traditional media in the Efik, Annang, and Ibibio lands that performed various social and political functions prior to colonialism and the arrival of Western media. Even today, the Akata masquerade plays a critical and functional role in the society. Defining African Communication Systems/Indigenous Media Native to Akwa-Cross Communication and media patterns for the indigenous people of AkwaCross found its expression in carved wooden instruments such as traditional drums, symbolography such as Nsibidi, and traditional masquerades such as Akata night masquerade, ekoong, ekpe, utu ekpe, abiaokpo, etcetera. In other words, Akwa-Cross indigenous communication and media was “masquerade” and “symbolographic” in most aspects. Research in African communication scholarship has thrown out shades of meanings regarding what African communication is. Early research in indigenous modes of communication in Africa by scholars such as Sonia Restrepo-Estrada, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Leonard William Doob, Colin Cherry, Ronald Escarpit, William A. Hachten, Dhyana Ziegler, Kwasi ansu-Kyeremeh, Molefi Kete Asante, Des Wilson, Faye Ginsburg, Paul Ansah, Joseph Ascroft, Francis B. Nyamnjoh, Louise M. Bourgault, Alfred Opubor, and Frank Ugboajah, among others, opened the floodgates of concepts and ideation to contemporary scholars like Eno Akpabio, Winston Mano, Abigail Ogwezzy, Kehbuma Langmia, Viola C. Milton, Unwana Samuel Akpan, and others in African communication systems scholarship. The pioneering efforts of scholars in African traditional communication systems have lighted the path and emboldened the views of these modern scholars.



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Charlayne Hunter-Gault (2018) assigned signs and meanings; Leonard William Doob (1961) showed the ways Africans share meanings. For Colin Cherry and Sonia Restrepo-Estrada communication is hinged in tradition, while Ronald Escarpit (1968) avers that the traditional symbols of communication never lose relevance. William A. Hachten’s (1971) familiar sound of meaning agrees with Dhyana Ziegler’s (1992) definition that it is a shared meaning rooted in traditional elements and symbols. Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh (2005) sees it as venue-oriented communication, which is akin to what Stover (1984, p. 68) calls community media. Molefi Kete Asante (2018) sees it as a structured historical system of communication, while Des Wilson (1988) looks at it as a taxonomical institutionalized communication based on traditional values and meaning. Faye Ginsburg (1991) argues that it demonstrates congruence with the structures of the local culture for meaning’s sake, and Paul Ansah (1988) avers that it is based on African normative values. Joseph Ascroft’s (1969) notion of the ideation of indigenous meanings synchronizes with Francis B. Nyamnjoh’s (2005) definition of an indigenous dimension in speech and symbols. Louise M. Bourgault (1990) looks at it simply as indigenous forms of communication, and Alfred Opubor (1981) says it is the characterization of meaning that is native to the people. Akpan (2019), says African indigenous communication is traditionally transactional in native signs, symbols, and artifacts for shared meaning. Viola Milton and Winston Mano (2021) simply believe that communication at this level hinges on culture and value; on the other hand, Frank Ugboajah (1985) sees it as oramedia and communication based on communal values and artifacts. For Akpabio (2003), it is communication based on common traditional ideologies. In the light of all of these definitions, whether it is African communication systems, indigenous communication, indigenous media, folk media, or oramedia where the Akata night masquerade is classified, it is clearly a customized and clannish form of communication. This explains why Gillies (1989) posits that: It is a scholarly theory and a social axiom to say that communication is culture, and that knowing a culture requires knowing its systems and media of communication. “Culture is defined by communication systems [and] since culture is a system of shared beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviour, then clearly there is a communication medium involved.” (p. 3)

This is obviously what happens in the case of Akata night masquerade of the Akwa-Cross people, where the people use it as a recognized institutionalized medium for conveying and revealing secret activities and information that were carried out in the dark. However, the purpose for the Akata medium was later abused because of blackmailing and slandering, as in the case of the modern deepfake. Ferguson and Ferguson (1980) as cited by Gillies (1989,

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p. 4) went further to stress that, “conversely, where there is a communication system, the users will in some measure constitute a culture,” just like the case of the African people where they use created cultural traditions such as the Akata night masquerade for communication purposes. Similarly, Wilson (2015) has the same notion that: Communication in a pre-literate society can be seen in line as communication in a traditional system and cannot be discussed in isolation from the culture of that society. Rural communication among the people of Southwest and Northwest provinces of Cameroon has some semblance with what obtains in other ethnic groups. Communication, be it traditional, rural or modern involves sending a message (encoder) and receiving a response (decoder) in a particular way (feedback). What constitutes traditional communication is today a hybrid from other fields of study such as religion, anthropology, mythology and an amalgam of multifarious cultural practices, which have become standard. (Wilson 2015, p. 282)

In another of his texts, Wilson (2008, p. 12) maintains that “traditional communication is a mixture of social conventions and practices,” such as the Akata masquerade, which has “become sharpened and blended into veritable communication modes and systems.” AKWA-CROSS INDIGENOUS MEDIA: REPRESENTATIONS IN MODERNITY Prior to civilization in communities globally, people had modes and icons that they used in communicating to one another, and that is why I said earlier that communication is native and cultural. For instance, the sign of an envelope on a smartphone screen is a representation of where you can click to check for your emails or text messages. The same goes for the icon for dialing your contacts, which uses a representation of an old dial telephone. Twitter also uses the symbol of a bird that tweets. In the same manner, African traditional icons, symbols, and masquerades are used in communication and are known within African communication scholarship as iconographic communication. Akpabio (2021) explains: Icons are generally regarded as standing for or representing something else. They are signs that through heavy use have acquired rich connotations and consequently convey powerful meanings that are clearly understood and are recognizable by members of a community—local, national, state or international. Nelson Mandela through his life and example is a powerful South African icon who has transcended his native South Africa and become an icon of hope in



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the face of adversity as well as of forgiveness and reconciliation. That does not prevent him from still being a husband, father and grandfather to his immediate and extended family members. (p. 5)

Aboriginal Akwa-Cross people have several objects that are used in communication even in the digital age. According to Wilson (1988) and Akpabio (2021) these objects are charcoal, kola nut, white clay, egg, beads, and flags. For instance, women in these traditional societies wore beads as a form of contraceptive. It also helped them to check their weight. Iconographic communication could come in a floral form such as fresh palm fronds, plantain stems, and boundary trees. In the Annang, Ibibio and Efik lands, fresh palm fronds popularly known as ‘eyei’ are used in summoning people for the traditional court council in order to settle disputes. As mentioned above, they are also tied to farmlands to show that the piece of land is under dispute and tied to vehicles conveying corpses. Some of these icons of communication have found their way into modern technology such as the smartphones. Therefore, African traditional media has contributed artistically and aesthetically to the modernization of the media. Other traditional forms of communication that serve as African traditional media common to the West African region include Nsibidi writing and the Akata night masquerade. NSIBIDI WRITING Writing as a form of literal knowledge began when there was a need for humans to start putting numbers to their belongings. In other words, humans needed to measure their wealth. Vincent (2022, p. 38) narrates that: Measurement was a crucial organizing principle in ancient Egypt, but metrology itself does not begin with nilometers. To understand its place in human culture, we have to trace its roots back further, to the invention of writing itself. For without writing, no measures can be recorded. The best evidence suggests that the written word was created independently thousands of years ago by a number of different cultures scattered around the world: in Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, China, and Egypt. But it’s in Mesopotamia—present-day Iraq—where the practice is thought to have been invented first. A brief sketch of the origin of writing goes like this: in the beginning there was the Thing, and the Thing needed counting. What the Thing was doesn’t matter much. A flock of sheep, perhaps, or sheaves of barley: profits of the new system of settled agriculture, which had allowed cities with tens of thousands of occupants to appear for the first time in history. The people who dwelt in these cities wanted to keep track of their new wealth and decided to use clay tokens for the job. These tiny objects, the size of game pieces, were shaped as cones,

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discs, triangles, and cylinders and can be found scattered throughout the archaeological record like errant dice. The earliest date back to 7500 BC, in what would become the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, home of the Sumerians. The tokens seem to have been useful, as they multiply in form and number over the centuries. As city life became more varied in Mesopotamia, with inhabitants trading not only raw materials like wool and metal, but also processed goods like oil, beer, and honey, more tokens were created to represent these resources.

Based on several oral historical accounts and studies, it was discovered that Nsibidi dates back to 5000 BCE—present day in the Akwa-Cross region of West Africa. Historical Africa (2022, para. 1), a YouTube channel dedicated to forgotten African historical elements notes that: Nsibidi is an ancient script used to write various languages in West Central Africa. Most notably used by the Uguakima and Ejagham (Ekoi) people of Nigeria and Cameroon. Nsibidi is also used by the nearby Ebe, Efik, Ibibio, Igbo, and Uyanga people. The Nsibidi set of symbols is independent of Roman, Latin, or Arabic influence, and is believed by some scholars to date back to 5000 BCE, but the oldest archaeological evidence ever found (monoliths in Ikom, Nigeria) dates it to 2000 BCE. Similar to the Kemetic Medu Neter, Nsibidi is a system of standardized pictographs. In fact, both Nsibidi and the Egyptian hieroglyphs share several of the exact characters. Nsibidi was divided into sacred and public versions, however, Western education and Christiän indoctrination drastically reduced the number of Nsibidi-literate people, leaving the secret society version as the last surviving form of the symbols. Still, Nsibidi was transported to Cuba and Haiti via the Atlantic slave trade, where the anaforuana and veve symbols were derived from the West African script.

History has it that the Europeans and the Arabs were the first to introduce Western education in Africa. Ever since, several academic disciplines have emerged from it, such as communication studies. African communication scholarship has over the years been dependent on the Western theoretical framework for positional and empirical analysis, even when dealing with local issues native to the continent of Africa. But before the West or the Arabs brought some modern forms of writing, Africans had formal and institutionalized forms of communication. One of such form is the Nsibidi writing used by the Ekpe cultural society in the western part of the African region of Cross River State in Nigeria. Nsibidi is an early indigenous Efik language form that is embedded with secret messages in symbols and forms that tell stories about the different aspects of Ekpe masquerade that is native to the Akwa-Cross (Akwa Ibom and Cross River States) people. The symbolic messages are only taught to and understood by initiates of the Ekpe Society. In a statement in 2020 tagged “UNESCO Intangible Heritage Presentation in Abuja-2017,” by



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the Ekpe Masquerade Association in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria, known as Eku Nyoro Ekpe, it was discovered that Nsibidi as a form of writing and communication has caught the attention of UNESCO: In June 2016, UNESCO wrote to the Obong of Calabar and copied Eku Nyoro Ekpe, indicating their interest in running a pilot study on inventorying “Ekpe and Nyoro oral traditions” in Calabar. The Obong of Calabar graciously granted his consent and directed Eku Nyoro Ekpe to cooperate with UNESCO/Ministry of Information and Culture to get Ekpe and Nyoro Ekpe listed internationally in the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Several meetings were held, facilitators trained, workshops held, inventory carried out and a final presentation done in Abuja on 26th October 2017. (Eku Nyoro Ekpe, 2020)

Nsibidi is a mythical avenging god who carried out the execution of justice. It was common to hear in those days, “Nsibidi eyesio fi mbang,” meaning, “Nsibidi would take out your jaw,” that is, if the guilty one lies to the gods in the process of traditional judicial interrogation. Nsibidi was seen as a “mysterious” traditional system and dispenser of justice. Nsibidi writing was a coded and cryptic form of writing only understood by the Ekpe initiates dating back to medieval Africa. It is a rhetorical Efik language literally translated in English as “what is coming?” This question-like native cliche explains the “what is” in a message. Nsibidi writing communicates “the venue for the meeting, the time of the meeting, the date and what is to be discussed in the meeting.” Recently, Nsibidi as a form of writing has been seen in some facets of arts such as ceramic, textile, poetry, and architecture. The Nsibidi writing was used by the Ekpe sociocultural group to communicate among the initiates of the cult group. The writing was encrypted and could only be decoded by the members of the Ekpe masquerade sociocultural group. The Ekpe masquerade is native to the Efik people in Southern Nigeria, in the West African region. According to Ekong (2021, p. 15): “Nsibidi, scripts and ideograms were invented in Ekoi (Ejagham) in today’s Cross River State of Nigeria. It was used for communication throughout the Cross River Basin of South-Eastern Nigeria, and beyond.” Ekong (2021, p. 16) also reiterated the fact that, “In spite of its spread in ancient times, it seems Nsibidi is not accorded adequate prominence in modern art forms.” Nsibidi points to the fact that it is factually incorrect that Africans did not have any form of writing. It is actually the prototype of computer binary writing. The members of the Ekpe masquerade used Nsibidi as a form of a password to communicate among themselves, especially the date, time, and venue of their meetings. The Ekpe cult members used ideography to communicate among the initiates. This was a form of the modern digital technology password that prevents locks out. Ekong (2021, p. 18) reveals:

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A close examination of Nsibidi symbols in respect to their qualities reveals that they are cryptic—they are replete with hidden meanings that are not easily seen or deciphered. Therefore, systems of the symbols were used for secrecy or brevity. They are indicative by their forms and the relation of their parts to suggest the intended idea(s).

Therefore, Africans invented passworded messages. Up till this time, Nsibidi, which is one of the oldest forms of writing in the world, has not gained enough global attention as a means of communication for Africans. Ethnowriting studies have shown that despite the plethora of writing systems that originated from the continent of Africa thousands of years ago, Africa as a continent has never been seen as having contributed immensely to global writing systems, and these forms of writing have received inadequate scholarly attention, even off the shores of Africa (Kreamer et al., 2007). The National Museum of African Art and Fowler Museum (2007–2008) reveals what they term incorporated graphic symbols in the art works of African artists for thousands of years “with great ingenuity and creativity.” Nsibidi writing was traced back to the fourth century in Calabar, the West African region in Nigeria, and its symbols are found in pottery, prose, tales, and ceramic writings (Atlas of Endangered Alphabets, 2018–2020; Agbo, 2019; Umoren, 2019; Onyeakagbu, 2020; Ekong, 2021). MODERN DEEPFAKE TRACED TO AKWA-CROSS The popular term deepfake refers to deep and hyper-learning-based techniques that can produce fake images and videos by swapping someone’s real face with the face of another person. Deepfake as a term first popped up in the early years of 2018. It generated public discourse and since then it has gained public attention around the world (Wahl-Jorgensen and Carlson, 2021, p. 1). It is reported to have been founded by an anonymous user of the platform Reddit who went by the name “deepfakes” (Thies et al., 2016, p. 2387; Hao and Heaven, 2020; Panyatham, 2021; Kietzmann et al., 2021, p. 137). The user deployed artificial intelligence (AI) to montage well-known faces of famous actresses into pornographic videos; it was blocked from the platform as a result of this practice. Those who engage in deepfakes might see it as fun, but this practice raises the concern for ethical implications and credibility since it could be potentially used for blackmail, intimidation, sabotage, ideological influencing, and inciting violence. This therefore has broader implications for trust and accountability. In the modern world, deepfake represents a common graphical cum digital menace currently plaguing online information believability, objectivity, and



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journalistic ethics. This is because online images can be graphically manipulated for the purpose of deceiving the ever-swelling online community into mistaking deepfake for reality. Though it could be injurious to the ethical standards of journalism, the concept of deepfake can be traced back to the southern part of Nigeria, where the Akata masquerade comes out in the middle of the night to lyrically name and shame those who have questionable characters in the society. The Akata night masquerade was a traditional form of indigenous communication in the West African region. It used special songs to mention the names of individuals in the society and the ills they committed for the hearing of everyone in the village. On some occasions, there were instances where the Akata masquerade was used to discredit the reputation of those seen as opponents or rivals in another group. The similarities of online deepfake with the traditional deepfake that existed in traditional communication in essence reveals the age-long deepfake that existed before the emergence of the internet. The author, by interviewing very old members of the Akata masquerade cult, discovered revealing facts on the semblance between the online deepfake and the traditional Akata masquerade cult. ORIGIN OF AKATA NIGHT MASQUERADE Early scholars of traditional masquerades have traced the origin of the Akata night masquerade to the Ejagham-speaking peoples of Cross Rivers State (Talbot, 1912, Onor, 1992). According to Essien and Oqua (2020, p. 23), “one popular song tends to support this opinion: ‘Ekpri Akata oto Ekoi’—This small Akata comes from Ekoi.” It has now been widely accepted that the Akata night masquerade is native to the Ejagham people. The traditional arts and skills of the masquerade were admired by the artisans who were from the Annang, Efik, and Ibibio lands, and upon their return to their homeland, they transported the Akata art to their homelands. Due to their admiration of the night masquerade, they offered themselves to be initiated into the Akata cult. For the Ejagham and the Efik people, Akata night masquerade was a cult and known only to the initiates. But for the Annang and the Ibibio people, the Akata night masquerade was not a secret cult, but a strictly secretive masquerade whose art is only known by its members. AKATA AS A FORM OF INDIGENOUS MEDIA No doubt, one could find volumes of research efforts carried out by anthropologists, dramatists, communication and media specialists, etcetera, on Anang,

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Ibibio, and Efik masquerades. Scholars such as, Amoury Talbot (1912), Edet Ekpo (1968), Oyin Ogunba (1978), Des Wilson (1981), Inih Ebong (1989), and Conrad Phillip Kottack (2004) among others have carried out pioneering research on masquerades that are native to the Annang, Ibibio and Efik lands, of which the Akata masquerade is one. Africans used things around them in communicating, and this corresponds with what Ogwezzy (2008) posits that communication in Africa is iconographic, while Wilson believes it is institutionalized. The Akata masquerade was not a mere masquerade, but its existence hinged on societal functionality. The people in the rural areas of Annang, Ibibio, and Efik land depended on the Akata masquerade to furnish them with hidden information about the behavior of people. Akata night masquerade is a form of what Ugboajah describes as oramedia. For Ugboajah, it is “grounded on indigenous culture produced and consumed by members of a group” (cited in Akpabio, 2003, p. 3). On the other hand, Hachten (1971) conceptualized it as “informal channels of communication.” For Edeani (1995), oramedia denotes media represented by a “diffusion network of lower chiefs, age groups, the marketplace, women’s organizations, traditional priests, stall heads, village heads and the indomitable village town crier.” Furthermore, Soola (2006) avers that oramedia is an age-long form of communication that predates modern media. In essence, it refers to an “indigenous means of communication.” The Akata masquerade is a kind of traditional means of indigenous media serving the community in secret service information gathering and dissemination. According to Akwang (2010, p. 31), “the most visible and the most ubiquitous forms of Ibibio traditional theatre are embodied in its robust masquerade tradition.” Ebong in Akwang (2010, p. 15), describes it as: a massive, pyramidal, wooden enclosure covered with thick, bright clothes, raffia, and palm fronds known as Akata. It has a carved wooden mask usually placed at the peak of the triangle. It also has a guttural speech. Its diminutive version is known as Ekpri (meaning small or junior) Akata. It employs carved or moulded animated wooden puppets that use gestures and twisted speech to tell stories of atrocities that people committed in the dark.

The “twisted speech” used by Akata night masquerade, was a kind of traditional-technological innovation that the initiates used in disseminating information to the members of the public at night so that their real identity would not be revealed. This in essence is what the modern deepfake does by tampering with someone’s voice, or by swapping someone’s real face or voice with the face of another person. Essien and Oqua (2020, p. 8) capture the Akata tampered-theatrical mimicked voice thus:



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Akata has a “mother” masquerade, Eka-Akata, a magnificent soloist, presented in daytime and in full view of everybody. Its musical accompaniment is very inviting and attracts many, both old and young, who often accompany it about. The dance steps involve simple side movements and strutting—reminiscent of a peacock.

Akata is likened to today’s news broadcast on radio or television, where rural people would stay awake late at night in order to hear about the misdeeds of people in the village that the Akata masquerade would roll out. The Akata reports are always investigative and damaging to peoples’ reputation, and because they are institutionalized, people tend to believe the reports. As a young man who grew up in the rural areas of Ibibio, Annang, and Efik lands, I have always noticed that Akata performances are given at night between the hours of 1 a.m. and about 4 a.m. In the course of the masquerade’s revelatory singing about the evil deeds of unscrupulous individuals or groups in the community, the stem of a plantain tree would be pitched in the offender’s compound. The plantain stem is a form of iconographic communication to the offender or those involved to desist from heinous acts or be ready to be disgraced publicly. The aboriginal West African people of Akwa-Cross regarded the Akata as the eyes and the mouthpiece of the society, exposing the evil doings of unscrupulous elements in the community. THE PURPOSES AKATA MEDIA SERVED IN THE AFRICAN COMMUNITY The basic traditional functions of mass communication were always to inform, educate, and entertain. However, some scholars, such as Harold Lasswell (1948), a communication theorist, in “The Structure and Function of Communication in Society” in 1948 and Charles Wright Mills (1964) have expanded the functions of mass communication to include surveillance of the environment, transmission and dissemination of information, correlation of parts of the society, and transmission of culture, which in turn shapes or alters the attitudes and opinions of information recipients. The Akata night masquerade essentially engaged in surveillance of the environment (looking out for deeds that were done in secret), the correlation of parts of the society (putting the pieces of the information together), and transmitting this information to members of the public. The Akata night masquerade serves three distinctive functions, which are to entertain, inform, and reveal secret deeds in the community. Essien and Oqua (2020, p. 26) state that “AngboAkata is a masquerade performed by the Qua, Efut and Efik lingual groups in

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Calabar—the Capital of Cross River State, Nigeria. As part of a sacred cult, the hallmark of Akata (as it is popularly called) lies in the entertainment it provides and the secret detective characteristics it possesses.” However, as it is a night masquerade that reveals secrets, people were afraid that Akata could be used against them for things they did not commit. As he was a secret informer, a traditional investigative journalist, and a watchdog in the society, there were fears that people could be defamed. Again, Essien and Oqua (2020, p. 28) aver that: Another exciting but feared aspect of Akata is its secret service report. It is exciting when secret escapades of members of the community are brought to the fore and lampooned. However, people still nurse fears because their own dealings could equally become a subject matter. In the course of lampooning, some members of the communities are actually named and their evil acts disclosed. Sometimes, however, the identities of the individuals concerned are not explicitly disclosed. But Akata has a way of describing the fellow(s) or giving other social pointers and indicators that, unmistakably, lead to the identity of the personality in question. Acts often tackled include illicit love affairs (fornication and adultery), theft, drunkenness, diabolism, etc. Before presenting such issues, Akata pretends to be consulting an oracle—to give the impression that whatever it says is at the instance of the gods.

One might ask how the Akata night masquerade manages to conceal its identity in the community while the display is ongoing, looking at the fact that some people might not be asleep that time. Again, Essien and Oqua (2020, p. 31) shed more light: “Akata is highly averse to illumination. In the course of its display (especially in the rural areas), it beckons on people to put lit lanterns out. In an urban area like Calabar, forerunners have the task of putting out such lights. This phobia informs the presentation of Akata in times of the year when the moon has hidden itself from the earth.” As we know, the activities of deepfake creators are shielded in secrecy, so are the activities of the Akata masquerade. The Akata tampers with facial and voice recognition, so do deepfake creators. WHY DEEPFAKE IS NOT NEW IN THE AKWA-CROSS SOCIETY Modernity comes with its multi-powerful colorful display of features and its replacement of medieval systems of operations, which makes its invention and ideation very alluring. Some traditionally minded schools of thought can be parochial in their arguments to preserve traditional methods of doing things. Even the die-hard traditionally dogmatic guardians and apostles of tradition in their sober moments admit the existential realities if not the



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dominance of modern technologies, but they also agree that their cultures’ primordial primitive cultural practices cannot match the wide acceptability of the modern technology. But researchers of deepfake phenomena should look at it from the primeval perspective, to acknowledge that there was a semblance of cultural representation of deepfake in the medieval era in some African communities. This is the thrust of this essay. In those days, each cultural setting had its concept of the elements of communication which helped them to share meaning among themselves. They also created instrumentalities for social control that were culturally based, which helped them to administer their communities. Most of the writings from the West have traced the concept of deepfake to the West, and this is factually incorrect. Whatever position anyone might hold about the concept that deepfake emanates from the West cannot automatically dismiss the fact that the concept can be traced to Annang, Ibibio, and Efik lands in the West African region. THE AKATA NIGHT MASQUERADE AS A DEEPFAKE The argument has always been that the Akata night masquerade is fair and impartial. That is why once again Essien and Oqua extensively assert that: Angbo-Akata serves the purpose of restraining people from engaging in activities that are at variance with the society’s accepted norms and values. Akata makes secret investigations into the activities of individuals within the society. Its satirical inclination exudes social auras that serve to curtail deviant attitudes and make citizens governable. Angbo’s satires often sink deep into social marrows, and can be damaging especially in a rural setting, where everyone knows everyone else. Such lampooning often leaves indelible psychological marks that can stigmatize and confine people/families to subtle forms of isolation. An institution like marriage may then be contracted with strains, as members of the lampooned family may be subtly disdained.

But a personal interview with ten elderly respondents who were active members of the Akata night masquerade was an eye opener. One of the respondents boldly revealed: My son, as a young person then, we as members of Akata took pleasure in investigating peoples’ secret acts in the community, and revealed it at night. But much later, some of our members started collecting money from some people in the community who had chieftaincy title tussle, and promised to falsely accuse the innocent in acts these people did not commit, so as to tarnish their reputation before the people and the council of elders. This way, the person whose image

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has been smeared by Akata would withdraw from the race. It was a terrible situation. As a result, some of us left the group because its traditional tenets were compromised because of money.

All the respondents agreed that the Akata night masquerade deviated from its tenets and started attacking the innocent in their traditional night news reportage. As noted by the above respondent, the principal targets of Akata are famous personalities in the society, influencers, celebrities, and politicians, and in the AI era, such people’s faces are transposed onto others without their approval (Pantserev, 2020). Deepfakes, just like the Akata night masquerade, then, thrive on two key psychological elements—believability and acceptability. Its believability and acceptability hinged on tradition. This is further collaborated by Kietzmann and his fellow scholars (Kietzmann et al., p. 136). Deepfake technology has gained prominence, and millions of doctored videos and pictures, as well as audio materials have flooded the internet in the last few years. Anyone who is a social media user will vividly recall President Obama calling President Trump a “total and complete dipshit” (Peretti and Sosa, 2018, p. 56); John F. Kennedy discussing the famous cartoon show Rick and Morty in a state address (Ekian, 2020); millions of TikTok users laughing at a Hollywood actor, Tom Cruise stumbling in a TikTok video (Ume, 2021); or being shocked and asking oneself, since when famous actresses like Scarlett Johansson, Maisie Williams, or Gal Gadot are actively contributing to the porn industry (Cole, 2017, p. 51). In her 2020 Christmas video, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II performed a surprisingly agile dance routine. And that same year, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un warned the world’s population in a recorded speech that “democracy is a fragile thing, more fragile than you want to believe” (Cole, 2017, p. 51). In reality, none of the above-mentioned media content is real. These videos fall into a “new band of synthetic media” (Meckel and Steinacker, 2021, p. 55), also called “deepfakes,” a portmanteau of the AI technique of “deep learning” and the inauthenticity marker “fake.” Creators of deepfakes use AI applications that merge, combine, replace, and superimpose images and video clips to create fake videos that appear very authentic (Maras and Alexandrou, 2018). In the real sense of it, when the Akata night masquerade got adulterated, they engaged in character assassination of those they deemed enemies. Just like the AI technology, it started with good intentions but got adulterated along the way with operations resembling today’s deepfake. In a related development, five young respondents who studied at the University of Calabar, Cross River State and University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in Nigeria, recounted in 2022 how some students at night would display the Akata night masquerade in these various campuses and used such to name and shame female students who were having illicit sexual relationship



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on campus with their lecturers. Also, the Akata group in school would name and shame male and female students who were members of secret cults on campus. Therefore, as the activities of deepfake have progressed in recent times, innocent and naive social media content consumers cannot distinguish deepfakes from real content. Equally, contemporary Akata night masquerade members on campus are also using this traditional art to attack people on campus in Nigerian universities. So, with these, one can say today that the Akata masquerade has taken on the semblance of deepfake in defaming peoples’ character. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION This chapter has extensively revealed that there are striking similarities between the African Akata night masquerade and modern AI deepfake in their operations. The Akata night masquerade existed well before the Western creation of deepfake. AI only improves on it technologically. Ronald Escarpit (1968) and Colin Cherry (1978) have given empirical evidence that proves that no newly introduced mode of communication or combination of new modes can wholly replace or supplant the traditional ones. They aver that new forms always supplement the old ones or replace some of their functions but never all of their functions, as in the case of Akata night masquerade and deepfake. The Akata night masquerade mirrors the realities that the contemporary deepfake possesses. As Mutua et al. (2022, p. 137) succinctly captures, “We now know that local cultures remain relevant in modern communication practices and in providing directions for culturally relevant research and theoretical orientations.” African scholars should learn to research and tell their stories because presently the African continent is a victim of Chimamanda Adiche’s axiom of a single story (2009). In closing, there are loads of the things that Africans created, conceived, and invented in their societies that have similarities with Western creations and inventions. Only research can help dig these out. REFERENCES Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (2009). “The Danger of a Single Story.” TED Talk. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg&t=979s. Agbo, Njideka (2019). A Look at Nsibidi: The Long Lost Nigerian Writing. The Guardian Newspaper, 14 April 2019. http://m.guardian.ng/life. Akpabio, Eno. (2003). African Communication Systems: An Introductory Text. N.p.: B Prints Publications.

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Chapter Six

The Economy and Economic Activities in Akwa-Cross Akpan Hogan Ekpo

INTRODUCTION What is known today as Cross River and Akwa Ibom States was created on May 27, 1967, as a South-Eastern State. In 1975 when nineteen states were created, it became known as Cross River State with the same geographical boundaries. In September 1989, Akwa Ibom State was created from the Cross River State. In this chapter, Akwa-Cross (AKCR) refers to Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. Both states are part of contemporary Nigeria. This chapter examines the economy of AKCR by analyzing the economic activities in the two states, identifying similarities and differences, if any. Consequently, issues such as trade, the commercial history of the region, industrial policy, and the contribution of the region to national development will be investigated. Furthermore, the chapter focuses on the outcomes (results) of the government’s development efforts by dissecting relevant economic performance indices of the region. The chapter is organized as follows: Following the introduction, section two X-rays the economic and commercial history of the region, while section three addresses some conceptual issues. The structure of the Akwa-Cross economy follows in section four, with section five addressing fiscal operations. The performance and management of the region’s economy is examined in section six while the discussion of federal allocation is in section seven. Section eight concludes the chapter. It is anticipated that the inherent analysis will shed more light on not just the economic activities of the region but also the challenges and the way forward, particularly in improving the standard of living of the citizens in the region.

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ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF THE REGION The precolonial economy of Akwa-Cross is well documented in Latham’s 1990 work (pp. 70–85). He examined the precolonial economy within the time periods 1668–1713, 1762–1805, and 1812–1891. The different ethnic groups traded in salt, palm oil, fish, shrimps, and slaves. The women did most of the agriculture activities. Crafts were very significant in the precolonial economy. It is recorded that in 1832, the “mechanics” were Igbos and the king had several blacksmiths who were mostly slaves. The blacksmiths made staples, clamps, shot, and needles, and they fastened brass leglets on ladies of high esteem. They were very innovative, and used palm oil as fuel. “The weavers of the region used unspun fibre from the palm wine tree to produce [cloth] five or six feet long and two to two and a half feet wide. Although Manchester cloth had driven it out of the Calabar market by the middle of the century, it was still produced and worn in other parts of the country” (Latham, 1990, p. 82). Another important craft was canoe building. The indigenous people utilized the availability of trees to perfect the craft of canoe building. It was estimated that large canoes sold for ten to fifteen pounds. The Efiks were the major buyers of finished canoes. The Efiks controlled the market in virtually all commodities. The nature of economic activities during the precolonial period suggests the interplay of market forces; prices of food changed according to changes in supply conditions due to harvest fluctuations, seasons, and war. The colonial economy of the region was characterized by the entry of various nationalities as well as various kinds of goods and services traded in the market. The nonindigenes included Lebanese, Syrians, Sierra-Leoneans, Igbo, and Yoruba businessmen. In the beginning of the present century, Calabar was the center for agricultural produce from the Cross River Valley. Calabar had several European companies such as Miller Bros (Liverpool), The African and Eastern Trading Corporation, The African Traders Co., and A & F Harrison’s stores, which imported goods of all types and exported local produce like palm oil, palm kernel, rubber, and mahogany. European companies such as John Holt & Co., P.Z & Co., and UAC operated in Calabar with branches in Oron, Itu, and Etinan. Calabar was one of the important ports in West Africa and European ships berthed regularly to collect, produce, and deliver merchandise from Europe. For example, the Elder Dempster Shipping Co. established its office in Calabar in 1906. Its ship plied the waters between Calabar, Itu, Eket, Oron, and Riodel Rey. In the 1920s and 1930s ships from Germany, England, and Holland called at Calabar port. Another interesting participant in the colonial economy was the Lebanese. The Lebanese businessmen served the



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poor community in the region. They were a link between the Europeans and African businessmen. Lebanese traders sold sugar in cubes, sticks of matches, and even a dab of a perfume. The Lebanese were good at lowering prices, thus winning customers to their side. This way, they were able to undercut European and African businessmen. The Lebanese were the first to venture into the entertainment and hospitality businesses. They owned cinemas, nightclubs, and hotels in the region. The colonial economy saw a beehive of economic activities contributing to the regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the national colonial economy. CONCEPTUAL ISSUES Akwa-Cross is part of a developing and/or underdeveloped economy called Nigeria. In other words, Akwa-Cross is an integral part of Nigeria. The preoccupation of the government in the region is to ensure sustained economic growth and development so as to better and improve the standard of living of its citizens. In economic terms, development means the ability of a country to generate and sustain a yearly increase in its Gross National Product (GNP) at, say, 5 percent and above including structural changes. Alternatively, the rate of growth of per capita GNP, or GDP, captures the ability of an economy to expand its output at a rate faster than the growth rate of its population— perceived as an index of development. It should be stated that an economy can experience growth without development. In recent times, economic development connotes the attempt at eradicating poverty, inequality, and unemployment in a country. Development includes not just economic growth but also the provision of basic needs in order to alleviate poverty: The questions to ask about a country’s development are therefore: what has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? What has been happening to inequality? If all three of these have declined from high levels, then beyond doubt this has been a period of development for the country concerned. If one or two of these central problems have been growing worse, especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result development even if per capita income doubled. (Seers, 1969, p. 3)

There is no doubt that the eradication of poverty is related to the provision of basic needs to citizens. Consequently, the Basic Needs (BN) approach views economic development as involving the minimization or eradication of poverty, unemployment, and income inequalities. The Basic Needs (BN) concept emphasizes the goal of poverty minimization rather than output maximization. Critics of this approach to development maintain that it leads to a

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reduction in the rate of growth since it stresses activities that are consumption oriented while proponents contend that the approach raises productivity. Essentially, the matter under contention is whether there is a trade-off between development and the provision of basic needs. However, we argue that economic development is meaningless without the provision of basic needs. Hence, poverty is viewed under the BN concept as the lack of good nutrition, good health, educational opportunities, decent shelter, a good transport system, and employment (Ekpo and Ndebbio, 1985, p. 2; Ekpo, 1993, p. 152). In the Akwa-Cross region, economic development remains a struggle in recent times. The elites and those in power pretend to structurally transform the economy of the region while in reality they are developing underdevelopment (Ekpo, 2022). It should be stated, therefore, that within the above conceptual framework, the economy and the inherent economic activities of the region will be undertaken. The conceptual framework will guide our analysis. STRUCTURE OF THE AKWA-CROSS ECONOMY Historically and in recent times, the structure of the Akwa-Cross economy rests on agriculture, industry (manufacturing), mining, and commercial activities. Agriculture remains the mainstay of Akwa-Cross economy. The sector employs almost 70 percent of the labor force and contributes 63 percent to the states’ GDP (Third National Development Plan, 1975, p. 55). It is broadly agreed that agricultural development can promote the economic transformation of developing economies in the following ways: 1.  increasing the food supply available for domestic consumption; 2.  making available needed labor for industrial employment; 3.  expanding the size of the domestic market for the industrial sector; 4.  raising the availability of internal savings; 5.  providing foreign exchange earned by agricultural exports. However, the above objectives have not been realized in Akwa-Cross due to: 1.  no noticeable secular decline of the agricultural population and labor force and the share of agriculture in GNP; 2.  inconsistent policies at the state and federal levels; 3.  the ascendancy of petroleum as the major earner of foreign exchange, further worsening the agricultural situation, as most persons have drifted to the urban areas in search of the newly created wealth of crude oil.



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Regarding food crops, Akwa-Cross can boast of several, including beans, cassava, cocoyam, guinea corn, maize, rice, yam, cucumber, and plantain. We have shown elsewhere that aggregate domestic production of food crops kept pace with food demand and the states were ‘adequate’ in food production during the period 1975–1985 (Ekpo, 1986, p. 13). The production of food crops in Akwa-Cross for the period 1975–1983 is presented in the Tables. The industrialization objectives of the old Cross River State were: (3rd Plan, 1975, p. 8) a.  increasing the national and state income; b.  improving the stability of foreign exchange by diversification of exports and import reduction; c.  creating more employment opportunities; d.  providing markets for local raw materials; and e.  promoting balanced development in the state. There is no question that as an economy develops, the contribution of the industrial sector to national output should increase both relatively and absolutely when compared to that of agriculture. Furthermore, the manufacturing component should contribute about 40 percent to GDP. It is difficult to state categorically whether an industrial sector actually existed in the old Cross River State and now Akwa-Cross. According to (Usoro, 1984, p. 15), “An examination of the Cross River State economy during the Plan Phase, reveals the absence of a modern and effective private sector complement to public sector development effort especially within the industrial sector unlike the scene in most other states within the Federation.” The industrial/manufacturing sector is yet to develop in Akwa-Cross. What exists are small branches of assembly plants, bottling and packaging outfits found in Nigeria’s large cities like Lagos, Kaduna, etcetera. It must, however, be noted that the government in the old Cross River State made efforts to industrialize the state as a catalyst. Several companies (manufacturing, services) were established to provide goods and services to the people, create employment, and present opportunities for the private sector to grow the economy. For example, the establishment of the Investment Trust Company Limited in 1973 by the Cross River State government had the mandate to industrialize the state by providing the necessary inputs as well as privatepublic sector collaboration. The creation of several companies in the old Cross River was facilitated by the then Investment Trust Company. Tables 6.1 and 6.2 below show the structure of the Akwa-Cross economy in recent times, 2013–2017. The share of agriculture in GDP which was 14.55

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percent in 2013 rose to almost 21 percent in 2015 but declined to 16.0 percent in 2017. For Akwa-Cross, the average share of agriculture in GDP is about 22.0 percent. The share of industry seems misleading. The high share of industry in the present Akwa Ibom State paints the picture of an industrialized economy, which is far from the truth. It appears that local small fabrication efforts have been construed as industrialization/manufacturing. The services sector in both states is of low quality, rudimentary and not linked to the industrial/manufacturing sector. The services sector in Cross River State for the period 2013–2017 gives the impression that the state has experienced the normal development trajectory by moving from agriculture to industry, with services of the latter dominating. The data in Table 6.1 indicate that the services sector share in GDP in Cross River averaged 52 percent for the period 2013–2017. This should be interpreted with caution. Table 6.2 highlights the dependence of Akwa Ibom State on anchored oil revenues to finance developments. From 2015 to 2017, dependence was on oil and nonoil products regarding the structure of the economy. Cross River structure was solely anchored on non-oil since it no longer receives oil revenue on the basis of the derivation principle.

Table 6.1.  Akwa-Cross: Share of Vital Sectors in GDP, 2013–2017 (%) Year

Sector

2013

agriculture industry services agriculture industry services agriculture industry services agriculture industry services agriculture industry services

2014

2015

2016

2017

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

14.55 71.16 14.29 12.77 72.56 14.68 20.89 58.0 21.11 22.62 53.91 24.47 16.01 65.41 18.58

32.72 14.94 52.34 28.03 19.21 52.76 29.71 16.01 54.28 24.77 16.41 58.82 26.03 18.99 54.98

Source: Author created based on data from Statistical Bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria (2019).



The Economy and Economic Activities in Akwa-Cross 111 Table 6.2.  Structure of the Economy of Akwa-Cross 2013–2017 (%) Year

Sector

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

2013

oil non-oil oil non-oil oil non-oil oil non-oil oil non-oil

67.3 32.7 68.5 31.5 52.6 47.4 48.8 51.2 59.8 40.2

0.0 100.00 0.0 100.00 0.0 100.00 0.0 100.00 0.0 100.00

2014 2015 2016 2017

Source: Author created based on data from Central Bank of Nigeria (2019).

The growth of real GDP in Akwa-Cross for the period 2014–2017 is shown in Table 6.3. Except for the year 2015, when Cross River GDP grew by 2.2 percent, the region registered negative growth rates; the implication is that GDP contracted and the economy of the region was producing below potential. It appears the recession of 2015 really hit the region. The paucity of data prevents a robust analysis of the composition and trend of the GDP. However, other relevant economic indicators discussed below throw more light on the performance of the region’s economy.

Table 6.3.  AkwaCross Real GDP Growth, 2013–2017 (%) Year

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

2014 2015 2016 2017

0.08 –0.27 –0.02 –0.89

–0.46 2.22 0.09 –0.92

Source: Author created based on data from National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja. Note: Nominal data discounted by inflation to obtain real value.

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FISCAL OPERATIONS The fiscal operations in the region elucidate the expenditure, revenue, and debt profile as well as the extent of dependence on federal government allocations. Table 6.4 portrays the fiscal operations of the region for the period 2007–2020. For Akwa Ibom State, internally generated revenue (IGR) which stood at N12.63 billion in 2007 exhibited a declining trend up to 2012 when it increased to N13.52 billion. Thereafter, IGR fluctuated and was N30.7 billion in 2020. Throughout the period, IGR could not cover the recurrent expenditure of the state. Consequently, the state had deficits throughout 2007–2020. The largest deficits occurred in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. It was, therefore, not surprising that the state had to borrow domestically and externally. The situation is the same in Cross River State. Furthermore, for the region, the share of capital expenditure in total expenditure averaged 60 percent. Capital expenditure enhances growth; hence, the ratio is healthy enough for the economy of the region.

Table 6.4.  Fiscal Operations of Akwa Ibom State 2007–2020

Year

Capital Recurrent IGR Expenditure Expenditure (N’Bn) (N’Bn) (N’Bn)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

12.63 11.46 9.25 10.13 11.68 13.52 15.4 15.68 14.79 23.27 15.96 24.21 32.29 30.7

37.58 34.16 37.01 40.46 51.93 88.23 133.8 151.52 121.42 98.52 112.88 130.58 127.08 129.45

105.57 154.51 186.2 211.57 242.63 281.87 264.63 194.57 114.42 91.56 117.09 168.17 197.83 91.45

Total Expenditure (N’Bn)

Primary Balance (N’Bn)

Recurrent Expenditure/ Total Expenditure (%)

143.15 188.67 223.21 252.03 294.56 370.1 398.43 346.09 235.84 190.08 229.97 298.75 324.91 220.9

–24.95 –22.7 –27.76 –30.33 –40.25 –74.71 –118.4 –135.84 –106.63 –75.25 –96.92 –106.37 –94.79 –98.75

26.25 18.11 16.58 16.05 17.63 23.84 33.58 43.78 51.48 51.83 59.08 43.71 39.11 58.60

Source: Author created based on data from National Bureau of Statics (NBS), Auditor-General Reports.

Capital Expenditure/ Total Expenditure (%) 73.75 81.89 83.42 83.95 82.37 76.16 66.42 56.22 48.52 48.17 50.92 56.29 60.89 41.40

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Table 6.5.  Fiscal Operations of Cross Rivers State 2007–2020

Year

Capital Recurrent IGR Expenditure Expenditure (N’Bn) (N’Bn) (N’Bn)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

3.4 6.45 7.11 7.87 9.16 12.73 12 15.74 13.57 14.78 18.1 17.55 22.6 16.18

63.84 30.9 36.7 29.6 36.8 71.4 40.82 39.53 51.7 42.9 37.51 48.42 71.07 66.02

10.43 40.49 25.52 23.95 51.09 55.06 68.97 63.64 27.8 41.14 38.72 61.48 29.01 49.86

Total Expenditure (N’Bn)

Primary Balance (N’Bn)

Recurrent Expenditure/ Total Expendure (%)

74.21 71.39 62.22 53.55 87.89 126.46 109.79 103.17 79.5 84.04 76.23 109.9 100.08 115.88

–60.44 –24.45 –29.59 –21.73 –27.64 –58.67 –28.82 –23.79 –38.13 –28.12 –19.41 –30.87 –48.47 –49.84

85.96 43.28 58.98 55.28 41.87 56.46 37.18 38.32 65.03 51.05 49.21 44.06 71.01 56.97

Capital Expenditure/ Total Expenditure (%) 14.04 56.72 41.02 44.72 58.13 43.54 62.82 61.68 34.97 48.95 50.79 55.94 28.99 43.03

Source: Author created based on data from National Bureau of Statics (NBS), Auditor-General Reports (several years).

Akwa-Cross needs to increase internally generated revenue so that it at least covers recurrent expenditures, which comprise mainly personnel and overhead costs. The dependence on federal allocation is not sustainable going forward. The dependency ratio is about 75 percent (Table 6.6). The bulk of the allocation from the center is based on oil revenues. Oil is a wasting and finite asset, hence dependence on it is unhealthy for the economy. The price and output of crude petroleum are subject to the vagaries of the global market. Hence, the region must develop an economy that is less dependent on allocation from the center. PERFORMANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE AKWA-CROSS ECONOMY We have shown above that the fiscal operations in the region resulted in persistent fiscal deficits partially explaining how the economy was managed. It should also be noted that even if the fiscal operations exhibited either surplus or balanced budgeting, it does not imply better management. For example, why should an economy with a huge infrastructure deficit allow budget surpluses in its fiscal operations? Another broad approach in examining the

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Table 6.6.  Dependence of AkwaCross on Federal Allocation, 2007– 2018 (%) Year

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

85.11 88.32 73.72 78.65 73.30 63.41 56.08 72.60 69.91 50.13 67.75 69.18

95.7 81.98 93.16 99.98 99.98 97.59 83.92 85.02 80.42 96.82 59.93 53.08

Source: Author generated.

performance and management of the region’s economy is to analyze the trend of relevant macroeconomic indicators such as unemployment, inflation, debt profile, incidence of poverty, and misery index, among others. The dearth of data would not allow a robust examination of these indicators over a considerable time period. The rates of unemployment in both Akwa Ibom and Cross River exceeded the accepted benchmark of 4–5 percent during the period 2007–2020. In 2007, it was 18 percent but rose sharply to 34.4 percent in 2014. For Cross River, the rate which stood at 32.8 percent in 2007 dropped to 19.6 percent in 2014. The rising unemployment rate implies that the region’s economy was operating below potential, and the social consequences of unemployment cannot be overemphasized. It results in robbery, kidnapping, banditry, and an avenue for the recruitment of terrorists. Policy makers in the region must formulate and implement strategies and programs to drastically reduce the very high rates of unemployment (See Table 6.7). The rates of inflation for the region are shown in Table 6.8 below. Except for 2014 for Akwa Ibom and 2014 and 2015 for Cross River, the region registered double-digit inflation for the rest of the period. The rates of inflation do not deviate widely from the national average. Inflation hits hard on the poor because they do not have enough savings to cushion the rise in prices. However, what is important is to determine the inflationary threshold for the region. The high rate of unemployment is related to the incidence and intensity of poverty. The intensity of poverty for Akwa Ibom State averaged 51.2 percent during the period 2016–2020. The incidence of poverty averaged 28.5 percent in the same period (see Table 6.9).



The Economy and Economic Activities in Akwa-Cross 115 Table 6.7.  Ak: Rates of Unemployment, 2007– 2019 (%) Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020*

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

National

18.0 11.1 34.1 27.7 18.4 19.8 34.3 34.4 34.1 34.6 34.9 37.7 38.2 51.0

32.8 18.9 14.3 27.9 18.2 18.2 18.9 19.6 21.4 23.7 26.4 30.6 31.0 53.7

12.7 14.9 19.7 21.1 23.9 27.4 24.7 6.4 10.4 14.2 20.4 23.1 30.0 33.3

Source: Author created based on data from NBS, Abuja. *Note: For fourth quarter of 2020.

Table 6.8.  Inflation Rates in Akwa-Cross, 2014–2019 (%) Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Akwa Ibom Cross River 7.82 10.21 17.63 14.33 11.42 12.21

3.27 6.95 14.81 15.83 10.69 9.98

National 8.0 9.6 18.6 15.4 11.4 11.98 15.8 17.0

Source: Author created based on data from National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja.

The misery index for Akwa-Cross is presented in Table 6.10. For the period 2014–2019, the index for Akwa Ibom stood at 75.6 percent while that of Cross River was 63.5 percent. The index suggests that millions of persons in the region are in misery. The misery index rose steadily from 2014 to 2019. The rise compares favorably with the national average (Ekpo, 2022).

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Table 6.9.   Poverty: Incidence and Intensity for Akwa Ibom State Year

Incidence of Poverty

Intensity of Poverty

23.8 23.8 22.9 22.5 20.8 28.5

41.6 41.6 40.3 40.1 41.1 51.2

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Average

Source: Author created based on data from NBS, Abuja.

Table 6.10.  Misery Index for Akwa-Cross 2014–020 (%) Year

Akwa Ibom

Cross River

67.86 71.02 79.52 79.91 80.21 75.00 75.60

48.61 55.06 65.80 72.94 72.38 66.00 63.50

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Average Source: Author generated.

FEDERAL ALLOCATION TO AKWA-CROSS Nigeria’s fiscal federalism is anchored on a revenue-sharing formula. All revenues are deposited into a distributional pool account and on the basis of an approved formula, the federating units receive allocation from the center. The statutory allocation for the most part is mainly determined from the proceeds of export of crude petroleum and value-added tax. In addition, oil producing states receive 13 percent on the basis of the derivation principle. Cross River State received the statutory allocation but stopped receiving the 13 percent derivation when it lost the oil wells claimed by Akwa Ibom. Table 6.11 and Figure 6.1 show the total allocation to Akwa-Cross for the period 2007–2021. For Akwa Ibom, the allocation under the derivation principle exceeded the statutory allocation for the period 2007–2021. The total allocation for Akwa Ibom rose from N20.5 billion in 2007 to N34.79 billion in 2021. Even during the two recessions that occurred 2016 and 2020, statutory allocation increased. The trend in both the statutory allocation and the 13 percent derivation mirror the movement of oil revenue. For Cross River, statutory allocation averaged N35 billion during 2007–2021. As was earlier



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Figure 6.1.  Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers, Statutory Allocation. Author created

shown, the total allocation for both states barely covers total expenditures, resulting in borrowing both externally and domestically. The domestic debt for the region rose sharply from 2011 to 2019. For Akwa Ibom State, the domestic debt increased almost sixfold from N41.25 billion in 2011 to N237.34 billion in 2019. For Cross River, domestic debt, which was N90.75 billion in 2011, increased to N166.95 billion in 2019. The external Table 6.11.  Federal Allocation: Statutory and Derivation, 2007–2021, (N billion) Akwa Ibom  Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Statutory Allocation 13% Derivation (N’Bn) (N’Bn) 20.5 25.47 18.13 25.28 33.19 34.51 38.92 38.69 28.3 20.51 28.51 42.75 41.4 34.08 34.79

81.9 98.02 71.3 107.79 129.62 150.94 180.79 183.06 116.69 63.14 93.27 149.06 121.01 94.82 91.16

Cross River Total Allocation Statutory Allocation (N’Bn) (N’Bn) 102.4 123.49 89.43 133.07 162.81 185.45 219.71 221.75 144.99 83.65 121.78 191.81 162.41 128.9 125.95

34.78 45.68 21.55 27.6 49.57 45.23 44.25 41.79 32.53 43.41 36.18 42.76 41.41 34.09 34.79

Source: Author created based on data from National Bureau of Statistics and Reports of the Accountant General of the Federation, Abuja

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debt stock for Akwa Ibom State stood at N47.98 million in 2019, while that of Cross River was N208.96 million for the same year. It is expected that the huge debt is meant to finance capital projects that will pay their way. There is no doubt that borrowing to finance capital projects not only stimulates growth but would also result in a positive multiplier effect for the economy. CONCLUSION We have analyzed the economy as well as the inherent economic activities in Akwa-Cross. There is no doubt that during the precolonial and colonial periods, the region experienced booming economic and commercial activities fostered by the different indigenous and nonindigenous ethnic groups. There was evidence of trading in sophisticated items like jewelry, carvings, and perfumes. During the period, there was also trading in slaves, which robbed the region of the needed manpower for future development. The colonial period witnessed the prevalence of hospitality businesses pioneered by the Lebanese community. Cinemas, hotels and other forms of recreation and relaxation were prominent during the colonial period. During the precolonial and colonial period, agriculture dominated economic activities. It provided the main source of living for the citizens. After the creation of states—from SouthEastern to Cross River and then to Cross River and Akwa Ibom (AkwaCross), the dynamics changed. During the era when the region was known as South-Eastern and Cross River State, the economy saw the establishment of modern trading outlets. Major trading and commercial firms opened branches in South-Eastern and later Cross River State. Nonetheless, agriculture continued as the mainstay of the economy, employing about 70 percent of the labor force while ensuring food adequacy for the region. The Akwa-Cross economy is presently experiencing economic challenges such as rising poverty, rising rates of unemployment, and rising inflation. While the governments in the region have been trying to develop through agriculture and industrialization, the economy remains in a stagflation phase. Akwa-Cross receives statutory allocation, which cannot cover total expenditures. The region’s IGR cannot pay personnel costs, hence the resort to borrowing. The dependence on federal allocation is unhealthy for the economy of the region because the main determinant of the revenue is from the export of crude petroleum, which itself is a wasting asset. While it is important to increase the IGR, efforts should be directed at restructuring the economy of the country to allow states like Akwa-Cross to have more economic powers to exploit and explore their own resources as well as design and implement policies to grow and develop the region. It is also crucial to develop the rural



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areas of the region by providing the basic needs such as quality education, medical facilities, pipe-borne water, electricity, and feeder roads, among others. These amenities would provide the impetus for the development of small-scale industries and modern agriculture. REFERENCES Ekpo, A. H. (1986). “The Performance of Cross River State Food Crop Sector: A Preliminary Economy Study, 1970–80,” Senate Research Grant Project, University of Calabar. ———. (1993). “A Re-examination of the theory and philosophy of structural adjustment.” Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies. 35(1), 64–78. ———. (2022). Nigeria: A Resource Rich Economy in Disarray. Lagos: University of Lagos Press. Ekpo, A. H., and J. Ndebbio. (1985). “Ideology, Basic Needs and Nigeria’s Planning Experience.” Presented at the 5th National Development Plan and Its Restructuring of the Nigerian Economy, Nigerian Economic Society, Lagos. Latham, A. J. H. (1990). “The Pre-Colonial Economy: The Lower Cross Region.” In M. Abasiattai (ed.), A History of the Cross River Region of Nigeria, pp. 70–89. Calabar, Nigeria: University of Calabar Press. Seers, D .(1969). “The Meaning of Development.” Presented at the Eleventh World Conference of the Society for International Development, New Delhi. Usoro, Eno J. (1984). “National Planning and Cross River State Development, 1962– 80.” Paper Presented at the National Conference on Backward States in Nigeria, University of Cross River State.

Chapter Seven

Ethno-Medicinal Plants of the Akwa-Cross Region of Nigeria Okon Godwin Okon

INTRODUCTION The use of plants in the remedy of various ailments is as old as the history of humanity. Research in the combined area of Ethnobotany and Ethnomedicine is very popular in Nigeria, especially in the Akwa-Cross region. This research has aided the production of several pharmaceutical drugs as well as other very commonly sold plant-based products in the country. Many biologically active compounds have been discovered and isolated from plants, which has led to the successful usage of these compounds in drug production. One of the major talents of the local people of the Akwa-Cross region is the recognition and utilization of the natural products within their environs to fulfill their daily requirements and needs to live healthy lives. According to Etukudo (2003), about 75 percent of the people in Akwa Ibom State alone depend completely on the usage of medicinal plants for health care. Ethnobotanical and Ethnomedicinal knowledge is gathered through a survey, whose aim is to properly document the long-term common and local usage of plants by the different ethnic groups inhabiting the area surveyed. This information has been repeatedly used by researchers to guide their choice of plants for further research using properly documented methods. A lot of people still commonly refrain from using plants, citing the lack of scientific backing for their benefits. In the past, Ethnomedicinal knowledge was passed down from generation to generation, experience also played a key role in this aspect. However, in recent times, there is more research and scientific proof backing the usage of plants in the treatment of different ailments published in both international and local journals. Moreover, some traditional healers currently seek advice from plant science researchers and also look up new facts on the potential usage of some underutilized medicinal plants. 121

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This chapter reviews some of the ethno-medicinal plants commonly found in the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria, listing the Botanical name, family name, the Ibibio/Efik name, common names, and their medicinal and nonmedicinal usages. 1. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Crescentia cujete L. Bignoniaceae Ikim Eto Calabash tree A dicotyledonous tree with leaves arranged in an alternating pattern Whole plant, wood. The calabash is used in home as bowls. It is also used to craft musical instruments. The whole plant can be used for beautification.

2. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common names: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Achyranthes aspera L. Amaranthaceae Udok Mbiet Devil’s horsewhip, Chaff-flower An erect wild herb, perennial in nature. Leaf Crushed leaves are applied externally for bites. Leaf decoction is used to remedy ulcer, diarrhea and dysentery.

3. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik names: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Hibiscus surattensis Malvaceae Afat Iban, Ifot ebot Wild sour A weak-stemmed multi-branched climber, annual. Leaves and roots Leaves are eaten raw or cooked, added to salad or soups. Leaf sap is used to prevent miscarriages. Root decoction is used as a laxative. The entire plant can be used as an ornamental plant.

4. Botanical names: Family: Ibibio/Efik names: Common names: Description: Parts Used:

Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv.) Seemann ex Bureau Bignoniaceae Oboti, Itumo Boundary tree A shrub that can reach up to 20 m. Whole plant, bark, leaves

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Uses:

5. Botanical names: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common names: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Ornamental, boundary plants. A decoction of the stem back is used in treatment of dysentery, cough. Leaves have been shown to possess some antidiabetic properties. Solanum torvum Sw. Solanaceae Ndidot Turkey berry, susumber, pea eggplant An erect perennial plant of about two or three inches in height Fruits The fruits can be eaten raw or used in soups and sauces. Extracts of the fruits can be used to aid digestion.

6. Botanical name Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Fagara macrophylla Engl. Rutaceae Nkek African Satinwood An evergreen tree that can attain the height of 40 m Leaves, seeds, shoots, bark The bark is used to treat several skin problems as well as rheumatism analgesic. The leaves and young shoots can be used for flavoring.

7. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Acioa barteri (Hook f.) Engl. Chrysobalanaceae Akan-nkere, ukang English monkey fruit A shrub that can grow up to 11 m in height Bark and stems Bark decoction is used as a laxative. Stems are used as stakes, and it produces good charcoal.

8. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. Fabaceae Nkoti Pigeon pea Woody shrub that grows to about 5 m in height Seeds, leaves, twigs Food, cover, and forage crop. Twigs are reported to be used as chewing/cleaning sticks. Leaf extracts can be used to remedy epilepsy.

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  9. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Baphia nitida Lodd. Fabaceae Afuuo Barwood, camwood Hard woody leguminous shrub Stem bark, root Extracts are used for the treatment of several skin diseases. Root decoction is used in the treatment of gonorrhea.

10. Botanical name Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Elaeis guineensis Jacq. Arecaceae Ayob, Eyob African oil palm, oil palm A tall palm tree (about 10–12 m) that is erect with a crown and long leaves Seeds, fruits, whole plant Major source of vegetable oil/fat. Leaves are used for thatching; stripped bunches can be used as brooms. A source of wood and timber, mulching, protective temporary fences, as well as alcohol, cosmetics etcetera. The whole plant can be used as an ornamental tree.

Parts Used: Uses:

11. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

12. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Raphia hookeri G. Mann & H. Wendl. Arecaceae Ukod Raffia palm A tall palm tree (about 10–12 m), erect with a crown and long leaves Trunk sap, fruits/seeds Tapped sap is fermented into the popular palm wine. The palm wine is also distilled into alcohol. Raw fruit is used to produce poisons, edible when cooked. Oil extracted from the fruit is used for stomach issues. Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schum.& Thonn.) Taub. Fabaceae Uyayak Prekese A forest deciduous tree growing to the height of about 23 m

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Parts Used: Uses:

13. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

14. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

15. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Fruit, bark Dried fruit is used for fragrance and as spice in the popular “afia efere.” Boiled fruit has been reported to be potent in the treatment of conjunctivitis and skin diseases. Cucurbita maxima Duchesne Cucurbitaceae Ndise Squash pumpkin, pumpkin An annual climber, under favorable conditions can grow up to 7 m Leaves and stems, fruits, seeds, flowers Leaves and stems are used as vegetables. Fruits are cooked and eaten with a spoon. Seeds produce sweet smelling flavors. Ground seeds are taken to expel worms and other intestinal parasites. Flowers are used to remedy minor cuts. Cucumeropsis mannii Naud. Cucurbitaceae Ikon Melon, white seed melon An annual climber, under favorable conditions can grow up to 4 m Seeds, fruit, leaves The oily seeds are used in the preparation of the popular “efere ikon.” The raw fruit and leaves are also edible. Leaf extracts are used by nursing mothers either to aid navel drop-off in newborn babies or aid in purging of babies. Anchomanes difformis (Blume) Engl. Araceae Nkokod Spiny arum About 2 m tall, herbaceous plant Tubers, stem, leaves, roots Tubers are underutilized but edible. Root, stems, and leaves are used as purgatives.

16. Botanical name: Aframomum melegueta K.Schum Family: Zingiberaceae

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Ibibio/Efik name: Ntuen ibok Common name: Grains of paradise Description: herbaceous plant about 2 m tall but can grow up to 4 m growing from rhizome. Parts Used: Seeds, fruit Uses: Seeds are used for flavoring food and drinks. Raw fruits and seeds are chewed as stimulants. Plant decoction is used to ease menstrual pains. 17. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Solanum melongena L. Solanaceae Nya Aubergine, brinjal A perennial plant of about 30–145 cm with characteristic purpled fruit Fruit, roots, leaves Fruit is used in sauces, soups, and stews. It can also be used to remedy mushroom poisoning. Root decoction works for asthmatic patients.

18. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Chrysophyllum africanum A. DC. Sapotaceae Udara, udala African star apple A tall tree of about 23 m Fruits, wood, seeds, bark Fruits are edible and also treat diarrhea. The tree yields quality timber. The seeds yield oil. Stem bark induces lactation.

19. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Pterocarpus mildbraedii Harms Papilionaceae Mkpafere Uruhe, mkpa A tall evergreen deciduous tree of about 11–23 m Leaves, stem, bark Leaves are used in the preparation of the popular “mkpafere soup.” Stem bark is used in the treatment of rheumatism.

20. Botanical name: Borreria verticillata (L.) G.F.W. Mey. Family: Rubiaceae Ibibio/Efik name: Abia ikana

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Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Buttonweed Sender stemmed, erect perennial plant of between 15–110 cm tall Leaves Leaf extract and oils extracted from leaves have been reported to possess some antimicrobial properties. Leaves are also potent in the treatment of some skin diseases, ulcer, gonorrhea, itches, etcetera.

21. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Musa paradisiaca L. Musaceae Ukom, mbrenyon Plantain They possess a pseudo-stem usually 2–10 m long Fruits, leaves, and stem Ripe fruits can be eaten raw or cooked, fried or dried. It is a choice food because of its rich starch. Crushed or decayed stem mixed with waterleaf (Talinum triangulare) and local chalk (ndom) has been reported to remedy measles. Leaves are used to wrap food materials.

22. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Musa sapientum L. Musaceae Mboro Banana, saging, platano They possess an elongated pseudo-stem, usually 2– 10 m Leaves, fruits, roots Leaves are used to locally package food. Ripe fruits can be eaten raw for their sweet taste and nutritional value. Leaves are used in wound dressing, leaf decoction helps in ulcer treatment, and powdered roots are used in the treatment of anemia.

Parts Used: Uses:

23. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used:

Talinum triangulare (Jacq.) Wild. Talinaceae Mmomong ikong Waterleaf, Ceylon spinach This is an undershrub with an erect stem of about 40–100 cm tall Leaves

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Uses: 24. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

The leaves are key constituents in most popular soups, such as afang soup and edikang ikong soup. Gnetum africanum Welw. Gnetaceae Afang African jointfir A climbing shrub that can be 12 m or more depending on support of stake Leaves Leaves are used for the preparation of the popular afang soup. The leaf extract has been reported to be potent in the treatment of piles, enlarged spleen, and high blood pressure.

25. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Citrus aurantifolia L. Rutaceae Mkpiri osokoro, mkpresukoro Lime A small bushy tree Fruits, leaves, seeds, roots Fruit sap is used as a juice drink. The juice is also used as a painkiller, laxative, stomachache remedy, and eye treatment. The leaf extract is used to treat dysentery and diarrhea. The seeds/roots treat venereal diseases.

26. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Eremomastax polysperma (Benth.) Dandy Acanthaceae Ndana edem, edem ididuot African blood tonic plant Perennial scrambling herb that grows up to 2 m Root, leaf The root and leaf extracts are locally taken as enema or to treat internal heat or spleen issues. The leaf extract has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties.

27. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Lasianthera africana P. Beauv. Icacinaceae Editan Uyoro A shrub

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Parts Used: Uses

28. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

29. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

30. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used:

Leaves, stem The leaves are used as vegetables in the preparation of the popular Editan soup. The plant is also potent in the treatment of diarrhea, diabetes, ulcers, and parasitic infections. The stem can be chewed or used as good boundary plants. Dioscorea bulbifera L. Dioscoreaceae Edomo Aerial yam A perennial climbing plant with glabrous leaf whose stem can grow up to 11 m, producing aerial bulbils Tubers, bulbil, leaves Properly cooked tubers are edible and can be fried or baked. The tubers and bulbs are used externally for all forms of inflammations and sores/wounds. Leaf extract gotten through distillation is used against pink eyes. Occimum gratissimum L. Lamiaceae Nton Clove basil, Tea bush An erect aromatic shrub mainly cultivated in tropical areas growing with a lot of branches that can reach up to 250 cm Leaves Leaves are edible and are a key component in soups, stews, and sauces. The leaves burned with a palm fruit bunch or spikelet serve as insect repellent. The leaves can also be used internally and externally to remedy dysentery, fever, worm infestation in children, cold, and rheumatism. Leaf extracts can also be used to increase appetite and treat eye issues. Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex. J.C. Wendl. Poaceae Akpo abakpa, nyanyaha Bamboo An erect bamboo plant that can grow up to 25 m high Leaves, stems

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Uses:

Young leaves, shoots and branches are very good fodder and are edible when cooked. The stems remedy rheumatism. The mature stems are used in making local thatch houses, used in construction sites, as stakes for yam, afang, and other climbing plants.

31. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Harms Fabaceae Nsama African yam bean A climbing plant that can grow up to 3–5 m Seeds, leaves, roots All parts of the plant are edible

32. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Acanthus montanus (Nees) T. Anderson Acanthaceae Mbara ekpe Mountain thistle A thorny thin and multi-branched perennial plant that can reach about 25 cm Leaves Leaves are used to remedy rheumatism, arthritis etcetera.

Parts Used: Uses: 33. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Justicia schimperi (Hochst.) Dandy Acanthaceae Mmemme Hunter’s weed Straggling herb that can grow up to 1 m Leaves Leaves are edible, and the extracts can be used as a laxative and to treat chest/heart problems.

34. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Dacryodes edulis (G.Don) H.J.Lam. Burseraceae Eben Bush butter An erect evergreen tree that grows up to 22 m tall Fruit, bark Fruits can be eaten raw or boiled and salted; it can be eaten with corn, bread etcetera. Bark decoction can be used to treat anemia and dysentery.

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35. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Garcinia kola Heckel Clusiaceae Efiad, Effiat Bitter kola An erect evergreen tree that grows up to 16 m tall with a characteristic spreading crown Seeds The seeds are eaten raw as an antidote for poison and as an aphrodisiac.

36. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Terminalia catappa L. Combretaceae Mmansang mbakara Almond, Indian almond An erect evergreen tree that grows up to 15 m tall Seeds, leaves Seeds are eaten raw, roasted, or cooked. Oil and in recent times milk is extracted from the seeds. The leaves have been reported to treat dysentery, hepatitis, and good fodder.

37. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Manihot esculenta Crantz. Euphorbiacceae Iwa Cassava A food crop in the tropical regions, shrubby in nature, can grow up to 3 m tall Root/tubers, leaves Roots/tubers are used in making the popular garri, fufu, edita iwa, asa iwa etcetera. The tubers can also be fried as chips or ground into flour. Leaves can be cooked as vegetables. It can also be used to wrap other ground pastes like ekpang. Starch from the tuber is very popular among locals and drycleaners.

Parts Used: Uses:

38. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used:

Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers. Crassulaceae Ndodob Miracle leaf, Life plant Thick, fleshy leaves having the ability to produce adventitious buds Leaves

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Uses 39. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Leaves are used in the treatment of kidney stones, cough, chest congestion, diabetes. Cyperus esculentus L. Cyperaceae Isip isong Tiger nut A perennial grass-like plant producing underground stolons Seeds Seeds are edible. They can be eaten raw, dried, or roasted. Oil and in recent times milk is extracted from the seed. The seed extract aids digestion and is regarded as a stimulant/aphrodisiac.

40. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses:

Euphorbia heterophylla L. Euphorbiaceae Ndia ke garri Fire plant An annual plant that can grow up to a 100 cm Leaves Leaves are used as purgative/laxative.

41. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Eto adan ukebe Castor oil plant Multi-branched perennial woody plant that can grow up to about 15 m tall Seeds Seed oil has anthelmintic properties and can also be used as a laxative.

Parts Used Uses 42. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Abrus precatorius L. Fabaceae Nnem inua Rosary pea Slender climbing perennial climbing plant Seeds, leaves Seeds are used in cosmetics. The leaves are used as sweetening agents. Leaf extract has been reported to be potent in the treatment of cough, inflammation, and epilepsy.

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43. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Allium sativum L. Amaryllidaceae Atebe Owo inua Garlic A bulbous plant growing up to 1 m producing either pink or purple flowers Bulb The bulb is used in soups, sauces, etcetera. When garlic is chewed raw, it normalizes sugar level in diabetic patients, and it also reduces cholesterol as well as blood pressure.

44. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description: Parts Used: Uses

Eugenia uniflora L. Myrtaceae Ntuen mbakara Surinam cherry A small shrubby tree growing up to 8 m tall Fruits Fruits are delightfully tasteful with a high content of vitamin C. The plant possesses antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antihypertensive properties.

45. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench Malvaceae Atike, Etike Okra, Okro Erect, slightly woody annual plant that can grow up to 4 m tall Fruit, leaves, roots The fresh fruits are used in the preparation of the popular efere atike. Root infusion treats syphilis. Fruit decoction treats gonorrhea. Leaves have numerous benefits, which include usage as antiscorbutic and to treat dysuria. Crushed fruits and young leaves are used to wash hairs and the treatment of dandruff.

Parts Used: Uses:

46. Botanical name: Family: Ibibio/Efik name: Common name: Description:

Vernonia amygdalina Delile Asteraceae Etidot, Atidot Bitter leaf A rough stemmed shrub that can grow up to about 5 m tall

Okon Godwin Okon

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Leaves The leaves are used in the preparation of the soup efere atidot. Leave extract is locally taken orally to lower blood sugar. The leaves have also been reported to have anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties. CONCLUSION

These are some of the plants native to the Akwa-Cross region that have medicinal, nutritional, and practical value for the Akwa-Cross people. These plants have been evaluated over time as effective. REFERENCES Ejechi, B. O., and D. E. Akpomedaye. (2005). “Activity of Essential Oil and Phenolic Acid Extracts of Pepper Fruit (Dennettia tripetala G. Barker; Annonaceae) against Some Food-Borne Microorganisms.” Afr. J. Biotechnol 4, 258–61. Etukudo, I. (2003). Ethnobotany: Conventional and Traditional Uses of Plants. N.p.: Scientific Research. Hepper, F. N., and R. W. J. Keay. (1963). “Flora of West Tropical Africa.” https:// plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOWRS. Kola, K. A., A. E. Benjamin, N. B. Danladi, E. E. Etienne, A. A. Saburi. (2008). “Ethnobotanical Survey of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 115, 387–408. Okwu, D. E., and F. N. I. Morah. (2004). “Mineral and Nutritive Value of Dennettia tripetala Fruits.” Fruits 59, 437–42. “Tropical Plants Database.” (2022). tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id =Uvaria+chamae. “Useful Tropical Plants.” (2022). https://tropical.theferns.info/.

Chapter Eight

Agricultural Practices in Akwa-Cross Ubon Asuquo Essien

INTRODUCTION Agriculture has been described as the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. For something to be described as a mainstay, means that other things depend on it. It is the fulcrum, the foundation, or one could say the anchor of the Nigerian economy. This definition of agriculture. However, no longer holds water in present-day Nigeria, as it is not really the bedrock of the Nigerian economy per se. The era of crude oil has long eroded that very important place of agriculture as the country’s economic fulcrum. Even though agriculture still has great potential if well harnessed, the economy is now heavily dependent on petro-dollars, as agro-dollars are barely sustaining, since the sector contributes a paltry 22 percent (FAO, 2021) to the country’s gross domestic product. Nigeria has about seventy-nine million hectares of arable land. Out of this, only thirty-two million hectares are cultivated. Rainfed agriculture is over 90 percent and smallholders, mostly subsistence producers, account for 80 percent of all farm holdings. The physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to the populace is a major challenge of the government as current production is unable to meet demand, making Nigeria a net importer of food. It is reported that in 1961, Nigeria was the leading exporter of groundnut, with a world’s share of 42 percent. The country also had 27 percent of the world’s palm oil export, 18 percent of cocoa, and 1.4 percent of cotton as the leading West African cotton exporter (FMARD, 2012). These achievements have long been lost as other countries of the world have leaped far ahead of Nigeria, while low productivity is enshrined due to poor policy implementation and lack of visionary leadership. 135

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Despite the abysmal contribution of agriculture, many still believe that agriculture remains the cornerstone of the Nigerian State, with over 70 percent of Nigerians engaging in the sector, mainly at the subsistence level. Akwa Ibom and Cross River States of Nigeria are not shielded from this reality. The challenges facing the sector range from natural to manmade. However, the sector keeps thriving to meet the immediate needs of the people of the region. This chapter therefore will present a brief overview of the current state of agriculture in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, and equally outline some salient features of some agro-allied ventures in the region. A BRIEF AGRO-ECOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF AKWA IBOM AND CROSS RIVER STATES Agro-Ecology of Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom State has good arable land. It is located in the southeastern part of the rain forest zone of Nigeria, with land mass of about 8,412 square km (Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) Nigeria, 2022). The state lies between latitudes 4°33' and 5°33' north and longitudes 7°25' and 8°25' east, along the southeastern coastal plains, bordered by Cross River, Rivers, Abia, and Ebonyi States. The state has an extensive shoreline of 129 km long and surrounds the Qua Iboe River basin and the eastern parts of both the lower Cross River basin and the Estuary of the Imo River. Its climate is typically tropical, hot, and humid (Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Economic Development, 2004). The state is made up of six agricultural zones namely, Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Oron, Eket, Abak, and Etinan. The farming families are characterized by eight to ten members, with more than 70 percent of the farmers owning their land. Furthermore, the average farm plot is below one hectare with many farmers still allowing fallow periods. The main crops grown are cassava, oil palm, maize, plantain, cocoyam, okro, fluted pumpkin, water leaf, rice, rubber, and raffia palm. Other crops grown in lesser quantities are mangoes, citrus, cocoa, kola, and cowpeas, as well as many varieties of fish and other seafoods, such as catfish, barracuda, sardines, bonga, croaker, shrimps, crayfish, snappers, bivalves, squids, and oysters. The state has a bimodal rainfall pattern with the rains lasting on the average, for eight to nine months followed by a short dry season. The rains are heavy and begin in March and end in November, peaking in July and September. Generally, the weather supports appropriate crops all year round.



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Agro-Ecology of Cross River State Cross River State occupies a land mass of about 24,000 km2 which is made up of mangrove swamp forest, tropical rainforest, and guinea savanna hinterland. It is divided into three agricultural zones namely, Northern, Central, and Southern. The Northern agricultural zone comprises Obanliku, Obudu, Bekwarra, Ogoja, and Yala Local Government Areas. (LGAs) The Central agricultural zone is made up of Ikom, Boki, Etung, Obubra, Abi and Yakurr LGAs. Further, the Southern Agricultural zone has Calabar Municipality, Calabar South, Odukpani, Akpabuyo, Akamkpa, Bakassi, and Biase LGAs. According to Mofinews (2004), the state has the largest rainforest in the country, covering about 7,290 km,2 described as one of Africa’s largest remaining virgin rainforests, harboring as many as five million species of animals, insects, and plants. It has two distinct climatic seasons namely: the rainy season from April to October and the dry season from November to March. Average annual rainfall varies from 1,300 mm to 3,000 mm while the average temperature ranges between 15°C and 30°C. The high plateau of Obudu experiences climatic conditions that are remarkably different from the generalized dry and wet periods in the rest of Cross River State. Temperatures are 4°C–10°C lower than in the surrounding areas due to the high altitude (Mofinews, 2004). Cross River State favors the cultivation of many types of tree and arable crops such as cocoa, rice, rubber, vegetables, fruits, banana, plantain, oil palm, yam, maize, and cassava. Land preparation, planting, and harvesting, rely heavily on seasonality, and the cultivation and harvesting of these crops in the state, however, depend on the seasonal variations and distribution of rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, sunshine, and wind. These climate conditions vary with the sub-climatic regions (mangrove swamp, tropical rainforest, and guinea savanna) of the state. Different kinds of animals and sea foods, both domestic and wild, thrive in the region. AN OVERVIEW OF THE TRADITIONAL FARMING SYSTEMS IN AKWA-CROSS The traditional systems of farming operation are still in force in the two states. I decided to discuss this because farming systems are like a model through which all other agricultural practices take place. The people of Akwa-Cross have rich nativity, hence the need to bring to the fore a few of the practices that are still operational in many parts today. Shifting cultivation: In the early days, fertilization wasn’t a common thing. Several farmers were poor though sufficiently able to produce to meet the

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needs of the family, with the excess sold in the village markets. The population was smaller than in present-day Nigeria; land was available in abundant supply. Farmers therefore observed that after several years of cultivating a piece of land, the land tended to lose its fertility and crops grown on that portion didn’t do well anymore. These conditions made several farmers abandon farmlands in order for it to rejuvenate and build up nutrients again as they move to another portion of land. This practice is limited today because of population growth. Many farmers today use farmyard manure and inorganic manure to replenish their farmlands. Bush Burning: This was a primitive practice of burning bush to clear the land for cultivation. Several authors describe this practice as primitive. Partial bush burning equally exists, where the stumps gathered from bush clearing are burnt. Though the practice of bush burning generally has been curbed due to various advocacy campaigns regarding its harmful effect on soil micronutrients, it is still often practiced in the rural areas where farming activities mainly take place. One of the major challenges responsible for this practice is the lack of necessary equipment and machinery. Most of the farmers are subsistence farmers and do not have enough capital to hire machines for land-clearing purposes. And even if they do, the issues of land tenure and family land system affect machine use. This practice might stay with us for a very long time. Mixed cropping: In this system of farming, the farmer liberally plants different types of crops on the same piece of land. The crops grown on this piece of land can be two or more planted in the same season. Mixed cropping can also be regarded as intercropping, polyculture, or co-cultivation. This method serves time and space. It is widely practiced in Akwa-Cross and in most parts of the country where land is limited in supply. It is also a way of insurance, in that if a particular crop is affected by certain conditions and does not do well, the other will. It is also a way of making maximum use of the land resource. AGRI-BUSINESS ENTERPRISES PREDOMINANT IN AKWA IBOM AND CROSS RIVER STATES Cassava Farming: Cassava is the major food crop used in the production of garri and foo-foo, which are key staples in the homes of every Akwa-Cross family. Garri is usually eaten in the afternoon in most families in the region. With the increasing use of these products, cassava farming has spread in leaps and bounds across the two states. That is why we hear names like, “Garri Ogoja” or “Ogoja Garri,” which is garri produced in Ogoja LGA of Cross



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River State. This has gained prominence as the product is sold in most parts of Nigeria up to the present. Poultry Farming: This farming involves the raising of domesticated birds such as turkey, chicken, geese, and ducks for the purpose of meat and egg production. Poultry farming in Nigeria is probably one of the most lucrative farming businesses one can embark upon. The quick maturity of chicken, especially the broiler birds, presents one of the finest opportunities for entrepreneurs to make good money within the shortest period of time possible. With over 160 million consumers in Nigeria alone, the market is always there waiting to be tapped. The demand for poultry products such as eggs is so high that people go about every day looking for where to get the supplies needed. Rice Farming: Rice farming has been prevalent in Akwa-Cross for a very long time now. There are some places that stand out as far as rice production is concerned in the two states. These are Ogoja, Yala, and Bansara in Cross River state and Ini LGA in Akwa Ibom State. Other places within the two states have started springing up in the aspect of rice production. Residents of the two states considering entering into the rice farming business are advised to do so as it’s undoubtedly one of the most profitable business ventures in the agricultural sector of the state. Snail Farming: The mangrove swamp forest of the rainforest belt which Akwa Ibom and Cross River fall into, makes a very suitable environment for the production of snails. This is because the region undoubtedly provides a natural habitat for the snails to grow. Snail farming is considered one of the profitable businesses to start with very low capital, yet many people fail to see and tap into this gold mine. Along the Calabar-Itu road, Odukpani, Akamkpa, and other major towns and villages, it is commonplace to see snails being sold. However, in the wild, business can be affected by seasonal change, thereby making snails scarce and expensive in the dry seasons. Intensive rearing of snails is therefore encouraged, to ensure their year-round availability. Seafood harvest/market: Just like snails, Akwa-Cross is blessed with an abundant natural water body that makes the harvest of sea foods very easy. Some of the common seafoods in the area are catfish, crayfish, periwinkle, oyster, crab, among others. These seafoods are a very rich protein source and have become a major agribusiness for people of the area for decades. Businesspeople, most especially from the eastern region, travel to Akwa Ibom and Cross River states to buy these goods in bulk and distribute them to the rest of the country. Pig Farming: This has come to stay in the region. A walk around the streets and major roads reveals a preponderance of pork sellers who either cook, fry, or roast the meat for public consumption. Pork production and processing is one of the most lucrative and profitable livestock businesses in Akwa-Cross.

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This is due to the fact that pigs are very prolific breeders and can farrow a large litter at a time. It is reported that the pork market in West Africa alone accounts for about $3 billion in consumption value. POLICY AND STRATEGIES OF AKWA IBOM AND CROSS RIVER STATES ON AGRICULTURE The vision of the federating units in the country is to ensure food security and employment through a well-planned agricultural policy. These policies are put together, not haphazardly, but putting into cognizance the peculiarity of each state. However, the states’ past and present policies must be in tandem with the federal government’s policy of achieving food self-sufficiency. They are set out to achieve similar objectives. Akwa Ibom State The policy thrust of Akwa Ibom on agriculture is to bring about a measurable annual growth in the production of cash crops, staple food, livestock and fish through institutional and infrastructural support for private, small, medium and large-scale farmers. Being the highest producer of palm oil in Nigeria, the state raised a total of 5,000 hectares of oil palm plantation under the Community Project Development Scheme (CPDS). To achieve the objective of the agricultural policy of the state under livestock and fisheries, Accelerated Livestock and Fish Production Programme (ALFIPP) was launched. Another notable strategy under the states’ agricultural policy is Integrated Farmers’ Scheme, mandated to recruit, train, and empower youths in agro-enterprises of their choice. The scheme is believed to have empowered 950 youths in the state. However, while all these programs and strategies came into being, there is no clear record of the achievement as well as the obstacles encountered. These are germane for policy sustainability. Another is the Akwa Ibom Enterprise Employment Scheme (AEES), a youth engagement program meant to leverage the “Can Do” spirit of the Akwa Ibom youth in production of essential vegetables. Apart from the state’s agricultural policy, the state is actively involved in the implementation of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the federal government. Specifically, the state has benefited from inputs such as inorganic fertilizers, agro-chemicals, improved seedlings and seeds, oil palm, cocoa, cassava, rubber, rice, maize, cotton, and soybeans.

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Cross River State The agricultural policy of Cross River State is enshrined in Cross River State Agricultural and Rural Empowerment Scheme (CARES). The aim of the scheme is to increase agricultural output across the state, thereby transforming the rural communities and empowering the farmers. Another program that projects the policy of the state is the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) aimed at improving agricultural production in the state by supporting commercial agriculture production, processing, and marketing outputs. The program primarily targets the value chains of tree crops, namely: cocoa, oil palm, and rice. Like any other state program, there is no record of the achievement or the problems encountered. The state is actively involved in the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) implementation, most especially oil palm transformation value chain. Under the Growth Empowerment Scheme of ATA, registered oil palm growers are entitled to fifty free palm seedlings while inputs such as herbicides are sold to farmers at subsidized prices. Since the inception of the policy in 2010, there is no record to show the increment that has taken place in oil palm production in the state. Another scheme recently launched in the state was the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme, AADS, which focuses on palm plantation and livestock and poultry (broilers and layers). SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SERVICE SUBSECTOR From the foregoing, for Akwa-Cross to be food self-sufficient and contribute meaningfully to the Nigerian State considering its potential, a lot of things would have to be put into consideration if substantial progress is to be made. The issues of value addition and value chains need to be given due attention. Value chains of crops and animals with comparative advantage must continue to be given due attention and strengthened. The direct involvement of the government in agriculture should be discouraged. Government should only provide the enabling environment and give policy directives for the private sector to operate. In fact the best model for the successful functioning of the agricultural sector in Akwa-Cross is the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. This will go a long way toward strengthening agricultural production in the region. In particular, the food services subsector needs lots of expansion through income injections and employment or rather the need for more people to function in that area. If this is well developed, the cost of local delicacies in overseas countries wouldn’t be as high as it is now. Government would have to be equally liberal in its immigration and export policies to

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enable indigenes who wish to go into this as a business, to have an enabling environment to thrive. To further enhance the development of agriculture in the region, the following are suggested. a.  Credit to farmers: The role of money and finance in a business enterprise cannot be overemphasized. Most farmers in the area are subsistence and don’t have the required funds to improve or expand production. If the government would allocate funds to agriculture and make credit more available to farmers while monitoring the same, this could go a long way in boosting agricultural production in the region. Farmers on the other hand would have to be advised that the funds are not a national cake, but a deliberate attempt to improve their welfare. b.  Extension System: In the modern world, a lot of things are done to improve agricultural production. These new innovations or results of research are to be transmitted by extension agents from the government or research institutions to the farmers. Unfortunately, this arm of agriculture is not functioning as effectively as it should. If innovations get to the farmers at all, especially those in the villages, they take a lot of time to be adopted. The transmission of information or innovation from research to farmers needs to be improved upon in the two states. If this is done, productivity will be improved. One of the ways to effectively do this is through the LGAs of each state since that is the arm of government that is closest to the people. c.  Attractive programs and projects for youths: Most young people are not interested in agriculture. Farming is only attractive to a few. There is therefore a need for development partners and practitioners in the field, to develop plans and programs that are youth friendly so as to attract more young people to agriculture and make them stay. Some nongovernmental organizations on different platforms are already doing a lot in this direction, but more needs to be done in other for the desired aim to be achieved. More awareness campaigns and advocacy should be carried out in secondary schools using youth-friendly platforms to communicate and pass across messages. The long forgotten “Young Farmers Club” which used to be very effective in many secondary schools should be brought back or revitalized. With this, the phase of agriculture is bound to change for good. d.  Availability of land: Land is a free gift of nature, but difficult to access for a lot of people who don’t have family land to fall back on. The government of each state should identify young people genuinely interested in agriculture, and make land available to them for cultivation. There are agencies of government in the two states that farmers can approach for information on land. Some of the agencies are: the Ministry of Agriculture, the River



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Basin Development Authority, and the Agricultural Development Project in the States. e.  Increased utilization of output from research centers for crops and livestock farmers. f.  Monitoring and evaluation are a core ingredient in agricultural productivity. Therefore, continuous monitoring and evaluation of ongoing agricultural programs in the states must be given adequate attention. CONCLUSION The agricultural sector in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States holds a lot of prospects. If fully tapped, it would bring huge foreign exchange to the region, while contributing to the gross domestic products of the two states. This is attainable through well-articulated policy programs and implementation and making the private sector a core component in driving the agenda. The Agricultural Transformation Agenda(ATA) of the federal government, the Anchor Borrowers Programme, the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), Youth Farm Lab, among others, seek to refocus and transform the sector profitably. Akwa Ibom and Cross River States have some ongoing agricultural projects; there is therefore a need for proper and adequate records of achievement as well as shortcomings of policy implementation processes. REFERENCES “Akwa Ibom Denies Diverting Agriculture Funds.” (2013). This Day Live. http://www .thisdaylive.com/articles/akwa-ibom-denies-diverting-agriculture-funds/159741/. Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) Nigeria. (2022) www.cadp nigeria.org/. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). (2021). Statistical Year Book. Geneva: World Food and Agriculture. Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources Akwa Ibom State. N.d. Rural Development Handbook. https://www.aksgonline .com/agric/default.html. Mofinews. (2004). Okoruwa, V. (2022). “Current State of Agriculture in the States of Nigeria-An Overview Assessment.” Paper Presented at the third retreat of the Nigeria Governors Forum, March 13–14, Eko Suit Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Chapter Nine

Native Delicacies in Akwa-Cross Ememobong Anam Akpan, Francis Anthony Akpan, Ubon Asuquo Essien, Mercy Ekwere, and Grace Akpakpan

INTRODUCTION It is important and also necessary to study diet in different cultures. In anthropology food is essential in human existence. “Food can never be a sufficient commodity as it is always insufficient. Its importance can never be exhausted” (Shriram, 2002, p. 28). The study of diet sheds light on societal processes, like on political economic value creation; social contribution of memory, as well as symbolic value creation (Carter and Meynard, 2001). According to Carter and Meynard (2001), many cultures depend on the prevailing condition to determine the essential commodities necessary for the survival and sustenance of the kinds of diet (of food crops) they require. Food is life and the types of food developed in that particular culture influence the lifestyles of individuals in the culture (Carter and Meynard, 2000). Therefore the lifestyle of a particular culture can be ascertained through the types of food (diets) eaten. In other words, we can detect from diet both the culture and peculiar environment of the people, whether Annang, Urhobo, Yoruba, Ijaw, or Hausa peoples. CULTURE AND FOOD At the border of biology and culture, food is related to certain values. Food is the foundation of every economy and is central to political strategies whether of states or households. There is a common saying that “you are what you eat.” This means that food makes us what we are. The phrase is true in the sense that what we eat forms the chemical signature of each person. 145

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As J. P. Ekarika reported in an interview in 2022, food is a biological necessity for survival; it is needed by all living things. It is the source of energy that helps us to grow, repairs us, and maintains our bodies. Anthropologists look into the past and study our ancestors’ feeding habits and determine our modern-day diets. Fossilized teeth and plant microfossils help explain our ancestors’ diet and our own. ANTHROPOLOGY AND FOOD Anthropologists study human culture across space and evolutionary time. This includes the study of cultures and social institutions. Other sub-fields of anthropological studies include cultural, linguistic, biological, and archeological anthropology. The research in nutritional anthropology cuts across these sub-fields. Food requires hunting, gathering, growing, storage, distribution, preparation, display, serving, and disposal, all of which are social activities. This is an area where the Akwa-Cross people and nearby tribes are noted for their mastery of food ingredients for preparing delicious foods and specialized dishes. They are also known for their ability to harness sea foods and aromatic spices in the preparation of their nurturing spice plants and seafood such as: Nyeme, Mkpifia, Eka-Nya, Iko, Nton, Uyayak, Udip, Ntotoho, Ibaba, Nsama, Etinyung, Etinkeni, Ukana, Odusa, Obu, Mbukpa Uyo, Nkop, Nko-Nko, Nkoriko, Ekwong, Isobimfi, etcetera. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as the early part of the twentieth century, Old Town, Calabar, was a very busy and important seaport. Later it became the capital city and capital of the defunct South-Eastern State of Nigeria, also capital of Old Cross River and new Cross River State in South-South Nigeria. Folklore has it that the Akwa-Cross “woman’s food” could lead a man to do the bidding of whatever a woman wished. Food can bind people together. People invite only those they love and trust to a meal and not an enemy. The German expression says, “Love goes through the stomach” (Liebe geht durch den magen). Akwa-Cross women are generally known to be professional cooks and caterers. J. P. Ekarika said in his interview that many of the ancient Calabar women often studied catering and domestic science abroad. THE IMPORTANCE OF FOOD A healthy, balanced diet is not only good for the body, but also for the functioning of the brain (Ayodele, 2004). Eating the right food can improve



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memory and concentration. Like other parts of the body, the brain absorbs nutrients from the food we eat (Ayodele, 2004). Vegetables with very rich ingredients are excellent sources of antioxidants, which keep the brain cells healthy and help them to function optimally. Food produces energy to maintain warmth and enable us to move and work. Diets with nutrient-dense foods like vegetables and whole grains lead to better health outcomes. Good food results in lower risk of chronic diseases. It provides us with nutrients like fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, etcetera, which prevent diseases. A poor diet can cause serious health challenges. Food also helps when we are looking for comfort to reduce stress. AKWA-CROSS DELICACIES Akwa Ibom and Cross River States are known for producing one of the most delicious and palatable diets in Nigeria. This fact resonates across the length and breadth of the country. It is therefore common knowledge to see eateries around major cities with the name tag, “Calabar kitchen.” Some of the ceremonial foods of the Akwa-Cross for instance, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, etcetera are: Afia Efere Ebot (Goat white Soup), Edikang Ikong (vegetable soup), Afang soup, and Ekpang Nkukwo, Abak Atama Soup, Ukang Ukom, Fisherman Soup, Otong Soup, Oto, Ituk Mboro, and Ekoki, to mention but a few. The name befits the soup, and how it is prepared. The foods are not only delicious but also very nourishing because of the ingredients involved, Angela Itaya said in a 2022 interview. According to Ekarika (2019), pumpkin leaves or Ugu (as they are widely called in Nigeria) are known scientifically as Telairria occidentalis, a tropical vine plant native to West Africa but occuring mostly in its cultivated form. In various parts of southern Nigeria, it is widely cultivated for its palatable and nutritious benefits. It is very low in calories, Ekarika said in his interview. Generally, all green vegetables help in circulation of blood and dissolve and expel all waste products from the body. Food is not just prepared to keep the stomach full, but to keep it healthy. With good cooking, one can get all the natural healing herbs from the diet, ranging from antibiotics to laxatives. HOW THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOOD CAN BE PREPARED Edikang Ikong Soup (Vegetable Soup) The name “Edikang Ikong” is a household name in Akwa-Cross. It is a blend of two rich vegetables: fluted pumpkin leaves (ugwu in Igbo) and water leaf

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(efo gbure in Yoruba), prepared in the same pot. Nma Okapara of the Nigerian food blog, “Nigerian lazy chef,” describes it as the king of the Efik soups. Some of the other nutrients used in making this soup are seafood, meat, palm oil, crayfish, and pepper. What makes this soup stand out is the fact that it has little water composition. Edikang ikong is anything and everything you would wish for as a natural blood tonic. The soup is usually served with fufu or garri. So next time you are in Akwa-Cross, don’t fail to request a plate of this audacious flavory soup. To prepare edikang ikong soup (efere nkong), you need water leaves (mong-mong Ikong) or spinach, dry fish (nsad Iyak), crayfish (nsad obu), beef/goat meat (unam enan or unam ebot), palm oil (adan- eyop), periwinkle (mfi), salt (inung), and pepper (ntuen). Boil the meat for one hour, add salt and the fish. Keep the water to a minimum level, such as three cups, or to be on the safe side, use the meat juice if still available or add one more cup, but not too much. Cut the vegetable leaves into tiny pieces as well as the water leaves. When the meat is done, add the water leaves and the periwinkle (mfi) and cook for five minutes, then add the crayfish, vegetable leaves, and palm oil, and cook for another five minutes; lower the flame to a slow cook, as you want your vegetables to remain fleshy. Then it is ready to be served. The soup is often taken with garri or fufu. AFANG SOUP This Akwa-Cross delicacy is known in most parts of Nigeria. It is said to originate from the Efik people of Calabar in Cross River State and the Ibibio People of Akwa Ibom State. Many people in the two states consume the soup widely. There is virtually no household in Akwa-Cross that doesn’t eat afang soup. It is served on most special occasions such as weddings, burials, and other celebrations. The delicacy is made from a native leaf scientifically known as Gnetum africanum, grown in Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Gabon, Central African Republic and other African countries. The method of preparing afang soup (efere afang) is similar to preparing edikang ikong. Some of the ingredients used in preparing this delicacy are: Ikpa enang, snail, water leaves (mong-mong Ikong) or spinach, dry fish (nsad Iyak), crayfish (nsad obu), beef/goat meat (unam enan or unam ebot), red palm oil (adan- eyop), periwinkle (mfi), salt (inung), and pepper (ntuen), onions, stockfish. Boil the meat for one hour, add salt, and add the fish. Slice the afang leaves into tiny pieces as well as the water leaves. When the meat is done, add the water leaves and periwinkles (mfi) and cook for five minutes, then add the crayfish,



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add afang and palm oil and cook for another five minutes, lower the flame to a slow cook as you want your vegetables to remain fleshy, and then it’s ready. Afang soup goes well with fufu and garri. ABAAK ATAMA SOUP This native delicacy is said to have originated from the Efiks in Calabar of Cross River State. Another school of thought says it originated from the Ibibios of Akwa Ibom State. Though its actual place of origin is still in contention, the fact remains it is a delicacy of the Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria. Heinsia crinita is the scientific name of the atama leaf from which atama soup is produced. The common name of the shrub is bush apple. Research reveals the soup is very rich in iron and other micronutrients essential for growth and development of the body, Ekarika reported in his interview. In order to prepare atama, one requires extract from oil palm fruits, smoked fish, meat, periwinkle, crayfish, stockfish, pepper, salt, and oil, and it usually is served with garri or fufu. It goes equally well with white rice and yam. EDITAN Another dish in the Akwa-Cross lineup of delicacies is editan soup, which is believed by many to have medicinal value due to its bitter taste. The soup is made from a vegetable, scientifically known as Lasianthera africana, that is believed to originate with the Efiks of Cross River State. Usually, before being cooked, the bitter juice is squeezed out and washed away. It is much desired by many and stands in a class of its own. ANYAN EKPANG Ayan ekpang is another nice traditional dish of the Akwa-Cross people. It is made from cocoyam. It is reported that nursing mothers use ayan ekpang to wean their babies, and it is also served to women in the fattening room. Another ingredient used in its preparation is the wrapping leaf. Unlike ekpang nkukwo, ingredients used in preparation of anyan ekpang are limited.

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AFIA EFERE EBOT This is popularly known as “white-soup with goat meat.” Afia efere is traditionally prepared with he-goat-meat or fresh fish and seasoned with uyayak (Hidan-fruit). The ingredients include: He-goat Stockfish Dry fish Crayfish Okro should be cut in large sizes Periwinkle—without shell Spiced leaves—Ikong odusa Small quantity of water Pepper/magi It is often served with pounded yam/fufu. ATAMA SOUP (EFERE ATAMA OR COMMONLY CALLED BANGA SOUP) To prepare this soup, you need: palm front paste, dry fish (nsad Iyak), crayfish (nsad obu), beef/goat meat (unam enan or unam ebot), stock fish. Boil it till it is soft for at least two hours or use a pressure cooker. Also, you need periwinkle (mfi), salt (inung), and pepper (ntuen). Boil the meat for one hour and add salt and pepper. When the meat is done, add periwinkles and crayfish, dry fish, and stock fish, and then finally add atama leaves and slow cook for ten minutes. Then it’s done! FISHERMAN SOUP—FERE NDEK IYAK As the name suggests, this soup is often prepared from sea foods. The soup was often prepared by fishermen but is now savored by all Efik-speaking people. It is finished off with a garnish of scented leaves or curry leaves. Most people prefer taking this soup with pounded yam or fufu.



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EKPANG NKUKWO It is believed that ekpang originated with the Bakweri, Bafaw, and Oroko natives of Cameroon and was adopted by Akwa-Cross. Whatever the history, this delicacy is much celebrated among the people of Cross River and Akwa Ibom States of Nigeria and is constantly served in major events in the region, such as traditional marriages and other events or parties. ekpang, as it is usually called, is one of the great indigenous foods of the Akwa-Cross people. It is very rich in nutrients. This delicacy takes time for preparation, but when finally done, one can gladly say it was worth the wait. One of the major materials for its preparation is water yam or cocoyam. Others are pumpkin leaves, water leaf, and seafoods of different varieties, as it suits the person preparing the food. The other ingredients used in the preparation of ekpang nkukwo are: cocoyam/water yam mixed in equal quantities and tied into small balls Coco-yam fresh leaves (nkukwo) Red palm oil mukafish dry fish crayfish onions hot water periwinkle with shell uyayak to give flavor to the recipe CONCLUSION Calabar cuisine demands time to gather the ingredients needed. Some of the items are ordered from the sea through the fishermen. It requires a great deal to prepare any of the Calabar dishes. The world has offered us food to eat. It is up to us to choose what we need for our bodies. Realizing the importance of food for the development of our muscles, for growth, and our mental health, everybody should appreciate the importance of food (Shriam, 2002). Hippocrates, the father of medicine said, “Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” Therefore, food is indeed a very important aspect of health. If you eat healthy food, you will be healthy, while unhealthy food will bring about ill health (Ayodele, 2004, p. 12).

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Generally, nature has blessed us in Africa, and in Nigeria in particular, with natural foods in their natural forms and for the right persons to prepare them for eating. Akwa Ibom and Cross River States have some of the best foods in Nigeria because of the health benefits they provide. There is a saying that “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” It is only when you eat the AkwaCross delicacies that you will get to know how rich they are in delicious and healthy nutrients. REFERENCES Ayodele, I. (2004). Diet Revolution for Africa. N.p.: Media Pacesetters. Carter, I., and A. Meynard. (2001). Food and Culture. N.p: Concept Books. Dirks, I., D. and Hurler. (2013). Inbalance Nutrition. Madison, Wisconsin: WTCS Pressbooks Ekarika, J. P. (2019). Uruan-Efik-Essien Duopeba. Ikot-Ekpene, Nigeria: ICIDR Publishing Nigerian Lazy Chef. (2022). https://www.nigerianlazychef.com/. Shriram, R., FAO, FAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO. (2002). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World. Rome: FAO.

Chapter Ten

Sociocultural Institutions in Akwa-Cross Francis Anthony Akpan and John Bosco Ekanem

INTRODUCTION The social life of the people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States is culturally inclined. The application and expression of this culture are shown in the social behavior and displayed in various ways by the people. These different dimensions become the principle that animates, directs, and unifies the people. Culture can also be seen as something turning or moving itself. Taylor (1993, pp. 1832–1917) the great cultural anthropologist and philosopher, opines, “Culture is man’s general view of reality,” his socially acquired or endowed self, which guides him in the different situations of life that present themselves in the course of his existence. On the other hand, culture is the “sum total life-way of a people, the social legacy the individual acquires from the group,” the behavior acquired through learning. Culture is also dynamic because of its interactions with other cultures by the exchange of ideas and symbols (Taylor, 1993, p. 48). These lead us to various indigenous cultural displays and music, for example: Ekpo Masquerades, Ekoong, Ekpe, Akata, Ekombi Performance, Nkanda, Nka Ima (Group of Love), Nnaboo, Uta, Uko Akpan Cultural Group, and mkparawa edi obio. These are the popular musical and cultural display groups that have stood the test of time in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. Wherever and whenever they are performed live or on air, people watch and listen to them with enthusiasm. Akwa-Cross is often described as a uni-cultural region, where ethics, morals, taboos, customs, and traditions are the same throughout the region. The social life of the people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States has various lessons to dispatch to the local society and the world over. It is for recreation and relaxation, as well as the religious, moral, ethical, and political dimensions 153

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of the people and beyond. It calls for unity of purpose. Most of the cultural dancing groups are entertainers that call people together for relaxation and recreation. This is healthy, creating mental restoration for the individuals that participate (as spectators) in the program or exercise. THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE Culture is the identity of the nation; without culture society is impossible. Author Ephraim-Stephen Essien says about the importance of culture that “culture is the set of transmitted and learned behaviour patterns, beliefs, institutions and all other products of human work and thought that characterize the functioning of a particular population, profession, organization or community” (Essien, 2011). So the only representative of a particular community or population is its culture. Culture is the basic root of any community, which gives them their way of life. Culture provides a solution to the critical problems faced by the community. Culture teaches us to think for the whole nation, not individually, it provides the concept of family and nation. The cultural values of a community give it an identity of its own. It is learned and passed from the older generations to the newer ones. For an effective transfer of culture from one generation to another, it must be translated into symbols. Language, art, and religion serve as the symbolic means of transfer of cultural values between generations. Culture is a bond that ties the people of a religion or community together. It is that one common bond that brings the people of a community together. The customs and traditions that the people of a community follow, the festivals they celebrate, the kind of clothing they wear, the food they eat, and most importantly the cultural values they adhere to all bind them together. Cultural values help to develop a sense of belonging and a feeling of unity in the minds of the people. The people of a culture share their traditions and, to a certain extent, their ideologies. They have a similar way of thinking and living. If they belong to the same religion, their belief system is the same, which further leads to a feeling of oneness among them. The cultural heritage of a society includes the way it is socially and politically organized. It also involves the mythological and philosophical concepts of that society and its science and literature. When the term is used in its adjective form as cultured, it is used to mean the degree of sophistication in the manners and education of the people who belong to that culture (ibomheritage.com, 2022).



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THE PURPOSE OF CULTURE Every thing exists for a purpose, and there is nothing that exists for no reason. Purpose is the reason for which something is done or for which something is created. It could be one’s intention or objective. Hence, the purpose of culture. According to Nkeme (2014, p. 14), our forefathers were said to have introduced the cultural Ekpo play into the society to help maintain law and order as well as provide a means of feasting, entertainment, and some financial benefits. These benefits included fees from the initiation of new members, fines, and sometimes free donations from the public, as at that time the kind of government we have today was nonexistent. It was all traditional. The question of Christianity was either not heard of or just a rumor in such places where a negligible number of people practiced it. Originally, all pagan males of taxable age were expected to be initiated into the Ekpo society, while Christian males were, at that time, ruled out of initiation. However, both Christianity and Ekpo society continued to grow, with membership of the former increasing geometrically at the expense of the latter. This was a cause for concern on the part of members of Ekpo society, who started planning a strategy for a possible reverse of the trend of progress (Nkeme, 2014, p. 14). EKPO MASQUERADE Organization of Ekpo Culture Nkeme, having hailed from a community (Ikpe Annang) where various types of Ekpo masquerade are displayed, posits that: Members of the Ekpo society from the outset realized the need for solidarity among members, and so organized themselves in a manner that would safeguard their individuals as well as collective interests. There was a need to have officers to man the affairs of the society. Two most important of their officials are the head of the society (Obong Ekpo) and the enchanter (Akwa-Ekpo). (Nkeme, 2014, p. 17)

The headman (Obong Ekpo) is usually an elderly, knowledgeable, committed and long-standing member of the society who may not necessarily be the village head. His duty is to guide and direct the affairs of the society by making sure that the seasonal or yearly rituals are addressed, also that the laws and rules of the society are observed by its members. He is the person usually called when and if there is disturbance caused by the masquerades.

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The next very important official of the society is the enchanter (Akwa Ekpo). He plays the role of a public relations officer (PRO) in the society in his village. The enchanter is a well-informed member of the Ekpo society who usually moves along with the masquerades wherever they go. He is a sort of spokesman for the masqueraders, who are not supposed to talk in public except by hand signals. He is, by his actions, the “live-wire” of the society, and the closest official to the masquerades during their outings. Organizational Strategies of the Ekpo Society Apart from appointment of officers, Ekpo society develops certain policies to safeguard the individual and collective interests of members. Some of these policies or bylaws touch nonmembers, and the general public, including women, without due consideration for human rights. They are: 1.  That Ekpo play should be a secret one, and that Ekpo masqueraders should not talk openly except by means of hand signals. 2.  That no person, under any circumstance, should mention the name of Ekpo masqueraders even if the name is known. 3.  That offending masqueraders should not be taken to court. 4.  That membership was only for taxable male pagans who could join the society either as partial members so as to avoid molestation by masqueraders, or be initiated as full members having all rights and privileges (except, of course, membership card). 5.  That women should not see what they call the naked masquerades (lfed Ekpo). 6.  That if a woman happens to see a masquerade in its naked form, such a woman is liable to a death sentence or a heavy fine as well as having to go through some ritual cleansing; otherwise she would find it difficult to bear a child, and even if she conceives, she will have twin babies (which at that time was a taboo). 7.  That any noninitiated male (okpo-Ekpo) could have restricted movement on Ekpo day if: 8.  He carries a palm wine tapper’s tool and is not only seen but known to be going for or returning from wine-tapping exercise. 9.  He offers to be one of the drummers, a team that plays the drums at a chosen village square for the masqueraders to dance. This favor of restricted movement sets was also extended to two sets of women, namely, nursing mothers (eka uman) and recognized birth attendant (abia uman). In the case of a nursing mother, she has to rub white clay (ndom) over her body for easy recognition.



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10.  In the same vein, a recognized birth attendant (abia uman) can move about doing her humanitarian work on Ekpo day without molestation, provided she does not go into the village square or any other prohibited area. 11.  Not too long ago, in the course of Ekpo play, with its attendant distractions and conflicting encounters with the public, the privileges were extended to include school children, teachers, nurses, and other people on essential duties for the nation. 12.  Very old women capable of walking could move about in their compound or its vicinity without molestation. We want to add here that because of the pagan nature of the Ekpo society, masqueraders, many decades ago, (especially before the Nigerian Civil War) regarded church and school premises as out of bounds for them. We also recall with delight that whenever it was unavoidable for Ekpo masquerader to pass through a church premise, he had to do so with speed without looking at the church building itself, or he could walk backwards to the church, without any action or communication. The above constitute some of the unwritten codes of conduct for the early Ekpo masquerades which the founding fathers probably hoped would hold for successive generations. Codes of conduct for Ekpo masquerade however vary from place to place. For example, in some places outside Annang land, women are not expected to (and they do not) see Ekpo masquerade in any form (masked or unmasked) at all, and the annual play is usually conducted strictly by pagans for a few weeks in a year. In a situation like this, the yearly outing exists mainly to perform rituals and not to molest the people or extort money from them. Further investigation into the organization of Ekpo played in our part of Annang, Ibibio and Efik lands reveals the fact that only fully mature and responsible adults are usually accepted for full membership. This policy was informed by the strong desire of the founding fathers to introduce and maintain strict adherence to the above codes of conduct (which are not exhausted). Partial membership is characterized by limited initiation rites and minimal charges and functions, meant for young adults whose ability to handle important matters of secrecy is in doubt. Partial membership is also meant for adult males who, though mature and responsible, cannot afford full membership charges. It has been observed that there is an outstanding spirit of unity among the members of Ekpo society no matter the level of membership. The solidarity among the members is such that if one of them is hurt, all of them feel hurt by the same act.

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It was not uncommon to hear of an irate gang of Ekpo masqueraders destroying properties such as houses, fruit trees, vehicles, etcetera of a person purported to have offended one or a group of them. They usually carry out such violence to an extent such that some faint-hearted people will be deterred from challenging them any time they go wrong. I tend to believe that there are some factors that give them a sense of oneness. One of such factors is their belief in being connected to their ancestors (Nkeme, 2014, p. 18–23). Types of Ekpo Masquerades 1.  Ekpo Ekemba Owo (masquerade for the elderly) 2.  Ekpo Ntokeyen (masquerade for the young people) 3.  Eka Ekoong/Ewa Eko As defined by Essien, the term Ekpo means “spirit” or “ghost.” Ekpo masqueraders symbolize the dead members of the Akwa Ibom and Cross River States communities. The Akwa-Cross people believe in the close communion between the living and the dead. “The Ekpo masquerade institution keeps the memory of the dead and their participation in the affairs of the community alive” (Essien, 2011, p. 85). Another author says their presence is indicative of the blessings, involvement, and authentication or ratification by the ancestors. This is because of what Ekpo masquerades stand for in Akwa-Cross culture. They represent the founding fathers of the community as a whole. They are always there to feel the moral pulse of the community (Umoh, 2016). Ekpo (ghost) is a cultural society art form that originates from the Efik, Ibibio, and Annang people in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States in Southern Nigeria. The masqueraders represent the ancestors of the community and also indicate that the ancestors rule even after their death. The Ekpo festival also involves an event where new yams are harvested in the community, and taken to a shrine where the spirits can appear and partake in it. As opined by Ekanem and Umoh, functionally, Ekpo represents ancestral spirits and acts as an intermediary between our world and that of the ancestors. At funerals it sends off the dead into the great beyond. It pulls down houses and destroys crops, in order to make provisions for the dead in the land of the dead. Ekpo also has a social function, which is discipline. It was used as a police force to arrest criminals and offenders in the society. Apart from the provision of entertainment, they were also proposed to offer some educational messages for the society (Umoh, 2016, p. 84). Again, as Umoh would have it, masqueraders which were regarded as representatives of the spiritual world and ambassadors of those deities made their appearances as a mark of authentication



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and appreciation of the offerings of their earthly communities. The various seasonal feasts were schooled to correspond with the harvesting of the various crops (Umoh, 2015, p. 14, 15). In recent times, the Ekpo masquerade has been more of a cultural display that hits the streets during important cultural occasions (www.nairaland.com). Generally, as Ekarika (2019) puts it, Ekpo masquerade has three seasons in the year— except ekpo ekoong and their inauguration, which takes place on Edere Obo market day with ritual cleansing and dedication of all those to be involved in the masquerades as organized by the cult leader, obong ekpo. The same thing is applicable to the younger masqueraders, Ekpo Ntokeyen and Eka Ekoong. In the olden days, the ushering in of the season was around the “first harvest” yam season. The ritual is usually performed at the akai Ekpo (masquerades’ forest), which is the customary abode of ancestral spirits who are supposedly responsible for giving birth to the masqueraders. The three normal seasons include Ekpo Inwang, which is nowadays the first season and takes place around March/April after the bush-clearing period sequel to the planting season. The second normally comes up around June/July to usher in the harvesting of the first crops maize, yams, etcetera, and this is a sequel to Ekpo Ekoong Nkemba, which normally occurs around August. The third but not necessarily the last, if it is a luminal Ekpo Ndok year, takes place around October of each year. But the last occurring during the leap year, which is always an old year like 2013, is Ekpo Ndok season, which falls in November and lasts till 31 December with edikpat isua and edituak ndok. During the preparations for the inauguration of each Ekpo season, the cult leader reminds members about Ekpo laws and obligations of the cult while enjoining them to observe them to the letter. Within the inauguration season, all the village playing grounds, roads and market squares are repaired and kept spotless; the spirits always avoid dirty places and cannot perform in filthy and bushy grounds. Designated roads and foot-paths in the village are out of bounds, and they are sealed off with young palm fronds, which are displayed at the entrance of these routes. During the season, the masqueraders go from house to house announcing their presence by knocking on the doors of women and non-initiate apartments to make sure the doors have been firmly locked, perhaps also to prevent them watching from inside their rooms. At the initiates’ homes, the masqueraders can relax and be entertained with drinks and ukan (pepper soup) delicacies but nowadays they may be offered some amount of money in a saucer placed on a small table outside or on the verandah. Since the Christian era, masqueraders are not expected to appear on Sundays, they are also not to enter church premises, but some violent ones do flout these orders with impunity. Toward the end of Ekpo season, the masqueraders step up their aggressive activities with much alacrity, high-handedness, and

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violent displays. Ekpo drums are played and in the case of Ayara days, the eka ekpo drums are sounded with high-toned lamentations in their forests or efe, which is Ekpo’s lodge. There are three to five seasons in a normal year except the isua ndok or leap year, which always terminates with ekpo ndok in December, lasting the entire month with customary ceremonies and rites on 31 December. The other ekpo seasons occur at the planting season, ekpo inwang, mostly staple crops viz. yam, cocoyam, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, March–April; Ekpo ufot isua coming on with the inauguration of Ekoong nkemba, and in August, finally Ekpo usoro ikono season usually around October (Ekarika, 2019, pp. 586–87). However, masquerades occur at different periods or seasons to mark the important events that accompany them. That is why Umoh says, in African settings, masquerades are believed to be the physical manifestations of ancestral spirits. They are spirits in visible forms that appear seasonally and during appropriate communal festivities. Their presence at such celebrations symbolizes the harmonious cooperation between the community and the spiritual world and is a seal of authentication for the latter of the festivity or the celebration in question (Umoh, 2015, p. 59). EKOONG MASQUERADE This masquerade is known for revealing to the public hidden evil or crime committed by individuals. As Ekanem states: Ekoong is the act of entertainment that witnesses the display of colourful masquerades. Ekoong is meant to re-establish peace, love and order and also to publicly disgrace transgressors. As the Ebere festival was celebrated, Ekoong masquerade came in succession and would give way to Ekpo masquerade. Ekoong was like a soap opera; it is a kind of masquerade that sings and dances, it ridicules people who act unruly in society. That is to say, they expose defaulters of their wrongdoing publicly and this is done through songs. Ekoong is also a social drama for entertainment; it is used as a data for societal norms on individuals. It was mainly ceremonial and an event that took place from mid-June till the end of September which is mostly played in the village arena or village square that involves a large group of people coming together to have a feel of it and be entertained.

Initiation and How Ekoong was Played Ekoong does not have a mode of initiation. It only involves the young men who are artistic and specialist in dance and drama and only the young men who



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are found worthy can be part of it. This Ekoong involves the use of a special costume known as Nnyoho (raffia fiber). Ekoong masquerade uses a special tent erected in the arena in order to avoid onlookers, and only the song sung by the masquerade can be heard. This tent is built covering the whole of the masquerade, so that even the drummers do not get to see it. The Sociopolitical Functions of Ekoong Socially, Ekoong functions: • • • •

to correct all the wrong deeds in the society as entertainment and recreation in building relationships among members in the society as performance during a political rally.

Religious Functions It is believed that since Ekong masqueraders expose the wrong deeds of the society, they must protect themselves against attacks. Here the application of magic is brought in to protect the members from witches and wizards. MBRE MBRE AKATA/EKPRI AKATA CULT Akata masquerade is a type of talking masquerade to reveal the hidden evil deeds of people to the society. According to Ekarika (2019, p. 592), Akata is also an entertainment. The masquerade reveals any hidden thing that might have been done by an individual or group of people. It uses a certain voice or sound indicating what happened, the venue or its surroundings, and the type of person involved without mentioning the exact name. However, with all this information, people know which person or persons are meant. The masquerader could only perform in the night without anyone seeing him; only the voice would be heard. This masquerade helped to check good morals while correcting evil and wrongdoings in the community. For instance, if a girl committed adultery or had an abortion, or a man stole someone’s property, Akata masquerade exposed the person to the community. The community leaders, with this information, would follow it up and investigate in order to get to the truth. The culprit was always treated with severe punishment, the specifics of which depending on the nature of the offense committed; some were even expelled from the community (Effiong, 2001).

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Mbre akata or as it is popularly called, ekpri akata, was not only played in Uran, Efik, and Anang but also in other parts of central and western Africa, which form the Yam Belt (Umoh, 2016). It was traditionally also played along the Cross River groups of tribes and sub-tribes such as: Abakpa/Quas, Efuts, Ekoi/Ejagham, Boki, etcetera, in Cross River State and among the Ibibios, the sub-groups of Etoi, Offot, Oku, Ibesikpo, Nsit, Ibiono, Itam, etcetera—that is, those bordering Uruan in Akwa Ibom State and in Umuahia, Bende, Ohafia, Arochukwu etcetera, in the neighboring Abia State, which are also border sub-groups of both Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. Similarly, certain clans, sub-tribes, and villages both in Rivers, Bayelsa. and Delta States are also known to be associated with the Akata cult, especially on account of their ancient trade links with Urua/Efik. Like all other cult societies, members go through certain initiation rites in order to attain the knowledge and secrets of those associated with the cult. There are two grades of the cult masquerades, the Eka (Mother) Akata, which is played during the day and the Ekpri Akata—that is, the real Idem Akata spirit, which more often than not is played at night for obvious reasons. First of all, Akata spirits are known to have come not from the areas and countries within which they operate but from afar, places thought to be very far away from the towns and villages they are visiting, ostensibly to depict the potency and veracity of their occult powers in sooth-saying, invincibility, and invisibility, as well as their craftiness and wisdom in divulging and explaining hidden events and mysterious occurrences within those areas of their operation. Should these spirits visit, for instance, towns and villages in Uran, they would claim to have come from far-off countries, probably from the Rivers or Delta States. Similarly, if at Efik territory, they would claim to have come from Igboland or from the Cameroon Republic (Umoh, 2015). The Akata spirits also claim that they cannot and should not be watched because they are ugly, being noseless, hence they do not speak with a human voice, but rather twist their mouths in order to talk. When asked for their names they prefer to confuse people by giving fake names. The idea in all this is to preserve the secrecy in the organization, so only initiates are able to discern even the true identities and personalities of these human-spirits (Ekarika, 2019, p. 592). ABIAKPO MASQUERADE Abiakpo masqueraders have stilts attached to their feet. Ekanem says Abiakpo is usually an accompaniment to other masquerades like ekoong or ekpo. It is made to depict man’s ability to overcome nature. It depicts magic and the mysterious. It is also a metaphor for superiority, power, and independence.

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TRADITIONAL MUSIC IN AKWA-CROSS Traditional music takes its name from Ukokpan from Ikot Obong in Afaha Obong. It is responsorial in nature, with beautiful lyrics. Most of the time, it is a satire on society and its ills. The drumming is captivating, accompanied by dexterous dancing that entertains with artistic display. The songs, in fact, can be a litany of success or a narration of evil deeds of people in society. In this category of music are Ukaridem, Ajo, Aroho-oba. Most of these are mainly male dances and music. But there are also dances and music for women and girls such as Asian Akananawan, Abang (Asian Ubaikpa). Uta Music Uta cultural dance is native to Akwa-Cross. This is yet another type of music that is very interesting and entertaining. Uta is instrumental music that shows dexterity and expertise in producing sonorous sounds from blowing animal horns. Another instrumental music is Ase music, or Ese music, because it narrates achievements of noblemen in the society, played mainly as a dirge for elderly people who had achieved much for the peoples in the society during their lives. • Nka Ima (Group of Love) from Ikot Ekpene. This is Annang cultural music recorded with instruments used in Afro-Caribbean music by Fashion Power and Sons Record (Disc recorder). • Nka Ikemesit, (Group That All Agree With). • Dammy Bassey, an Efik highlife musician. He played his music in Ghana in the 1960s, was a member of the Efe Ekpe iyamba lodge of Atakpa, and a descendant of Chief John Coco-Bassey, a famous Efik-speaking trader who traveled as far as Sierra Leone and worked with the British colonial administration. Cultural Music Darlington Duke, a highlife musician from Bayride (Atakpa), Calabar, Nigeria, said much about the history of popular music of Calabar. He was the bandleader at the famous Luna Night Club in Calabar until the closing in the 1990s. A song like “Eka mi inyeneke mkpo” was a great example of Calabar highlife with the ekombi rhythm. This song was used traditionally to celebrate the presentation of maidens emerging from the “fathering room” after months of seclusion and training. The dance, Ekombi, is used for enjoyment and is symbolic of Efik culture. The most interesting thing about this

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“modern” highlife song is that the “traditional” theme of a local Ndem spirit is evoked playfully, signaling the persistence of traditional belief in spite of a booming industry in Christian churches. Inculturation of Traditional Music into Christian Liturgy In Akwa Ibom and Cross River States there are varieties of cultures. Long before now, cultural musical instruments were reserved for traditional settings (Luzbetak, 1988). They were not used outside this setting. Nkeme (2014, p. 78) reveals that the Catholic Church in Ikot Ekpene for the first time in the early 1970s introduced the use of locally made musical instruments into the Catholic liturgy. These instruments include ibid (leather drum), ikon (cyrophone), nsak (rattle), obodom (talking drum), abang (mud pot), nkwong (gong), and ekere (small gong), among others. The credit goes to the learned priest Monsignor Sylvanus U. Etok, who was in charge of liturgy then in the Catholic diocese of Ikot Ekpene, and experimented these drums with the students in the junior seminary, Afaha Obong, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He could not do this on his own, but sought for the approval of his Bishop, late Cardinal Dominic Ekandem, and with the cooperation of all the priests in the diocese. Since then, the cultural musical instruments have been in use to blend with local culture throughout Akwa-Cross. This proves the richness in the culture of the Akwa-Cross people. CONCLUSION These cultural displays are for recreation and entertainment. They foster unity of purpose and togetherness in the community. They are used at cultural festivals and festivities; people’s spirits are energized and recharged with joy. Cultural displays are used to mark the different periods or seasons of the year at various intervals. However, as Western civilization continues to slip deeper into the cultures of the land, the aspect of the uncanny recedes. This is why, to witness the supernatural powers of the Ekpo play, one would have to attend Ekpo festivals in the inner recesses of rural Ibibio, Anang and Efik communities (ibomheritage.com). Ekoong helps to foster etiquette and a moral standard of living among members of a society. This has also helped to reduce the rate of malicious acts, theft, and immoral behavior. Uko Akpan of Ikot Obong from Afaha Obong Clan, Mkparawa Edi Obio of Midim Ikot Ikpe in Midim Clan, all in Abak Local Government Area, and Okon Udoudo of Okon Clan Cultural group in Essien Udim Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State are very popular with their cultural songs and



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dances. Everyone longs to be in attendance whenever and wherever they are displayed. They are very entertaining, full of lessons and wisdom to be acquired because they always have something to teach their audience. REFERENCES Effiong, B. (2001). Ekpe Efik: A Theosophical Perspective. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing. Ekarike, J. P. (2019). Efik, Uruan, Essien Duopeba. Lagos, Nigeria: Harmographic. Essien, E. (2011). Annang Philosophy and Culture. Morrisville, NC: Lulu Press. Luzbetak, J. (1988). The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives in Philosophical Anthropology. New York: Orbis Books. Nkeme, E. U. (2014). Ekpo Masquerade. Warri, Nigeria: Iwoh & Sons Ent. Taylor, R. B. (1972). Elemente di Anthropologia Culturale. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino. Umoh, D. S. (2016). “Rites of Passage and Priestly Formation.” Seminar presentation at Akwa Ibom State University, Uyo. Umoh, D. S. (2015). The Beautiful Ugly Masquerade. Chisinau, Moldova: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.

Chapter Eleven

Historical Indigenous Feminist Movements and Struggle in Akwa-Cross Unwana Samuel Akpan and Uduak Archibong

INTRODUCTION Being Afrocentric-minded in praxis is an active, not passive, identity location that comes with strong conviction and awareness. It calls for challenging systems of straight-jacketed and biased historical accounts, particularly in the fashion that Joëlle Cruz (2020) depicts African contents: “To think that African contexts can teach us [in the West] anything is provocative on many levels” (Cruz, 2020). Having an Afrocentric conscience and consciousness—two words that are closely related in essence as well as form—means squaring up to the reality of narratives that might want to prevent showcasing forgotten African contents and engaging in ethical opposition by churning out facts and figures that correct historical errors and at the same time preserve and display African contents in a way that is appealing, attractive, and inviting. Cruz (2020) captures the mind, soul, and body of this article on Afroethno-feminism. As part of her introductory text to the distinctive maiden conference in communication studies, “African Feminist and Queer Coalitions,” published in the specialized journal Women’s Studies in Communication, Joëlle M. Cruz censured the dearth of epistemological contributions to feminism in an Afrocentric context in the scholarship of feminist media studies. According to her, the absence of scholarship in this field advances, the unsubstantiated and unwarranted belief that Africa is a “theoretical vacuum.” But we know Africa is not a “theoretical vacuum.” In response to such insinuations of a lack of theoretical foundations and documented feminist experiences and knowledge in the African continent, the prize-winning conference has immensely inspired this article by forging collaborative feminist scholarly discussions that lead to awareness between African feminists and “queer” African methods for the study of capacity building in Afrocentric 167

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ideologies, especially in communication studies. Therefore, the beginning citation fits into the conceptual and contextual mindset of this position paper on Akwa-Cross. This paper is one of the authors’ efforts in decolonizing and de-Westernizing African scholarship; and this is done by largely drawing its contextual analysis and empirical postulations from early feminist activities in the region. This article first aims at empirically using oral historical accounts in tracing and revealing the fact that, just like Western feminist ideation, there were some forms of misogynistic activities and active feminist movements in the precolonial and postcolonial Akwa-Cross in Africa, with its similarities in Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban feminist ideations of the Anang, Ibibio, and Efik indigenous people. Second, the article recommends a blend of Afro-ethno-feminism and Westernized feminism for global functionality. Theoretical perception is drawn from the African concept of Ubuntu and communalism. The former US president, Harry Truman once said, “The only thing new under the sun is the history we don’t know.” In light of this idea, the article opens up a new vista for researchers interested in African feminist history beyond the Western fictitious framing of Africa. The authors have also assembled an extensive and impressive oral historical account and literature to drive home their point. This theoretical schema showcases the morphing and masked forms of feminism within a globalizing world. Review of such a transmogrification in Afro-ethno-feminist morphing is not common. The authors show how the Akwa-Cross indigenous feminist movements endured in the psychic realm, thus creating a graphical legitimation, acceptance, and approval from the traditional male authorities. Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban as forms of indigenous feminist movements in AkwaCross, were conceived as substructural and subcultural feminist ideations. They offered a relevant sociocultural framework in light of globalization and the historicized feminist revolution of the twenty-first century. The history of Akwa-Cross indigenous feminist movements is relatively unknown, especially within the international feminist media studies. Therefore, the paper is a celebration of Nka Iban, Abon Iban, Iban Isong, and Nnok Iban’s (early West African feminist groups) strength and courage, and it is an invitation for scholars to explore their traditional methodological approaches to countering the growing masculinity that was anti-feminism. This article not only digs up a feminist media historical origination of a section of the “Global South,” a section of the African society that embodies Akwa-Cross, but it also presents a time-tested pathway for adapting, framing, marshaling, and fabricating twenty-first-century feminist media and communication studies, an area of scholarship that rarely inquires about feminist movements in precolonial and postcolonial Africa. In this article, the author aims to connect the historical



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affinities, semblances, and connections between the earliest feminist movements in Akwa-Cross and the precolonial and postcolonial feminist ideations in the Akwa-Cross region called Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban and to explore how these two feminist worlds can benefit from the patterns and modes of each other’s rich and diverse historical legacies in feminism. Our article’s main theme is threefold. First, it dispels the West’s notion that Africa never really had an organized and functional feminist movement that was media integrated and capable of checkmating the activities of “incels” (involuntary celibates). Second, through oral history and secondary literature materials it reveals traditional incel activities and active feminist ideations that were in full force and ongoing during the precolonial and postcolonial eras in the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria by portraying the traditional activities of Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban in checkmating rapists and women abusers. Finally, it shows the similarities and the nexus of the two feminist ideologies, from the West and Africa, and how the Akwa-Cross feminist pattern can be adapted and framed in twenty-first-century feminist media studies. THE WEST’S PERCEPTION OF AFRICA AND ITS SOCIOCULTURAL INVENTIONS While scholars across disciplines become telescopic on issues surrounding the African narrative, and different academic disciplines bring different intellectual lenses and theoretical perspectives to bear in analyzing Africa as a continent, African history has always been filled with unfortunate narratives, especially from the Global North that frame Africa as in a sorry state. After all, bad stories sell. In desperate times, to satisfy one’s information needs, Western media soothsayers have a ready audience for the factually incorrect information and bizarre narratives they churn out about Africa. It’s the meeting point of cynicism and gullibility in the global media space. On the Western canvas they paint Africa’s yesterday and today in ways that make life seem irremediably chaotic and reflective of social anxiety. These Westernized views about Africa have fractured the traditional and cultural confidence of Africans. The art of demonizing Africa has been a thriving industry because some countries in the Global North now predict calamity to befall Africa in the coming years. Consider the prediction by the United States that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2015. Even when these predictions on Africa fail, more damning predictions from the Global North continue. What some critical African scholars may consider the charlatanry of these biased writers is actually

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producing best sellers in the Global North. African histories don’t deserve simple reinventions. Africans have a right to tell their stories in a manner that is fair and objective, including the history of Afro-ethno-feminist movements. Usually, the Global North’s representation of African history resorts to considerable distortions. The idea that Africa did not have a written history seems particularly contentious. This article alerts us to the role in continuing engagement with the African narrative, especially the Afro-ethno-feminist narrative. African feminist stories should be interpreted with factual themes. But most of the African feminist stories written by the West disrupt known historical orders and events are fictionalized (Obbo, 1980; Carby, 1982; Dhlamini, 1982; Johnson and Bernstein, 1982; Bourne, 1983; Roberts, 1984). They have to be in order to sell. Ideally speaking, falsifications or fabrications of African stories undermine our sense of justice and trust in history. Therefore, the African sociocultural narrative should be viewed with an awareness of its extensive alteration. This is the reason this article brings a sense of historicized Afro-ethno-feminist retaliation in its thematic narrative. Again, this article is one of the authors’ attempts to rewrite and correct a fraction of the African story that was distorted, forgotten, and gradually dying out. It uses critical analysis to offer a multidimensional contextualized study of Afro-ethno-feminist sociocultural movements in Africa that are very visible and similar to Western feminism, even in the age of digital globalization. The Afro-ethno-sociocultural feminist movements in Akwa-Cross region give insight into the cultural plurality and civilizational unicity of Nigeria, Africa, and the West, and project patterns of cultural representation and misrepresentation of the Anang, Ibibio, and Efik cultures and the need to reclaim their global image in the digitized world. This chapter also offers a meta-analysis and conceptual framework for examining and explaining the complex Nigerian and African sociocultural practices and feminist life-views rooted in nativity, authentic metaphysics, native knowledge, and cultural values that are still relevant in Nigeria in the digital age. We need African scholars to look inward to project Afro-genetic themes not originally known in the global space, such as those concerning indigenous feminist movements in Akwa-Cross. These theorizations based on African perspectives have sparked interest in revisiting concepts such as Western feminist ideations, and they trace its semblance with African feminist movements. Mutua et al. (2022, p. 132) admonish that “ultimately, efforts to theorize African communication must welcome the larger African project to challenge Western practices about how the African story is told,” and this article brings to the fore the untold story by an African who was born in a rural area of western African, grew up there to witness African feminist ideations, and then wrote on it before the West came up with the idea of feminist struggle.



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Again, if Africans are to tell their stories, we must adhere to the call of Mutua et al. (2022, p. 135) that “African Communication scholars must preserve the integrity of telling African stories.” Therefore, this article digests, explores, and sieves the role of Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, which have a semblance with Western feminist movements and communalism-themed responsibility, as postulated by Andrew Moemeka. Andrew Moemeka, portrays the spirit of brotherhood, placing the continual existence of the community above everything and everyone else; and the sanctity of authority Iban Isong, Abon Iban, Nka Iban, and Nnok Iban have in carrying out their functions unchallenged in the community. Moemeka (1996) defines communalism as “the principle or system of social order in which the supremacy of the community is culturally and socially entrenched” (p. 197). Akwa-Cross is a communal society, typical of an African setting. In communalistic societies such as Akwa-Cross, communication and sociocultural patterns entail human relationships (Moemeka, 1996). According to Kwame Nkrumah (1964), “communalism the socio-political ancestor of socialism ensures that goods and services produced in a community are shared by all members in the community” (cited in Bangura, 2018, p. 199). In this regard, communalism is seen as the recognition of collective essence based on shared cultural values (Langmia, 2018, p. 2) and sets expectations of individuals to sustain the well-being of the community, as seen in the various Afro-ethnofeminist movements in the Akwa-Cross region. Communalism can be seen as a sociocultural concept that promotes collective traits for the betterment of the community. Akwa-Cross people, like other Africans, often integrate idealistic sociological frameworks to structure communication and govern behavior and everyday interactions as indicators of what a community ought to be. For instance, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa philosophy (a Kiswahili word meaning “extended family” or “familyhood”) constructs community as family, having strong ties through which a person becomes a person through the people or community where every individual is in the service of the community for the community and for the betterment of the community (Bangura, 2018, p. 62). Andrew Moemeka shares similar thoughts: The community in Africa is usually like a small town where the relationships among the people are characterized as Gemeinschaft, that is, intimate, familiar, sympathetic, mutually interdependent, and conspicuously manifested in a shared social consciousness. Inhabitants are usually descendants of one major common ancestor—a super-grandparent—and therefore regard themselves as close relatives, sharing their joys and sorrows. (Moemeka, 1996, p. 198)

In Moemaka’s assertion, a community is a group of people who have vast obligations to each other. It is a common feature projected in McMillan and

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Chavis’s (1986) definition of community as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together” (as cited in Rovai, 2002, p. 4). These definitions suggest the most essential elements of feminism, communalism, and community as collective commitment, strong relationships, relational responsibility, valuing others, respect for women, interdependence, belongingness, comfort, collaboration, affirmation, well-being, sharing, and paying it forward. These elements set the context for the Afro-ethno-feminist movements in Akwa-Cross. These societal tenets support the views expressed in this paper that traditional Iban Isong, Abon Iban, Nka Iban, and Nnok Iban were long ago created by Africans, decades before the Western feminist movements, to protect the interest of Akwa-Cross women; therefore, there is a need to recognize and document this fact. Iban Isong, Abon Iban, Nka Iban, and Nnok Iban as forms of rural feminist movements used cultural strategies native to the rural people to protect the dignity of women, based on the African theoretical perspectives of Ubuntu, communalism, Maatic, and Afrokology. AFRICA’S SOCIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT AND FEMINISM Traditionally, in most African sociocultural environments, men are mostly favored. Africa has a patriarchal environment. And interestingly, anthropologist Nigel Eltringham, in the book Framing Africa, points to the distinction between African indigenous inventions—displaying them unapologetically and intentionally as authentic—and the fabrications that twist histories beyond recognition when they, for instance, remove the blame for actual crimes committed by historical figures, such as men selling off women whom they termed stubborn simply for refusing them sex. This was the ugly narrative that characterized the West African slave trade, where women were the main targets (Walker, 1982; Mba, 1982; Ntiri-Williams, 1993; Lorde, 1984; Ogunyemi, 1985/1986; Aidoo, 1989; Awe, 1992; Hudson-Weems, 1993; Ogundipe-Leslie, 1994; Busia, 1995; Daymond, 1996; Kolawole, 1997; Nfah-Abbenyi, 1997), and as a result, massive social divisions and catastrophes befell most African societies. Repeatedly, the recognition of the role of African men capturing fellow Africans, mostly women who refused their sexual advances, to be sold into slavery is construed as an approval, a way to absolve Euro-Americans of their responsibilities as enslavers of Africans. This is the reason efforts in decolonizing and de-Westernizing Africa will remain an incomplete project, an effort in futility, as long as its historical, cultural, traditional, and moral foundations are discarded and undermined by



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Westernization definitions of the social matrix, and the paradigm of sociocommunicative and sociocultural development. This is because there are historicized accounts of famous royal women in the medieval periods across the world who made giant developmental strides in their geographical locations. China’s feared sixty-seven-year-old empress dowager Cixi, who had effectively controlled China for more than forty years, was one such woman leader. Queen Amina of Zaria in the ancient Hausa kingdom in present-day Nigeria was another powerful woman warrior-queen. Recently, the Hollywood movie The Woman King (released in midSeptember 2022) became an instant box-office success despite concerns and criticism surrounding the moral of the storyline. The movie captures the triumphs and feminist orientation of the tooled-up descendants of the Agoodjies, the women warriors of the ancient kingdom of Dahomey in today’s Benin, West Africa, which are as magnificent as the public had anticipated. In this heroic historical drama, African women’s audaciousness is the focus. Though the film has engendered much controversy from many angles, especially from scholars and Africanists, it showcases the bravery of a section of the early African women whom men dreaded due to their reputation for challenging the culture of male superiority. Their feminist posture could have been informed by Ullah’s (2017) submission, when he argues that women have been disadvantaged traditionally, partly due to the strong patriarchal culture. Although this is not the focus of this paper. For example, the US far right has condemned it for portraying Black women murdering white men. The hashtag #BoycottWomanKing has also trended on social media among Black users. Disapproving notes have also emerged from specialists of nineteenthcentury Dahomey history who have publicly registered their concerns about the misrepresentation of the slave trade in the movie. In most traditional societies in Africa, women’s voices being heard is seen as a taboo, not traditional. Women’s experiences are always characterized by muted cries, silences, and unchallenged customs and traditions. For instance, in some traditional North African societies, it is traditionally and religiously unacceptable for a woman to have a say where men are. In other traditional African societies, men have been traditionally structured to lord it over women, while women are kept from participating in public discourses that challenge cultures that offend the sensibilities of women or the traditionalistic hegemony of men. For instance, the culture of sexual and emotional abuse such as rape is an age-long global culture. Almalki (2021 reveals how women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) suffered online shaming. The MENA region is termed as the “patriarchal belt.” The countries in this area span non-Arab Turkey and Iran and South and East Asia (Moghadam, 2007; Offenhauer, 2005; Kandiyoti, 1988), and observe strict religious laws and

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customs women must adhere to. Recently, Mahsa Amini, a twenty-two-yearold woman was arrested and detained by the Iranian Moral Police for not properly covering her hair. Exposing one’s hair according to Iranian law is not Islamic. She later died in police custody, and this sparked a series of protests all over Iran. Chesler (2010), as cited by Almalki (2021, p. 44), observes: Regardless of religion, this part of the world is known to have extended paternal families who uphold male domination and maintain discriminatory practices against women and girls whose sexual purity is closely tied to family honor. Women from the MENA region are expected to dress modestly and refrain from having relationships with men outside of familial and professional circles. Women are also expected to subordinate to male relatives in a way that can deprive them of their agency, especially regarding work, marriage, divorce, and other life choices. Women who do not meet these expectations and are vocal about women’s oppression and honor culture are usually targeted with vicious shaming and naming campaigns online and offline. Some of these campaigns can affect the women’s reputation and, therefore, their family’s reputation, which can result in honor killings.

Women from the MENA region have tried to resist the social norms that restrict their freedom and force them into marriage in many ways. As in other traditional African societies, MENA women are viewed as property rather than individuals with agency (Almalki, 2021). Onwumechili and Akpan (2020), note that the head of most family households in West Africa is male, usually the breadwinner, whom everyone else depends upon for welfare. Although Akanle and Nwaobiala (2019) argue that there are increasing numbers of households headed by females in the West African region, even these households retain significant aspects of cultural patriarchy. They argue that in such families where females have become breadwinners, the gender order in the society is challenged and it creates family instability. The enduring patriarchal structure is further affirmed by religious teaching (Makama, 2013) and the cultural leaning toward masculinity (Smith, 2017). Makama (2013), for instance, notes that religion is used “as an instrument in defense of a class society and patriarchy. It discriminates against women” (p. 127). Akanle and Nwaobiala (2019), again have notably argued, that “the increased feminization of migration has, amongst other things, led to changing gender relations at home and changes in the gender division of labour to the phenomenon of transnational motherhood” (p. 6). Although Vieriu (2013) notes the impact on traditional roles, there were left-behind wives back in precolonial and colonial Nigeria. In the precolonial period, Nigerian men, who were mostly hunters, left behind their wives and children and moved to villages miles away from their homes during hunting trips (Ngara and Ayabam, 2013). In the colonial era, Nigerian men, who were



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engaged by the Europeans either as warrant chiefs or provincial police, left their family for duty posts in the cities (Korieh, 2001). During such periods, in the absence of their husbands, women took major decisions. DEARTH OF MATERIALS ON EARLY AFRO-ETHNO-FEMINIST ACTIVITIES There are numerous sound studies in international feminist media scholarship, especially in the African feminist media studies that X-ray some areas in feminist academic enquiry; but the dearth of literature and documented empirical evidence in Afro-ethno-feminist media studies is worrisome. By the author’s ideological definition, Afro-ethno-feminist media studies seeks to trace the traditional feminist ideations, movement, and activities in precolonial Africa. A scope of feminist media studies that showcases the fact that there were feminist ideations and movements in precolonial Africa, even before the Western idea of feminism. Despite leading African scholars in feminist media studies, their work or investigations have not even scratched this neglected feminist area. Even when an African feminist scholar, Ahikire (2014, p. 59), succinctly declares: We define and name ourselves publicly as feminists because we celebrate our feminist identities and politics. We recognise that the work of fighting for women’s rights is deeply political, and the process of naming is political too. Choosing to name ourselves feminists places us in a clear ideological position. By naming ourselves as feminists we politicise the struggle for women’s rights, we question the legitimacy of the structures that keep women subjugated, and we develop tools for transformatory analysis and action. We have multiple and varied identities as African feminists. We are African women—we live here in Africa and even when we live elsewhere, our focus is on the lives of African women on the continent.

In the above declaration, you would easily notice its pitch tonally is Western. There is no traditional African-ness in the declaration. It resonates feminist rhetoric typical of Western ideology. The Afrokological finesse and depth are absent from the declaration. One would have expected to see a declaration that subtly, yet proudly takes the reader into an exposé of Afro-feminism and its Afrocanity. Ahikire (2014) almost dived near or factored in the Afroethno-feminism in her declaration when she reiterated, “our feminist identity is not qualified with ‘ifs,’ ‘buts’ or ‘howevers.’ We are Feminists. Full stop.” In the declaration, she might have pointed out and identified the fact that her foremothers in Africa had also been diehard feminists who challenged the

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traditional hegemony of men over women, even before the Western notion of feminism. It is worthy of note that in 2006, over two hundred African feminists congregated in Accra in a bid to develop a Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists, seeking to strengthen and reassert African feminism in its pluri-dimensionality. Before that Charter, traditional African women had courageously lived in its spirit as the audacious mental picture of African feminism, as an ideological entity and standpoint in the Africanized body politic. According Ahikire (2014, p. 61): The charter was collectively crafted as a critical movement-building tool, particularly around the desire to affirm commitment to feminist principles and chart a course to strengthen and grow the feminist movement on the continent. In many ways, the Charter set out to reverse the conservative dynamics that work to undermine the critical edge of African feminism, creating a sense of urgency about the need for the feminist movement to re-assert and re-energise itself.

The concerns over almost nonexistent materials on Afro-ethno-feminist activities reignited my reflections on the need to provide these facts. Moreover, this further drove reflection on the challenges, pitfalls, strides, and victories that arose as precolonial African women movements, such as the indigenous feminist movements in Akwa-Cross, pursued legitimation of feminist movements in their respective societies. WERE THERE FEMINIST ACTIVITIES IN PRECOLONIAL AND POSTCOLONIAL AFRICA? Was there a feminist movement in the pre and postcolonial eras in Africa, a continent regarded as backward and with no documented history? Yes! During the precolonial era, the Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban were very active feminist movements in the Akwa Ibom and Cross River States region of Nigeria. Their activities against men’s dominance and abuse of women were tactical, decisive, and crude. These different feminist groups operating in the different villages in these regions were fierce, and they were dreaded by many (Umanah, 2022; Ekpo, 2022; Udoka, 2022). In the colonial era, it is on record that the first women’s riot in West Africa was caused as a result of over-taxation It took place in Opobo, now the Ikot Abasi region in Nigeria, with chief Margeret Ekpo leading it. It is unfortunate that the riot today has been termed Aba women riot, which is a distortion of historical facts. Aba, which is a city in the present-day Abia State was only a federal constituency covering up to Opobo region, now called Ikot Abasi, which is



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in Akwa Ibom State and not Aba. Aba was just a federal constituency that spanned up to Ikot Abasi, so Aba was used to refer to the women in that region (Umanah, 2022). Based on the available primary data (oral history) the author has collected over time while undertaking this study, one can respond in the affirmative to this question, as this discourse explores the similarities and differences between the Western and African idea of a feminist movement; and the potential for exploring and learning from each other’s feminist approach so as to deepen collaborations between the two. The author aims to highlight the existing common affinities between these two culturally different feminist movements and point to the pathway of productive synergistic directions for forging cultural alliances in promoting and raising feminist voices loud and clear on the global stage to the point of what we call “Femininity.” The author’s critical exploration and analysis of Afro-ethno-feminist studies in Akwa-Cross is not only timely and worthy, but necessary because for decades, feminist scholars have neglected to establish the sociocultural similarities of these two feminist worlds whose finely tuned historicized approach to promoting everything womanhood, fighting and countering everything anti-feminine has been courageous, pioneering, heroic, legendary, inspiring, motivating, and commendable. There are countless studies that have investigated the Western approach to feminism, the misogynistic language used against women by social media sites, and behaviors associated with sexual aggression; this article reveals that there were anti-women groups in precolonial Africa, and by extension AkwaCross region, that thrived on misogynistic language to prey upon their female victims. Parts of the sexual assaults on women in the West were also present in Africa. The verbal abuse against women can be viewed by the traditional indigenous channels of communication the Akwa-Cross anti-women groups used then. AKWA-CROSS AND ITS SOCIOCULTURAL IDEATIONS Culture has a way of defining certain things in society. Skelton and Allen (1999) believe that “culture must be understood as the overarching context in which development and all forms of social change occur” (p. 5). They view culture as the missing ingredient in the Global South’s development. Culture is a dynamic force that propels and shapes social and cultural identity and being. It drives in both a web of symmetrical meaning in which people at a geographical location see themselves; and without this self-awareness a person’s traditional realities, cultural and social identity are lost. Rapley’s (1996) submission is that “culture refers to a people’s intellectual, spiritual,

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and moral endowment” (p. 171). This implies “that cultures produce people to a greater degree than people produce cultures” (p. 171). The Anang, Ibibio, and Efik communities in Nigeria, like every other community in Africa have been endowed with not just natural deposits but with sociocultural ideations that resonate with other parts of the world. The only qualms about these aboriginal ideations in Anang, Ibibio, and Efik communities in Nigeria are that the traditional patents on these socio-inventions have not been formally accorded to these communities, either by the West or Nigeria. Though some scholars have proven and maintained the notion that mother Africa is the bedrock and origin of modern humanity, where the inspiration for modern Western inventions originated (Alagoa, 1966; Stover, 1984; Ugboajah, 1985; Wilson, 1988; Johanson and Edgar, 1996; Kwasi AnsuKyeremeh, 2005; Gamble, 2007; Molefi Kete Asante, 2018; Akpan, 2019), and within the framework of this article, the modern feminist movements is indisputably one of those creations and can be traced to the Akwa-Cross Afro-ethno-socio-cultural feminist creation of Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban in Nigeria. In the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) list of World Heritage sites; it clearly shows that 79 of the 878 listed sites (9%) are in Africa. Moreover, a careful study of the Commission for Africa’s (2005, p. 26) report reveals that most Western creations have their roots in Africa’s rich cultural heritage. Similarly, Oliver Duff, editor of The Independent, in trying to dispel the West’s onesided assessment of Africa’s rich cultural heritage avers that a right-thinking scholar would not deny the similarities between Western creations and Africa’s traditional creations. Thus, the continent of Africa can be viewed as the traditional abode of modern humanity as a whole. For instance, before Edmund Burke in the late eighteenth century in England said that the media are the watchdog of the society, monitoring the activities of the government and exposing them to the members of the public (Norris, 2014), the traditional African society had designed the Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban in Nigeria to function as the watchdog in the society, monitoring and checking abuses against women. Also, before Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm in their 1956 book Four Theories of the Media propounded the social responsibility theory of the press, the Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban in Nigeria were formally designed by African traditional societies to assume the social responsibility of indigenous feminist movements. Similarly, the social responsibility theory of the press and the watchdog concept of the media would have been a perfect theoretical fit for this paper if we were to adopt them for theoretical explanations; however, an African-based theoretical framework would better fit the theoretical explanation for this article. Before the West could come up with the idea of feminism, the Nka Iban,



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Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban in Akwa-Cross did this job perfectly by investigating members of the community who got involved in nefarious activities against women and exposed them. Despite all these glaring facts, unfortunately the African continent is relentlessly painted as epitomizing hopelessness, abject poverty, destitution, and backwardness by Western scholars. For instance, The End of Poverty, a book authored by Jeffrey Sachs, clearly showcases African content as artless in documentation of artifacts, and this explains why African artistic feminist creations that originated from the Akwa Ibom and Cross River States region of Nigeria were never studied. Therefore, basically, one of the aims of this article is to explore the similarities of the invention of traditional African feminist movements that are historically phenomenal and typical of the activities of today’s feminism. It first explores how ancient indigenous feminist movements employed cultural systems to protect the interests of women and briefly shows how it is similar to Western feminism. Second, it shows how, even in a globalized environment saturated with Western information technologies, traditional feminist ideations have a place in contemporary Africa. Third, it demonstrates the importance of combining the African and Western feminist systems employed by the Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban feminist movements in Nigeria as a watchdog in the society. Fourth, it demonstrates the fact that the Anang, Ibibio, and Efik had feminist movements in the precolonial and postcolonial eras. NKA IBAN, IBAN ISONG, ABON IBAN AND NNOK IBAN FEMINIST MEDIA IDEOLOGY A Swahili proverb states, Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa, which loosely translates as “One finger cannot kill a louse.” The figurative and literal meaning of this proverb is that one needs two fingers to kill a louse. Metaphorically, the proverb extols community, strong social bonds, collaboration, teamwork, unity, group identity, and collective action, which are guiding principles for the Akwa-Cross feminist movements. This moral teaching is akin to the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.” The mantra to advance African communication scholarship has been to “pull together” (Harambee in Swahili). Thus, Afro-ethno-feminism is conceived as the act of building a strong culturally based feminist community through relationships emanating from respect for self and others. A particular indigenous feminist movement called Iban Isong operated around Uruk Atta Nsidung and its environs The founder of the group, Unwa

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Adaada, was a fearless female warrior who led the group to arrest woman abusers, men who often kept “rape hit lists.” Nka Iban means “the committee of women” in Efik, Ibibio, and Annang languages. Iban Isong means “the women of the land,” Abon Iban means “the family of women,” while Nnok Iban means “the shame of women.” These feminist movements were activist groups founded in the old Abak-Ikot Ekpene, Calabar, and Uyo regions of southern Nigeria. They were a cluster of elderly women who were mostly married to the traditional rulers in the community, and they would collectively attack the males in the community who verbally or physically abused a woman. Based on an oral historical account, the group would visit the compound of a violator all stripped naked, and the man would be flogged and made to pay a certain amount of money to the victimized woman (Ukoudoh, 2022). If the abuser cannot afford to pay, his piece of land would be confiscated. This was a prototype of the modern feminist ideology, a socialactivism practice where women expressed their rights not to be abused by men. Their crude way of rough-handling the erring man, name-shaming him via the indigenous media, and confiscating his ancestral piece of land put fear in men and made them careful about how they related with women. For decades, media scholars have researched the various ways the media have evolved, and have altered media terrains and helped prioritize audience ideas and activities. Steiner (1983) as cited by Byerly (2020) points out the ways that the early feminist press and activists created a sense of dignity and community among early advocates for suffrage and other women’s rights in the community. African women did this to protect themselves from the abuses of males. Therefore, feminist activism was alive and well and curtailed the activities of misogynists prior to modern feminism. Other scholars have expatiated Habermas’s (1969) idea of a bourgeois public sphere brought about by salons and coffee houses in eighteenth-century Europe (Black Public Sphere Collective, 1995; Byerly and Ross, 2006) to include “mass media’s role in creating multiple, overlapping public spheres and counter-spheres, i.e., spaces where people today express a range of concerns and pose political agendas” (Byerly, 2020). For instance, MacQuail (2010), says that media images and reports increase our curiosity about our environment, while Eisenstein (1999) avers that the printing press was the catalyst and the bedrock of literacy in Western Europe. On the other hand, McLuhan (1964) posed the notion that television and radio have aided in fostering individualism and communalism globally in a single “global village” fashion. The term media comes with pedagogical and ontological notions and is a generic term for channels used for churning out procedural and aesthetically gathered, processed, and produced information and entertainment disseminated for public consumption. Krippendorff (1986, p. 44), as cited by Hang and Weezel (2007) state:



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The media is “a generic term for systems of production and dissemination of information and entertainment and of exertion of various kinds of social controls. Unlike a channel which is limited to a contiguous physical medium between the sender and a receiver of communications, media include the institutions which determine the nature, programming and form of distribution.” (Krippendorff, 1986)

A closer look at these definitions reveals communication and media practices that these feminist movements used in name-shaming rapists and other women abusers. Therefore, where native Africans were found in their natural habitats, before Western civilization came via the slave trade route, Africans used several indigenous objects to communicate among themselves. Again, Mutua et al. (2022, p. 127) in revealing how communication looked in the early period of human communication reveal that: African communication is both a cultural and historical phenomenon. Major aspects of African communication practices existed before the advent of colonialism and modern technology. Today, diverse communicative practices on the African continent are a unique blend of communication forms with elements of African culture and influences of modern forms of communication.

Africans communicated territorially and culturally. This was a form of media for the feminist movements in Akwa-Cross. METHOD The authors have adopted a qualitative research design for this study and interviews were used for data collection. The one-on-one interviews were with respondents who had witnessed the activities of these various African feminist movements. The interviewees were seven elderly members of the society who witnessed the Afro-ethno-feminist activities in their respective regions. Some of their identities are pseudonyms in order to protect their identity. They were selected through purposive sampling from the geopolitical zones in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States of Nigeria for equal representation in gender and region. These respondents were all well versed in the culture of the region. The real names of these respondents are included in table 11.1. The interviews were recorded over a four-week period, using a five-item interview protocol, using semi-structured questions. The interviewer did ask further questions, where necessary, in order to get additional information that would aid the study. For this article, the researcher extracted responses to questions only on Afro-ethno-feminism in their respective regions. Thematic analysis of the interview data was carefully adhered to. Repetitious listening

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Table 11.1.  List of Respondents Who Witnessed the Afro-ethno-Feminist Movements in Their Regions S/N Name of Respondent

Nationality/Region

Affiliation

Age Bracket

Chairman/CEO Redemption FM, Abak, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. professor emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Former vice chancellor, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria Department of Theater Arts, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Uruk Ata Nsidung Uruk Ata Nsidung

82

Retired Army Officer/ war veteran, Ndot Ikot Edah Esuk Utan, Calabar

76

1

Bishop Ahaziah Umanah, professor emeritus

Nigerian/Anang/Efik

2

Professor Comfort Memfin Ekpo

Nigerian/Ibibio

3

Dr. Arnold Udoka

Nigerian/Anang/Efik

4 5

Mrs. Grace Etok Mr. Emmanuel Sunday Ukoudoh Mr. Godwin Okon Unanam

Nigerian/Anang Nigerian/Anang

Mrs. Eno Ukpe

Nigerian/Efik/Ibibio

6

7

Nigerian/Anang

68

62

89 57

90

Authors created.

to the audio recordings of the interviews enabled the researcher to discover frequently repeated responses of the respondents. The researcher looked for shared views in order to form opinion. Lichtman (2014) likens this to a “process of sorting and sifting” (324). Responses were transcribed by the researcher and presented as comparative analysis with Western practices. CONTEXTUALLY ANALYZING THE CONNECTEDNESS OF WESTERN ANTI-WOMEN ACTIVITIES WITH AFRO-ETHNO FEMINIST IDEOLOGY The investigative reports in the media on sexual assaults and other misogynist activities and how the Western feminist groups respond to such assaults against women are truly revealing because it establishes the connectedness of



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the ancient practices of the various traditional feminist groups that existed in Akwa-Cross region. In some traditional African societies there were classical oral historical firsthand accounts of women who were victims of verbal and sexual abuse by the then traditional feudal lords and local chiefs. Mrs. Eno Ukpe, who is in her nineties shared her experiences and that of her late cousin about the many sexual abuses they suffered at the hands of a local chief whom they served as housemaids in Akwa-Cross. Looking at Steiner’s (1983) work, and that of others, the women demonstrated the multidimensional approaches that the early feminist press used to muster a sense of community among early advocates for suffrage and other women’s rights (Ntiri-Williams, 1993; Ogundipe-Leslie, 1994; Ogunyemi, 1985/1986; Nfah-Abbenyi, 1997), a similar ideology, energy, and feat that the various indigenous feminist movements in Akwa-Cross displayed in their day. For the indigenous feminist movements in Akwa-Cross, there was no social media, but they did grassroots mobilization, sensitizing young and older women on their right to not be abused sexually by men who think women are not desiring them. EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF MISOGYNISTS DURING PRECOLONIAL/POSTCOLONIAL AKWA-CROSS More specific to the present discussion are the ways that misogynist men behaved during the precolonial and postcolonial eras. Prof. Comfort Ekpo, one of the respondents, revealed that in her early years, the feminist movements in her community were dreaded by men because they used traditional methods of fighting for the rights of women who were abused. Dr. Arnold Udoka, another respondent revealed that the indigenous feminist movements in the Anang land were traditional nightmares for woman abusers. A particular indigenous feminist movement called Iban Isong, which operated around Uruk Atta Nsidung and its environs would publicly strip men at the market squares. According to one of the respondents, Emmanuel Ukoudoh who is the grandson of the founder of the group, abuse against women was reduced drastically due to Iban Isong. The founder of the group, Unwa Adaada, was a fearless female warrior who led the group to arrest rapists. Rapists in those days used traditional modes of communication, displaying the names of their victims on tree trunks and on the ground of village marketplaces, just as today’s misogynists and rapists do on social media or the internet. Similarly, in the precolonial and postcolonial eras in Akwa-Cross misogynists or rapists could be traced to their rhetoric and the way they boastfully spoke of their threats. In the traditional Akwa-Cross societies, rapists sometimes would write the names of their next targets on tree trunks and dare the women. The indigenous media called the “Akata night masquerade”

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helped in exposing the activities of these rapists in Efik, Anang, and Ibibio traditional societies in West Africa. Unfortunately, the people did not coin a particular name for the modern-day misogynists or rapists. If a man sexually abused a woman either carnally or verbally, these early indigenous feminists would first declare a day of lawlessness or a carnival of violence in the community in which they would go around the whole village destroying crops such as palm trees, plantain, banana, and palm wine tappings in order to restore the value, self-esteem, and the dignity of women. According to Udoka (2023), it is the woman abuser who would pay for the crops and trees destroyed that day to teach the abuser a lesson and to also serve as a deterrent for others not to abuse women sexually. In fact, on that day, women are even free to go to the community market and set it ablaze, and the abuser would have to rebuild it, so that no one would dare attempt to verbally or physically abuse a woman. With these actions, according to Udoka (2023), “they reiterate who they are, and also restore and protect the dignity and integrity of the temple of procreation, which is the female genitalia. And any man who makes the mistake of abusing any woman, especially a married woman in those days in the Akwa-Cross community, pays heavily for it. These women do not need to obtain permission from the village head to carry out their protest, because the Anang tradition and culture permit it.” MISOGYNISTS AND RAPISTS: BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS AND THEIR PREFERRED MEDIA CHANNELS In precolonial Akwa-Cross, misogynists or rapists were not using technology, but they created an indigenous means of communication to give a threat and shame victims. Some of the indigenous traditional channels they used were carving the victims’ names on tree trunks located at very prominent areas in the village and inscriptions on floors, especially in market squares. It might be surprising to discover that misogynists and rapists in the African community then perpetuated baffling violence against their victims, using knives and other farm implements. Their behaviors were prevalent in precolonial AkwaCross. Mrs. Etok (2022) narrated how men used knives and other dangerous items to attack their victims. In the case of African rapists and misogynists, they blamed poverty for women rejecting them. The various Akwa-Cross feminist groups displayed spirit and courage when they confronted the son of a traditional African chief who had sexually assaulted a young woman in the community with his friends (Udoetok, 2020). These days, rapists and misogynists use social media to shame their victims.



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A lot of studies expose the channels in which the broader public gets to find out information about rapists or misogynists and their atrocities. TRACING MEN’S SEXUAL VIOLENCE Sexual behaviors that are dehumanizing, traumatic, and dangerous toward women predate modern technology and have lingered from ancient days to the modern world. The only thing that was lacking was a global and swift medium such as social media. As noted by Byerly (2020): Men’s sexual violence toward women is both ancient and enduring. What is new about the phenomenon is the ways it is now facilitated through the employment of social media on the internet. Social media sites like Reddit and 4chan, for example, have been popular online discussion forums for incels to speak directly to others about their views of women, men, sexuality and violence. (p. 3)

For the sake of clarification, it must be noted that one cannot totally compare men’s unapproved sexual behaviors in the Global North with what occurs in the Global South. But one common characteristic is obvious, which is harmful sexual behavior toward women. In other words, this article is not in any way saying with exactness that the modes of sexual assault against women by incels or rapists in the Global North is the same in the Global South, such as the Akwa-Cross region. Rather, it is saying that the objective is the same, which is to harass and harm women sexually. Misogynists, rapists, and incels have gone some steps further to upload scenes of sexual assault online these days. Akwa-Cross misogynists and rapists considered the trunks of trees and market squares as their own sites (Etok, 2022; Unanam, 2022). So both Western and Akwa-Cross misogynists needed a media avenue to showcase their physical and sexual assaults against women. This notion is seen in the case of a certain innocent young girl who according to an oral account was raped at the riverbank because her assailant discovered that she liked going to fetch water in the river very early in the morning before the rowdiness of the day. After the horrible act, her attackers used her blood to make inscriptions on the floor close to the riverbank of how they had deflowered a young girl (Etok, 2020). Some scholars see these men who harm women as having some psychological complex (Walker, 1982; Aidoo, 1989; Awe, 1992). To justify their acts, most misogynists and rapists maintain that it is men, not women, who have been socially or sexually assaulted. For them, feminism is considered to be anti-African and anti-masculinity; and some believe it makes women mannerless.

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SHOULD THE MEDIA BE HELD LIABLE FOR IT? Studies have shown that terrorists and other mass shooting make use of social media to make public their threats and to also transmit such contents after the injury has been inflicted (Lotan et al., 2011; Macskassy and Michelson, 2011; Guille et al., 2013). Unfortunately, other extremist groups such as antifeminists have long depended on social media to spread the fear stirred up by violence. A NEW STRUCTURE FOR WOMEN’S OPPRESSION Anti-women groups now employ new terminologies to create either physical or online communities and inspire each other to act in ways that are injurious to women (Gibson, 2014; Bueskens, 2018; Frances-White, 2018; Frank, 2019). Some call it the manosphere, while some call it male supremacy. This is the case today in some traditional African societies where men vent their frustrations on men, and unfortunately, civilization has naturally forgotten the traditional African feminist groups who used crude traditional methods to confront abusive masculinity. ALUTA CONTINUA, FORGING AHEAD TOGETHER AND FUTURE FEMINIST TRAJECTORY Africans enrich their history and make it come alive by looking back in order to tap their rich cultural heritage. If you truly cannot look backward, then you cannot imagine and project historical directional trajectories. We should call for a rethink and reconceptualization of multicultural feminist ideations. This article aims to recommend and set out the future history of the world’s feminist struggle, which should be a blend of the old patterns and the new; we mean a hybridized feminist ideation that incorporates the indigenous Akwa-Cross feminist style. This would prevent “posticipation,” which means knowing too late what you might have known in advance. The authors have provided some historicized understanding of the biases and mindset of the West about the African continent. We have also displayed the West’s idea of feminist movements and that of the pre-colonial and postcolonial Akwa-Cross feminist ideation, which have semblances of each other, though not similar in modes of operation, similar in idealistic struggles of checking and challenging hegemonic masculinity. The authors would now point readers’ attention to a future research trajectory, discourse, and enquiry that puts similar Western



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sociology ideations side by side with that of the Akwa-Cross sociocultural ideations for the purpose of discovering equivalences, similarities, and semblances. As a result, the Western notion that Africa is a dark continent with no written history or inventions can be successfully dispelled. Additionally, this can as well help generate and foster a robust interdisciplinary academic conversation and research among African scholars, which in turn can expand African scholarship and feminist media studies. Today, the global political climate also underscores the urgent need for an invigorating dialogue and a decisive action plan that would respond to the rampaging oppression of women around the world. A classic example is the twenty-two-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini who died in police custody for inappropriate hair coverage. The world is witnessing today the widespread assault of women by retro-progressive and oppressive governments, especially in the Global South. The similarities the author has established and expressed in this article across and between the feminist movements in the pre- and postcolonial eras in the Global South and Global North should spark a common goal in assessing the methods each of these separate feminist movement adopted in mitigating assaults against women. In Africa, men use the cultural belief that a man is always the head of the family to justify their hegemonic oppression and imposition of authoritarian forms of cultural bondage and laws. The Afro-ethno-feminist movements in the West African region challenged the cultural masculine domination and the blatant inversion of emancipatory discourses by men as a means to perpetually keep women under cultural chains. The structure these Akwa-Cross women put in place through these feminist movements helped in achieving not reactionary feats or ends but proactive feats; and this can only be fully understood when historicized within or between the cultural conceptual frameworks of these two cross-cultural feminist movements. The Akwa-Cross feminist structure had an effective charge of enduring symbolic structures (tribal ideology, motherhood, zero tolerance to sexual exploitation, culture, home). The authors’ closing itinerary in this article, charts an intellectual journey with three critical layovers that can spark and revitalize future research and enduring historical engagement between the indigenous feminist movements in Akwa-Cross and the Global North feminist movements. The itinerary would as well foster a robust enduring historicized storehouse of varied and morphing qualities of two opposite Atlantic poles, cultural feminist movements that can benefit from each other if thoroughly studied. The pre- and postcolonial Akwa-Cross feminist avatars were deliberate and courageous in challenging masculine actions that were repugnant to the liberty of women. At the final and most crucial stopover, the author inverts a critical gaze in calling for a self-reflexive bi-directionality within the larger

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interdisciplinary terrain of Afro-ethno-feminist media studies—where similarities and semblances of these feminist movements should be studied and the unique features from each should be tapped for the benefit of each other— so the international feminist media studies can open itself to new historical perspectives, from an increased intimacy of its similarities with postcolonial communication and media studies. The author invites and encourages scholars in Akwa-Cross studies, ethno-African studies and feminist media studies to work together to churn out an intellectually stimulating body of works that can further add to the body of knowledge in the area of Afro-ethno-feminist media. FIRST LAYOVER: SIMILARITIES, SEMBLANCES AND CULTURAL CONNECTEDNESS International feminist media studies has devoted substantive energy to the global dimensions of media communication to the neglect of historically tracing the feminist efforts of primitive eras in the Global South, such as Africa. As of today, there is no scholarship that has sought to theorize relationships, similarities, and semblances between the Western feminist movement and the African feminist movement. The few scholars who try to compare the Global South with the Global North have obviously and invariably done so through the West’s reductive lens that tends to be biased and to dwarf, water down and dispel ethnocultural feats from Africa while expanding the celebratory lenses of anything West. African scholars should turn their academic gaze toward the Global South in investigating and the similarities and semblances of Africa’s pre- and postcolonial sociocultural inventions with that of the Global North. The sociohistorical contextualization of some ideations and inventions in Africa have been less conspicuous and visible, while those of the West have been very conspicuous across disciplines in scholarship, hence calling for more emphasis on such methods in the future. A bicultural feminist ideology can help systemize a conceptual scaffolding for a strong global feminist movement that deepens our understanding of the symbolic, epistemic, conventional, and psychological ways in which a strong and vibrant global feminist brand benefits women all over the world, irrespective of color, language, or creed. Key thinkers across disciplines have all agreed that the conflation of socio-cultural knowledge can help establish connectedness of cross-cultural ideations and inventions (Brunswik, 1956; Geertz, 1973; Boucher, 1979; Frick, 1985; Tooby and Cosmides, 1990; Elfenbein and Ambady, 2003; Fritz, Sammler and Koelsch, 2006). This is the reason Parameswaran (2008) has



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maintained that a historicized communication and media studies perspective could emphasize how the symbolic, epistemic and psychic structures of the past survive and shape cultural choices in the present by focusing on the ways in which vestigial structures of colonialism (language, educational institutions, cultural practices) create the conditions of possibility for cultural globalization today; as in the case of decades-long practices of a feminist movement called Nka Iban, Iban Isong, Abon Iban, and Nnok Iban in AkwaCross region in Nigeria. SECOND LAYOVER: A CALL FOR FEMININITY ADAPTABILITY, FLEXIBILITY AND CREATIVITY Afro-ethno feminism provides feminist media and communication studies new vistas for creativity, flexibility, and historicized geopolitical, crosscultural, and psychological frameworks that can polarize the globalizing discipline in showcasing the discipline’s “homogeneousness” (also meaning otherness). This is reflective in feminism’s existential realities and alterity in approach to one’s cultural environment, collective approach, group discourse, and social/tribal identity—along the vectors of creed, cultural orientation, family orientation, gender, race, class, nation, and sexuality—as well as internal psychic struggles of variegated experiences within the self. THIRD LAYOVER: ETHNO-AFRICANIZING NOVEL FEMINIST TERMINALS Akwa-Cross indigenous feminism and Western feminism offer a novel and fertile research platform for churning out scholarship. The universalizing ideals and sociocultural features of indigenous feminism in Akwa-Cross cannot be dispelled with a wave of the hand by the West because it was effectual in checking the over-domineering masculine activities against women, but it should be adopted globally. Akwa-Cross is a fine exception of an African community that had a vibrant feminist movement. As scholarship in Afroethno-feminism grows, it also presents an opportunity for the larger field of international feminist media studies, constituted by older disciplines, to spread the scope of its range by riveting useful thematic, conceptual, methodological and feminist interventions from a newer proposed field, which is Afro-ethno-feminist media studies. This can help us culturally pry open global bi-directional feminist channels for symbiotically beneficial crossdisciplinary and interdisciplinary exchanges. Emerging fields come with

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challenges and criticism, and for such an emerging field that the authors are proposing, the foundational question would always be, how then can scholars generate the exactness of knowledge that will be attractive and rewarding and conducive in exporting Afro-ethno-feminist ideas beyond textual pages—and the egocentric echo-chambers of the Global North’s academic orchestra symphony—to reach the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world that need to hear them loud and clear? To draw the curtain in this chapter, the authors offer three thoughts in a bid to sow the seeds for an encyclopedic dissipation of his critiques and recommendations. First, as teachers and researchers, it is ideal and strategic for us as African scholars to use the classroom to be a site of praxis for critical Afro-ethno-feminist media studies. Therefore, we propose a broader and more robust inclusion of Akwa-Cross indigenous feminist media research within the conventional pedagogical programs of communication, culture, and media studies. Despite the decades-long international feminist media’s famed cross-disciplinarity, curricula in communication and media studies across levels (undergraduate and postgraduate) have been disappointingly perfunctory when engaging within Akwa-Cross or African perspectives. Afro-ethno-feminist media studies’ historicized sensibility to Western feminism ideology and connectedness can help establish and deepen immeasurably the array of themes concepts, and processes we instruct in our courses that are feminist connected—diversity, inclusion, Afrokology, globalization, political economy, hegemony, media ethics, mediatization, the public sphere, and digitization. Second, the apolitical advisors and scholars situated within the fairly privileged vantage point of Western academia need to research more in the area of Akwa-Cross indigenous feminist media studies. This chapter has shown that there are oral historical records in Akwa-Cross, discourses of feminine respectability that mobilized calls for social justice against rapists in pre- and postcolonial Akwa-Cross society. Finally, in an era laced and charged with belligerent public discourse on Afro-identity, social identity, cultural belonging, cultural difference, sociocultural inventions and ideations, nationalism, and tribal consciousness, the authors are of the opinion that Afro-ethno-feminism media studies, communication, culture, and media scholars need to step out and initiate discourse and debates that take place outside the academy that would generate Afro-ethno-feminist knowledge. Afro-ethno-feminist media studies can be incorporated into universities via curricular interventions, with an array of conscious courses integrated into mainstream theory and research by a wide swathe of global scholars; and circulated in mainstream media, cultural venues, libraries, and folklore. This will not only enrich the world of international media studies, but also the cultural perspectives of African scholars and our students around the world who



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reside in countries whose worldviews are constructed by one-sided Global South ideologies. If the path to creating Afro-historical revisionism that could cure debilitating historical amnesia is relevant, it demands that we sever the fictitious Western written history of Africa, by obeying the clarion call of rewriting our history that captures Africanity in femininity. This is because efforts in decolonizing and de-Westernizing Africa will remain an incomplete project as long as Africa’s historical, cultural, traditional, and moral foundations are discarded and undermined by Western definitions of social matrix, and paradigm of socio-communicative and sociocultural development.1 NOTE 1.  Professors Ahaziah Umanah and Comfort Memfin Ekpo, Dr. Arnold Udoka, Mr. Godwin Okon Unanam, and Mr. Emmanuel Ukoudoh are not pseudonyms, but the others are to protect their identities.

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Chapter Twelve

Marriage Patterns in Akwa-Cross Region in the Pre-Colonial Period Francis Anthony Akpan

INTRODUCTION This is an ethnographic chapter covering over twenty years of participant observation of the marriage systems of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The ethnic groups involved are the Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ejagham, Bekwarra, Ikom, Obudu, Yakurr, Boki, and Yala. Marriage once had a different look and shape than what is the case today. This chapter portrays how marriage was conducted according to the custom and tradition of that period. The Efik traditional marriage ceremony was performed by joining couples together according to custom, culture, and tradition. The bride price was paid before the bride was handed over to the groom. In those days, the bride price was either ebot idong (a local cow) or a number of sheep or goats, food items, with some other durable goods since money was not in existence except what they generally accepted as its equivalent, such as cowries. The “fattening room” tradition was the first thing that came to mind whenever Efik marriage was to be discussed. The fattening room tradition of the Efik people was the prelude training given to maidens in preparation for womanhood. However, today the Efik marriage is modified for the present generation. GENERAL NOTION OF MARRIAGE By definition, in the Akwa-Cross region, marriage is the union between a man and a woman. This matrimony is always traditionally and spiritually blessed by family members of the intended couples and the church. The marriage rites go with some social obligations recognized and accepted by both partners (Burke, 2011). Marriage is a natural institution that follows from 197

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tradition. Recognized the world over, it is a universally and legally accepted relationship established both by tradition and religion through either a civil or kindred ceremony between a man and a woman (in a monogamous—i.e., between a man and a woman—or polygamous framework—i.e. between a man and two or several women) who have publicly expressed their intentions to live together as husband and wife/wives under one roof or household and which has been recognized as such (Ekarika, 2014, p. 302). According to Akpan (2022), every couple cherishes the desire . . . to live a happy, peaceful and prosperous married life. Such a life is the right of all couples. This is possible in positively ratifying and uplifting relationships (Grugri, 2015). To stand united in marriage is to grow in strength and capacity in every way, be it intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physical, financial, industrial, or political. Unity is strength—being united, one will stand, but divided one will definitely fall. It is up to the couple to decide if they want to live broken, weak, and unhappy lives or to live united, strong and happy. There are various views about marriage; nonetheless, they all point toward the same direction. But with different approaches be it in Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Bekwarra, Ikom, Obubra, Ugep, Ejagham, or Ogoja; the practice was the same. Therefore, marriage is one of the most powerful means of maintaining the cohesion of Efik/Ibibio society, and of forcing that conformity to the kinship and lineage system and to tribal organization without which social life would become unattainable (Ekarika, 1974, p. 84). Marriage is that state in which man and woman give themselves to each other and become helpmates in their procreation, and the training of offspring (Mba, 1980, p. 11). Marriage is a natural institution, meaning that marriage follows from the nature of mankind, which is categorized into two sexes. The Akwa-Cross region is a Christian-centered community where the sanctity and status of marriage is only recognized when it is blessed by the church. For the Akwa-Cross people, who are predominantly Christians, marriage is ordained by God, as stipulated in the Bible: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female. And God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it’” (Genesis 1:27). It further states: “Then the Lord said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him . . .’ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took off his ribs and . . . He made (it) into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 1:27). For this reason, as a natural institution, marriage has its own inner and intrinsic principles or laws of operation and success (The Code of Canon Law,



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1983). Marriage is a legal and social commitment state: man and woman share their lives and family responsibilities. In Akwa-Cross, it is a legal union between a man and a woman. It is believed to be for procreation, love, companionship, security, status, religious obligations, economic considerations, and conforming to social standards. TYPES OF MARRIAGE AS PRACTICED AT THAT PERIOD Polygamy is multiple marriage consisting of polygyny, which is one man marrying many wives and Polyandry which is one woman marrying more than one husband. Traditional Marriage is the customary marriage of any ethnic group as it is laid down by their forefathers, which is enforced by their custom; polygamy is included in this marriage. PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE The notion of the Akwa-Cross people about marriage is that marriage is for procreation. Hence the saying oto ikpon ajem nkok (the one that plants cocoyam wants its multiplication). Therefore, odo nwan ajem ajen (the one who marries, wants children). Nonetheless, the man has to be wealthy, or marriage has to bring wealth to the man, with a great number of people that he must feed and look after; otherwise, he is not fit to marry. Marriage was not for the poor, but the rich. In fact, once a person marries, there is a retinue of persons connected to the spouse. This is what informs the Annang adage—Imoadeowo an Annang Cultural Philosophy that vividly brings out the importance of human capital in creation of wealth and the integral development of individuals in the society. Imo means wealth, ade is the verb “to be” while owo means “human being.” Imoadeowo therefore, brings out the Annang cultural philosophy that what constitutes wealth are “human beings.” For the Annang, no matter how much a man may have in terms of economic capital, he is actually poor if he is bankrupt in human capital (Ekanem, 2002). Hence, to realize this goal, a man had to marry many wives. The Annangs say: Ajenadeimo (A child is wealth). The greatest wealth that an Anang man ever dreams and hopes to have is self-perpetuation through the begetting of children, especially male children. However, it is not just having children that is important, but being able to bring them up to become responsible members of the society. This is where the community comes in as an indispensable factor in human capital.

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MARRIAGE IN AFRICAN CONTEXT Marriage is a well-known concept in Africa. In fact, it is a tradition that is highly esteemed and has been religiously passed on from one generation to another. Marriage remains the vehicle through which the lineage of a particular family is continued. To come of age and not get married to propagate one’s family lineage is generally regarded as a curse. Such a person who dares to violate this sacred duty is to be regarded as a lawbreaker and hence, be considered an outcast. Such a person is said to have rejected tradition and therefore, ideally, tradition equally rejects him/her. In the typical African society, such people are looked upon as useless and irresponsible. They are not consulted when important issues are discussed, hence, not given responsibility in the community (Gidada, 2005, p. 42). Africans attach great importance to marriage because it is through it that a family is established, and life is transmitted through procreation and the future generation is assured. In other words, marriage is important for the survival of all humanity. For Africans, marriage is a covenant, a union between not only a man and a woman, but their families, communities, and clans as well. It is not a private matter for the individual; it embraces the extended families of husband and wife, the living and the dead, and even the not-yet-born. It involves the whole community— a community affair. The community has a very important role to play in the marriage of each individual, since individuals make up the community. In the West, it is often said that African marriage cannot really be free because the community almost always interferes with it. This thinking results from the highly individualized understanding of freedom for people who live in the West. In Africa, however, freedom can only be achieved when both the individual and the whole community are integrated. This is especially important in marriage. There is a principle in African ethics which may be enunciated as follows: A person cannot be free unless the community is free and vice-versa. What matters is the dialectic relationship between the individual and the community Bujo (2009, pp. 53–82). He also believes, “I am related, therefore we are. Not only do I exist through others, but others exist through me” (Bujo, 2009, pp. 17–28). If marriage is that central institution indispensable for the survival of the community, then a successful relationship is greatly desired. In other words, in order for the “relatedness” that makes a human being a person to succeed, it is of great concern to Africans that a marriage be contracted only when there is a chance of it benefitting the whole community Bujo, (2009, p. 95). That is why in moments of joys and sorrows all are involved to show their love and solidarity. In Africa, marriage is contracted between a man and a woman or between a man and more than one woman, or in some cases a woman marrying more



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than one man. The primary motive of marriage is for procreation; the second reason is human capital and economic purpose, for the Africans believe in having many people around them that they can develop and assist to grow to sustain themselves in life (Gidada, 2005). Again, human labor being needed means more hands to work in the farms and palm plantations. The Western model of marriage that distinguishes between the civil and the religious has little meaning for the Africans. Marriage is always religious. Distinctions such as profane versus religious and natural versus supernatural are unknown Bujo (2009, pp 134–43). However, for Africans, marriage cannot be understood if life beyond the grave is not taken into account. There is no marriage without both God and the ancestors. For anyone to overlook this fact is to fail to understand that for Africans a marriage that is not performed according to tradition is no marriage. MARRIAGE IN AKWA-CROSS: EARLY PREPARATION FOR MARRIAGE In Akwa-Cross, as practiced, every girl or boy would finally end up in marriage. Therefore, it was important and necessary to introduce them into the system for adequate preparation. For the girls, they were to embark on Puberty Initiation Rites and Nkuho. This was in conformity with the traditional state and concept of marriage in Annang culture, and as Buyo (2003, p. 43) pointed out, it “dominates all customs and is the foundation of the whole social structure.” And let us state quite unequivocally that to Africans as far as customs or culture or anything connected with the African way of life is concerned) marriage is probably the most important event of life, because motherhood is considered the crown of life. To fail to appreciate this idea is to miss the whole point of the African concept of life. It cannot be of anything else. As Ekarika explained in his book on maidenhood: from a very tender age when a boy or girl begins to think for himself/herself, marriage is set before him/her as the greatest goal and the one object in life he/she should aspire to attain Ekarika (2019). Though at this early period, it was not a very serious matter, it was good to educate them on this issue. Nonetheless, if any boy or girl were to be asked, what would be his/her most important ambition and objective in life, the answer most certainly would have been, to get married in due course. Every youth and maiden therefore yearned for marriage, as every family looked forward to the day their daughter would go into Nkuho to be received into the fattening room with an air of pride and expectation, for they were looking forward to a process that would in time culminate in marriage.

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Hence, the Annang, Efik/Ibibio, and other ethnic groups in the region set a very high value upon Nkuho and marriage. Every woman considered marriage and motherhood as the ultimate aim from the tender age of four to seven; every girl was introduced to, and made to take part in domestic and household duties and allowed such a share in feminine affairs. As they grew up, they would learn these tasks naturally, assimilating them, almost as unconsciously as they ate or slept. At an early stage between the age of four and nine, once the girls were able to learn to speak, they were betrothed before puberty, which was normally vague. In some communities, parents chose wives for their sons on the first day a girl was born. It was common to negotiate marriage arrangements with the families of a woman months before the child was born, in anticipation should the baby be a girl. All this may sound rather stupid and a savage encroachment on the unfortunate innocent girls’ liberty and freedom, to choose a husband for herself, a girl who was not even sure of seeing the light of the day. But the idea was just to make doubly sure that the girls would be in safe hands— matured, cultured, disciplined and virtuous, able to take the floor, to assist their mothers in the preparation of food, etcetera. They were also taught different types of dances with styles and songs that were done in the evening and on moonlit nights. By the time they went into the “Fattening House,” they had already known all these, which was of advantage to them. On this note, the Efik/Ibibio girl became quite adept at household chores very early in life. At home too, they were taught and trained on how to serve as “Edep Eyen” (Baby-Sitter) for their own or in the neighboring villages. In such cases, some agreements were made concerning the benefits to the girls involved. At that very tender age, girls began to be associated with motherhood and mother craft, therefore appreciating the wonderful dignity of child-bearing and care which nature and providence would bestow on them in later life as mothers and wives (Ekarika, 2019). When they had developed a little more and could walk better, they were permitted to follow their mothers to the markets, where they observed and learned from them how to sell and buy, which was at that time “trade by barter” (an exchange of goods for others according to one’s needs and demands), as there was no use of money. This was a gradual initiation to technicalities of trading meant to prepare them for their future engagement in small scale businesses. By doing so, they started at a very early age to take serious responsibilities in life and thereby developed self-mastering and independence. At this stage, the girl was well equipped with the necessary skills.



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ANNANG ETHNIC NATIONALITY: MARRIAGE AMONG THE ANNANGS Marriage as a Community Affair As a matter of fact, life starts from a family. An African understanding of family extends beyond the father; mother, and child to include relatives. There are also those who become members of a family by “covenant” and “alliance,” known as the blood-pact (Mbiti, 1973). It is from the family that communities emanate. In marriage therefore, all in the community are involved. Again, to be bankrupt in human capital was a serious aberration. In fact, the really poor person is one who has no one to lean on. According to the Annang proverb: “Ikpong inyiehe iberedem, iberedem ikpong ade ibene” (One who has no human support looks up to the wall for support). In Annang jurisprudence is boosted and galvanized by human capital. What this means is that a person without human capital must be wary of litigation, for the poor in human capital will not like to be dragged to court because he has no aboro nno (he has no people to speak in his support in court). In Annang land, valour, bravery, courage, and heroism are by-products of human capital. This lends credence to the Annang proverb that says: Erehe urim (One is powerful in a group). Therefore, in marriage one cannot act and stay alone, one is great and successful with the support of those around him or her. There is a sense in which it could be said that communitarian, cooperative, and collaborative ventures are the antecedents of wealth (Mba, 1980, 1986). This is because the wealth of the wealthy is boosted and sustained by the goodwill, love and collaboration of the entire community. Thus, in Annang land, the community is the wall on which the Annang person leans. It is a pillar of support, and the individual is nothing without the community. This is rooted in the famous African dictum: “I am because we are” (Mbiti, 1971). This does not mean that the individual is subsumed in the community. Instead, it means that in spite of the uniqueness of the individual, the individual cannot stand alone in Annang land. This is what lends credence to the epic Annang proverb: Eto isidaha ikpong ikaba akai (A tree cannot form a forest). Indeed, the aura, the fear and awe-inspiring nature of the tropical forest is amplified by the multiple and combined voices of tigers, baboons, elephants, hyenas, and other animals therein. Therefore, the community plays a unique and indispensable role in the creation of economic capital and integral development of the individual (Idika, 1997). Consequently, it is this community life that brings home the philosophy: Imoadeowo. In order to maintain cordial relationships and the cementing potentials of the community, disputes are immediately settled and reconciliation effected through the various institutions of dispute settlement. Be that

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as it may, the Annang believe that it is better for one to have a person with whom one can quarrel than to have no one at all afon inyie ntanga, ifono inanana (Ekanem, 2002). For the Annang, marriage is an institution for those who have prepared themselves adequately enough to take up responsibilities of human development and home management. The man, who intends to marry, must have all it would take to live the marital life. There were some cases whereby the parents went all out to initiate the marriage of their sons and daughters. For the boys the parents, especially their mothers would select or choose girls of good family background, hardworking, well-behaved and would bring them into the family as housekeepers, where they would remain and learn about housekeeping etc. but later were introduced to marriage. Some of them accepted the idea and some did not. In an interview with Mother Anne Iwoh HHCJ (aged 91), she ascertained that marriage is consummated when a man marries a wife. The reason is to develop a family of his own. He has to pay a bride price to the family, from which he is to marry. The first step taken was to seek the consent of the young lady he desired to marry and the approval of the parents. If the response from both parties was positive, it was followed by an arrangement for the traditional ceremony. As usual, the expected wife would need to go into the “fattening room” for the marriage course and preparation for marriage. The course was for a period of six months. There were cases of some girls who had to run away from their proposed husbands because of age disparity. Mention was made of a particular girl who was much younger than the man who wanted to marry her. Every time the man would go to their compound, seeing him from a distance, she would run away through the backyard entrance. There were some girls that their parents arranged with some family members to have them as house helpers with the intention to give them out for marriage when they had come of age without their consent. However, there were many girls, who had the opportunity to escape early childhood marriage and showed their disapproval of it. At any rate, the situation for some was horrible, whereby children were disowned by their parents for not consenting to their parents’ choices. Now, let us consider some marriage patterns in the Akwa Cross region. MARRIAGE BY DEBT OR MONEY MARRIAGE Another marriage pattern in the Akwa-Cross people is known as “Marriage by debt” or “Money Marriage,” which is very common among the Becheve people of Cross River State. Daily Trust Newspaper (2022, para. 6) in their investigative report recently notes that this marriage pattern is still in place in the region even in the present-day Cross River State:



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The Becheve people of Cross River still practice a tradition that allows girlchildren to be used to repay loans owed by their parents or as a favour to someone that has been benevolent to the family . . . Such girls are turned into sex objects . . . In Cross River State, a particular archaic tradition, which has been described as a form of slavery, may never be uprooted despite outcries and campaigns against it. The Becheve people of Cross River still practice a tradition that allows girl-children to be used to repay loans owed by their parents or as a favour to someone that has been benevolent to the family. At least 17 communities, including Katele, Amana, Ogbakoko, Belinge, Ranch, Ikwette (old and new), Imale, Ekor, Kalumo, Yindive, Makambe, Apambu, Belegete, Kajinga, Mangbe, Mbunu, and Agusor are still neck deep in this practice. Money marriage is a tradition where a girl-child, as young as two years old, is given out to a man who was benevolent or extended some financial goodwill or loans to her parents and they are unable to repay as agreed. The parents will decide to settle such debts by giving away their daughter to the creditor or benefactor in marriage. It is a tradition practiced by almost all the men in most parts of Obanliku Local Government Area of the state, particularly the Becheve people. It would not matter whether such a girl child is still being breastfed by her mother, who may also be a “money wife.” Sometimes if a man is as old as 60 and is interested in a girl-child, he could begin to visit her parents with gifts, foodstuff and other things. All these are counted as part of dowry. And the girl-child has no power to reject the offer.

Daily Trust Newspaper (2022, para. 7) also reports that: A Becheve man without a “money wife” is not regarded as man enough to speak in a community assembly. When he dies, he is not accorded a befitting burial. A “money wife” normally arrives as a second wife . . . Money wives are barely educated and are regarded as family properties and baby production machines.

The report of findings by Daily Trust (2022) shows that at the demise of a husband, the money wife can only remarry within the family of the husband. Perhaps if she is not found attractive by any of her late husband’s relatives, she could sleep around and make babies who would belong to her husband’s family. POLYGAMY—MARRYING OF MANY WIVES Marriage was naturally construed as a means of procreation. There were various forms of it, and polygamy was the most common form. The reason people married many wives was because they wanted human labor: people to work on their farms, palm plots, or plantations who would provide cheap

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labor since they were members of the family. An interview with Obong/Mrs. E. E. P. Umanah: The precolonial days or Ancient periods, especially before the advancement of modern science were different from this modern period, with its advantages and disadvantages. Before now, work was manually done without the assistance of sophisticated machinery. This dichotomy creates a big interim between the old and the new. My father, Chief Peter Umanah, happened to belong to the ancient period. In his days, polygamy was the order of the day; one could marry as many wives as possible. On this note my father married thirteen wives. People were conditioned to such ideologies because of the need for a labor force; marrying many women was the best [way] to provide the required labor force in the farm and home.

The separation of men from ordinary mortals, therefore, was in the marriage to many women. This was the norm of the time, and both men and women were seemingly comfortable with the system. This polygamous setting was also known as a nuclear family, consisting of the one man and his many wives and children (Akpan 2021, p. 489). The marrying of many wives was a priority, a thing of prestige and a sign of wealth. For instance, Okuku Iteng Udo Udo Eto of Midim Clan married over fifteen, Obong Udo Ekpo Udom of Ikot Ebo more than twenty, While Akpan Ekpo Ette Udofia–a traditionalist of Ekpenyong Atai 1, had eighteen wives. As at that time, they needed a quick population of the land in keeping with the idea of Imoadeowo (wealth are people). THE PRACTICE OF POLYANDRY Polyandry is a marriage of one woman with many men living together at the same time. This type of marriage is peculiar to the Asian world, especially Indians. But there is a variant form of it practiced in Calabar, whereby the woman marries a man and after a while, abandons that marriage and marries another man. It was prestigious for such women to do so. The idea was to marry a noble or wealthy man. Some well-to-do women admired families of the obong (king) and would go to marry in such families, beget children and then leave for another. Marriage in Calabar among the Efik was quite different in some cases; the wives married many husbands at different times. This is a common practice among the Efiks even today. A woman would marry a man from a particular village, raise one or two children there and, with time, would leave for another. She might end up having three or more husbands with children. From



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time to time, she would go on visits to the former husbands in order to find out how they were doing with the children. She might stay for about a week and would depart when she had fulfilled her intentions and was satisfied. WOMEN MARRYING WOMEN Mma Nko of Ekpenyong of the present Essien Udim LGA was a well-to-do woman: wealthy, popular, and of prestige. She had no husband. In order to raise children, she hired men to sow the seed for her. She had many children through these women. The children were named after her. FIDELITY AND INFIDELITY IN MARRIAGE Women were generally very faithful to their marital commitments because of the Annang tradition that put some injunction on infidelity in marriage. This was a sort of deity to check infidelity called, Ekpo Nkaowo. However, this was to check women in case they saw other men outside the marital home. One may question if there was any check and balance for the men? The answer is No. The reason is that the Annang world was a patriarchal society. Therefore, the man was exonerated from blame and accusation. In fact, the society was that of the man, he was the king, he controlled the family, and everyone owed him loyalty and obedience. Another important reason was that he was the one who went out to marry the woman and paid the marriage compensation; therefore, by implication, the woman was the property of the man. As such, any man that touched her was a thief. Any man caught involved in this act was made to pay heavily for the crime committed according to custom and tradition. This apparent one-sidedness in the Annang legal system was taken as normal. In turn, the woman caught in such violation was to confess to the husband for some traditional rites to be performed to appease the gods of the land she had offended for forgiveness and peace. She had to pay a fine for the crime committed. It was the duty of the traditional man designated for such violation to perform the ritual ceremony. When this was done, the husband was free again to eat her food and relate once more sexually with the wife (Idika, 1997). But if she hid this atrocity from the husband, even though the husband was ignorant of this, and the husband ate her food and had sexual relationship with her, the husband would suddenly die. This was according to the norms of the society. It was as serious as that; it was not to be taken for granted.

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In Ibibio and Efik tradition, it was also a serious issue. The kindred would always try to intervene and try to bring the husband and wife back together, except that in such a serious situation it would require the invocation of traditional rites before they could live as husband and wife again. Still, this implies that marriage in Ibibio and Efik tradition was not dissoluble after all, as everybody in the kindred group would be trying to appease the ancestors and the ekpo-nka-owo (spirits/ghosts of adultery) in order to resettle the parties and bring them back to their matrimonial homes (Ekarika, 2019). Other Traditions In ancient times, the delivery of twins and the twins so delivered were considered an abomination. Thus, the mother and her children were taken to the evil forest, the twins killed, and the woman left to die, as the children were considered to belong to the world of the spirits (Uwah, 2022, p. 223). Since bringing forth children into the world was the major reason for marrying many wives, the issues of barrenness of a wife led to divorce if love did not exist (Uwah, 2022). It was not very common to hear of any divorce in those days because there were checks and balances in the community. The circumstances surrounding marriage did not give room for divorce. However, there is no human society that is problem free. There were conflicts between the wives themselves because of jealousy and envy, which caused suspicion. They would quarrel among themselves. Again, the wives could complain against their husband for loving some more than the others. For any person to think about divorce or even act upon it was something shameful, which everyone tried as much as possible to avoid. Serious cases, which could lead to divorce and separation, were handled by family heads and chiefs of councils in the local court (afe isong) of each village where necessary, while the husbands were able to resolve amicably other minor cases that arose, thereby allowing peace to reign. After exploring all the options for settlement of differences and disputes—and the women remained adamant in their ways—there were some cases of separation/divorce. There were very few instances where some women had to run to their parents because of conflicts with the husband. Some were asked by their husbands to go back home and to remain with their parents for quite some time. Despite being away from the home, they remained the wives of their husbands. Some, after a given period of time, reconciled after the issue had been resolved. They had to go back to the husband and were received back into the family. If the woman died when she was still staying with the parents, the funeral arrangements were handled by her husband.



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Contraception and Abortion Contraception was considered a serious taboo, and anyone discovered or known to have perpetrated the act was caricatured or ridiculed by the ekpo and ekoong masquerades. Abortion was morally wrong and condemnable among the Annang. Any perpetrator was stigmatized for life. Contraception and abortion were very rare because the masquerade would publicize the name of such a person to be known by all. This made everyone very careful not to get involved in such practices. At any rate, they had their own way of handling the situation. They were able to handle birth control naturally. To prevent unwanted pregnancy, couples were able to deny themselves sexual intercourse when the ovulation mucus appeared, and they waited until the fourth day or when it had finished (abstinence method). This was possible because the husband could approach any of the other wives who had their safe periods for sexual relationships. It was actually unmarried women, who practiced contraception and outright abortion. Such women used herbs to get rid of any unwanted pregnancy, while some others tried medicine they got from the traditional doctor around their waist to prevent them from getting pregnant. There was no birth control in the sense of birth limitation because people were always looking for more children in their families. PROBLEM OF EARLY CHILDHOOD MARRIAGE The traditional duty of the first or senior wives was to bring as many young girls as possible to the husband to marry. The first reason was that they wanted the younger ones to come and assist them in domestic work. Another reason was to have some moments of rest from sexual intercourse. Elderly women who were barren had to make plans and arrange marriages on behalf of their husbands. A further reason of early child marriage was to prevent early sex before marriage so that the girl would not have an idea of sexual relation, but remain a virgin until married. When a woman was pregnant, a family that was looking for a girl to marry would go to this woman and mark her belly with clay, indicating that if the child to be born were a girl, she would be married into that family. In some other instances, marriage could be sealed with a deposit of akaikai, local gin. This would ensure that the parents of the girl would preserve the flower (baby) for marriage in the future. In those days, there was no specific age range considered for marriage. It could still take place at any age. Girls were taken to live with those they were to marry—starting with serving as house help, while the intended husbands trained the girls as housewives. This

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arrangement was only known to the parents and the intended husband without the child knowing about it. If at a certain time the young girl happened to realize that the person they stayed with was her husband-to-be, who was already elderly, she might be resentful. Girls were always afraid of age disparity with intended husbands. There were cases of girls attempting to run away when an elderly suitor was finally revealed to them by the parents. Would-be husbands would make advances to have sexual relations, having lived with the girl for some time. Girls thought that they were living with their foster-fathers/guardians instead of husbands. They were not happy being forced into marriage against their will. However, some had no other option than to obey and to stay to please their parents. Often, they made up their minds and stayed to become one of many wives, where the more elderly were mistresses to the young ones. They were forced to obey and take instructions from them. The situations were horrible because the husbands would show love and passion to the younger ones, causing jealousy to develop among the elderly ones. However, the husband had the upper hand, and could control the situation, because he had authority over them. At any rate, when the younger ones became more mature and of age, they were bold enough to speak their minds, especially when they realized that they had also enjoyed what the elderly wives had been enjoying. They became insolent, especially when they realized that they had won the love of the husband. Their mistresses would say, “I know now that you also enjoyed what we had been into, so your eyes are opened.” Some women, in annoyance, would make remarks such as, “You were brought to assist me as house helps, now you have overthrown me and become the wives and share the same bed with me.” In some cultures, a man had to prove that he had money or physical strength to fight before he was allowed to take a woman into marriage. Women were expected to be beautiful, dutiful, virtuous, charming damsels with a motherly disposition and enterprising spirit. These were the requisite qualities for marriage. Some women who were barren, had to find young girls for their husbands, who treated them as their mistresses with respect and magnanimity. They were those who raised children for their husbands on their behalf. THE FATTENING HOME: EFIK MARRIAGE CULTURE In an interview with an elderly woman through the daughter, Sr. Patricia Onah HHCJ (from Ejagham) alluded to the fact that “women who had been given into marriage were admitted into the Preparatory House for marriage



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before they went to live with their husbands.” The idea of this institution— fattening home—in the Calabar context, was to get the proposed women well prepared for marriage; to equip them with the skills to manage a home and children. This institution was managed by elderly women who were experts in marital issues and housekeeping. The young women were taught kitchen management, sustenance of their sexual relationship with their husbands, and good morals and behaviors. At the end of the “fattening home” training period, there would be the test of virginity in which the friends of the bride along with experienced women in marital issues would escort her with a lantern and wait for her overnight, while she spent the night sexually with her husband to determine her virginal status. If there was a blood stain on the bed sheet, that would confirm her virginity. The mother, family members, and friends would celebrate this. It was an abomination for any woman to move to the man’s house without being accepted as a wife and with adequate preparation and arrangement through proper findings to know if the man was of good conduct and behavior. The man too was to test and to investigate the character of the woman to be engaged. The old “Fattening Room” tradition of the Efik people was central to Efik marriage. The period of the training was usually six months, in some cases, one year before marriage. Efik girls were sent to the fattening room to be pampered with massages from head to toe three times a day. They were fed as much as they could eat, and were enlightened on the ins and outs, pros and cons of marriage. They were not engaged in manual labor. Rather, they were allowed to eat sumptuous dishes and engage in meaningful discussions and conversation, interacting freely with their trainers. They were allowed to have enough rest and sleep. It was the belief of the Efik people that a full-figured woman with a healthy waistline was beautiful. In addition to the above fattening room activities, the girls went through all the processes they had been taught since their childhood in preparation for marriage, which included domestic training and home management (cooking, childcare, housekeeping, respect, etc.) and how to make their husbands and family happy. It was incumbent on the older women to give them advice based on their experience to ensure a successful and enjoyable/happy marital life. The fattening room experience was to gracefully move the bride-to-be to the husband’s home. The women were introduced to cultural dances as part of their training, such as Ekombi, folklore, folktales, songs, and other forms of cultural entertainments. They were also taught skills in artistic designs on calabash and other materials as well. Importantly, the girls were taught and trained on how to relate sexually with their husbands. The reason or intention for this was so that they would give their husbands maximum satisfaction in their sexual relationship. At the end

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of the period, people all over were invited to come and see the women in their outing, to judge if they were properly fed and presentable for marriage. It was a big ceremony and celebration. At the end of the fattening room period, the women were led out to the anwa isong (village square), where they were subjected to spiritual examination of their virginal status. They were warned not to jump over the ritual mount unless they were virgins, because they would die in the process if they had been telling lies. Women who successfully jumped proved their virginity. This was a show of pride to the mother, the family, and the entire village community. Exposure to sex before marriage had some disadvantages, leading to marital infidelity. The idea of this celebration was therefore to guide against infidelity. The ceremony included traditional Efik dances (Ekombi) and other forms of entertainment and continued throughout the whole day and night as families, friends, and well-wishers expressed their joy and happiness with gifts and donations to the bride. Finally, the woman and her future husband would embrace and dance together. ACCEPTABLE SEXUAL BEHAVIORS People have a natural inclination to seek love, joy, and happiness in a significant other. Sex enhances the love between the husband and wife. It brings couples closer together. The women made arrangements on how to have sexual relationships with their husband without conflict. The first wife, who was in-charge of all other wives, designated the days each wife should attend to the husband. A week was scheduled for each wife. The schedule was not generally fixed; every household or family had the freedom to arrange as it best suited them. Nevertheless, if a wife missed her turn, she was to wait for another opportunity, which could mean a month’s gap without getting close to the husband. The man could also decide on whom he wanted and at what time. The same pattern of schedule was associated with the feeding of the husband—taking turns. The wives would cook and feed the husband. For them to take care of their children, some portions of land were provided to each of them for farming. It was from the farm produce that they generated food for the feeding of their individual children and husband as well. CONCLUSION In this chapter I have examined the patterns of married couples of ancient times and the lives they lived during that period before the advent of coloni-



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zation. We have seen that marriage in the ancient period was quite different from today, with advantages and disadvantages. Currently, there are a lot of improvements in the institution of marriage and family life because of education and the availability of the media and information technology. The advancements in science have also had a negative effect on marriage—such as pornography, materialism, and infidelity. The establishment of the fattening period was a means of promoting and encouraging virginity, good morals, and decency before marriage. Today, this is improved upon by the establishment of marriage courses, where those couples are prepared. Today, due to the hard times, many people are made to turn to monogamy— marriage between one man and one woman. The maintenance of a family is more difficult today than in those days. Therefore, everyone is very careful not to create more problems than they can handle. Colonization brought the concept of monogamy, a Christian way of living. Therefore, polygamy is no longer seen as ideal. Due to economic and financial constraints, it has become very difficult to marry and maintain many wives at the same time. Early childhood marriage was a problem; children had no voice and were given into marriage without their consent. (Burke, 2011). In Akwa-Cross, marriage is an institution in which a man marries a woman and takes the responsibility for the choice made. Marriage is not for children but for adults who are psychologically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually mature and balanced. REFERENCES Akpan, F. A. (2021). The Joy of Christian Marriage in the Contemporary Society. N.p.: Pax Media Publications. Burke, J. SMA. (2011). Marriage Annulment. Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa. Buyo, B. (2003). Plea for Change of Model for Marriage. Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa. Comprehensive Sexuality Education. (2003). Lagos, Nigeria: Action Health Incorporated. Daily Trust Newspaper. (2022). “Money Marriage: How Ancient Tradition ‘Refuses to Die’ in Cross River.” https://dailytrust.com/money-marriage-how-ancient-tradi tion-refuses-to-die-in-cross-river. Ekanem. J. B. (2002). “Transforming Customary Laws: The Role of the Catholic Church in Dispute Settlement among the Annang of South Southern Nigeria.” Unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Catholic University of Leuven. Ekarika J. P. (1975). Maidenhood: Boudoir Mysteries in Traditional Puberty Initiations: An African Preparation for a Chaste Wedlock. Self-published.

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———. (2007). The Evolution and Development of a Nation State in Africa: UruanEfik, 2nd ed. N.p: Mariana Publications. Gidada, L. S. (2005). Growing a Marriage. N.p.: Deka Publications. Grugri, A. (2015). Preparing for Marriage: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide for a Happy Married Life. N.p.: Better Yourself Books. Idika, I. M. C. (1997). Just Married What Next? N.p.: Alex Ekeh Press. Mba, C. S. (1980). Towards a Successful Marriage and Family Life. N.p.: No publisher. ———. (1986). A Handbook of Marriage Instruction: A Help for Catechists and Marriage Instructors. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Catholic Institute of West Africa. Mbiti, J. S. (1973). Love and Marriage in Africa. London: Longman. The Code of Canon Law. (1983). London: Collins Liturgical Publications. Uwah, O. (2022). Ibibio Nation: History and Culture. Lagos, Nigeria: Parresia Publications Ltd.

Chapter Thirteen

Akwa-Cross Distorted History Unsung Heroes and Heroines of the Abolition of Twin Killing in Old Calabar David Lishilinimle Imbua INTRODUCTION In the opening sentence to his seminal exposition entitled “Remembering Nwayereuwa, Nwannedia, Ikonnia and Nwugo,” Mazi Uba Acho laments: I’m sure 90 [percent] of Africans, Nigerians and mainly people of Igbo origin who read the headline of this post will be like who the hell are these people? Yes, we wouldn’t know them because we’ve been busy learning about their Mother Theresa and the fraudulent story of Mary Slessor. (Nairaland, 2018)

Perhaps, it was a similar feeling that informed Historian Okon Uya’s appeal that “we must reject the continuing domination and subordination of our people in historical narratives that present us as onlookers in the drama of our own vital existence” (2007, p. 4). The long-standing misleading claim that it was Mary Slessor who stopped the killing of twins in Calabar may innocently attract some negative reactions to Acho’s aforesaid comment despite the fact that the credit given to Slessor is at variance with existing evidence, as we shall demonstrate presently. Though there are quite a number of myths in Akwa-Cross history, none is as strong and pervasive as the heroic myth that it was Mary Slessor of Scotland who stopped the killing of twins in Calabar. This erroneous claim, which persists in memorabilia, in biographies, in dramas, and in contemporary Nigerian educational texts is taught to students at all levels of education around the world, especially in Nigeria and Scotland. Influenced largely by unsubstantiated and evidently inflated claims, the Cross River State Government in Nigeria has strategically exhibited an effigy of Slessor carrying twins in one of its state capital’s busiest streets, Mary Slessor Avenue, named after this iconic female missionary. This effigy, which 215

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was constructed several decades ago, has continued to give undue impetus to the myth that Slessor either single-handedly abolished the killing of twins in Calabar or that she was the most important dramatis personae in the abolition campaign. The present state of knowledge and official memorialization in Nigeria and beyond have not only undermined the effort of a great company of European men and women who devoted themselves to the fight against “barbaric” customs in Old Calabar long before the arrival of Slessor in the area, but also excluded the astute and commendable involvement of some Efik rulers, which was crucial and decisive in the mobilization of local support for the campaign. It is clear from extant missionary records of the mid-nineteenth century that not less than seventeen white men and women had taken part in the campaign against twin killing prior to Slessor’s arrival. Some of these people had even taken twins into their houses in the heyday of the campaign. As we shall demonstrate later, the exclusion of the role of a man like King Eyo Honesty II, whom Europeans of the mid-nineteenth century in Calabar appropriately recognized as the hero of their accomplishments, including the abolition of twin killing and human sacrifice, distorts a substantial portion of history in which Calabar notables were critical agents of change. Historian Emmanuel Ayandele avers, “No contemporary chief in Nigeria could destroy important religious and social basis of indigenous society in order to patronize missionary enterprise as Eyo II did, and so made the missionaries revolutionary programme succeed in so short a time” (Aye, 2009, p. 11). Corroborating Ayandele’s assertion, and revealing the role of King Honesty II in the abolition narrative, Thomas Joseph Hutchinson, who participated actively in the anti-twin killing campaign, writes: All the Kingdoms of western Africa would very soon present a difference from their present condition were they governed by such men as King Eyo . . . He is anxious for the civilization of his country. Those who agree with me in thinking Christianity and civilization to be cause and effect in Africa as they are all over the world, will rejoice to hear that he has given every countenance and assistance to the body of Presbyterian Missionaries settled at Old Calabar (1858).

The motivation for this study therefore comes partly from the dictum that no argument from an authority, however eminent and ancient, is to be preferred to evidence in historical interpretation and reconstruction. Toyin Falola and Matthew Heaton (2006, p. 55) put it more trenchantly, “history is, in essence, a progressive field. As historians become increasingly specialized in their fields of research, the simplifications and misunderstandings of past gurus become apparent. Refinement and reappraisal are the required operations of any historian worth his salt.” There is weighty primary evidence that



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the United Presbyterian Mission pioneers who arrived in Calabar in April 1846 with a “social revolutionary programme” to eliminate all customs at variance with the ethos of Christianity and Western civilization did not tolerate the killing of twins in their more than thirty years of work in Calabar before the coming of Mary Slessor in September 1876. We should quickly add that the description of Slessor as a “pioneer” missionary (Livingstone 1916, p. 8), which is the basis for some of the mythical stories about Slessor, is a clear case of historical negationism. In testing the abolitionist status of Slessor against the interpretation of the expanding corpus of primary data on the subject, this chapter provokes critical rethinking of the abolition of twin killing in Calabar. However, the discussion here does not intend to foreclose further discourses on the subject matter. After all, “Historians cannot prevent historical figures being mythologised, but can at least expose distortion and ‘deliberate acts of invention’” (Breitenbach, 2017, p. 66). This historiography forms the fulcrum of this study as well as drive the analysis taken herein. THE CONCEPTS OF OLD CALABAR AND TWIN KILLING For a deeper and critical understanding of the argument in this chapter, it is instructive for one to have a clearer picture of the people and area of study as well as their pre-European beliefs on twin birth. Any historical enquiry that ignores this, amounts to interpreting the events of a particular society through the filter of another society; and as the history of Old Calabar has demonstrated, this either leaves a number of questions unanswered or wrongly answered. Old Calabar (renamed Calabar by a government proclamation of August 10, 1904) has been used in three different senses over the years. The earliest usage confined the term to the city states, namely, Archibong Town, Cobham Town, Creek Town, Duke Town, Eyamba Town, Henshaw Town, and Old Town. A second usage of Old Calabar regards it as synonymous with the Efik, the most assertive of the indigenous ethnic groups in Calabar between the sixteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries (Uya 2012). Defined in this way, Old Calabar would include all the Efik settlements in the lower Cross River Basin and exclude the non-Efik people in the region, including the Qua and Efut, who regard themselves as the original owners of Calabar. Lastly, following Efik influences through trade, missionary activities and cultural contacts within the lower Cross River region, the concept of Old Calabar was subsequently expanded to include most of the inhabitants of the lower Cross River Basin, namely, the Efik, Efut, Ejagham (Qua), Ibibio, Annang, and Oron, among other places that have been impacted by Efik political,

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economic, and sociocultural influences. It was in this sense that the term came to be used throughout the colonial period in the twentieth century (Uya 2012). In this chapter, though bias will be given to the city states that were the theater of the revolutionary drama discussed here, we will loosely use the concept of Old Calabar to refer to communities in the lower Cross River region where the pioneer European missionary lived and worked. The introduction of Christianity in Old Calabar in 1846 marked a turning point in the social and cultural history of the region. Fired by the idealism of a faith to which they subscribed, Christian missionaries were intolerant of indigenous customs and institutions, which they saw as barbaric and heathen and retarding of the enlightenment, progress, and technological achievements as recorded by their own countries. The ritual murder of twins at infancy was one of the customs abhorred by the pioneer United Presbyterian Missionaries (led by Irish Presbyterian Rev. Hope Masterton Waddell), when they became the first set of Europeans to live among the Old Calabar people beginning on 10 April 1846. The Efik regarded the birth of twins as a dire calamity, and a woman who gave birth to twins was a subject of dread and horror. The twins were killed by putting them into pots and throwing the pots into the bush. Conceived as a people cursed and polluted by spirits, mothers of twins (who were regarded as social outcasts) were either expelled from the town or killed with their infants. The twin mother was mourned as if she were dead, since the banishment was for life (Goldie 1901). Unlike their female counterparts, Old Calabar men did not suffer the consequences of twin birth. The reason for this was that twin birth was regarded as evidence of adultery on the part of the woman. There was the belief that a mother of twins had been impregnated by two men and she was guilty of adultery. The most popular belief was that one of the twins was the child of an evil spirit or devil which had secretly slept with the woman. Since it was impossible to detect which was the offspring of the evil spirit, both infants had to be destroyed to free society of the curse from the ancestors and gods of the land (Aye, 2009). There was yet another belief that one of the babies in a twin birth belonged to another woman and was therefore stolen. Twin birth was so serious a sacrilege that no one concealed it. In some cases, it led to the abandonment of settlements by communities. For instance, when Okoho Efiom was ostracized from Creek Town because of twin birth, she secretly moved with her twins to Nsutana, a community in Enwang Clan. When this was known, the people of Enwang Clan packed out of the place and fled in panic to their kinsmen at Anantigha, because they felt that as Okoho Efiom entered Nsutana, their fishing ponds were defiled and that greater calamities would descend on the community (Aye, 2009). Evidently, pre-European Calabar communities strived and thrived on these traditional belief systems.



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The greatest opposition to the abolition of twin killing came from the women. They repudiated the doctrine of twins as “monstrous and abominable, and spat out in disgust at the mention of such a thing” (Waddell, 1970, p. 13). Evidence indicates that “the women themselves thought it disgraceful to be the mother of twins, and when mention was made of twins, they brushed down their arms, as if sweeping off a defilement” (Aye, 2009, p. 12). Indeed, nothing else in some communities in pre-European Old Calabar society offended the gender sensibility and dignity of a woman as twin birth. In his own account, Hugh Goldie, one of the early missionaries who experienced twin killing in Calabar and became committed to its abolition, claimed that the destruction of twins originated in reluctance to undertake the care of their upbringing (Goldie, 1901). He argued that twin births seem much more frequent among “primitive” societies like Old Calabar of the pre-missionary periods than among communities advanced in civilization, and consequently infanticide tended to be a means of population control. In Goldie’s view, the claim that the killing of twins was an act of obedience demanded by objects of idolatry was to explain an economic and social situation in religious terms. Goldie’s argument is not supported by evidence, and it is hard to believe that the killing of twins originated as a measure to free parents from the burden of childcare. The economic and social realities of Old Calabar during the precolonial era suggest that people had enough to eat and to spare. It should be recalled that polygamy was the norm and children were regarded as an index of wealth, a symbol of prosperity. The more children a man had, the wealthier society considered him to be. Eyo Honesty told Hope Waddell, “We multiply wives for the sake of offspring” and in his response to the missionaries’ sermon that Calabar men should embrace monogamy, Eyo’s brother, John Eyo, told Waddell: “No man could put his finger on (endorse) a text which forbade a man having two wives” (Waddell, 1970). We read from the account of Ayandele (1966) that a large number of children were required to ensure that parents were given flamboyant burial rites. Again, if twin killing were a means of population control, the mothers of twins would neither have been destroyed nor banished from the community. Whatever the rationale for infanticide was, the pioneer missionaries condemned it as “beyond most bad customs unnatural, above most crimes heinous and unacceptable.” With vehemence, Waddell particularly contradicted the argument of Old Calabar people, insisting that infanticide and the argument for it were illustrative of the darkness, depravity, and deadness of mind and heart that prevailed where the light of Christ had never shone; and it made women worse than tigers to hate their own newborn infants. Increasingly, the missionaries in Calabar rejected infanticide, insisting that it was an affront to Christianity and civilization. By the mid-nineteenth century, the doctrine of

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the trinity of the three Cs—Christianity, Commerce, and Civilization—had become sacrosanct and Old Calabar had to bow either through diplomatic pressure or coercion to the spirit of the time. Further, it is imperative to state that the killing of twins was not a practice common to all people of the AkwaCross area. Unlike among the city states in Calabar, some other communities celebrated the birth of twins with festivities and pageantry. Goldie who was specific about the Ekoi (Ekoi is an Efik coinage originally used in reference to the Ejagham but later used to refer to all the other ethnic groups found around the lower and upper Cross River regions outside the Efik/Ibibio and the Ibo groups) writes: A rational and kindly custom, a contrast to all this unnatural cruelty, prevailed among the Ekoi people, a tribe at no great distance from us [Calabar]. When a twin-birth occurs among them, they make it an occasion of rejoicing, and her neighbours present gifts to the happy mother (1901).

Similarly, Percy Amaury Talbot eulogized the Ekoi as a mentally intelligent people with many interesting beliefs as to the advent and death of babies. It was impossible to stop the rejoicing of the Ekoi or request them to celebrate twin birth in a less noisy manner (Talbot, 1912). The Ekoi believed that if a family to which twins were born “ceased singing and playing to show their joy, the new-born would think themselves unwelcome, and go back whence they came” till a chance offers to return amid a people that will celebrate them with great jubilation and acclamation (Talbot, 1912). The fathers and mothers of twins among the Ekoi were rubbed over with native red dye, and the latter further decorated with white chalk spots. Other people of the town wore ornaments made of young palm leaves around their necks as a mark of honor to the twins. For the pioneer missionaries, the Ekoi tradition was a shining and compelling model, which communities that practiced twin killing must emulate by any means possible, whether diplomatically or coercively. Almost immediately after their arrival, the missionaries wasted no effort to stop the killing of twins in Old Calabar. How this was done, the major actors, and the degree of success accomplished are examined in the section that follows. THE ABOLITION OF TWIN KILLING IN OLD CALABAR As has been observed, since the entrance of the mission, every opportunity was taken to remonstrate with the chiefs of Old Calabar in condemnation of the slaughter of human beings, trial by ordeal (which involved the drinking of some powerful concoction brewed from esére beans—Physostigma venenosum—of botanists, to prove their innocence or guilt) and substitution-



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ary punishment. In this effort, the missionaries were aided by British traders in Old Calabar and the commanders of the British war vessels who were charged by the Foreign Office to use their influence to end the effusion of human blood and other forms of barbarity in the Cross River region. Describing themselves as Friends of Humanity, they formed the “Society for the Abolition of Inhuman and Superstitious Customs and for Promoting Civilization in Old Calabar.” Rev William Anderson, who joined the Mission in February 1849, was its secretary. He worked tirelessly and was able to gain the cooperation of the captains who had hitherto avoided an open condemnation of evil practices in Old Calabar, fearing injury to their trade. The Society won its first major triumph in February 1850, when in conjunction with the Ekpe Society, a law was made prohibiting human sacrifice in Old Calabar. Eyo and Anderson were particularly pleased to witness this accomplishment, with the letter noting in his diary: “This day [Friday, 15th February 1850] will be memorable in the annals of the land” (Goldie, 1901, p. 24). This first spectacular success prepared the ground for further breakthroughs. Goldie writes: “Having succeeded in getting a law passed abolishing human sacrifice, we next endeavoured to prevail on the chiefs to prohibit the destruction of twin children” (p. 23). The Society became the watchdog of the Ekpe law and “dedicated itself to the demolition of one custom after another, especially the use of the esére beans, infanticide, twin murder, and substitutionary punishment. Consular support was secured by the enrolment of John Beecroft as a member of the Society” (Ayandele, 1966). Beecroft was well known and highly respected by the chiefs and people of Old Calabar long before his appointment as Consul for the Bights of Benin and Biafra in June 1849. His very remarkable career in West Africa began in Fernando Po (Bioko), when it was occupied by Britain in 1827 as a base for the suppression of the slave trade. When it was abandoned by Britain, Beecroft stayed on to look after the interests of the liberated slaves who had been settled there. In 1843, he was appointed governor of the island by Spain (Dike 1956). During these years, he traveled widely in the area and acquired an unrivaled knowledge of the coast of Western Africa. From 1844 to 1849, the British navy employed him on various political missions, so he became the obvious choice for appointment as first British Consul for the Bights of Benin and Biafra. Earlier in 1836, Calabar chiefs had solicited his assistance to lead them in a steamboat up the Cross River to forcefully bring the Ibibio of that area to a better understanding of the new era. This situation was repeated in 1842 when Beecroft was invited to accomplish the same assignment in what later became Ogoja Province. The inhabitants of Calabar knew that with a gunboat at his disposal, Beecroft would always stop at nothing to have his way on all matters. Calabar chiefs

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knew that Beecroft’s membership of the Society spelled doom for their political, social, and cultural institutions, and the practices that the Europeans frowned at. Successive Consuls such as Thomas J. Hutchinson (1855), Richard F. Burton (1861), C. Livingstone (1864), G. Hartley (1873), D. Hopkins (1878), and E. H. Hewett (1882) continued the policies of consular intervention and bombardment of towns, as well as replacement of rulers that fought against British interests. On 21 October 1851, the society hosted a great public meeting on the Abeona, which was the largest ship in the river, to push for the abolition of twin killing. Through intensive mobilization by the missionaries, there was an impressive attendance of the principal men of Creek Town, Duke Town and Old Town at the meeting. Men like Waddell, Edgerley, Goldie, and ship captains pleaded the cause of humanity, speaking with great passion and empathy why the killing of twins must be stopped in Calabar and its environs without any further delay. The scope of this paper impels us to dispense with verbatim reporting of what each of the major actors said on that occasion. As conscious reformists, they quite agreed that revolution in Calabar was inevitable. Waddell particularly considered their residence on Efik soil as “an era in the history of the country” and urged his countrymen to take actions that would be appreciated by future generations rather than by those living in their time. Despite the persuasion that Eyo brought to other chiefs about the need for fellow human feeling on the subject, the Europeans were astonished that their proposal was met with a resolute refusal. The decision of the Calabar chiefs was announced by Eyo. However, after giving the negative response of the chiefs of Calabar, Eyo was asked to give his own personal view, and in his reply, Eyo said that he agreed with the opinion of the Europeans that the killing of twins should be abolished in Calabar and anywhere else it was practiced in the Cross River region (Waddell 1970). Eyo’s unilateral declaration offended some other notables, including Archibong Duke, Mr. Young, Bassey Offiong Hogan the pilot, among other people who felt that he had joined the foreigners in pushing for the destruction of their customs and traditions. To remove what seemed to be the major stumbling block, and as a way of pacifying those that were outraged by the decision, the Europeans stated that they did not ask that twin children and their mothers should be admitted to their settlements, but that they should not be destroyed, and instead permitted to live outside in a village of their own, as had been the case with twin mothers. Duke Town chiefs stood firm in their opposition, with King Archibong declaring passionately that if anyone harbored twins, they should be expelled from the town. This emphatic declaration of authoritative action made King Eyo support his own opinion even more resolutely: “I thank you, Mr. Waddell, for that word, and agree to it. I will give those women and children a



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place to live, and then we’ll see who will blow me out of my town” (Waddell 1970, p. 34). With this bold and reassuring declaration, Eyo received resounding applause from the Society with people like Aye Eyo and Mr. Young immediately upholding Eyo’s firm resolve. King Eyo thenceforth made infanticide a capital offence in the areas under his jurisdiction (Goldie 1901). This came at a time when Eyo was the most powerful figure in Calabar and his opinion on all public issues was taken as law. In fact, Calabar people of the mid-nineteenth century regarded King Eyo as “their god on earth” (Goldie, 1901, p. 13). In the Ekpe fraternity, Eyo was the holder of the Obong Ebonko title (the next in rank to the Iyamba) and the founder of Okpoho (Brass Ekpe), two most important stages in the ranks of worshipful masters. And indeed, with the enormity of his power and influence, nobody could “blow” him out of the town. It should be recalled that Ekpe Society was the instrument of highest authority in Old Calabar. Membership of Ekpe Society was much sought after, and people were willing to pay for it with their blood (Bassey, 2011). Its advantages were so compelling that many European traders and captains including J. H. White, George Watt, J. B. Walker, Harry Hartye, and Burrell of the ship Haywood of Liverpool purchased its membership and they were granted all the rights, claims, and immunities which accrued to members of the Society (Hart 1964). All who attended the Abeona meeting were convinced that an important step had been taken in the abolition campaign because no one could ostracize Eyo with an Ekpe interdict (Oku, 1989). Accordingly, Waddell paid deserving tribute to Eyo on that day: His self-command, ingenious and ready replies, and freedom of speech were uncommon, and he succeeded in impressing us with an idea of his honest sincerity, in spite of our previous strong doubts to the contrary. No appeal to the Searcher of hearts could be more solemn than his, that he hated blood-shedding and wanton cruelty, and desired to stop the waste of human life so awfully prevalent in the country. (Waddell 1970, p. 22).

Some Efik men were displeased with Eyo’s decision, which, according to them, gave impetus to the strangulation of their customs by strangers. At various times, certain chiefs and other notables contemplated the expulsion of the missionaries. At one point, an Efik man who knew the danger of rejecting missionaries remarked that, when Waddell declared that they were willing to leave Old Calabar if twin killing was not stopped, “and then it will be bad for us, for if you go away, you must shake the dust off your feet against this town” (Waddell, 1970). Again, Eyo reaffirmed his belief in the impeccability of the White man and his spontaneously favorable disposition to the missionaries. He made the following statement to assure his people of the good

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intentions of the missionaries toward them: “you see every good thing we have come from the white people because they know more than we. They all get learning when young, but our children grow up like the goats till they are able to visit the ships when they begin to pick up a little and little after a time” (Waddell, 1846, p. 32). King Eyo pinned all his hopes for a better society on the English. He had a weakness: susceptibility to European ethical values, which he imbibed probably during his visits to the West Indies and Liverpool in his early days. He believed that some Efik customs, including twin killing, were “foolish things” and should be abolished. Ayandele, who is of the view that Eyo destroyed Old Calabar customs in a hurry, argues: By patronizing missionary enterprise in order to increase his political status, and by carrying out the most revolutionary social legislation in Nigeria in the nineteenth century, Eyo made the missionaries’ revolutionary programme possible in a short time. He opened the floodgate to further reforms soon demanded by the missionaries with the physical backing of the Consular authority. (Ayandele, 1966, p. 51).

Before the end of 1851, the first breach was made in the custom of infanticide by the preservation of the infants of a twin birth at Old Town, which was then occupied by the Rev. Edgerley (Goldie, 1901). The mother of these twins wanted to strangle them, but Mrs. Edgerley soothed and comforted her by giving her the assurance of her safety. When the news of this incident circulated throughout the town, the people were furious about the abomination and dreaded the destruction of their town from the vengeance of their deity, Anansa, which was supposed to be living in the spring at the bottom of the hill (Eyo, 2009). The chief of the town, Asibong Eso (known to Europeans as Willie Tom Robbins), was terribly shocked by the preservation of the twins; he issued a proclamation that as Edgerley had broken his law, all the people of Old Town must break God’s law, in which he was fully obeyed. Thus, the Sabbath market was resumed with all its noise and bustle. Chief Asibong Eso also tried unsuccessfully to invoke Ekpe on the Mission House. When Mrs. Edgerley went to talk with him on the matter, he broke out in wrath, “you say you be friend for me, and you let them bad things live. Go away; we no want you for stand here. You must leave the place” (Waddell, 1970, p. 41). Willie’s frustration reached its climax following the reaction of Creek Town people. When the news was heard in Creek Town, Young Eyo (King Eyo’s son) and some of his friends visited Old Town, carrying a gift of cloth and other gift items to the infants. Like his father, Young Eyo was very patronizing and accommodating of European civilization. He had told Waddell on one occasion that, “he was seriously thinking of leaving Calabar



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altogether; for he could not serve Christ in it.” Waddell opposed this and told him that, “the salvation of his family and country required him to stay and face all difficulties in the Lord’s name, who would strengthen him for his duty if he truly desired to perform it” (Waddell, 1970, p. 43). Many other Creek Town people followed the example of Young Eyo by not only carrying gifts to the twins in Old Town, but also carrying the infants in their arms to the utter bewilderment of the doubting Thomases who had argued that none of the city-states of Calabar would ever accommodate twins. The countenance shown by Creek Town people kept Old Town from their purpose and, seeing they would not kill the twins, Willie with the town population evacuated it and withdrew to their farms where they remained for about a year (Goldie, 1901). This extreme action of Willie convinced Waddell that he was “without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.” On the other hand, Goldie (1901, p. 17) recorded that “the stand taken by King Eyo greatly helped to secure the law—making infanticide throughout the land in any case a capital offence, which, by the Divine blessing was eventually attained.” The breakthrough in Old Town was significant because Old Town and Duke Town were stiff in their opposition to the missionary revolutionary program. The former had excessive attachment to their cultural heritage, while the latter was described by a Consul as “an African Sodom and Gomorrah” (Ayandele, 1966, p. 15). It was the position of such men as Eyo and Beecroft that made Old Town and Duke Town lower their tones of opposition and recalcitrance. The kings and chiefs knew that Beecroft was ready to direct the man-of-war’s gun to any recalcitrant town. Of course, it did not come as a surprise to many people in the Cross River region when Beecroft bombed Obutong “out of existence” in 1955 for violating the ban on the killing of twins and human sacrifice. Apart from bombardment and destruction of the Old Town, Beecroft was also imposing huge fines on Efik rulers for either insulting or disobeying missionaries. Ayandele (1966) avers: By 1856 both [Duke Town and Old Town] had become so embittered that they wished the missionaries to leave. When Duke Town attempted to expel the missionaries, the chiefs discovered that they no longer had the power to do so, for by their anti-missionary manifestations, “the Queen of England be vexed too much.” In 1855, for resisting the cultural and religious intrusion of missionaries, Old Town was destroyed by the Royal Navy “in the most able” manner.

A precedent was set when the rulers and other notables of Old Town were forced to accept missionaries and their revolutionary program as the condition for the rebuilding of their town in 1856. Marwick (1897) left a record of the people that attended this important meeting, which was held on Monday January 21, 1856. In his words, “of Europeans, there were present Consul

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H [Hutchinson], Commander Williams, the Consul’s secretary, the four ordained missionaries, Messrs. Sutherland and Wylie, and Dr. Hewan. Of the natives there were present, besides the chiefs of Old Town, King Eyo and a band of Creek Town gentlemen, and Duke Ephraim with a band of Duke Town gentlemen.” At the end of the meeting, Old Town gentlemen received permission to rebuild their town, on their signing a treaty, which spelt out the following provisions: 1.  Human sacrifices for the dead would be abolished. 2.  The lives of twins should be saved, but they are on no account to come or be brought into town. They were therefore to be handed over to missionaries. 3.  Infants whose mothers die are not to be buried alive, but committed to the care of the United Presbyterian missionaries. 4.  In regard to the ordeal of the esére (poison bean), the Consul and missionaries strove to get it abolished, but could not prevail. Its mode of administration was, however, so regulated and modified that the system is deprived of most of its power of doing mischief. No one is to be compelled to take the ordeal at Old Town without the consent of King Eyo and Duke Ephraim. 5.  Missionaries were to be protected (Marwick, 1897). After the experience at Old Town, twins were also born at Creek Town. From the latter, they and their mother were immediately sent out to a neighboring farm with orders from King Eyo to the people there to take good care of them. At first the people at the farm, especially the women, were afraid and tried to flee instead of helping them. The women who were asked to help ran away in great panic, screaming to hide themselves whenever the twins were held out toward them as if they were monsters. While this drama was going on, Miss Miller and other people in the mission house visited the twins and their mother with assorted gifts. When they saw Miller and her colleagues nursing the babies with great affection, enthusiasm and admiration, the men first acquired confidence and drew closer. Then the women began to peep through holes and round corners, creeping nearer and nearer, till they ventured to look over the men’s shoulders, and were amazed to find that the prodigies had hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouths and noses, like other babies. They had never looked at twins before. Eyo repeatedly sent provisions to the farm servants to give the best care to both mother and babies (Waddell, 1970). At last, the missionaries decided to move the babies and their mother to the mission house in Creek Town. They were conveyed publicly through the market with a highly sensational convoy. One of the twins was proudly car-



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ried by an excited gentleman’s son. An onlooker who was Waddell’s friend and King Eyo’s right-hand man, Camaroons (a.k.a. Item Ared) exclaimed: “They look so beautiful; very beautiful indeed.” Recalling his own twins he lost before the coming of the missionaries, Camaroons wished that Waddell and his team had come to Calabar earlier than they did. When King Eyo went with his brother, Tom, to officially welcome the twins to the community, he charged their mother “to fear nothing but take care of the children, and I will take care of you” (Waddell, 1970, p. 26). Describing the people’s reaction concerning the housing of the twins in the mission house, Waddell writes: “Nothing delighted us more, however, than to see the joy with which our house and school boys and girls welcomed these little strangers, and acted with us in all measures for social and moral improvement.” By the late 1850s, there was a large family of twin children in the mission houses in Calabar that were taken care of by several women mission workers, including missionaries’ wives, sisters, and daughters, and paid single women (among them were Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Edgerley, Miss Edgerley, Mrs. Goldie, Euphemia and Mary Johnstone (sisters of Mrs. Goldie), Miss Barty, and Mrs. Sutherland). Their devotion and commitment to the raising of twin children (who would have been destroyed in the pre-missionary years) earned them respect from the locals who simply referred to them as “Mammy/Mammies” (Mother/Mothers). Mrs. Louisa Anderson (née Peterswald), under whose tutelage and supervision Slessor was placed on her arrival in Calabar, was described as “best man for Mission” (Marwick, 1897), and although not masculine, in courage, “‘Mammy Sutherland’ was a man” (Breitenbach 2017). Having been convinced that there was no harm in keeping and caring for twins, Calabar people began to pick up twins and twin mothers of other communities who were ostracized by their own people to perish in the bush (Goldie, 1901). The news of the revolutionary developments that were taking place in Calabar spread far and wide, with many distant communities desiring to have missionaries in their midst “to be like Calabar.” The people of Ikonetu, a town twenty-five miles up the Great River from Creek Town, had agreed to abolish the killing of twins and human sacrifice even before the mission was officially extended to them in 1854–1855 (Waddell, 1970). In 1879, a letter originated from Musee de Douala, Cameroon, to Queen Victoria appealing for the Christianization and Civilization of the area after the Calabar pattern. The information, which is contained in a plaque at the Old Residency Museum, Calabar, reads in part, “when we heard about Calabar River how they have all English law in their towns and how they have put away all their superstitions, oh we shall be very glad to be like Calabar now.” By 1861, the Rev. W. Timson had become a major advocate for the abolition of twins

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at Ikorofiong. Beyond Ikorofiong, he forcefully rescued the first set of twins in Ibibioland. One of the infants grew up to become the wife of an assistant teacher at Ikorofiong station (Goldie 1901). When Rev. Timson died in June 1870 (six years before Slessor was accepted and sent by the United Presbyterian Church to Calabar as a missionary) at Ikonetu, he was mourned by many people, including twins whom he had saved. In the same vein, when the Rev Hugh Goldie died in August 1895, among the eight of his old house-boys that carried his remains to the Church was a twin he had saved from death. There is a long list of European missionaries, consuls, and traders who took active part in the protest against the killing of twins and the ostracization of their mothers in Old Calabar before the coming of Miss Slessor. Famous among them are: Rev. E. W. Tarret (who saved twins at Ikotana), Rev. and Mrs. William Anderson, Samuel Edgerley, William Jameson, Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland, Mr. and Mrs. Newhall, Samuel Duncan, Mary Johnstone, Henry Hamilton, Rev. Zerub Baille, John Baillie, David Lewis, Marjory Barty and Euphemia Johnstone. The efforts of these people had made twin killing punishable by death and unpopular in Calabar before the arrival of Slessor in September 1876. After twelve years in Calabar under the tutelage of Mrs. Louisa Anderson and other older missionaries, Slessor moved inland to establish a mission in Okoyong. A recurrent feat mentioned in the speeches made during each anniversary celebration of the coming of European missionaries to Calabar was the abolition of twin killing. For instance, there was great jubilation in Creek Town on 10 April 1857, when the mission celebrated its eleventh anniversary in Old Calabar. In the previous year, its tenth anniversary had been observed publicly at Duke Town. At both places, there was a respectable audience of Europeans and Africans. In both anniversaries, the missionaries “thanked God that he had sent us thither with his holy gospel, and that he had given testimony to the word of his grace.” King Eyo and many other local personalities were exceedingly happy with the transformations that had taken place within a decade of missionary work in their domain. The degree of success recorded in the fight against unchristian and heathen customs in Old Calabar would tend to explain why Waddell left Calabar for good on May 26, 1858, a happy man. On this day, Old Calabar people abandoned whatever they had to do in order to say the final good-bye to a man who had selflessly and unreservedly given them the chief labor of his life. With a feeling of accomplishment, Waddell made the following remark in what will become his last face-to-face speech with the people of Calabar: Now we are off. Farewell Calabar! We leave you without shame for the past and without fear for the future. We thank God that He counted us worthy to send us with His Gospel here, and that He sent us not in vain. To His name be the glory. The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light; and to them who sat in



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the region and shadow of death, a heavenly light has sprung up. The work of God begun in Calabar will go on increasing, widening, deepening, and strengthening from year to year, and from age to age, till the consummation of all things, when the Redeemer shall thence have gathered thousands and millions of gems into His mediatorial crown. (Goldie, 1901, 21)

An analysis of the above quote suggests that when Waddell was leaving Calabar with his wife and daughter in May 1858, the backbone of the inhumane practices they met in 1846 had been broken; hence “the people that sat in darkness have seen a great light.” The parting cheer, and waving hands and hats that have been minutely recorded by Goldie is a testament to the positive changes that had taken place in the twelve years of Waddell’s labor in Calabar. Many years after his departure, Calabar people were still writing letters of appreciation and commendation to Waddell for leading them out of barbarism and ignorance. Almost all the letters ended with this prayer, “may we all meet in Heaven to part no more from each other.” Of course, Calabar people knew exactly the actions that would make them enter heaven and based on their optimism of meeting Waddell and other missionaries who died and were buried in Calabar in heaven, it is most probable that heathen practices condemned by the Bible were no longer common among them. Bassey Efiong Bassey, who is highly regarded in the Calabar community for his historical knowledge, said recently that his maternal relation had twins in Duke Town during the reign of Archibong II (1859–1872) and the twins were not killed. Unlike his predecessor, Archibong II “secured the friendship of the missionaries by publicly declaring his disbelief in Idiong and other Efik ritual beliefs, and upheld the words of the missionaries as the only true one” (Oku, 1989, p. 11). For Archibong II, the beliefs of the missionaries, including the celebration of twins were sacrosanct and the people of Calabar had to accept them religiously. Similarly, from when he was enthroned as King of Creek Town till his death on June 5, 1871, King Eyo VI, as have his predecessors, ensured that “twin-mothers and their children were permitted to enter the town unmolested” (Hackett, 1989, p. 41). His successor, King Eyo Honesty VII who diligently “maintained his character as a sincere Christian,” used “the Bible as his law book with which he fought against the old customs of the society” (Oku, 1989, p. 21). Completely emancipated from Old Calabar superstitions, King Eyo VII agreed to be king of Creek Town in 1874 only after it was agreed by all and sundry that, “the King should govern while the people should submit to be governed according to the will of God as made known in the Bible and that there should be no religious intolerance” (Oku, 1989). With this agreement, he completely destroyed all vestiges of Old Calabar superstitions to the admiration of all the people in Calabar and beyond. Goldie said of King Eyo that: “He was raised up in the midst of the densest

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heathenism showing what the gospel by the grace of God can do, in lifting him above the pagan customs of his country and enabling him to maintain a life befitting his Christian profession” (Goldie, 1894, 22). As we begin to round off this section, it should be reiterated that the general ban on twin killing in Calabar happened before Mary Slessor arrived in Calabar on September 11, 1876, and records available to us show that twin birth was no longer regarded as a sacrilege at that time. The United Presbyterian Mission was already more than two years in Calabar before Mary Slessor was born on 2 December 1848 in Gilcomston (a suburb of the city of Aberdeen). Again, the Calabar Mission had celebrated its thirtieth anniversary before the arrival of Slessor. Mary Slessor met functional schools, hospitals (medical centers), orphanages and chapels in Calabar and also discovered that through their teaching and preaching, the missionaries had been able to stop the worst heathen practices (Williams, 2007). Unarguably, twin murder, human sacrifice, substitutionary punishment and the giving of the poison bean ordeal were already outlawed and made punishable by death. The records are clear that Mrs. Goldie had formed a home in the mission-house for twins rescued from death prior to the coming of Slessor. Her husband, Hugh Goldie, bears testimony to the fact that deprived of all her own children in their infancy, she had for many years a large family to care for in these little outcasts [twins], as well as in the orphans and refugees that were thrown upon the care of the mission, and many of the best men and women in the Efik Church to-day were in their early years under her motherly care . . . She had laboured earnestly in the work the Saviour had given her to do until the power to work was gone . . . On the day of her funeral all the flags in the river were hoisted half-mast high. The funeral was attended by representatives from most of the factories and from the Consulate. But a more valuable testimony of her worth was the universal sorrow of the natives. “She was a mother indeed to all of us”; wrote King Eyo to Mr. Waddell; “she really proved Dorcas in our country.” Blessed are the dead in Christ. (Goldie, 1901, p. 39).

Mrs. Goldie labored in Calabar for forty-four years, and she remains the longest-serving European female in Calabar for all time. In these eventful years, she focused her attention and energy on preaching and teaching, itinerating and visiting women in their living quarters, evangelizing through hymn singing, Bible reading, and teaching literacy. Mary Slessor’s first place of residence and service in Calabar Duke Town, from where she later moved to Old Town, her days in Old Town are remembered basically for the treatment of the sick, teaching of the Bible, and visitation of neighboring areas to dispense counsel (Williams, 2007). Slessor soon realized that she would make little impact if she remained in the comfort zone of Calabar where Christian



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values were already imbibed, with some Efik sons serving as ordained ministers in inland stations. Because of this, she was willing to take charge of any new station opened in the interior. This became possible after spending twelve years in Calabar, specifically in the autumn of 1888 when a new station was opened at Okoyong. At Okoyong, Slessor carried out educational and evangelical work. The people of Okoyong took their twins and orphans, who in former times would have been killed, to her. She selflessly reared them with love and passion. From 1892 onwards she worked intermittently for the British colonial administration in presiding at local courts among African communities (Breitenbach, 2017). THE HEROIZATION AND MYTHOLOGIZATION OF MARY SLESSOR We open this brief section with Historian David Northrup’s assertion: Myths of history may be constructed consciously or unconsciously, but, as they pass from person to person, any initial uncertainty tends to disappear. A speculative hypothesis becomes a fixed belief. Myths have great power, but in understanding the past their power gets in the way of rigorous analysis based on fact and logic. (Northrup, 2017)

Having tested the claims of the campaign for the abolition of twin killing in Calabar against existing evidence, we are now in a firmer position to say with some reasonable degree of confidence that the early writers who gave the credit for the abolition of twin killing in Old Calabar to Slessor were either ignorant of what actually happened, or they were deliberately unfaithful to the evidence. But why would people deliberately ignore or manipulate glaring evidence in order to promote an invented story? In attempting to answer this question, we make reference to Esther Breitenbach’s recent article, “The Making of a Missionary Icon: Mary Slessor as ‘Heroine of Empire.’” Breitenbach (2017) opens her article with the contention that “the shaping of Mary Slessor into an iconic female missionary exemplifies the ‘deliberate acts of invention’ involved in the creation of imperial heroes and heroines.” The fact that there was little or nothing that was unique in her practice as a missionary led Breitenbach to a pertinent conclusion: “Several elements to her [Slessor’s] story were much exaggerated: the privileging of her role in challenging twin-killing and the claim that she had succeeded in abolishing it; the idea of her as a ‘pioneer’ and quasi-explorer; the status she had within the colonial administration” (Breitenbach, 2017). Breitenbach has explained why Slessor, who was not a member of the pioneer missionaries who initiated the

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abolition of twin killing in Calabar, has been given the credit for the success of the campaign. In her view, the fame of Slessor as a missionary icon, trailblazer, and abolitionist took place in three phases: first, the influence of women writers in exposing her to a wider public audience; second, the presentation of her work in the Women’s Missionary Magazine (WMM) by the Women’s Foreign Mission Committee; and third, the commissioning of biographies by the committee to non-historians. In a desperate attempt to advertise and promote the contributions of women to missionary and civilizing enterprises around the world, the publicizing of women’s work was given serious attention by the Women’s Foreign Mission Committee. This initiative gained tremendous fillip in 1901 as a result of the launching of Women’s Missionary Magazine (WMM) by the newly merged United Free Church (UFC). The WMM soon became an important platform for broadcasting the activities of women who were living and working in Old Calabar at the time. The magazine was widely circulated in Britain and read by a rapidly expanding audience. In 1902 alone, the WMM recorded a circulation of 28,000 copies (qtd. in Breitenbach 2017). The UFC Missionary Record, with circulation at 145,000 in 1903, also included coverage of women’s missionary work. Highly enthused by what people said about the activities of Slessor in Calabar, the editors of the WMM, Christina Rainy and Mrs. Duncan McLaren, used sensational headings like “Triumphing over Superstition,” “Pioneering,” “The Awakening of the Cross River,” “How the Seed Grows in Itu,” “Miss Slessor’s Return to Darkest Africa,” “Concerning Advance Work in West Africa,” to exaggerate what was the actual contribution of Slessor to the feats attained by European missionaries in Old Calabar much earlier than her arrival on the scene. The celebration of Slessor by Scottish women assumed new heights after her death in 1915. In reporting her death in February 1915, the WMM described her as “forty years a pioneer missionary.” The following month, the WMM announced that the story of Slessor’s life was “being written by the Editor of The Record, under the auspices of the Women’s Foreign Mission Committee.” On publication of the biography, Slessor was acclaimed as a “Heroine of Empire” and “a Presbyterian Scotswoman–our own for all time.” These romantic constructions, nay feminization, of Slessor by Christian women in Scotland were more or less the products of her strategic location within an expanding British Empire. For reasons outside historical objectivity, Slessor was regarded as a “pioneer missionary” despite the obvious fact that she was yet to be born when the real pioneer missionaries arrived in Calabar in 1846. With this erroneous belief, they attributed the major accomplishments of the missionaries in Old Calabar, including the abolition of twin killing and human sacrifice to her. The role played by women in the evolution of the Slessor myth justifies Breitenbach’s



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assertion that “in tracking the gestation of the legend . . . it becomes apparent that women were its midwives and subsequent nurturers.” Despite the role played by Christian women, it was actually William Pringle Livingstone’s 1916 biography (titled Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary) that effectively popularized her image as a missionary heroine. Slessor was portrayed as having brought Christianity to Africa, and having put an end to their “cruel customs” by the power of her faith and personality. Of those “cruel customs,” the practice of twin killing was the most emphasized, portraying Slessor as having brought about its abolition virtually single-handedly. Since 1916, when the first biography on Slessor was published, many later biographies have simply recycled Livingstone’s infatuated claims without subjecting them to critical analysis. The consequence of this is the creation of a standardized account, which is still propagated by numerous people around the world. We need to understand two basic things about the biographies that were written by Livingstone under the sponsorship of the committee. The first is that the Women’s Foreign Mission Committee was primarily interested in having a biography that can foreground women’s standing within the foreign mission workforce and the churches, and perhaps more generally in Scottish society, as well as of recruitment and fundraising (Breitenbach, 2017). The second is that Livingstone was a publicist, who had served as a journalist in Jamaica and London. He was not a trained historian who would bother himself with the facts of a subject. It is therefore not surprising that Livingstone embellished his work with fantasies and unrestrained praises. It is important to state that many of the sensational headlines that gave birth to the prevailing myths about Slessor were crafted after her death, not when she was still alive. Breitenbach posits that at her death, “both missionary and secular press collaborated in fashioning her story into a ‘romantic career.’” In fact, references to Mary Slessor before her death occurred mostly in church columns or reports of missionary meetings. The situation changed after her death when a public appeal from the Women’s Foreign Mission Committee requested people to make available to them letters and photographs as well as any other personal impressions, recollections and material related to Slessor. Slessor’s story is a classic example of how a person gets more respect and commendation after death than when alive; even her detractors and critics lavished praise on her after her death in 1915. CONCLUSION The campaign for the abolition of twin killing in Old Calabar was commenced by the pioneer missionaries to the area in the mid-nineteenth century.

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Nevertheless, there is widespread belief that the Scottish missionary Mary Slessor, who arrived much later and who was one of the last actors in the drama, is the protagonist of the struggle that resulted in the preservation of the lives of twins in Calabar. No one will deny that Mary Slessor served God and humanity selflessly. However, it would be unhistorical to accord her the undue role of being the main abolitionist of the killing of twins in Calabar. If in a freak teleological reversal, the Old Calabar world of the revolutionary nineteenth century were to be rewound, Mary Slessor would not be seen as an actor in the most turbulent years of the episode from about 1846 to 1875, a period in which the social and cultural battles in Old Calabar were fought and won (Ayandele, 1966). Also, if the protagonists of the struggle, including the Waddells, the Eyos, Dukes, the Goldies, the Andersons, the Edgerleys, the Youngs, the Sutherlands, the Johnstones reincarnate among us today, they would be dumbfounded by the analyses and interpretations that produced the conclusion in both academic and public circles on the subject. The Archibongs, Eyambas, and other people who resisted the abolition of twin killing and, in some cases, emigrated to distant plantations to free themselves from missionary and civilizing influences in the city states would not be able to identify Slessor. We must therefore take the call for a reappraisal of the foundational texts on Old Calabar history seriously. In doing this, we must go beyond the now familiar commentaries and question the evidence more critically. This is the surest way of rekindling, deepening and expanding the frontiers of Old Calabar complex yet fascinating history. REFERENCES Ayandele, Emmanuel A. (1966). The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria. 1842– 1914: A Political and Social Analysis. London: Longman. Aye, Efiong U. (2009). King Eyo Honesty II. Calabar, Nigeria: Glad Tidings. Bassey, Efiong B. (2011). Ekpe Efik: A Theosophical Perspective. Bloomington, IN: Trafford. Breitenbach, Esther. (2017). “The Making of a Missionary Icon: Mary Slessor as ‘Heroine of Empire.’” Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 37(2), 177–97. Dike, Kenneth O. (1956). Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830–1885. An Introduction to the Economic and Political History of Nigeria. Oxford: Clarendon. Erim, Odey E., and Rowland Ndoma-Egba. (1998). St. Margaret’s Hospital: One Hundred Years of Dedicated Service to Humanity, 1897–1997. London: New Generation Ventures. Falola, Toyin, and Matthew Heaton. (2006). “Afigbo’s Scholarship: An Introduction.” In Toyin Falola (ed.), Myth, History and Society: The Collected Works of Adiele Afigbo, 1–8. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.



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Goldie, Hugh. (1894). King Eyo Honesty VII of Old Calabar. London: United Presbyterian Mission Press. Goldie, Hugh. (1901). Calabar and Its Mission. London: Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier. Hackett, Rosalind I. J. (1989). Religion in Calabar: The Religious Life and History of a Nigerian Town. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Hart, A. K. (1964). Report of Inquiry into the Dispute over the Obongship of Calabar. Calabar, Nigeria: Government Printers. Hutchinson, Thomas. J. (1858). Impressions of Western Africa, 1858: With Remarks on the Diseases of the Climate and a Report on the Peculiarities of Trade Up the Rivers in the Bight of Biafra. London: Longman. Livingstone, W. P. (1916). Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Marwick, William. (1897). William and Louisa Anderson: A Record of their Life and Work in Jamaica and Old Calabar. Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot. Nairaland (2018). “Remembering Nwayereuwa, Nwannedia, Ikonnia and Nwugo of Aba Women Right (Pics)—Politics.” Nairaland. https://www.nairaland.com /4920880/remembering-nwayereuwa-nwannedia-ikonnia-nwugo. Northrup, David. (2017), Seven Myths of Africa in World History. London: Hackett Publishing Company. Oku, Ekei E. (1989). The Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar, 1785–1925. Calabar, Nigeria: Glad Tidings. Talbot, Amaury P. (1912). In the Shadow of the Bush. London: William Heinemann. Uya, Okon E. (2007). Slave Trade and Slavery Abolition: An Afrocentric Perspective. N.p.: Diamond Ville Digital and Publishing. ———. “Old Calabar Studies: An Overview.” In David Imbua, Otoabasi Akpan, Ikechukwu Amadi, and Yakubu Ochefu (eds.), History, Culture, Diaspora and Nation Building: The Collected Works of Okon Edet Uya (pp. 713–30). Lagos, Nigeria: Arbi Press. Waddell, Hope M. (1970). Twenty-Nine Years in the West Indies and Central Africa: A Review of Missionary Work and Adventure, 1829–1858. London: Frank Cass & Co. William, Robert. (2007). 12 Great Christian Missionaries: Their Life, Mission and Exploit. N.p.: Bema Seat.

Chapter Fourteen

Educational Development in the Akwa-Cross Region Comfort Memfin Ekpo, Thelma U. Ekukinam, and Stella Nwosu

PREAMBLE The development of any nation depends to a large extent on the quality of education it provides to its citizens. The value placed on education globally is inestimable and the provision of quality input to the system is the only assurance for quality output. This chapter takes a cursory look into the educational development in the Akwa-Cross region of Nigeria before it was divided into two states in 1987. It discusses the concept of education, the educational heritage of the Akwa-Cross region, and the present position; it also reports on ways and attempts to develop education in Akwa-Cross, now Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The development is viewed across the three types of education, namely: • the informal • the non-formal • the formal The aim of education in any sector at any period depends on the values greatly cherished by the society. Historically, the forebears of the AkwaCross community were conscious of the values they needed to transmit to the future generations. Consequently, the informal and nonformal forms of education provided were richly related to the overall socioeconomic needs of the community

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INTRODUCTION The concept of education is quite elusive and difficult to pin down to any single definition. It has been defined in various ways, with definitions differing in strength, character, and degree of definiteness. Etymologically, the word education is derived from the Latin word educere, meaning to lead out, but another school of thought also observed that it is from educare, which means to form or train or bring up (Schofield, 1981). From this concept, it means there should be some training and mentoring in education. Education therefore has characteristics of leading out or developing inert potentials in individuals for maximum utilization. Ekpo (1998) defined it as a process of instruction or training by which people generally learn to develop and use their mental, moral, and physical powers. The 1991 UNESCO World Education Report looks at the concept in its broadest possible sense. In it, the concept includes (but transcends) mere schooling and is seen as an articulation of informal opportunities for self-improvement, nonformal structures for the inculcation and sustenance of basic and post-basic life skills, and as formal systems for the awakening and continuous development of human potentials (Obanya, 2004). Perhaps the most effective way to define education in our context is to visualize it in relation to one’s culture and society. Thus, in this chapter, education is considered as the total processes involved in developing human ability and behavior, as well as a systematic social process of acquiring knowledge. This position will merge the two schools of thought earlier discussed as regards the scope and use of the concept. EDUCATIONAL HERITAGE OF THE AKWA-CROSS COMMUNITY The people of Akwa-Cross were learned/educated persons before the advent of formal Western education. The indigenous education as practiced in AkwaCross was quite functional and its curriculum was based on the socioeconomic needs of the recipients. The system of education then had a close link with the social life of the people, and it followed a progressive development that conformed with the successive mental development of the learners. Akwa-Cross was noted for an informal system of education given to the young ones. It was also gender based. The young men learned various vocational skills like carpentry/joinery, iron works, farming, hunting, wine tapping, brewing, etcetera, while the girls were groomed to be wives, mothers, and home managers. There was no unemployed graduate in that system because mentoring and apprenticeship were the key instructional strategies utilized.



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Moreover, Akwa-Cross is known to have embraced formal education quite early, and as such it is seldom listed as an educationally handicapped region in Nigeria. For eighteen years after independence (from 1960 to 1978), Akwa Ibom and Cross River States shared a common bond of historical development in all aspects of governance, including education. Akwa-Cross has experienced different phases of the educational development since when Nigeria as a nation deemed it fit to create a more robust qualitative education that could enhance its national development. The Akwa-Cross region also played a significant role in the history of Western education in Nigeria. It is on record that, while the Church Missionary Society Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos, founded on June 6, 1859 is reported to be the oldest school in Nigeria, when Reverend Hope Masterton Waddell and his team arrived Calabar in 1846, they found that King Eyo Honesty II of Creek Town and his son Prince Eyo Eyo Ita were already literate in English language and versed in reading, writing and mathematics (Erin and Imbua, 2013). In terms of commencement of school, however, according to written accounts, the Efik-Ibibio of the Akwa-Cross were the second ethnic groups to be exposed to Western education through the missionaries. Akwa-Cross is the home of some prominent secondary schools and Teacher Training Institutes in Nigeria. These include: • • • • •

Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar; 1895 QIC Training Institute, Etinan; 1902 Methodist Boys’ College, Oron; 1903 Teachers Practicing School, Uyo; 1930 Teachers Training College, Uyo; 1940 INFORMAL EDUCATION

Informal education refers to unorganized learning that focuses on the learner’s experiences and practical knowledge. It requires no classroom or curriculum, and it is a life-long process. It includes all alternative platforms for learning besides structured school systems. This includes home schooling and self-teaching (accidental and purposeful ways of receiving new information). It could come from family, neighbors, the marketplace, workplace, and exhibitions; it could also come from playing games and simulation, social media, and sport activities. Akwa-Cross was noted for the informal system of education given to the young ones. This was achieved by parents teaching their wards the cultural rites through folklore sessions, traditional games, and moonlight stories. Such learning often was spontaneous without any curriculum, but the content would be highly motivational. A typical example of such

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informal learning experience prevalent among the Efiks and Ibibios was what used to be offered in the famous fattening rooms by the Efiks and Ibibios. This fattening room is an age-old rite of passage. It is a place where young girls in their puberty are taken in order to prepare them for the developmental stages of womanhood. These educational developmental rites were prevalent among the entire Akwa-Cross decades ago. In some communities of AkwaCross, the fattening room training was divided into three training exposures as follows: 1.  at puberty (Nkuho Eyen owon/Mboppo); 2.  a week before marriage (often times after a bride price has been paid); 3.  after the birth of the first child for training in postnatal care and body grooming (Ata Nkuho). TRAINING CONTENT IN A TYPICAL FATTENING ROOM A young lady was exposed to training at the “fattening room” primarily to prepare her for marriage, motherhood, and family life. She learned basic etiquette and how to manage a home, receive guests, and welcome relatives. Her daily routine included sleeping, eating, beauty therapy for body grooming, and fattening up. The period provided young maidens an opportunity to receive financial management lessons as well. During the puberty rights (Nkuho Eyen Owon/Mboppo) the young girls were put through clitoridectomy (the removal of clitoral hood and at least part of the clitoris). This cultural rite was said to prevent promiscuous sexual behavior among the young girls. This female genital mutilation has been vehemently condemned by UNICEF and the medical profession. Its practice is greatly discouraged, and the fattening room learning experience has also been played down. NON-FORMAL EDUCATION Non-formal education refers to personal structured programs for equipping people with a range of skills and competencies that are not within a formal educational curriculum. The non-formal educational sector is important for a nation’s social and economic development, as it promotes skills acquisition and development of the citizenry. A typical non-formal education is what one obtains from community settings like wrestling or swimming classes and competitions during festivals,



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sport club activities for various age groups, reading clubs, debating or drama societies, choir or cultural dance groups, and orchestras. The bulk of activities handled by nongovernmental organizations fall under this category of education. The non-formal educational programs established in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States after the separation have been in the form of adult education, poverty reduction, and entrepreneurial or vocational skill acquisition programs. Research has revealed that these non-formal educational programs have significantly reduced poverty levels in the community (Akpama et al. 2011). The people of Akwa-Cross region have also been exposed to various mass literacy programs. Presently, such programs are coordinated by the Agency for Adult and Non-formal Education in both states. Worthy of note has been the various educational campaigns to educate women because of the role a woman plays in the home and character molding of the children. It is often said, “educate a woman and you have educated the nation.” The agency provides very useful information on viable economic ventures for women and youths and often carries out training for them. This is a smart way to birth an enlightened nation. The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has constantly run skillacquisition programs in the two states under its Vocational Skill Development Program. It also trains young people in a wide range of vocational skills under the Open Apprenticeship Scheme (B-NOAs) and the Youth Transformation Training Scheme (YTTS). The vocational training offered includes fashion design/tailoring, hairdressing, cosmetology, catering, computer studies (web design and maintenance), Information Technology (IT) support programs, brick masonry, and other Artisan programs There are other ad-hoc training programs carried out by various philanthropists. Similarly, the Ministry of Youth Development and Skill Acquisition offers skill-acquisition training programs for young people in the two states. These training exposures have gone a long way to meet the manpower needs for the middle as well as for the low socioeconomic strata of the society. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have also made significant contributions to mass literacy and the development in the non-formal education sector in the two states. These organizations in Nigeria have an umbrella association—the “Nongovernmental Association for Literacy Support Services” (NOGLASS). These NGOs work in collaboration with state and federal government agencies to support the non-formal education sector.

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FORMAL EDUCATION Formal education refers to the structured education system that is offered in tiers (primary, secondary, and tertiary, including vocational, technical, and professional training). It is characterized by a formal curriculum. Achievements in formal education are assessed by awards of a degree, diploma, or recognized certification. This is the Western form of education. The foundation for formal education in Akwa-Cross was laid by the colonial administration, and its goal was very specific: to train the more promising boys from the village schools as teachers for those schools and as clerks for the local native courts. The purpose of missionary schools was for charitable work and evangelism. The content of their curriculum was likewise structured, and the methodology used was well focused. The output results were quite commendable, Standard Six graduates (equivalent of Primary 6) were able to read and write both in English and the local dialect. Little wonder why most men from this part of Nigeria were either civil servants or teachers and the women were home economic teachers, caterers, or nurses. The Akwa-Cross community, in response to the challenge of providing quality social amenities, formed Ibibio Union in 1928. This welfare group became the first indigenous group in Nigeria to mobilize funds through communal projects for the advancement of their educational pursuits. The group provided scholarship awards to six males for overseas studies and then six females two years after. With the Universal Declaration of Education as Human Rights in 1948, it was asserted that “everyone has a right to education.” Following this declaration in 1961, a conference of all African Ministers of Education was held at Addis Ababa, where a target was set for all African nations to achieve a Universal Primary Education by 1980. This declaration acted as a catalyst for the entire nation between 1955 and 1977. The western and eastern regions experimented with Universal Primary Education schemes. The period of the 1960s to 1970 became a decade of great transformation in education nationally. Various efforts to increase opportunities and improve academic performance were introduced into the education industry. In 1999, President Obasanjo’s government introduced Universal Basic Education (UBE). By 2008, the Akwa Ibom State government ventured into free and compulsory education for primary and secondary school learners; under this policy, children of school age residing in the state attend public school for free. With this policy, the Akwa Ibom State government education sector became repositioned and rebranded. From the colonial days to date Nigeria as a nation has been experiencing various systems of education: the 6-5-2-3 system followed by the 6-5-4 system (1973)



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the 6-3-3-4 system (1982) and currently the 9-3-4 system (2008) These are strong impactful educational systems quite accepted and relevant in time of their operations. It is not wrong to say that these various systems of education failed to address problems of quality and functionality largely due to poor implementation and administrative will power. Taking a cursory look at the various types of education discussed, one can emphatically say that neither the indigenous education, however functional and relevant, nor the colonial formal system of education was able to meet the societal or developmental needs of the Akwa-Cross region. This is because knowledge is expansive, and the society is dynamic. The drive for quality, relevance, and functionalism in educational provision has accounted for the proliferation of educational institutions in the region. There appears to be no systematic documented account of the growth of Western education in the first fifty years of its introduction into Southern Nigeria by the missionaries. This makes it difficult to accurately trace educational development in the Akwa-Cross region during this period. However, what could be gleaned from history shows that Akwa-Cross was one of the leading sections of Nigeria in formal Western education as is obvious from tables 14.1 and 14.2. Table 14.1.  Tertiary Educational Institutions Established in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States before and after 1987 Separation AKWA IBOM STATE Institutions Before The Separation University of Cross River State Maritime Academy, Oron After Separation University of Uyo Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekpene Ibom Metropolitan Polytechnic, Uyo Heritage Polytechnic, Eket

Date of Establishment 1983 1979 1991 1991 1991

1992 1996

CROSS RIVER Institutions

Date of Establishment

University of Cross River State University of Calabar

1983

Federal College of Education, Obudu Cross River School of Health Technology Cross River State University

1982

Cross River State School of Agriculture Cross River State Technical College

2002

1975

1994 2002

2002 (continued)

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Table 14.1.  (continued) AKWA IBOM STATE

CROSS RIVER

Date of Establishment

Institutions After The Separation Obong University,

1997

Akwa Ibom State University

2004

Uyo City Polytechnic

2013

Federal Polytechnic, Ukana

2014

Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene Trinity Polytechnic Top Faith University Mkpatak Hope Polytechnic, Itam

2015

Date of Establishment

Institutions Steady Flow College of Education, Ikom Cross River State College of Education Akampka Arthur Jarius University, Akpabuyo, Calabar Elder Oyama Memorial College of Education Ofat, Obubra Havilla University, Nde-Ikon

2005 2008 2016 2011

2021

2016 2021 2022

Source: Author generated.

Table 14.2.  The Summation of Public and Private Educational Institutions in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States as of 2022 AKWA IBOM STATE

CROSS RIVER STATE

Types of Institution

Number

Types of Institution

Number

Public tertiary Private tertiary Public secondary Private secondary Public primary

8 6 254 40 1,148

Public tertiary Private tertiary Public secondary Private secondary Public primary

7 4 230 23 1,113

Source: Author generated.

CURRENT SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE SECTOR The Akwa Ibom and Cross River States region, like every other part of Nigeria, is operating the formal educational structure. The three-tier system of education is as follows: a basic education for nine years; a basic senior secondary education for three years; tertiary education for four years.



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What is offered in the current structure (nine years of basic education) in reality is still the former structure of 6-3-3-4 where the recipients spent six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary, and four years in a tertiary institution. There has been a lot of criticism of this policy change. Some parents and educationists are of the opinion that there was no need to have changed the 6-3-3-4 structure for 9-3-4. In some quarters, it has been documented that the 6-3-3-4 system was abandoned because it failed to achieve the desired objective due to some internal factors, like sporadic power supply, lack of adequate homegrown technology, and lack of adequately skilled manpower to see the students through the vocational training. One could ask, does it mean Nigeria has fixed these challenges and requirements now, or does the 9-3-4 system have no need of the above facilitation for success? Access, quality, and relevance could have been achieved in the 6-3-3-4 structure if it were properly implemented and monitored. The problem of universal schooling which appears to have defied the Nigerian Educational System for decades could have been averted or minimized. It is the foundation level of the system that these frequent policy changes usually affect greatly. Early childhood and primary school levels require a solid and sustained foundation with a whole range of opportunities for their learning. THE PRESENT STATUS OF EDUCATION IN AKWA-CROSS SECTOR In consonance with the realities of the Nigerian nation, there was a need to clarify its educational policy after the 1969 National Curriculum Conference. Since then, this all-important and well-articulated document (the National Policy on Education) has gone through four cosmetic revisions in 1977, 1981, 1998, and 2004. In 2007, the fifth edition was published. This was closely followed by the sixth edition in 2013, and in 2014 the reprint of the sixth edition was published. All these revisions done by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) hopefully have been carried out on the heels of research and or evaluation. These in themselves are an indication that the educational system is not satisfactory. In 1994, a one-time minister of education recounted his experience in some schools in the eastern states (Enugu and Abia States specifically). He observed a strange phenomenon where fourteen classes were held simultaneously in one open hall, with two teachers sharing one blackboard (Ayu, 1994). In 2005, another educationist equally observed overcrowded classrooms with falling ceilings, blown-off roof tops, dangerously hanging windows, near lack of toilets, tattered furniture and in most cases, no furniture at all. What Kolo (2005) gave as the

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hallmarks of primary and secondary schools in the northern states has not changed significantly two decades after because of the low priority the education sector has received nationwide. The present situations in Akwa Ibom and Cross River, however, may not be as bleak because of a few intervention projects and rehabilitated school buildings here and there in the two states. This notwithstanding, a casual discussion with some head teachers revealed issues like inadequate funding for basic needs in schools, empty classrooms, poor infrastructural facilities, infrequent policy changes breeding illiterate and unemployable graduates, and poorly trained and insufficient numbers of teachers, as well as extrinsic influences like cultism, drug and sexual abuse, examination malpractice, violence, aggressiveness, and other negative tendencies. It is with a strong conviction that the Akwa-Cross community still regards education as an instrument “par excellence” for effecting national development. This is evidenced in the number of institutions established by the two states in the last decade. Educational development involves more than infrastructure. It is beyond “universal schooling”—a system where young ones are mobilized into structured classrooms for unplanned interactions. The formal education structure today is very dynamic and demanding. The teaching/ learning environment requirement is more complex than “a man with a cane standing before the class, elaborating some points in detail to a small audience of twenty-five (25) or thirty (30) pupils” (Ekpo, 2010). Similarly, teachers are no longer regarded as dignified custodians of knowledge and disseminators of information. They are to facilitate learning. Every teacher now wants stimulating classroom environments, competently facilitating the content to be covered within a specified time. They need self confidence in managing the teaching and learning processes; therefore teachers need continuous professional development. It has been observed that one-shot initial teacher training is not adequate to effectively equip teachers for the twenty-first-century teaching and learning environment. Some intervening initiatives that are top-down are, however infrequently, injected into the system. It is difficult to assess their effectiveness properly because such initiatives are frequently phased out without systematic evaluation. Education is central to every development, and any reform initiative should be holistic for optimal results. CHALLENGES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY The present system of formal education has been severely and severally criticized for its low quality in terms of content and relevance. It therefore requires reviewing and rejigging the curriculum to meet present needs:



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• enhanced funding; • government will power to monitor policy implementation; • a corruption-free environment and less administrative bottleneck. CONCLUSION Globally, the objectives of education include the development of cognitive skills and promotion of positive behavioral traits, attitudes, and values that are guided by the necessity for good citizenship as well as an effective community life. Thus, four measurable outcomes would usually be expected from any educational process before such a scheme is considered effective. The indigenous education had its foundation in functionalism. Its primary purpose was to continue passing on the skills, facts, standards, or morals and social conduct that adults consider necessary for the development of the next generation. It was completely effective with hardly any drop out (wastage). The recipients learned all they needed to be functional adults and through harsh trials. They were given adequate knowledge about their history, cultural beliefs, good character, and good health practices. It was the learning system that made the recipients participate fully in the social life of their communities. Unfortunately, though this was perfect then, it cannot by itself sustain today’s and tomorrow’s educational needs. There is a need for more. There has to be impartation, exchange, and transmission of • Knowledge—essential cognitive achievements that the recipients need to reach-literacy, numeric, and core subject knowledge. • Value—tolerance, mutual understanding, gender-equity and equality, respect for life, human rights, nonviolent relationships, respect for constituted authority, care for one’s environment. These constitute learning at the Affective Domain according to Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy. • Skills and competencies—soft and hard skills and competencies including exhibition of team spirit. • Behaviors—finally, there has to be willingness and confidence on the parts of the recipients to practice the acquired skills. The indigenous education seamlessly practiced in Akwa-Cross before 1987 was the strength of their system in integrating its recipients into society from birth to death, (Making learning a continuous process from cradle to grave). Today’s society is more complex, and its educational provision requires enhanced handling. A blend of indigenous education systems, non-formal, and formal systems, is what will sustain the educational development of the two states in the twenty-first century.

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REFERENCES Abasiattai, M. (1987). “Western Education Cross River State.” In Akwa Ibom and Cross River States: The Land, the People and the Culture. Calabar, Nigeria: Wusen Press. Afigbo. A. E. (1968). “The Background and the Southern Nigerian Education Code of 1903.” Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 4(2), 197–225. https://www .jstor.org/stable/4/856746. Akpama, S., O. Esang, L. Asor, and W. Osang, W. (2011). “Non-formal Education Programs and Poverty Reduction among Young Adults in Southern Senatorial District, Cross-River State, Nigeria.” Journal of Educational Developmental Psychology 1(2). doi: 10.5539/jed.v1n1p154. Ayu, Iyorcha. (1994). “New Directions in Nigerian Education.” Education Today: A Quarterly Journal of the Federal Ministry of Education 7(1), 3–16. “Cross River.” (2009). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from: https://www.britan nica.com/place/Cross – River –State-Nigeria. Ekpenyong, J. J. (1976). “Development of Educational Institution and Social Change in Nigeria: 1953–1973.” Unpublished master’s thesis, North Texas State University. Ekpo, C. M. (2010) “The Portrait of My Teacher: An Inestimable Resource.” The 25th Inaugural Lecture Series of the University of Uyo, 18 February. Ekpo K. O. A. (1982). “A Historical Review of Education in Nigeria with Emphasis upon Secondary Education in Cross River State.” PhD dissertation, North Texas State University. https://digital.library.unit.edu./ark:/6753/metadc33056/m2/9 /high/-res-d/1002782138-Ekpo.pdf. Erin, P. O., and D. L. Imbua. (2013). “Colonial Education and Women of the Cross River Region of Nigeria 1900–1960: An Appraisal.” Journal of Contemporary. Research, 10(1), 80–95. Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria. (2020). “Open Education Data (OED).” http:///www.fmebasic.intellisys.xyz/indexphp/states-stats/Cross-River. Kolo, Ibrahim. (2005). “Towards a Reforms Agenda for the Education Sector in Nigeria: The Revamping Strategy.” Lecture series No. 4. Minna, Niger State College of Education. Obanya, Pai. (2004). The Dilemma of Education in Africa. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Education Books. UNESCO. (1998). “The State of Education in Nigeria; UNESCO and Education in Nigeria: Building Partnership.” https//unesdoc.unesco.org/search/N-EXPLORE -b>ac6238-6sf> 4a1e8a35-4eoec5c6cbdd. Vanguard. (2013, May 13). “Cross River Sets Its Own Education Standard.” vanguard ngr.com/2013/05/cross-river-sets-own-education-standard/.

Chapter Fifteen

Toward Breaking the Wall in the Twin Kernel of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States’ Relationship Joseph A. Ushie

INTRODUCTION The appropriate starting point for this chapter is an explanation of its title, to enable the reader to follow the rest of the essay with ease and clarity. The first concept to explicate is “the wall in the twin kernel.” Many, if not most, of the peoples of the present Cross River and Akwa Ibom States are familiar with the palm tree and its kernel. The palm kernel consists of a hard shell covering a whitish inner core of the kernel, which can be eaten or processed to yield palm oil. In a vast majority of the palm kernels, there is only one inner whitish core, while in relatively few of the palm kernels, the inside of the shell is divided by a wall as hard as the shell of the kernel, each of whose two compartments has its independent inner kernel even as the two “twins” of the kernel are enwombed in the same shell. In this book, the Akwa Ibom and Cross River States are seen as two separate states inside one womb but partitioned into two by a hard wall within the same outer shell. In other words, the two states lie within the same womb, which is split into two by a common boundary each with its distinct status as a separate Nigerian state. The thrust of this contribution, and of this book, is therefore to argue that the apparently hard wall separating these two states can be broken to a point where the two entities recognize the numerous areas of commonalities between them as sharers of the same outer shell set apart only by a breakable partition. The chapter is, hence, split into three sections, namely, the factors and peculiarities that set the two entities apart, which we would crystallize symbolically as constituting the hard, seemingly diving wall; the numerous recognizable areas of convergence or commonalities between the two states; and a lead or introduction to the rest of the book. First to be examined are the points of difference. 249

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THE CREATION OF THE DIVIDING WALL The factors constellated into the seemingly thick wall between the two states are essentially geographical, linguistic, and cultural. Geographical Factors The erstwhile Cross River State, which comprises the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, was very large and covered “an estimated area of 28,620.33 km” (Udofia and Inyang as cited in Abasiattai, 1987, p. 5). This area shared “a common boundary with Imo, Anambra and Rivers States in the West. Her Northern boundary [was] Benue State; while her Southern [boundary was] the Bight of Bonny . . . and the eastern frontier, Cameroon Republic” (Udofia and Inyang in Abasiattai, 1987, pp. 2–5). In terms of land mass, therefore, the former Cross River State was quite a large area that stretched from Ikot Abasi in the southern part to Obudu and Ogoja in the northern part with an equally large population. It would be recalled that the area then known as Cross River State had been two large provinces, Calabar and Ogoja, under the Eastern Region. Both in terms of land and population, the Old Cross River State was sufficiently qualified for splitting into at least two, considering that nearly every former province had become a separate state by 1987 when the two states were split. For the people of the Old Cross River State, the weight and pressure of the oversized land and population tended to translate into intense pressure on the sharing of the usually lean resources that came to the state from the central federal tier of government. This birthed infighting among the groups that made up the former state. The pressure from an oversized land mass and population tended to have worked in tandem with the highly unequal level of distribution of human resources among the groups that made up the state. The inequality itself also arises from another aspect of the geographical factor, which is the advantaged or disadvantaged location of the groups that made up the former state. Apart from the Efik, the Quas, and the Efut, who constitute the present Cross River South Senatorial District, and whose location glides into the Atlantic coast, the rest of the peoples of Cross River State are in the hinterland, far from the Atlantic. Considering that the Europeans who brought modern Western civilization came in from the Atlantic Ocean, the groups closer to the coast who constitute the present Efik of the Cross River State and their Akwa Ibom State neighbors benefitted from Western education well ahead of most of the present Cross River State communities. For instance, while some Efik traders are reported to have sent their children to Europe for Western education as far back as about 1768, a place like the Old Obudu comprising the Obudu and



Breaking the Wall 251

Obanliku Local Government Areas (LGAs) had their first university graduate only in 1954 in the person of the late Mr. John Upan Odey. The next graduate from this area did not emerge until ten years later in 1964 in the person of Gabriel Aliba Ogar. One consequence of this was that when, in 1967 the two entities were split from the defunct Eastern Region to constitute the erstwhile South-Eastern State, the level of inequality between the two groups in terms of human resources was quite high. In a book of speeches of Akwa Ibom State’s one-time governor, Godswill Akpabio, the editor Anitie Ukpe acknowledges that “at its creation in 1987, over 80 percent of the civil service and educational institutions in the former Cross River State were controlled by Akwa Ibom indigenes” (2012, p. 4). Imbalances such as this certainly could be a potential source of discontent between the peoples of the two states as they now are. The pressure and tension and unhealthy competition from these two strands of the geographical factor did not actually manifest only as a neat split between the groups now making up Cross River and Akwa Ibom States alone, but also among some of the subgroups within each of the present two states such as the Oron, the Ibibio, and the Annang. It was this situation that prompted the historian and then-vice chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Emmanuel Ayandele, to describe the erstwhile Cross River State as an atomistic society perpetually at war with itself. For the typical Nigerian and African politician who thrives in using the primordial sentiments of ethnic group and religion as launching pads into political positions, this scenario was maximally exploited to his advantage as he tended to emphasize more of the dissimilarities than the similarities among the people. In the end, what should be normal economic issues were made to become noticeable interethnic cracks, which grew into crevices and subsequently into gulfs between these two groups on the eve of the splitting of the state into the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. Thus, what should be normal matters of governance, which sound political and administrative policies should have solved were nurtured to assume the status of a thick, unbreakable wall dividing these two groups within about the same geographical setting into two hostile entities. DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE To the non-linguist, varieties of language as a means of communication are absolutely different and belong to the Other once there is no mutual intelligibility between or among the speakers. Thus, the Annang/Efik/Ibibio cluster necessarily belongs to the Other as far as varieties outside this group are concerned; and all the other linguistic groups outside this cluster necessarily

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belong to the Other as far as the speakers of this cluster are concerned. And this is the same attitude of speakers of the other tongues to those of the Annang/Efik/Ibibio—this is the understanding of many non-linguists. Given the highly multilingual nature of the former Cross River State (often seen as the place where the biblical Tower of Babel occurred), the ordinary person could see no connection between or among these groups that spoke different tongues. Since language is a marker of ethnic identity and of distinct cultures, the state was appropriately seen as multilingual and multiethnic. In the light of the fact that language and culture are mutually defining phenomena, it followed that the peoples who made up the erstwhile Cross River State failed to see one another as members of the same cultural community even if it was just a matter of insignificant variations among their different cultures and languages. This factor fitted perfectly into the fallout from the geographical factor to create a situation in which the people saw one another as strange bedfellows in all ways. This potpourri of “dissimilarities” soon constellated and ossified into stereotypes about one another often with ready derogatory names and beliefs to match. The geographical factor discussed above has also translated into certain differences in the aspects of the material culture of the people. These differences derive from the phenomenon of determinism, which implies that one’s environment shapes and determines one’s way of life. The present northern Cross River State and, to a great extent, much of the Cross River Central Senatorial District, for example, have slightly different vegetation and geographical features from much of the littoral settlements. Typically, there is greater exposure of the present Akwa Ibom State and the southern parts of Cross River State to large water bodies than what obtains in the north and central areas of the Cross River State. These geographical differences would naturally be replicated in differences in occupation and art and craft of the people. Thus, while the emphasis among those on drier lands is farming, fishing is a major occupation of some of the groups in the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River South communities. These deviations from one another were naturally added to the basket of dissimilarities to enrich the thesis that the groups were necessarily and “evidently” different one from the other. Thus far, what had been considered basic disaggregating factors in the relations between the communities in the Old Cross River State have been examined, even if only tangentially. These factors were basically geographical, linguistic and cultural. It has also been noted that rather than rising above these solvable side winds in the administration of the erstwhile Cross River State, the political class simply weaponized them into launching pads for their selfish, personal political gains, thus fossilizing the dissimilarities into stereotypes and distinctness of the identity of the Other within the same geopolitical polity. In other words, the politicians helped to ossify the differ-



Breaking the Wall 253

ences into the thick wall dividing the twins within the same womb. However, in spite of these situations, there have also been certain bonding factors, to which attention will be turned in the section following. TOWARD BREAKING THE WALL Contrary to the factors seen above, which tended to constellate into the brick wall blocking the harmonious existence and cooperation between the ethnolinguistic groups that made up the Old Cross River State, the present section argues that although those factors existed, they were not altogether an unbreakable wall and would not have hindered cohesion among the people if the political class had been more altruistic and above board in the governance of the erstwhile polity. In much of the discussions under this section, examples and illustrations will be drawn largely from the world of the Old Obudu Local Government Area (now Obudu and Obanliku LGAs) as a place where the author has firsthand experience in the interactions between the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. Perhaps, given that much of the southern and central areas of the present Cross River State tend to have greater affinity with the people of the present Akwa Ibom State than the people of Old Obudu, even if in varying degrees, placing the emphasis on this most physically and supposedly culturally distant area in showing the commonalities between the two states would enhance the acceptance of the generalizations pertaining to the whole entity/study area. Breaking the Wall of Geographical Factors The first factors that had been considered as obstacles in the cohesion of the groups within the Old Cross River State were the geographical factors, which bifurcated into two: the size and population of the former Cross River, and the location of the component parts of each of the present states, which tended to give the present Akwa Ibom State some edge over the indigenes of her sister Cross River State. This is, in particular, with regard to early contact with Western education which, enabled the Akwa Ibom State indigenes to dominate in civil service and educational institutions before the splitting of the erstwhile state into two. But a critical look at these two geographical factors would show that they were sustained and aggravated more by politicians as a sort of cover for their own lack of vision and inability to run the entity justly and fairly than by the gravity of the situation itself. The argument about size and population of the state itself seems to be a replica of the argument to justify the abysmal failure of the Nigerian State itself. Some people argue that Nigeria’s failure to develop arises from its huge

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land mass and population. But this position cannot be sustained when it is considered that Nigeria is not the largest country either in terms of land mass or population in the world. Even in Africa, countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad have a larger land mass than Nigeria, and yet they are administered as one entity. If these countries have failed, it is not the land mass that would be responsible. In terms of population, Nigeria is the tenth-largest in the world with countries such as China, India, the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Indonesia, Russia, and others being more populated than Nigeria. Yet, some of these other more populated countries are far more developed than Nigeria despite their huge population sizes. The tendering of population size as a setback in the unity of the Old Cross River State would probably have had some merit if the area had been an arid one bereft of both the natural and human resources to support its growth. But every part of the state was lavishly endowed with sufficient human and material resources to facilitate its rising to the skies in development if the political will and vision had been available. All of the former state was blessed with enormous potentials for tourism, agriculture, and material resources including petroleum resources. Indeed, the state boasted of Nigeria’s foremost tourism resource in the Obudu Cattle Ranch and Resort located within the Obanliku Local Government Area, eye-catching waterfalls, extensive beaches, and an exciting cultural menu. That this same land was the main theater for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and has many historical sites connected to this evil trade that would today be an additional tourist attraction if these sites were developed. Still in this regard, tourists, especially from the Caribbean, would be happy to see the land whose language and culture yielded the popular brand of music called calypso, whose original name was kaiso, and derived from the Annang/ Efik/Ibibio language (Ikiddeh, 2005, pp. 441–43). If these resources had been effectively harnessed and ploughed into a formidable, well-executed policy, the question of lean resources to cater to the well-being of, and secure an enviable standard of living for, the people would have been robustly settled. This would have reduced to the barest minimum the bickering and intrigues that characterized the state to the point of its being described as an atomistic society perpetually at war with itself. Similarly, in the situation in which unhealthy competition among the groups was accorded more than its fair share of emphasis, the advantage of the present Akwa Ibom State having more educationally equipped persons than its present Cross River State was looked at only from a rather narrow perspective that eclipsed the historical positive dimensions. For instance, right from the days of the eastern regional administration, persons of the present Akwa Ibom State extraction had been among the many early teachers in parts of the present Cross River State. From personal experience, there had



Breaking the Wall 255

been such names as the late Mr. Victor Uttuk and his wife, the late Mr. B. S. Enoh, and the late Mr. Idiong (who became an indigene of Sankwala where he married, died, and was buried), all of whom had taught dedicatedly in various primary schools in the present Obudu and Obanliku Local Government Areas. At the secondary school level, there had been even many more Akwa Ibom people who had taught in schools in the same area, some of the names being Mr. E. U. Umoren, Mr. B. O. Etim, and Mr. Akpabio (who had successively been the principal of Government Secondary School, Obudu). There were also Mr. Ekpoudia, Mr. Udom, and others, who had been classroom teachers. Indeed, some of these men, particularly the late primary head teacher from the present Mkpat Enin LGA, Mr. B. S. Enoh, and Mr. Victor Uttuk from Ibiaku Uruan, left indelible footprints and long-lasting legacies among the people of Old Obudu in their dedication to duty and passion for the development of whichever communities they served in. Indeed, some of the early elite from these two local government areas owe their acquisition of Western education to the support and mentorship of these indigenes of present Akwa Ibom State. Interestingly, too, their children born in Old Obudu spoke the Bette-Bendi language just like the native speakers. It is important to stress that these are only representative samples and also only for the present Obudu and Obanliku LGAs. In some other parts of the present Cross River State, the presence in, and contributions of, indigenes of the present Akwa Ibom State to the development of the communities may have been greater. It follows that if this trend of intergroup cross-fertilization had been insulated from the overarching toxic influences of politics and sustained, the former state would have witnessed faster growth in all the sectors of human endeavor and in relative harmony, peace and love than what had obtained. Breaking the Wall of Differences in Language and Culture The assumed differences in language between the present Cross River and Akwa Ibom State communities is a reflection of the overarching ignorance about the general language situation in Africa and, consequently, about the closeness of the seemingly distinct African communities to one another from an ethno-linguistic point of view. Linguists recognize what are called language families or phyla, each family being a rough representation or approximation of speakers who are believed to have once shared a common proto-variety that was once intelligible among them. Globally, there are about twenty language families in the world. The English language, for instance, is a member of the Indo-European family, which comprises such otherwise distant and distinct language subgroups as Indian, Iranian, Armenian, Hellenic, Albanian, Italic, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Hittite, and Tocharian

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(Baugh and Cable, pp. 21–34). Although these language subgroups are of the same family, they now span across Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. This phenomenon of language families and the connections among the speakers of a given family tend to justify Pierre Alexandre’s assertion that linguistic origins are the primary and perhaps the only source of information on prehistoric African population movements (1972, p. 23). In spite of its seeming infinite diversity in both language and culture, Africa has been generally agreed among linguists to have only “four distinct genetic phyla, or families: Niger-Congo (or Kongo-Kordofanian), Nilo-Saharan, Afroasiatic, and Khoisan” (Heine and Nurse, 2008, p. 1). The Niger-Congo, which is sometimes also referred to as Niger-Kordofanian, is the largest family in Africa and covers most of the language groups spoken in eastern, southern, western and central African regions. Within this family is the Benue-Congo subgroup, under which, following Greenberg’s (cited in Bendor-Samuel, 1989, p. 246) classification, has the following sub-branches: (1) Plateau, (2) Jukunoid, (3) Cross River, and (4) Bantoid (including Bantu as a subbranch). In his classification of the Benue-Congo subgroup, Essien has slightly adjusted the groupings and expatiated further on the composition of the Cross River subgroup. According to him, the Benue-Congo unit is made up of Idomoid, Cross River, and Bantoid. Essien further splits the Cross River Group into two broad subcategories: Bendi and Delta-Cross. The languages and or dialects under the Bendi cluster include Bekwarra, Bette, Bendi, Basang, Busi, Bisu, Bebi, Ukpe, Bayobiri, Ubang, Alege (Elighe), Utugwang, Okorogung, Okorotung, East Mbube, Afrike, Bumaji, and Boki (Essien, in Abasiattai, 1987, p. 31). According to Essien, Annang, Efik, and Ibibio, which are the dominant varieties in present Akwa Ibom State, come under the Lower Cross group of the Delta-Cross subgroup. Comparing Bette-Bendi with Annang/Efik/Ibibio is therefore a comparison of the most “distant” varieties within the Cross River and Akwa Ibom State speech communities. Although Ushie (2011, pp. 141–42) has argued that the varieties under the Bendi cluster are Bantu, what is important is that most, if not all, of the languages in the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States fall within the Cross River subgroup. The implication of this is that though the various languages under the Cross River groups may not be mutually intelligible today on account of the inevitable phenomenon of language change, there are still enough cognates to confirm the fact that these are, indeed, quite closely related varieties of the same proto-form even as the specific proto-variety cannot now be established. In tables 15.1 and 15.2 are random, casually collected cognates found in both the Annang/Efik/Ibibio language and the BetteBendi language of Obudu and Obanliku LGSAs in the northernmost part of the Cross River State.

Table 15.1.  Cross River (Bette-Bendi), Akwa-Ibom (Annang/Efik-Ibibio), English Language inyia, enyia ubuu/obuu iye/iya

nye imea (Bendi) wombe maa/ambe maa? tye awum/kuwum/whuwum kubell/whubell/whube kutie/whutie kubuo/whubuo kpii kutiung/whutiong inyuun/Inyuel keb/Kem tyeh mi/me

unam ebot Iya (as in the exclamation “Iya mi-o!”) nyo omia amema? tor anwum ube ette ubok kpii utong Inuen (both for singular and plural) kong toor ami

animal/meat goat mother

I will beat you Have you finished? hit (with a motor vehicle) it has borne (fruit) hole/trench father hand cut ear bird/birds Knock (at a door-kong udok) shoot me

Source: Author created.

Table 15.2.  Counting System in Cross River (Bette-Bendi) and Akwa-Ibom (Ibibio) Cross River (Bette-Bendi)

Akwa-Ibom (Ibibio)

English

iken ifee itii inde idiong idiong ken/idiong kel idiong’ifeh idiong’itee/idiong’ikyie idiong’inde liwhuo he/ke usuul

keed iba ita inang ition ition keed itiaba itiaita usukeed duop ke usenn

one two three four five six seven eight nine ten at a token added to the main

Source: Adopted, with some additions and modifications, from Ushie (2011, pp. 146–48).

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In addition to these cognates, there are also some cognates of proper names in both the Bette-Bendi and Annang/Efik/Ibibio, examples of which are Idang, Attah, Ukpong, Ukpana (also Akpana in Bette-Bendi), Ekong, Eyo (commonly pronounced Eyoung), Anyang, Anana, and Ubong/Obong. Despite the similarities, it should be noted that, as it is with natural language, there may be shifts in meaning, commonly called semantic shifts in the meanings of some of the names over time. It is important to make a few observations on these cognates. The first is that the samples were most casually gathered by the contributor, whose understanding of the Annang/Efik/Ibibio is low. It is likely that many more of the cognates would have been revealed if the contributor’s knowledge of the Annang/Efik/Ibibio tongue were better, and if a more formal method of investigation, possibly involving the use of wordlists, were adopted. Secondly, it is necessary to bear in mind that the Bette-Bendi language, which is spoken in the present Obudu and Obanliku LGAs of Cross River State, would have been considered the language to share the fewest, if any, cognates with the Akwa Ibom language, considering the physical distance between the two areas—one is on the northernmost part of Cross River State, and hence, the farthest from Akwa Ibom State. Thirdly, the comparison here has involved only one level of linguistic description, namely, the word or lexis. Other levels such as phonetics/phonology, semantics and structure are not examined. For example, the phonological structure of proper names in the two varieties is about the same in the sense that in both languages the vowel sound dominates as the first syllable. Thus, we have Akpan, Atim, Udo, Okon, Uduak, Edidiong, Iniobong, Imeh, Odudu, Uko, Ubong, Ekong, Akpanabiatu, Uyai, Inemesit, Akpabio, Utibe, etcetera, in Annang/Efik/ Ibibio, while we have a replica of the same situation in Bette-Bendi names such as Adie, Agedie, Ukpong (Ukpang), Udie, Undie, Akwughiobe, Akpana, Ukpanah, Idang, Ikwen/Ikwun, Ukelina, Agba, Utianbeshi, Undiuyaundeye, Upan, Ogai, Attah, Udom, etcetera. Similarities also exist at the level of syntax, but this has to await further linguistic research to be accounted for empirically. It should be added, however, that some other languages within the Benue-Congo subgroup also share some of the characteristics with the languages under discussion here. It does appear, therefore, that even from an ethno-linguistic perspective, the peoples of the present Cross River and Akwa Ibom States are closely related even as their languages have changed to a point of mutual unintelligibility. Perhaps it should be emphasized that the mutual unintelligibility of two varieties is no indication of radical differences. For instance, Bekwarra, Bendi, Bette, Elighe (Alege), Igede, and Mbube East are all descendants of the one legendary ancestor, Agba, but today, mutual intelligibility has waned considerably among the members of the group such that Igede, which moved away not in the dim past, has become totally unintel-



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ligible to the rest of their brothers and sisters without this hindrance affecting their cohesion and unity as children of the same ancestor. If we bear this in mind, we would appreciate much better the cognates that still exist today between the Annang/Efik/Ibibio tongue and the Bette-Bendi language, which must have separated many centuries ago. Finally, it must be stressed that all the commonly shared words displayed here are those drawn from a common proto-form and not secondary borrowings that may have occurred in the wake of Western civilization. The advent of Western civilization and the grouping of the communities into the same administrative unit notably from 27 May 1966, when the erstwhile SouthEastern State was created up to 23 September 1987, when the two states later renamed Cross River State were split, experienced some marginal influences, particularly on the Bette-Bendi language. The words ekpang/ikpang, afang, and edikaikong, for instance, were borrowed from the Annang/Efik/Ibibio language into the Bette-bendi. The word atya had its meaning extended from its former, ordinary signification in Bette-bendi as “your father” to a sort of slang term used in addressing intimate equals following a similar use of the word in Annang/Efik/Ibibio such as “Ette, I don’t like that,” as a synonym for the informal “Daa.” Today, Atya has become an additional slang term used among equals in the Old Obudu speech community. We also share the words Uklala” (Bette-Bendi) and Ukara (Annang/Efik/Ibibio), both forms referring to Western civilization or the modern/European ways. Unlike language, which changes sometimes rather fast, especially if its speakers come into contact with speakers of other tongues, culture changes far more slowly. Thus, at the level of culture, the people of the Old Cross River State are still essentially one with only minor variations among them. The similarities show up especially in marriage and burial rites, in the administration of economic fruits, in such practices as masquerades, in the onomasiological (naming) practices among the people, etcetera. (See, for example, Ushie, 2011, pp. 253–57; and Ukpong, 2007). The peoples of the two states believe, for instance, that a wife is married not just by her husband alone but by the entire extended family, which is why in both cultures the wife is usually handed over to the father of the groom and not directly to the groom himself. That is also why any brides’ families would always insist on seeing an elderly person accompanying the bride before giving their consent to the marriage of their daughters. The marriage steps are also about the same: a first, private visit by the groom, followed by a knocking on the door, then a visit to collect the list; a debate on the list; a formal traditional wedding and then the white wedding as the case may be. Burials, too, follow roughly the same pattern, and a strikingly similar feature is the “washing of hands,” which occurs twice following the burial. Both cultures also practiced

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the levirate system of a brother inheriting the deceased brother’s wife until lately when the influence of Western civilization tended to oust the practice. Further, the administration of economic trees even in the wild follows the same trend. The community bans the harvest of the crops, typically palm nuts, until an appointed day when the community is sure the cones are fully ripe, then an announcement is be made setting the community free to harvest the crops. The popular Ekpo/Ekpe society of the Annang/Efik/Ibibio world has its replica in the mystical Ekwuom/Ikwuom/Ekwong/Ekwang society among the Bette-Bendi, Ukpe, and other groups of northern Cross River State. In spite of the differences in geographical location, some aspects of material culture have survived, one illustration being the making of thatch roofs. The same species of palm tree is used, and it is knitted the same way by peoples of different environments. Palm wine is a delicacy to the peoples of the two states just as the phenomenon of kola nut equally spans the entire study area even if the Bette-Bendi emphasis on it and the nuances associated with its eating seem closer to the Igbo practices than that of their Akwa Ibom neighbors. Above all, the two groups share very many proverbs. One source where these commonalities are displayed is the literature by Akwa Ibom people, notably, N. U. Akpan’s The Wooden Gong, Bassey Ubong’s My Son, Your Son, Anietie Usen’s Village Boy, HRM Akuku Cosmas Akpan’s Not the Power, and a host of other works. The commonalities in aspects of language and culture among the peoples of the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States seem best captured by Keith Bosley in the introduction to Elias Lonnrot’s classic, The Kalevala: The movement of language and culture is most often like wave motion, whereby a wave travels but the water merely goes up and down. Today, of roughly twenty million who speak a Uralic language, about two-thirds speak Hungarian; the rest speak up to twenty languages, of which the biggest are Mordvin . . . and Estonian with about a million speakers each, and Finnish, with not quite five million. (in Lonnrot, 1989, pp. xviii–xix)

This is the situation between the languages and cultures of the peoples of the present Cross River and Akwa Ibom States in the sense that their languages and or dialects are still relatively close in spite of the mutual unintelligibility, and their cultures are still roughly the same, like the wave motion in the statement by Bosley, which “travels but the water merely goes up and down.” Given that there had been the political will and commitment to justice and fair play rather than the dog-eat-dog motto of the political gladiators, these similarities might have been explored and promoted rather than allowed to ossify into the thick brick wall dividing these offspring that share common language and cultural heritage. Quite interestingly, too, it appears,



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from personal experience, that the intermarriages of the young ones from both states have continued to increase steadily over time. A few of these marriages may have failed, unfortunately, but failure of marriages has become a global trend dictated often more by economic factors than by differences in language and culture. Such failures have increased even among intrastate marriages recently. BREAKING THE WALL THROUGH A COMMON HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL TRAJECTORY Since the formation of nation-states in the wake of imperialist adventures, there are hardly any nations that are monolingual, monocultural and monoethnic, and often even monoracial. Most nations today are a bricolage of many nationalities strung together either by some external imperialist force or authority, or through consensus among the various nationalities. Thus, we have had the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the former Yugoslavia, the United States of America, Indonesia, Malaysia, and hundreds of other countries today that are multiracial or multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual. Indeed, Normandy is today an integral part of France whereas the original Normans were migrants from among the Germanic race. Similarly, the Teutons (the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles), who originally came together to oust the Celts from their ancestral lands, spoke different dialects of the Germanic tongue. The same applies to the Vikings (also the Danes or Norsemen or Scandinavians), who attacked Britain later and eventually fused into what is today one England. It follows that survival under the same political and administrative system can bind together even people of different ethnic or racial origins. In the case of the peoples of the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, it must be stressed that the idea of their belonging within the same geopolitical and administrative unit was not altogether imposed on them as a consequence of the creation of the erstwhile South-Eastern State on 27 July 1966. The people had on their own, even before independence, identified themselves as one distinct group who sought to have a common administrative system comprising the Old Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers Provinces: It occurred to Dr. Udoma on his return from the London Conference that as there was going to take place in Lagos, Nigeria, a resumed Constitutional Conference in January, 1954, it would be most expedient and rewarding if a memorandum could be submitted to the Secretary of State for Colonies on the proposal that the peoples of Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers Provinces had agreed to be grouped together to constitute a new state to be excised from the Eastern Region of Nigeria.

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Such a state should be an autonomous unit within the Federation of Nigeria, which meant, in effect, that there ought to be two separate states in the Eastern Region of Nigeria—one to be for the people of Onitsha and Owerri Provinces including the inhabitants of the Administrative Districts of Abakaliki and Afikpo in Ogoja Province while the other should embrace the peoples of Calabar and Rivers Provinces and of the Administrative Districts of Ogoja, Obudu, Ikom and Obubra in Ogoja Province. A memorandum of the kind, in order that it might be considered authoritative and given due weight, must bear the stamp and imprimatur of the peoples of Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers Provinces, which could only be given at a conference. (Udoma, 1987, p. 339)

It is interesting to note that, besides the agreement among the people now made up of Cross River and Akwa Ibom States to form one administrative unit, the source quoted here also confirms the commonalities among the people even in the areas of culture: They [the representatives of the C.O.R. movement] were demonstrably enthusiastic in the discussion of their future and the future of the generations yet unborn with a real sense of concern and direction as if they really and truly belonged together, sharing a common culture complex, a common outlook in life and without the exhibition and display of the grasping instinct common to man. (Udoma, 1987, p. 343)

The agitation for a separate region under the C.O.R. Movement was prompted essentially by the following factor: The Impression was given by NCNC Party supporters that . . . the NCNC party itself was an organization of the major ethnic group in the Eastern Region of Nigeria; and that unless one belonged to that major ethnic group with which Dr Azikiwe had identified himself, he was of no consequence and did not deserve to be heard even in the Legislature of the land. (Udoma, 1987, p. 326)

It is a replica of this state of affairs that has been extrapolated into the current harsh realities of the Nigerian State in which members of a class among one ethnic group now indulge in bizarre nepotism, unthinkable acts of corruption, and favoritism, even as the ruling class is incapable of protecting the lives and property of the entire nation from south to north from the activities of bandits, kidnappers, and herdsmen who have even ousted some communities from their ancestral lands and have continued to threaten the rest of the country. In sum, the circumstances that prompted the forefathers of the C.O.R. Movement to get together as a people is certainly not as lifethreatening as what the same people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States are



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facing in the Nigeria of today given the threats to even dispossess the people of their ancestral lands and wipe them from the surface of the earth. If, faced with minor incidents of discrimination within the erstwhile polity of Eastern Region, our fathers conceived of separation, that need is even more urgent and critical today. This is especially so as the present contribution has shown so far how artificial and superficial the supposed differences among the peoples of the present Cross River and Akwa Ibom States are. In other words, it has indeed been an artificial, breakable wall dividing these two states. The primary goal of this book, therefore, is to begin a process of breaking this wall that has tended to be dividing the two groups even as they have existed within the same womb from the many flanks of geographical location, language, culture and history as co-wayfarers within the modern system of governance. It must be stressed, however, that the quest today is not for the reintegration of the two states into one administrative unit as a single state. The two states should continue as distinct units of administration, but they can forge a common front and understanding as an entity that shares much in common. Such a common front would equip and prepare them to discern and support their common causes at the national level and, if the need arises, understand and accept each other as a people to follow the same path in whatever becomes the fate of the entity now called Nigeria. This is the core vision and mission of this publication. As an introductory chapter, this contribution cannot be exhaustive. For instance, most of the illustrations tend to be a comparison of the Annang/Efik/ Ibibio world with the peoples, languages and cultures of Old Obudu to the exclusion of many other groups both in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. It has been argued that this has the advantage of showing the closeness of even the most unlikely groups to have similarities given the distance even in language classification of the Bendi Cluster, which stands alone and aloof, from the Delta-Cross, with which the Annang/Efik/Ibibio tongue belongs. But it is still necessary to fill in the gaps with illustrations from the other parts of the two states. Further, the many nuances of commonalities among the peoples of the two states could not have been exhausted in an introductory sketch such as this. Not only this, each of the many aspects of the lives of the peoples making up the study area has experts in it. The aspects not touched here, and the detailed and professional offerings in the various areas of convergence between the two states are the preoccupation of the remaining twenty-two or so chapters of this book, whose sole aim, once more, is to break that artificial wall, that iron screen separating two cysts formed within the same womb fondly and commonly called Akwa-Cross.

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REFERENCES Alexandre, Pierre. (1972). An Introduction to Languages and Language in Africa. London: Heinemann Educational Books. Baugh, Albert C., and Thomas Cable. (1993). A History of the English Language, 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall Bosley, Keith. (1989). “Introduction.” In Lonnrot, Elias (ed.), The Kalevala, xiii–liv. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Essien, Okon E. (1987). “Cross River State Languages: Problems and Prospects.” In Monday B. Abasiattai (ed.), Akwa Ibom and Cross River States: The Land, the People and their Culture, 27–46. Calabar, Nigeria: Wusen Press. Heine, Bernd, and Derek Nurse, eds. (2008). A Linguistic Geography of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ikiddeh, Ime. (2005). Historic Essays on African Literature, Language and Culture. Uyo, Eket: Minder International. Udofia, W. E., and I. B. Inyang. (1987). “The Land and People of Cross River.” In: Monday B. Abasiattai (ed.), Akwa Ibom and Cross River States: The Land, the People and their Culture, 1–25. Calabar, Nigeria: Wusen Press. Udoma, Udo. (1987). The Story of Ibibio Union:– Its Background, Emergence, Aims, Objectives and Achievements. N.p.: Spectrum Books Ltd. Ukpe, Anietie, ed. (2012). On the Wings of History: Selected Speeches of Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio. N.p.: daMainframe. Ukpong, Edet A. (2007). Culture: Ibibio Names. N.p.: Dorand Publishers. Ushie, Joseph A. (2011). “Language as a Fossil of History: Bette-Bendi and Bantu.” In J. A. Ushie and David Imbua (ed.), Essays on the History, Language and Culture of Bendi, 139–66. Ibadan, Nigeria: Kraft Books Ltd. ———. (2011). “The Customs and Usages of the People of Bendi.” In J. A. Ushie and David Imbua (ed.), Essays on the History, Language and Culture of Bendi, 139–66. Ibadan, Nigeria: Kraft Books Ltd. Williamson, Kay. (1989). “Benue-Congo Overview.” In John Bendor-Samuel (ed.), The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and Description of Africa’s Largest Language Family, 247–74. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Chapter Sixteen

Colonel Utuk An Account of How Nigeria Cheated Its Brightest Officer in the Biafra War Ndaeyo Uko This chapter highlights the exceptional gallantry and tactical éclat of Nigerian commander Colonel Edet Utuk, son of the Akwa-Cross region, during the Nigeria-Biafra War. Colonel Utuk gave his all for Nigeria against the breakaway Biafra, but he was vilified rather than honored for his heroism and sacrifice. Though there were other Akwa-Cross indigenes who fought in the war, on both sides—notably General Philip Effiong, who was second in command in Biafra—Colonel Utuk stands out for his exploits, which remain iconic in the history of the Nigerian civil war. This article is based on more than a decade of in-depth research on the war and on extensive, multiple interviews with Colonel Utuk. On May 30, 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the governor of former Eastern Nigeria, incorporating the oil-rich Niger Delta, declared the region an independent state known as the Republic of Biafra. Biafra had few trained soldiers and fewer guns—just a few dozen—to defend itself against Nigerian troops sent to annihilate and reannex the breakaway region. The world expected Biafra to collapse under the Nigerian onslaught within days. But Biafra survived for thirty months and inflicted heavy losses on Nigerian forces. Biafra owed its tenacity and occasional spectacular military successes, not so much to the gallantry of its pathetic “People’s Army,” but to the timidity, lethargy, and tactical disorientation of the Nigerian military command in the theater of war. That was the consensus of Nigerian commanders, recorded in The Nigerian Civil War 1967–1970: History and Reminiscences (Momoh, 2000), a 939-page Nigerian Army monograph. The publication features bold and surprisingly honest reflections of Nigerian and some Biafran top military brass (including the Biafran leader, “General” Ojukwu) on Nigeria’s conduct of the Nigeria-Biafra War (July 1967–January 1970). 265

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Nigeria went into the civil war like a superpower. In addition to scores of MiG fighter jets and Ilyushin tactical bombers supplied by the Soviet Union, Nigeria received from the United Kingdom special war planes, assault helicopters, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, grenades, explosives, mortars, and bombs, as well as millions upon millions of rounds of ammunition—“36 million rounds in the last few months [of 1967] alone,” British historian, Mark Curtis (2000, para. 19) revealed. “By mid-1968, Britain had supplied 15 million rounds of ammunition, 21,000 mortar bombs, 42,500 Howitzer rounds, 1,950 rifles with grenade launchers, 15,000 lbs. of explosives, 500 submachine guns, 4,000 rifles and four helicopters” (Curtis, 2000, para. 20). Britain also supplied tanks, armored personnel carriers, and an assortment of light and heavy artillery. Many European countries interested or invested in Nigerian oil, which was the crux of the civil war, chipped in their share. But the heavy and ample arsenal the superpowers poured into Nigeria for what the British called the quick kill, turned out to be wasted on Nigeria. In a secret memo to the British government, Col. Robert E. Scott, military adviser at the British high commission in Lagos, rated the Nigerian army’s performance in the civil war as deplorable. Below is an extract from the memo: [Nigerian Army] Units regard vast expenditure of small-arm ammunition (the basic weapon being fully automatic) as a substitute for their acute shortage of leaders at the lower level. Effective fire control and conservancy of ammunition are almost unknown throughout the army, apart from in a few units in the 1st Division, which are wealthier in junior NCOs and officers. Normally, it is the cacophony of automatic weapons, with most bullets flying harmlessly into trees, which carries the Nigerian soldiers forward. It has been said that the Nigerian Army advance is the best defoliant agent known. (Venter, 2015, p. 99)

Clearly, Col. Scott’s assessment is a sweeping generalization that is both exaggerated and trifle condescending. The Nigerian Army had commanders and fighting men who displayed technical skill and courage on the battlefield. The brightest and bravest of them all was Lt. Colonel Edet Utuk, an unassuming tactical genius from the serene little town of Ikot Ekpene in present-day Akwa Ibom State. Utuk started his military career as a boy soldier. He entered the Boy’s Company of the Nigerian Military School (NMS) Zaria, at the age of fourteen. After graduation from the NMS in 1958, he was a full-fledged soldier. His distinguished service earned him a spot at Fort Dixon, a US military training camp in New Jersey and soon afterward in the US Air Force officer training program in Fort Knox. (E. A. Utuk, personal communication, 30 March 2008). In the Nigerian Army, he proved himself an outstanding soldier. Utuk excelled as a field commander in the Nigeria-Biafra war, towering over his peers and some senior commanders. Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, the



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General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Third Marine Commandos (3 CMDO) Division, was so impressed with Utuk’s exploits as battalion commander that he promoted him to field lieutenant colonel (from major) and commander of the hitherto lackluster 16 Commando Brigade, which Utuk rechristened “the Fighting 16 Commando Brigade” (Utuk, n.d., p. 17). The Brigade under Utuk spearheaded the capture of prized Biafran towns—notably, Opobo and Port Harcourt. But it was the capture of Owerri that marked Utuk out as a peerless soldier and war commander. Owerri was Biafra’s prized commercial city, earmarked as provisional capital, following the fall of Umuahia. The Nigerian attack on Owerri in mid-September 1968 was the instinctive, personal ambition of Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the 3 Marine Commando Division (3MCDO), the largest force pitched against Biafra (Alabi-Isama, 2013). Gowon had been pressuring his senior commanders to conclude “Operation OAU” (taking Biafra’s remaining major commercial cities, Owerri, Aba, and Umuahia) and end the war by Independence Day, 1968. Independence Day, 1 October, was fast approaching and, equally importantly, so was Gowon’s thirty-fourth birthday (17 October). And Adekunle wanted to curry Gowon’s favor by giving Gowon a special national and personal birthday gift: Oweri, Biafra’s remaining major commercial city (Alabi-Isama, 2013; Forsyth, 1969). Moreover, 3MCDO commanders, (notably, Lieutenant-Colonel Alani Akinrinade) warned Adekunle about the dangers of a hasty attack on Owerri (Alabi-Isama, 2013). Owerri was one of Biafra’s most fortified cities because it was under fifty kilometers from the Uli-Ihiala Airstrip (codenamed Annabelle), the rebel republic’s only remaining lifeline and gateway to the world. Akinrinade told Adekunle that the capture of Owerri was easy, but holding it was the problem. He explained that Owerri was a major city in the Biafran heartland, and so the Biafrans could reinforce easily and give the Nigerians hell. Second, Owerri was only thirty miles from Biafra’s only lifeline and only real gateway to the world, the Uli-Ihiala airstrip (Alabi Isama, 2013). Utuk has recorded his perspective, as well as his command and personal accounts (including diary entries) of the Owerri campaign, in his unpublished collection aptly titled “The Lost Brigade.” He considered Owerri too large and important for one brigade to capture and expect to hold it. Its size and location, at major intersections “made it essential for more than one brigade for its defense after liberation” (Utuk, n.d., p. 31). Brushing aside the explanations of his field commanders 16 September 1968, Col. Adekunle strutted into Utuk’s tactical headquarters in Awara at 4:30 in the morning of Monday, 16 September 1968 and said he wanted Owerri captured by noon (AlabiIsama, 2013; Utuk, n.d.). Utuk’s 16 Brigade was to “take on Owerri frontally through Ohoba, Obinze and into Owerri from Elele,” Alabi-Isama, a senior sector commander recalls.

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George Innih’s 14 Brigade was “to attack from the right flank of Utuk through Amala to Olakwo and to rendezvous at Iniogugu, a town east of Owerri on the Owerri-Umuahia Road. The remnants of 15 Brigade and the reserve [were] to look after Utuk’s left flank by advancing through Omoku, Awara, Asa into Obigwe, a town west of Owerri” (Alabi-Isama, 2013, p. 350). Innih’s 14 Brigade was also supposed to shield the right flank of Utuk’s 16 Brigade “by advancing on to Owerrinta . . . 15 Bde was to swing left of Owerri, bypassing Ohoba in an ambitious river-borne assault on Oguta” (Omoigui, 2006, para. 8). The larger plan was to “simultaneously threaten Biafra’s connection to the outside world at Uli-Ihiala airstrip six miles away, cut off Biafra’s source of fuel at the Egbema oil field, and prevent Biafran reinforcements from reaching Owerri,” thereby preempting a counterattack on Utuk’s brigade (para. 9). Utuk briefed his Order Group—a small group of trusted lieutenants, including battalion and unit commanders—on the battle for Owerri. He put on his battle uniform and asked his batman to oil his rifle and polish his military boots, till he could see his face in it, and pack the essentials: the stove, folding chair, tent, hot water for coffee, beer, cigarettes, packed meals “combo ration” (beans, rice, dry garri in mess cans) and a poncho for the commander to sleep if he could (E. A. Utuk, personal communication, March 30, 2008). Shortly afterward, the scouts returned and told Utuk it was safe to advance. Utuk checked his pistol and his rifle. He slammed the pistol into his holster and threw the rifle at the batman who would carry it along with his own. The battalion commanders reported that all was set, that the supplies were ready to go and that each soldier had at least a thousand rounds of ammunition. It was H hour. Flanked by twenty of his most trusted men, Utuk positioned himself in the middle of the advancing column to “take care of the front and the back” (E. A. Utuk, personal communication, March 30, 2008). Utuk’s 16 Commando Brigade shot ahead of two other brigades and captured Owerri. He fortified his flanks to clear the way for 14 and 15 Brigades to link from their axes, as planned (Utuk, n.d., p. 34). An elated Utuk gave his men food and drinks and telephoned Adekunle, the GOC and said, “Sir, I have captured Owerri.” (E. A. Utuk, personal communication, April 2, 2008). Alabi-Isama (2013, p. 352) records what happened next: 15 Brigade . . . could not go beyond Asa to the west of Owerri before getting bogged down and so Utuk’s left flank was exposed for a distance of about 50 kilometres from Owerri to Ahoada. To the right, Innih’s 14 Brigade lagged behind, staying put at Imo River, exposing Utuk’s right flank. Utuk was therefore, left alone with his 16 Brigade inside Owerri. It was only a matter of time before the unit collapsed. The worst part was that Godwin Ally, the sector commander, was still in Port Harcourt at 3CMDO HQ, some three hundred kilometers away, and about five hours’ drive from the war front. The usual thing with 3CMDO was for the sector HQ to move up with the advancing troops for command and



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control, since most of our troops were newly recruited locals and had very little experience. So, with Iluyomade’s 15 Brigade withdrawal to the left and Innih’s 14 Brigade withdrawal to the right, all Utuk’s wings had been clipped.

Simply put, the commanders of the two supporting brigades had bailed out on Utuk, leaving him and his men to face the entire Biafran army. AlabiIsama (2013) suspected that Utuk was deliberately betrayed by envious colleagues. “Well, if the two brigades under Iluyomade and Innih failed to get to their objectives and Utuk did,” he argues, “why could the two brigades not pass through Utuk at Owerri to get to their objectives?” (pp. 355–56). Alabi-Isama sees an even broader conspiracy against Utuk. He notes that it is unacceptable that, rather than come to Utu’s rescue, “the two other brigades and their sector commander Godwin Ally . . . kept requesting for more troops and ammunition, particularly George Innih, while Utuk bore the brunt of the entire operation. Adekunle was also there watching them, until we heard that he had gone to Lagos again. In fact, Innih was angry with Alabi-Isama ‘for telling him to go back to Owerri when [Innih’s] commanders—Godwin Ally and Adekunle—did not tell him to do so’” (Alabi-Isama, 2013, p. 356). It was only later that it dawned on Utuk the likely reasons for the desertion. He had unwittingly humiliated the commanders of the two sister brigades by shooting ahead of them into Owerri. Furthermore, unlike some of his colleagues, Utuk took care of his men. He kept their morale high by giving them ample combo rations, drinks, cigarettes, women—and a little marijuana. Several soldiers from the other brigades, notably Innih’s 14 Brigade had defected to Utuk’s 16 Brigade for security and better welfare (Utuk, personal communication, April 3, 2008). Day and night, the Biafrans pummeled Utuk’s 16 Brigade from all directions. The brigade fought fiercely back. Within days, the brigade ran out of ammunition (Alabi-Isama, 2013; Forsyth, 1969). Utuk radioed Adekunle in Port Harcourt, pleading for help. None came. The Biafrans tightened their grip. They started shelling at five in the morning, when Utuk was praying in his tent. When the shells began to fall, he’d scamper like a rat into his bunker and continue his prayers there: “Lord, today is a new day. I leave myself and my entire brigade in your hands” (Utuk, personal communication, April 2, 2008). At dawn each day, Utuk radioed Adekunle to beg for ammunition, food and drinks for his 2,500 men and to find out when 14 and 15 Brigades would be coming to his brigade’s rescue. Rather than send in military reinforcement, Adekunle sent Utuk military police, cooks, stewards. “Many shot themselves in the foot or hand to be able to get away from the front,” Alabi-Isama notes (2013, p. 357). This moved rapidly from bad to worse for Utuk and his men. By the end of October 1968, Alabi-Isama (2013) recollects, “Utuk was running short of ammunition and food and some troops that were shot in critical parts of their body bled to death right in front of the others” (p. 356). At daybreak he’d get on the radio to Colonel Adekunle, the

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GOC at command headquarters in Port Harcourt to beg for food and drinks for his 2,500 men. After weeks of desperate pleas, Utuk succeeded in getting Adekunle to understand that the officers and men of 16 Brigade were starved of weapons and food and drinks. In one of the marathon interviews with this writer, Utuk recounted his exchange with his GOC. “How would the pilot know where you are?” Adekunle asked. “I’ll ask my men to light a bonfire with car tyres at a school football field,” Utuk replied. “Light your fire,” Adekunle said, “and I will send a plane.”

Utuk instructed his men to set up a massive bonfire at Emmanuel College. But by noon, there was no sign of a plane. For fear of Adekunle’s notoriously volatile temper, Utuk resisted the temptation to remind Adekunle of the dire need for military and food supplies. He, however, told his men to keep the bonfire burning and watch the sky. Then finally, late in the afternoon, the shadow of a chopper appeared in the distance high in the sky. Utuk and his men broke into song and dance. But the chopper turned around. By evening, Utuk mustered courage to radio Adekunle. “You bastard, son of a bitch,” Adekunle roared, “are you the only commander in the division?” “I did not see any food, sir,” Utuk responded meekly. “You are a liar,” Adekunle screamed. “Here’s the pilot” (Utuk, personal communication, April 3, 2008).

The pilot told Utuk that he’d spotted the bonfire, brought his helicopter down to the safest level and ejected Terry Brandy, beer, cigarettes, black-eyed beans, cassava flour, and bottled water. It dawned on Utuk that the Biafrans had intercepted his communication with Adekunle and set up their bonfire. Shortly afterward, the 3MCDO Port Harcourt base received a signal from the Biafran army: “a vote of thanks” for the food and drinks (Utuk, n.d., p. 41). By the time food finally arrived, Utuk’s troops had been looking at the sky for several days—and they reminded him of the children of Israel waiting for manna from heaven. The food might have come from heaven, for it was dropped by an air force jet flying high above the clouds, and only one bag of rice and one of salt fell in the Nigerian camp, and the soldiers used brooms to sweep up the grains in a hurry, while the Biafrans advanced noisily to grab what they could. Meanwhile, Ojukwu and his army chief, Alexander Madiebo, had mustered nearly all the rebel republic’s forces and weapons—“50,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, 200 rounds of 105mm artillery shells, 300 rounds of mortar bombs, 20 rounds of anti-tank rockets, grenades and other smaller items”—for a three-pronged shock-and-awe



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campaign for the final solution to Utuk’s tattered and hungry but resilient 16 Brigade (Madiebo, 1980, p. 304): Box in [Utuk’s brigade] on all sides in Owerri [severing all routes to the rear, but leaving the enemy a line of communication (Port Harcourt Road) on the rear] “otherwise we would scare him too soon, and compel him to take necessary precautions before we were fully prepared to deal the final blow . . . move swiftly in strength with all that was available and seize Port Harcourt Road between Avu and Umuakpu, and thus seal off Owerri (Madiebo, 1980, p. 302) and descend on the encircled enemy inside Owerri and destroy him while preventing him from breaking through southwards.”

Around that time, Nigeria’s 15 Brigade finally appeared—without its commander, Major Iluyomade—on the fringe of Owerri. Utuk asked one of his units to pull out from its position for 15 Brigade. As soon as 15 Brigade took the position, the Biafrans descended on them. The brigade beat a hasty and shabby retreat, and thus exposed Utuk’s brigade “to the danger of allowing the enemy to come so close to the rear” (Utuk, n.d., p. 35). The leaderless 15 Brigade dumped their weapons and supplies and fled into Owerri town, “abandoning large quantities of ammunition, food and clothing” (Madiebo, 1980, p. 308). But rather than continuing the pursuit of the fleeing Nigerian brigade into the Owerri town center, the Biafrans—hungry, half-naked and poorly armed—“halted to eat and evacuate the enemy’s abandoned food, and also to change into the newly captured uniforms” (Madiebo, 1980, p. 308). Utuk’s men seized the opportunity for a swift counterattack. They repelled the Biafrans and “regained the captured grounds” (Madiebo, 1980, p. 308). However, by February 1969, Utuk and his men were practically doomed. Through February 1969, the Biafrans cleared villages occupied by Utuk’s men east and west of Owerri, completing the “encirclement of the Nigerians and the final cutting off of the last Nigerian supply road to the south” on 28 February (Forsyth, pp. 140–41). Utuk fought back in vain and made a last desperate call for air drops of arms and ammunition to save the brigade from annihilation. Finally, Adekunle sent some weapons, but about “70 percent of drops fell to Biafrans” (Forsyth, 1969, p. 141). Utuk’s brigade was holed in in one neighborhood, blockaded and constantly bombarding on all sides, with no food to eat except for the dregs of garri, which they ate mostly dry because the Biafrans controlled all water sources (Utuk, personal communication, April 2, 2008). Utuk recalls eating garri with his urine, in desperation. One day, “just as he took the last spoon, the heavens opened up. Utuk wept” (Obasi, 2020, para. 12). There were not enough rats, snails and insects to go around, so the men went hungry for days. But the real turning point for Utuk was the loss of his brave and loyal secondin-command, Major Ted Hamman, who ran into a Biafran ambush while

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trying to slip Biafran defenses to see his worried wife. Utuk had him “evacuated back to Owerri, where he died from blood loss (Alabi-Isama, 2013, p. 360). The demoralized Utuk radioed Colonel Isama-Alaabi, the commander of the Nigerian battalion in Uyo and begged him to send help or come to him in Owerri. Alabi-Isama “said no. [Utuk] just dropped the radio and in exactly seven days, Utuk was out of Owerri” (Alabi-Isama, 2013, p. 363.) Utuk informed his GOC, Adekunle, that the only option was withdrawal. Adekunle shouted him down (Utuk, personal communication, 5 April 2008). On 22 April 1969, at 11 a.m., Utuk decided to start preparing for withdrawal. By 6 p.m., the line-up for departure was complete—armored cars, staff cars, remnant military ware, Hamman’s body, refugees, soldiers—and the advance party was ready to set out (Utuk, n.d., pp. 45–47). There were also hundreds of wounded soldiers, most of whom had to be carried by civilians and their comrades. Some were thrust into the sixty jeeps and sundry vehicles and staff cars, including four armored vehicles, which had to be pushed and towed because they’d broken down or had no petrol. Only one of the vehicles had fuel—a Mercedes 911 truck with the commander’s reserve of fuel in sealed drums. Some of the wounded soldiers had “broken hands, some with broken legs, some with patched stomachs, some were limping with sticks, many of whom had not been treated for weeks due to the lack of medical supplies” (Utuk, n.d., p. 45). He had lost most of his men, and he was now marching out with the remnants, Biafran prisoners of war, the sick and the dead. The journey from siege was slow and tortuous— digging and burying dead soldiers and civilians, hauling the now decomposing body of Hamman, clearing obstacles (trees, and all), crossing rivers (because the bridges had been destroyed and booby-trapped. By midnight only five kilometers were covered—with the “rear party” still inside Owerri. By 6 a.m. they covered another eight kilometers in constant rain of Biafran shells (Utuk, personal communication, 5 April 2008). At 2 p.m., Utuk and his men and entourage reached Umuguma, the first village outside Owerri “hopelessly tired and worn out” (Utuk, n.d., p. 48). Yet, they continued to march, for three days under ferocious Biafran attacks. Utuk took a bullet in Afrola but kept on the tortuous march to Ohuma—the seven-kilometer distance—and freedom on 26 April 1969. The soldiers “looked scrawny, bearded, and frazzled—little better than their prisoners of war. But they had broken out of Owerri with their rifles, trucks, field guns and armoured vehicles, and now stood in uniform, with ranks, behind their surviving non-commissioned officer, with . . . Utuk in front and the [dead] body of . . . Major Hamman in tow.” (Island News for Lagos Island-Ikoyi, 2005). For this outstanding display of inventiveness, guts, resilience and tactical éclat, Lt-Colonel Edet Utuk received glowing tributes from none other than



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Biafra’s army chief, Alexander Madiebo. In his war memoir, The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafra War, Madiebo recalls Utuk’s exploits in these words: The enemy force in Owerri which was the [16 Brigade] under a young Calabar officer called Utuk, was easily the best fighting unit fielded by Nigeria throughout the war . . . Inside Owerri, they fought with extraordinary courage, flexibility and determination. The withdrawal of the Brigade from Owerri was tactically tidy and well planned and executed. Without doubt no other Nigerian Brigade could have withstood for more than a month the punishment the enemy [16] Brigade absorbed with patience for over four months. Only that Brigade could have gotten out of Owerri under the circumstances. (Madiebo, 1980, pp. 423–24)

Madiebo adds that Utuk not only led his men successfully out of Biafra’s iron-clad siege inside Owerri, but he also “managed to take away almost his entire heavy equipment, including armoured vehicles and artillery pieces” (1980, p. 321). Among the many Nigerian officers who have given written accounts on the civil war, only Alabi-Isama seems to have appreciated Utuk’s matchless achievement. He writes of Utuk’s stellar performance in the Owerri theatre: “For seven months, 16 Brigade led by Utuk never surrendered. For seven months, the Biafran Army could not dislodge Utuk from Owerri—it was incredible!” (Alabi-Isama, 2013, p. 352). He adds one dimension of Utuk’s command that seemed to have eluded the Nigerian military authorities: “Biafra thus tied down the majority of its troops against Utuk’s 16 Brigade at Owerri which allowed 1 Division to easily capture Umuahia in April 1969” (p. 352). In other words, Utuk not only demonstrated rare military genius in Owerri, his resilience and tactical brilliance led to the capture of Biafra’s capital, Umuahia. But rather than celebrate and reward him as a hero, the Nigerian military who had abandoned Utuk in trouble, not only turned around to vilify him for the phenomenal withdrawal, but also rewarded the two brigade commanders who had bailed out on Utuk and bungled in other fronts: Innih and Iluyomade. George Innih rose to the rank of major-general. His bio might have been written for a great soldier: Colonel General Staff, 3rd Marine Commando, 1969: Brigade Commander, 13 Infantry Brigade, 3 Marine Commando, 1969–70: Colonel General Staff, Operations and Training, 1971; Colonel General Staff, Infantry Division, Nigerian Army, 1972–73; Brigade Commander, 5 Infantry Brigade, Onitsha, 1974–75; Military Governor, Midwest State (old Bendel), 1975–76; Military Governor, Kwara State, 1976–78; QuarterMaster General (Osso, 2017). An obituary on the website of an American funeral home portrays Lt. Col Raphael Iluyomade this way:

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His distinguished leadership during the war led to a standing as a war hero and subsequent roles commanding major divisions of the Nigerian Army in military installations all over Nigeria including Ibadan, Aba, Port-Harcourt, Kaduna, and far-flung Yola culminating in his role as the Quartermaster General of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd division of the Nigerian Army, after which he retired in 1977. (Marshall March Funeral Homes, 2020)

But the true war hero, Lt-Colonel Edet Utuk, was tossed into the dustbin. For his gallantry, he got a reprimand and an unceremonious early retirement. Utuk lived in poverty and anonymity until his death in his native Ikot Ekpene. He was from the “wrong” part of the country. REFERENCES Alabi-Isamu, G. (2013). The Tragedy of Victory: On the Spot Account of the NigeriaBiafra War in the Atlantic Theatre. Ibadan, Nigeria: Spectrum Books Limited. Curtis, M. (2000). How Britain’s Labour Government Facilitated the Massacre of Biafrans in Nigeria—to Protect Its Oil Interests. London: Daily Maverick Declassified UK. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-04-29-how-britains -labour-government-facilitated-the-massacre-of-biafrans-in-nigeria-to-protect-its -oil-interests/ Forsyth, F. (1969). The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military. Island News for Lagos Island-Ikoyi, Monday, 7 March 2005. Madiebo, A. A. (1980). The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafra War 1980. Oxford: Fourth Dimension Publishers. Marshall March Funeral Homes, Maryland, USA. (2020). “Lt. Col. Raphael O. Iluyomade—Obituary.” https://www.marshallmarchfh.com/obituaries/Raphael -Iluyomade/#!/Obituary 2020 Momoh, H. B. (ed.). (2000) The Nigerian Civil War 1967–1970: History and Reminiscences. Ibadan, Nigeria: Sam Bookman Publishers. Obasi, E. (2020, 6 June). Buratai, Learn from Ojukwu. Vanguard Newspapers online, https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/06/buratai-learn-from-ojukwu/. Omoigui, N. (2006). “Federal Nigerian Army Blunders of the Nigerian Civil War— Part 3.” www.dawodu.com/omoigui26.htm. Osso, N. (Ed.). (2017, 14 March). “Major-General George Innih.” Blerf’s Who Is Who in Nigeria. https://blerf.org/index.php/biography/innih-major-general-george -agbazika/. Utuk, E. A. The Last Brigade: A Narrative by Lt. Col. E. A. Utuk (Rtd). Unpublished. Venter, A. J. (2015). Biafra’s War 1967–1970: A Tribal Conflict in Nigeria That Left a Million Dead. West Midlands, UK: Helion & Company.

Chapter Seventeen

Oral Account of Select Areas of Forgotten Akwa-Cross History with Professor Ahaziah Umanah Odudu Okpongete, Uduak Archibong, John Justus Okon, Unwana Samuel Akpan, and Arnold B. Udoka Professor Ahaziah Umanah needs no introduction. As an elder statesman, he is deeply knowledgeable about the history of Akwa-Cross and Nigeria as a whole. He is a professor of professors who was instrumental in the establishment of some tertiary institutions in the Akwa-Cross region. Prof. Umanah has represented the Akwa-Cross region and Nigeria in many national and international fora. He holds two doctorates, and is the chairman/CEO of Redemption FM, Abak, Akwa Ibom State. He shares his deep and uncommon insights on Akwa-Cross with the authors. Interviewers: Sir, you are one of the elders in the Akwa-Cross region endowed, and with longevity. You just turned eighty-three years old. You were there even before the creation of the two states that make up the Akwa-Cross region, I mean Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. You know so much about the history of the region. The younger generation of Akwa-Cross Riverians might not know how relevant and strategic this region is in the Nigerian arrangement. So, how relevant and strategic is the Akwa-Cross region in the Nigerian arrangement? Professor Umanah: It is a very strategic region not just today, but all of historical Nigeria. Before the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914, Calabar was the first capital of Nigeria; Lagos and Accra were British colonies not designated to any country, but it was after 1914, when northern and southern protectorates were amalgamated that Lagos colony became the center for the legislative council of Nigeria and was not that pronounced until the legislative council meeting in Ibadan in 1950. So, Calabar being on the cross Atlantic shore was the first capital of Nigeria, that is the Cross River. In essence, when you talk about AkwaCross, you are talking about where Nigeria was first headquartered. Calabar is still the capital city of Cross River till today. Beyond that, Calabar was next to Southern Cameroon, and if you crossed Calabar you got to Cameroon. Southern Cameroon was part of Eastern Nigeria during the colonial times, so, there was 275

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a close affinity between the Cameroonians and the Akwa-Cross people, and that is another good history. When you heard of the slave trade, you heard of Opobo, much of the trade in piassava much of the trade in palm kernel that used the sea route was also what is now called the Akwa-Cross. Trade in piassava, that was used in making gunpowder, trade in palm kernel and palm oil all centered around Akwa-Cross; and the Palm Produce Board in the then Southern Nigeria was also used in what we call Akwa-Cross. Much of palm kernel and much palm oil that Eastern Nigeria exported . . . formed the basis of [the] wealth of Eastern Nigeria[, which] at that time was in the Akwa-Cross belt. Akwa-Cross was then the farm belt of Nigeria. Akwa-Cross also housed the substation for the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research in Ibesit, in the former Abak division. So Akwa-Cross, if you talk about its importance in many ramifications, you cannot miss Akwa-Cross. The first and only gallows that the colonialists set up to use in hanging the people that they thought were disturbing the colonialists was established in Abak prison because of the “man leopard,” known as Ekpe ikpoukod, and Ekpe ikpoukod was first seen in Ikot Afanag in the then Abak division in [what is] now Oruk Anam local government in Cross River State. But due to the creation of Akwa Ibom State out of Cross River State, Ikot Afanag is in today’s Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. So, in very many ways, the Akwa-Cross region was and still is very instrumental in the historical facets of Nigeria as a nation state. For example, you have heard of Mary Slessor with regard to the Church of Scotland mission. Mary Slessor did most of her work, which resulted in the founding of Hope Waddell Training Institute, in Calabar; the missionaries that dealt with the eradication of killing of twins and the formation of leper colonies that were first used in treating leprosy in all of Nigeria was in Itu; all of those things were in the Akwa-Cross region, Itu is in the present-day Akwa Ibom State in Akwa-Cross region. The Hope Waddell Training Institute, one of the foremost institutions of learning in the country, Holy Family College, one of the foremost institutes of learning, Etinan Institute, Queen of Apostle, Afaha Obong, St. Patrick College, you can name it. So, when the Irish missionaries arrived in parts of Nigeria, Akwa-Cross was a very viable source for missionary growth and development and also educational and medical growth in the area. So Akwa-Cross, in fact, was a very significant region of Nigeria and was and still is very prominent. Moreover, contemporaneously about 40 percent of the oil found in Nigeria is in the Akwa-Cross region, and it is the most peaceful in every respect; so we can go on and on in talking about the significance and importance of Akwa-Cross. Qua Iboe church was established by the Church of Scotland Mission; the very first church, I mean a Christian Church organization in Nigeria, was and is still in the Akwa-Cross region. I’m very proud Akwa-Cross occupies a very significant position in the historical scheme of the Nigerian state, and some of us immensely contributed to the documents that established some major institutions in the region. Then finally, my memory would aid me well to remember that when we talk about the indigenes getting together to sponsor people in universities outside the country, the first time or maybe the last significant time was in Akwa-Cross. Most young



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people in the region would not know that the man who discovered quinine, comes from Ediene in Abak. He was one of those sponsored to study medicine in the United Kingdom. He died because of lack of money and some form of starvation because of internal scheming. Therefore, Akwa-Cross region was and is still one of the most viable, fundamental, and important regions in Nigeria, historically and contemporaneously. Interviewers: What is the name of the man who discovered quinine? Professor Umanah: His name is Dr. Asuquo Udo Idiong from Ediene Abak. He was one of the eight people sponsored to study abroad. The pioneering graduates who benefited from the Ibibio Union Scholarship for the six mainland Divisions of Akwa-Cross were: Abak: Dr. Asuquo Udo Idiong, who studied medicine and surgery. He was the man who discovered quinine, but the internet would not tell you this. He died before completion of the course, and was replaced with Effiong Udo Ekpo, who graduated as a dietician. Uyo: Bassey Udo Adiaha Attah, who studied agriculture in the United States of America. He was the father of Governor Victor Attah, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State. Itu: Obot E. Antiabong, who studied medicine in Scotland. Ikot Ekpene: Ibanga Udo Akpabio, who studied education in the United States of America. Opobo (present-day Ikot Abasi): Egbert Udo Udoma, who studied law in Dublin. Eket: Lawson James Nsima who studied education in the United States of America. Interviewers: What about Professor Ataobot Nkere? Was he also sponsored by the Ibibio Union Scholarship? Professor Umanah: No he was not, but he was sponsored by the overseas missionaries. Professor Ataobot was one of the earliest academics in Akwa-Cross region. Professor Ataobot Nkere was not one of the people sponsored by the Ibibio State Union, but he was on his own sponsored by overseas missionaries, and when he came back, he founded a school in Ikot Ekpene, and unfortunately, he came back and was killed during the civil war. Interviewers: You made mention that the first gallows used in hanging criminally minded elements in the community was in Abak. Why Abak? Professor Umanah: Yes, the first and only gallows was established in Abak prison. It was the first and only gallows in Nigeria. This was because of the Ekpe Ikpaukot movement. The Ekpe Ikpaukot movement was responsible for carrying out daytime executions of the perceived enemies of the region. Under

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some mysterious circumstances, a spiritual being would just come out from nowhere and take off the heads of the enemies from the body. So, the colonial masters thought it barbaric and arrested those who were behind the chopping of the heads and also executed them at the gallows in Abak. Interviewers: Where do you think the Akwa-Cross people migrated from? Like the Igbos say they are the species of the Jews, where do you think the AkwaCross Riverians migrated from? Professor Umanah: I don’t want to get into the history of migration of people; there are some who believe they are from the Bantus. I have not done sufficient research work in that area to be able to speak authoritatively, and the works that have been done are contentious, so but I know for example if you look at the Aros, I mean the Arochukwus, the Aros were parts of Calabar province; you have the Enyiong Aros, the Ibibio Aros, I mean Enyiong Offot in Uyo in the present-day Akwa Ibom State. In my work The People’s Right to Know I have been able to look at this division in Calabar provinces and there were eight of them and they included the Aros, so they included the Aros, the non-indigenes were also part of it. I am not going to go into that history of migration because it is surrounded in some kind of controversy, where the Akwa-Cross Riverians migrated from. Interview: What historical errors about Akwa-Cross need to be corrected? Professor Umanah: The very important one is the Aba women riot. It pains me to always hear them call it “Aba women riot.” Aba women riot of 1929, the date is incontrovertible. How did it start? Historical facts tell us that it started at Uruk Atta Ikot Isemin, quite close to Etim Ekpo. Let me explain, the first United African Company of Nigeria, (UAC) store that was built in the east of Nigeria was in Etim Ekpo, and the trading bridge was handled just before the Aba Waterside, and they were all run by the Anang people and the people that were working in the new UAC. The white people were in the executive positions in the company. As I did tell you, the palm export, the oil export, all things took place over here in Akwa-Cross. So, the people, I mean Akwa-Cross people were very conversant with the way the white expatriates behaved. Sometimes their wives would slap them, and they would say, “Sorry mine” or “Sorry dear” and they wouldn’t slap their wives back. This was strange to us. So, they started taxing their husbands and the males who were trading in these palm kernels, piassava, etcetera, and the taxation was becoming cruel to them. There were men who then dressed like women, men of Uruk Atta Ikot Isemin, up to Etim Ekpo; they dressed like women and they attacked the beach. The women ran away and that was how the riot started and spread up to Aba beach; this was what they call the Aba Women Riot. At that time, it also escalated up to the Opobo; Opobo is what is now called Ikot Abasi; part of it is what they called Ikot Abasi now. But that Opobo division was part of Calabar province; it was one of the divisions of Calabar province, of which current Akwa-Cross is composed. So, “Aba Women



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Riot” is a euphemism for a riot that started right at Uruk Atta Ikot Isemin and Etim Ekpo, and escalated to Ikot Abasi, known as Opobo then. But because the beach was in Aba where much of the destruction took place, and after the destruction in Etim Ekpo of the UAC bridge; the UAC Produce Beach was in Etim Ekpo, that is why they call it Aba Women Riot and a number of trade, commercial routes along the Etim Ekpo river all ended up in Opobo. Remember that Opobo is reputed to be the site of the first world slave trade out of Nigeria. It is because of the water routes. All of the trades in tobacco, trade in clothing that came in bales, trade in trinkets, they all ended in Opobo, which was a port, Opobo port, Etim Ekpo port, and Ikot Okoro port and these were little beaches that people used in running their trade routes. These ports are still there, and we call it Aba Waterside. So, Aba also has a water port and is still there. Interviewers: What were the major companies in Akwa-Cross in those days? Professor Umanah: Like the UAC, which left, Bata Shoe Company, and those who were trading in stock fish, and stock fish trade was very lucrative, clothing, trinkets, palm oil, palm kernel, piassava which was used for the manufacturing of gun powder. Then some drinks they traded in like kaikai, which is a local gin, they used to call it the illicit drink as at that time. It was prohibited since it competed more favorably with Seamans Aromatic Schnapps and Whiskey. So the British decided to ban it and the name illicit drink came into existence and a drink like that was not permitted to compete with the British drink, I’m talking about palm wine, raffia palm wine, or local gin, etcetera. Interviewers: Sir, you made mention of a product used in making gunpowder? Professor Umanah: It is called piassava and raffia powder from raffia palm trees. We still have lots of raffia products in Ikot Ekpene, raffia bags, raffia mats, raffia chairs etcetera. That was another thing the people were trading in at that time. Raffia was a raw material for gunpowder. Interviewers: What other historical errors need to be corrected about that region that the region has been robbed of? Professor Umanah: In politics the first leader of NCNC was Nyong Essien, but people don’t know this. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) later changed to the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens, was a major Nigerian nationalist political party from 1944 to 1966, during the period leading up to independence and immediately following independence. This guy was the person who was leading both the NCNC political party and the leader of government business in Eastern Nigeria before Nnamdi Azikiwe migrated after the NCNC crisis in the West. He also sponsored some crises, and because of population advantage, he took over, and the leader of the NCNC was removed, which was Nyong Essien. So, Akwa-Cross produced the first leader of government in Eastern Nigeria and also in NCNC. So, then in terms of indigenous

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capacity for development, it all started mostly here. Also we have “Mmana Mo,” where communities started schools. They will get together and start schools on their own, they will tell people who own palm fruits not to harvest it for a month or two. So communities will harvest them and use it in the establishment of schools. Also in churches, in fact churches were the progenitors of many educational and hospital institutions. Interviewers: Okay sir, if we heard you right, you said that the Akwa-Cross region was the first region in Nigeria that started community educational scholarships. Professor Umanah: Yes, community educational scholarships. Interviewers: How did that work sir? Professor Umanah: That was what I was trying to describe earlier. The communities will ask individuals who own palm fruit trees not to harvest them for a period of thirty to forty-five days, and it then would be harvested and sold, and the money generated would be used for educational scholarships. That was how it worked. Interviewers: Is that why we have Ibibio State Union and Anang Welfare Union? Professor Umanah: Ibibio State Union, Anang Welfare Union, that was how it happened. The Ibibio State College, Uyo, is located in Ikot Ekpene, and why is it that Ikot Ekpene is in Anang land? Why Ibibio State College? What happened was that Anang Welfare Union was formed in 1920; it was formed by railway workers who were laid off by the Nigerian Railway Corporation, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation at least at that time was viable up to Aba, and most of the people who were working in the railway at that time were Anang people. So when they were laid off, they were laid off mostly because they were said not to be very well educated. So in order to solve the challenge of that social deficiency, they decided to establish schools, both primary and secondary schools and also train their children overseas by communal scholarships. The land that was given for the establishment of the first indigenous secondary school in this area, which was Ibibio State College, is still located in Ikot Ekpene, and that land was located by one Udosen Obot; he was the leader of the Anang Welfare Union He was one of the retrenched persons from the Railway Corporation. He was one of those who started the Anang Welfare Union, and when it became viable, the rest of the people in the mainland parts of Calabar province, which is now Akwa Ibom State, decided to get together and join the union, and it was named the Ibibio State Union. Ibibio State Union came into being in 1924 and Anang Welfare Union came into being in 1920. Interviewers: Who was Chief Margaret Ekpo?



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Professor Umanah: Chief Margaret Ekpo was the first woman member of the House of Representatives in Aba, and Ava was the administrative division of Calabar Province, so she represented Calabar province in the federal House of Representatives. Her husband was a medical officer and they lived in Aba, and because they lived there and made their living there, they were able to represent the Aba legislative council area in the federal House of Representatives, Lagos. Interviewers: Can you remember the notable Akwa-Cross indigenes who fought in the Biafra war? Professor Umanah: General Effiong, who was the one that handed Biafra to Nigeria, is the most prominent, he was the second in command to Colonel Ojukwu. He was the person who actually held the so-called Biafra together because of his experience, and he is the most prominent commander. There were others who were not in the army, like Chief Akpan, who was the chief secretary of Eastern Nigeria before it became Biafra. There was one Colonel Utuk from Ikot Ekpene. Although there was resentment, which General Yakubu Gowon was able to detect and he dealt in-depth with the advice of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo; that was when the Biafran war was won and defeated by the creation of states, not by military might. So when Gowon created states like the South-Eastern State, created Rivers State from what was Eastern Nigeria, and the backbone of the revolt was broken. Interviewers: We hear undocumented oral accounts that the Akwa-Cross people were skeptical of supporting the Biafran agitation for fears of being lorded over as minorities by the Biafrans. Can you confirm this? Professor Umanah: I don’t know, but you know the history of tribalism in Nigeria is an endemic one, but you can go back to 1957 to the Sir Foster Sutton Tribunal, which was called the Minority Tribunal Commission. The Minority Commission of 1957, which sat in Port Harcourt did so because of distrust between tribes. You will want to remember that the creation of states was as a result of mistrust between minorities in the dominant tribal regions. Don’t forget, the middle belt was clamoring for a state then, and over here in Akwa-Cross there was what was called “COR State” and the COR State Movement was Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers. These were provinces of minorities that were in Eastern Nigeria. They were no Igbos. The COR State Movement was the first minority movement in Nigeria; they even published a paper called COR State Advocate. COR State Advocate is the abbreviation of Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers. They were three colonial provinces. The three provinces of which none were Igbospeaking areas were suspicious of the domination of the Igbos, just like the Ishekiris and the rest of them in western Nigeria were suspicious of the Middle Delta or the major ethnic tribes. For example, the Bornu people are neither Hausas nor Fulanis; they were agitating for their independence, so the minority movement which led to the creation of the Minority Commission in 1957 was a result of this outcry. In fact, the report says that the issue of minorities might

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not be solved properly because even minorities within minorities might not be a minority group, so to speak. When you come to Calabar, the people of Calabar were minority to the Ibibios; Anangs were minority to the Ibibios; and Ibibios were minority to the Igbos; and so on. So you have minorities within minorities, which is why in Eastern Nigeria, the Eastern Nigerian government refused to create states; rather, they created provinces, and these provinces were created to take into account affinity, ethnic and linguistic contiguities; so you have Anang Province, Uyo Province, Eket Province, what is now Akwa-Cross area, and also Calabar Province. In Eastern Nigeria, we had a provincial system of administration which was done to take into cognizance even slight reflectional differences between Owerri, Umuahia, Awawa, Rivers. So, minorities were suspicious of each other. So it will not be uncommon to hear those kinds of stories, but those suspicions were serious, they had political ramifications and undertones. So that was what happened. Interviewers: So, you cannot outrightly confirm whether those allegations were true or not or whether the Biafrans were hostile to Akwa-Cross-Riverians for not aligning with their agitation? Professor Umanah: I wouldn’t say so, but during the Biafran war most of our people were killed; lots of our people were killed. For example, you mentioned a renowned scholar from Uruk Atta Nsidung, Professor Attaobot Nkere, you mentioned him. He was killed because he supported one of the warring sides; they murdered most of our people because they suspected they were still not in support of the Biafran course, so those suspicions, long held political alienations, they played a significant role in the defeat of the Biafran efforts. Interviewers: Was Professor Ataobot Nkere eliminated because he was on the side of the Biafran or the Nigerian side? Professor Umanah: I can’t really say which side he was on. Allegiance to any of the warring sides by the prominent people then was a top secret, but talebearers would also expose them to the soldiers for protection’s sake. I think he was suspected because probably he was supporting the Nigerian or Biafran, and because many of his friends, people like Akpanudo, Inyang, and company, many of the people that were killed, were suspected, and they were called black led (Saboteurs). In fact, there were a great number of them, there was one Inyang, he was one of the members of the House of Representatives, and he was a political antagonist of Eyo Uyo, he was in the Eastern House of assembly, he was involved in the result of the NCNC government. Interviewers: What is the diasporic history of Akwa-Cross region? Professor Umanah: Some of them went to the diaspora via the slave trade route, which took place in Opobo; part of it was the slave trade, parts were those who went to study abroad and didn’t come back and they decided to stay there, some



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of them were those that the missionaries took over to go and study and they later come back. You know if you talk of Christianity in Nigeria, Christianity in Nigeria is dominant and domiciled mostly in the Akwa-Cross region, and there were some in Ibadan. The Church of Scotland Mission, The Irish Catholics, were around these areas, and they founded schools such as St. Patrick’s College, Ikot Ansa; Holy Family College, Oku Abak; Hope Waddle College, Calabar; and the missionary organizations also established hospitals. Mary Slessor from the Church of Scotland Mission and the fight against and struggle against the killing of twins. A number of Christian organizations took some of the believers to go and train them overseas. Some had families there and never wanted to come back. This is part of the diaspora history of Akwa-Cross. Interviewers: Politically, would you say the Akwa-Cross is on the left side or on the right side, the right wing or the left wing? Professor Umanah: I don’t know, those are American slangs. Left or right, or how applicable they are here. I do not know, but, I would say they were strict constructionists. If they were party people, they were loyal to the party, they were loyal to the party to the core, but they were also loyal to their locales. If you look at the first-generation politicians from Akwa-Cross, you will not see what wealth they left behind, but you will see the improvement they left behind in their communities; like you see the Anang Welfare Union and Ibibio State Union, which were educational associations, and so on. For example, The Independent High School was started by Ibanga Udoh Akpabio, the Ibibio State college for which Akpabio was the first principal, and also the first minister of education in Eastern Nigeria, and first minister of home affairs. Also, like the first minister of trade in Eastern Nigeria was I. E. Imeh; the first minister of local government and chieftaincy affairs, O. U. was Affia from Abak, now Oruk Anam. So, they were strict constructionists, and they were nominated by their people not because they were rich but because they were civic minded, and they carried that civic mindedness to the services of the nation, and they made sure that they brought something back to their communities. So I will not say whether they were leftist or rightist. Interviewers: What were the major contributions of the Efiks to the culture and to the history of that region? Professor Umanah: Efik people have a very rich culture. Remember, I told you earlier that Calabar was the first capital of Nigeria. Also, remember that during the treasonable felony trials, Obafemi Awolowo was jailed in Calabar, not in Lagos. He was jailed in Calabar prison and Gowon released him from Calabar prison at the onset of the civil war. So, Calabar, I told you about Hope Waddell Training Institute, so educationally and trade wise Calabar was an advantage trade route. There were trading activities in Calabar, trading in tobacco, trading in precious stones, trinkets, and all of these things were between Calabar and Opobo, Arochukwu, oil palm estates, rubber estates, you will find a lot of

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those, then the first cement company, Calabar Cement Limited factory, called CALCEMCO. They were the manufacturers of CALCEMCO cements. So, Calabar is very prominent, and do not forget, Awolowo spent his prison terms in Calabar. Interviewers: You said Calabar has contributed immensely to the rich cultural heritage of the Akwa-Cross region, right? Professor Umanah: Yes of course! In those days, which is still applicable today, all of us in these regions are referred to as “Calabar people,” the Efik language was the only language taught in schools at that time, rather than English, and the Efik Bible was the first Bible published in a local language, so you see that Calabar both in language and culture contributed significantly not only to the Akwa-Cross region but to the Nigerian rich history. Interviewers: What do you think was the first religion of that area? Professor Umanah: We had Idiong and Inam. Those were religious organizations that people were involved in. Interviewers: What was Inam? Professor Umanah: Inam was the highest religious organization, mostly in Anang and Ibibio land, and you need to be initiated into it. It was a priesthood, a high priesthood organization. My great grandfather was Oku Inam, meaning the chief priest of the deity of Inam. In Inam religion, you can only be married to one wife and cannot shed blood, you cannot wish anybody ill and if anybody wishes you ill that will be something he or she will suffer for because he will be dead, so it was the first cultural religious group or belief with a very high level of sanctimony before Christianity. Interviewers: It was different from Idiong. Professor Umanah: Very different from Idiong. Interviewers: Did they have something they bowed down to or a deity? Professor Umanah: Yes, it is a deity, so they sacrifice something, and it is called “ekong akwa” and akwa means Akwa Abasi, the “Supreme God.” They would use a tree called “Ukpa” in Efik and Ibibio languages, a tree that will not be eaten by ants. There, they go and sacrifice and if the red headed ants go to eat the sacrifice, they would know that the god of Inam has answered their prayers. They sacrificed chickens, ducks, goats, and they would pray and sacrifice regularly to it, and they would call it ekong akwa, meaning “praying to the god of Inam.” They pray seasonally and regularly to Inam, which is what has given our own state’s name, Akwa Abasi Ibom State. That is the origin of Akwa Abasi Ibom State. That was regarded as “the highest god,” which is Inam. While the



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Idiong people have an idol that they go to, they were oracles, they were fortune tellers, same thing with Ukang, they were also fortune tellers as well and cannot be compared to Inam. So if someone contributed atrocities, they would find out. Interviewers: What would you say about the Nsibidi? Professor Umanah: Nsibidi was in Efik culture. If you committed a crime and it was found out that you committed that crime, then Nsibidi aya usio mbang, meaning “Nsibidi would just come and remove your head.” It was like the Ekpe Ikpaukot, who would come and tear you apart. And remember, this was the reason the colonial masters set up the first gallows in Nigeria because of the activities of Ekpe Ikpaukod in the Abak region. Then if you were guilty and if the punishment is such that you have to be killed, Nsibidi was the one to execute the sentence in Efik culture. He is the one that executes the verdict in Efik culture. Also, Nsibidi had a form of writing that was only known by the initiates. Interviewers: So, it was more like a cult? Professor Umanah: I will say judgment executors. You know Ekpe masquerade, right? There is this Ekpe cult in Efik up to the Uran community, also called Oboon. These were cultural groups that had the power of sanctions over defaulters. If Nsibidi mentions that you did something wrong, that guilt was sacrosanct. Additionally, Nsibidi writing was similar to Nwed Ekpo, meaning “The handwriting of the gods” or “the handwriting of the ghosts.” It’s like “Asio uyo ibok,” “Obodom enyong.” If obodom enyong or asio uyo ibok mentions your name, that you did something wrong, that was it; no one can dispel that. It means if Nsibidi has mentioned you did something wrong, it means that person must be sacrificed. They have a writing only the initiates would understand. Interviewers: Is it the same thing that Akata masquerade does? Professor Umanah: Akata and Ekoong masquerade, yes! And Ekoong would sing about the iniquities of people because they know so much about that person; when they are dancing and singing and when Ekoong is over dancing, someone will hold you responsible for what Ekoong said or sang about. So in essence, the Akwa-Cross region has some rich cultural facts worth studying, and some distorted historical records that the upcoming scholars from Akwa-Cross region should theorize, correct, and project in their various forms of writing.

The interviewers from this fact-revealing discourse with the elder statesman, Prof. Ahaziah Umanah, confirm the saying that it is not every fact that can be gotten from Google. This interview is a further testament that reveals that some facts can only be gotten from the custodian of these historical facts as displayed by the elder statesman.

Chapter Eighteen

The History of the Print Media in Akwa-Cross Anietie John Ukpe and Edang Yolanda Ekpo Bassey

INTRODUCTION As channels of information, entertainment, and enlightenment, newspapers play a unique role in the development and structuring of a society. Regardless of the appeal—not to mention the growth of other media such as broadcast and online or new media causing debates to rage over the question “Is Print Dead?”—the value and impact of newspapers and magazines cannot be denied. Characteristics such as reliability, permanence, transferability and referability give the print media leverage over other media forms. The newspaper’s import can be attested to by the fact that broadcast stations, both radio and television, have daily segments of “press reviews,” where the contents of newspapers are perused and discussed, as sources of reliable information. You also have online newspapers, showing that both media—broadcast and online—get mileage from print media, irrespective of their own seeming advantages over it. As bastions of credibility, ethics, and objectivity, newspapers and magazines are powerful society watch dogs that help shape public opinion and enable freedom of expression and critical assessment of topical issues, as well as serving as arrowheads for many fearless social agitations. Newspapers also encourage the empowerment of political and social literacy, as they contain reliable news, features, opinion articles, editorials, reviews and interviews, which help forge a politically aware citizenry that is empowered to influence the course of their lives. Indeed, the strength and importance of such awareness as newspapers offer can be seen in the warning the missionary Mary Slessor gave district officer Charles Partridge, that “the very men you are educating with guns, and motors, and telegraphs will one day turn you all out and keep Africa for the African” (“The Story of Old Calabar,” p. 203). 287

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Certainly, in the history of the colonies, it was obvious that the development of printing presses opened up markets and subsidiary outlets for colonialists (MacBride et al., 1981), but they also facilitated political awareness among the natives. The importance of the press in a society cannot be overemphasized, as it facilitates critical scrutiny of government and aids citizen participation in governance. The importance of newspapers was acknowledged as far back as the 1700s, as Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States of America famously stated in a 1787 letter to Edward Carrington, a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” (Founders Online). In counties like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast, the educated elite utilized their awareness and the press to agitate for political reforms in colonial administrations. Whereas in the Gold Coast, the handwritten Gold Coast Gazette and Commercial Intelligence (which was established by its colonial governor Charles MacCarthy, and circulated between April 1822 and December 1823) served to give information to European merchants and civil servants (Hasty; Okudzeto Ablakwa), eventually political publications sprang up. As far as newspapers go, according to Akpan (n.d., p. 131), Liberians had a profound influence in Nigeria’s political awakening during colonialism, such that the American-Liberian editor, John Payne Jackson, was said to have pioneered journalism in Nigeria with his Lagos-based Lagos Weekly Record. Along with Herbert Macaulay’s Lagos Daily News (1925), Nigerians in Lagos established a vigorous and informative press that became “a weapon for political pressure and national awareness” and “vehicles for the expression of discontent and the aspirations of the . . . Nigerian masses”—and publishers in Calabar were part of this patriotic fervor and nationalistic wave (“The Story of Old Calabar,” p. 203). Thanks to the early contact the areas had with missionaries, Calabar (present-day Akwa Ibom and Cross River States), along with Lagos, were nurturing spots for political agitation, civic awareness and print journalism in Nigeria. This chapter traces the history of the print media in the Akwa-Cross region which stretched from Bakassi in the East to Oron in the West, and evolved from the Eastern Region of Nigeria. THE AKWA-CROSS SITUATION Records at the British Broadcasting Corporation state that the Accra Herald, published in 1858 was the first African-produced newspaper in West Africa



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(BBC, n.d.), but it is noteworthy that printing in Nigeria preceded this, with Old Calabar (what is today known as the Akwa-Cross region) in prominence. The first printing press in Nigeria was set up in 1846 in Calabar by missionaries of the Presbyterian mission, the Rev. Hope Waddell, and his assistant, Samuel Edgerly, and was located at the present site of the Hope Waddell Training Institution. According to historical accounts, the Presbyterian Printing Press (renamed the Hope Waddell Printing Press upon Rev. Waddell’s death) did not produce Nigeria’s first newspaper, though, as records indicate that that distinction belongs to Abeokuta, and Rev. Henry Townshend’s Iwe Irohin Fun Awon Egba Ati Yoruba (Newspaper for the Egba and Yoruba People). Townsend, who was an Anglican, had established a printing press in Abeokuta in 1854, shortly after his arrival from Sierra Leone, but only commenced printing and circulation of Iwe Irohin in 1859. However, a scholar, Offiong Okon, asserts that newspaper printing in Nigeria began in 1847 in Calabar with the Hope Waddell Printing Press: this has not been collaborated, though. What is agreed is that the Hope Waddell Printing Press published Bible tracts and arithmetic books for schools, and served the education and missionary needs of the larger Calabar society, which had a large literate population. According to Edet Inyang, one-time principal of the Hope Waddell Training Institute, the Hope Waddell press “printed newspapers for groups in Calabar, and was the site for the printing of the Gateway Magazine, the school’s magazine which still exists.” The principal further states that “students worked in the print works and also as journalists on the Observer, Calabar’s first newspaper which was produced on the mission press” (Calabar: Is This . . . , 2014). Records state that between 1885 and 1886, Rev. Hope Waddell published two vernacular newspapers, Obukpong Efik (meaning “Efik Trumpet”) and Unwana Efik (meaning “Light of the Efik”), and one English newspaper. Neither vernacular newspaper lasted long, though, because the literate Efik preferred written English to written Efik language, which was at a stage of orthographic infancy at the time (Agba, 2017; Daramola, 2006). According to Aye (2000, p. 26), Calabar was regarded as “a seat of journalism and literary excellence” and birthed the Old Calabar Observer, begun on 30 May 1902. It was published until 1904, and was the first regular journal to be published in English, east of the Niger (Archibong, 2005). Aye states that publication of the Observer in Calabar was followed in 1923 by the weekly Dawn newspaper, which was edited by W. C. Labor, and later, the 1935 Nigerian Eastern Mail, edited by J. V. Clinton. The author also records the 1931 Efik language magazine Obukpong Obio, as well as the 1940 Uwana, edited by E. N. Amana, and the 1940 Obodom Edem-Usiaha-Utim (“Eastern Gong”) edited by E. Ekpenyong as newspapers that existed in Calabar at one time.

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According to him, freelance journalists that contributed to Obodom EdemUsiaha-Utim include Mrs. Eme Ekpo Ekpenyong and Barr. Asuquo Nyong (Aye, 2000, pp. 26–27). The relationships between these and similar titles referred to earlier is, however, undetermined. Political exigencies later led to the publication of a newspaper called the COR Advocate. Prof Eyo Ita, a Calabar man, was the premier of the Eastern Region, while Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the premier of the Western Region. However, an alliance between some dissident Yorubas in Azikiwe’s party, the National Council for Nigerians and Cameroons (NCNC), and members of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) succeeded in wresting the premiership from Azikiwe. In turn, Azikiwe returned to the East, and wrested the premiership from Prof Eyo Ita by facilitating his removal as premier of the Eastern Region, and leader of Government Business in Enugu. The minorities in the Eastern Region (particularly in the area now known as the South South) were irked by this development, and felt marginalized. They converged in deliberation at Afaha Oku in Uyo (present-day Akwa Ibom State) on 19 December 1953 and rose from that meeting with a demand for the creation of a new state for them, which they proposed to be called “COR State” (the acronym “COR” was derived from the first letters of the provinces involved in the agitation: These were Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers). To sustain the momentum of the agitation, the COR State movement floated the Calabar-based newspaper the COR Advocate. When the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, created the East-Central State, Rivers State and South-Eastern State in 1967, the newspaper ceased to exist. The latter state (South-Eastern State) was later renamed Cross River State in 1976 by the military government of General Murtala Mohammed. In 1971 Brigadier U. J. Esuene, as head of the South-Eastern State government, established the Nigerian Chronicle as a government-owned, generalinterest weekly newspaper. In 1974 it transited into a daily, under the watch of Moses Ekpo as its first editor. The Chronicle turned out to be one of the best newspapers at the time, and it spawned other publications like the Quest magazine, published in 1980, which had Okon Akiba as editor. The Mirror, edited by Iquo Toyo, was another magazine published in Calabar around the same time, and though both magazines are now defunct, the Nigerian Chronicle was a watershed in professional excellence and practice. Chronicle Printing Press was also known to be one of the best in Nigeria then, and together with the Hope Waddell Printing Press, ensured a boost in printing and publishing in the region. A roll call of journalists from the Chronicle newspaper stable included Moses Ekpo, Ray Ekpu, Nelson Etukudo, Ahaziah Umanah, Etim Anim, Ernest Etim Bassey, Oqua Itu, John Ogbudu, Unimke Nawa, and Willy Okokon. Others include Paul Bassey, Offiong Okon, Bassey



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Ekpo Bassey, Bassey Ita, Patrick Okon, Kate Okon, Antigha Bassey, Inyang Akak, Ekaete Ekpo, Felix Ajoku, Ian Asuquo, Eddie Bennet, Uko Okopide, and Nnamso Umoren. The newspaper also boasted of world-class columnists like Signor Tofu (a.k.a. Onofiok Ufot, the registrar of the University of Calabar, at the time, who achieved this pen name by spelling his name, Ufot, backwards), and Sam the Sham (a.k.a. Des Wilson, now a retired professor and one of Africa’s leading mass communications scholars). Many of the Chronicle exports later played pivotal roles in the growth of print media in the Akwa-Cross region. With the advent of the Second Republic in 1979, agitation for the creation of a state for the people of Calabar and Ogoja began, and Ernest Etim Bassey started a political, opposition newspaper called The Nigerian People. As a counterpoise, Victor Akan, who came from the mainland part of the then Cross River State also started another newspaper known as The Call, a publication that pushed for the creation of a state for the mainland people. The Call was first edited by Bassey Ekpo Bassey, and then Etim Anim, and in 1987, Akwa Ibom State was created out of Cross River State by the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. In 1986, M. K. O. Abiola floated Community Concord publications in all the states in the country at the time. It was designed to serve the community communication needs of each state by not focusing on urban centers. Each was headed by an indigene of the state, and Nnamso Umoren, recruited from the Chronicle stable, headed the Cross River Community Concord, working with Unimke Nawa, Rald Ojong, Obong Akpaekong, Andy Nsien, and Anietie Ukpe. The Cross River Community Concord instantly shot to the top in the comity of Community Concords, and became a force in the media industry in Cross River State. By 1987, it had reporters covering all the senatorial districts in the state. When John Ebri’s The Median went into operation in 1990, it was modeled after The Nigerian People. It circulated in Cross River State and operated without political inclinations, with “Truth as a Trade” as its motto. In 1991 Bassey Ekpo Bassey floated The Defender, a regional newspaper circulated in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. Backed by the Calabar-based pressure group, Citizens for Change, and with the motto “In the Light of Truth,” it was a social conscience advocate with the mission to enhance citizenship awareness and increase participation in politics for good governance, and it was rife with articles in the mold of Bassey’s audacious column Unpopular Essays. Some other newspapers published in the Akwa-Cross region at the time include: Nigerian Champion (published by E. E. Duke); Nigerian Gong (published by some chieftains of Akwa Esop Imaisong Ibibio, with Captain Ukut [retd.] as editor); LeadNews (a publication of the Mass Communication

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Department of the Polytechnic, Calabar) which had Akpan John as editor, and was found on newsstands statewide, circulating beyond the school’s campus. Journalists on the LeadNews team included Patrick Ene Okon, Felix Emerson Gobert Jr., Utibe Ukim, Matthew Mrakpor, and Effiong Usoro. Other publications included Development Digest (published by Nelson Etukudo), and InsideOut (published by Roland Olumba Obu). Some other magazines that have been published in the region include the Watchman (a magazine published by Arikpo Ubi and Lawrence Mkpama), and MofiNews, which was a publication of the Cross River State Ministry of Information; both are, however, now defunct. In contemporary times, Anietie Ben-Akpan floated a newspaper called The Pillar. It is edited by Joseph Kingsley and is still in circulation, as is the Median, now published by James Ebri. Apart from these newspapers and others published by Cross Riverians, major national newspapers such as the Guardian, Vanguard, and the Sun all had correspondents in the state, and the correspondents’ chapel of the Cross River State branch of the Nigeria Union of Journalists has remained vibrant over the years. One key influence of the growth of the print media in the late 1980s was the establishment of the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Co. Ltd (NNMC) by the federal government. It was located at Awi, Obom Itiat, Edondon, and Nsan in Cross River State, Oku-Iboku, Ikot Umo Essien, and Ntak Inyang in Akwa Ibom State. It covered 15,391 hectares of land and used gmelina arborea, sourced from the local forests, as its main raw material content. It was incorporated by the federal government as a private limited liability company to produce 100,000 metric tons of finished newsprint per annum. At its advent it was the only newsprint manufacturing company in the West and Central African subregion. The first of the mill’s two machines was installed and commissioned in 1986, one year before the creation of Akwa Ibom State, and would operate for eight years (1986–1993) before it was shut down. Within the eight years of its existence, it produced a total of 163,684 metric tons of newsprint (a shortfall from the projected 800,000 metric tons for the period, given the machines’ installed capacity of 100,000 metric tons per annum). Within the period of its operation, the company exported newsprint paper to several countries including, Germany, United States, Cameroun, Togo, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. When Akwa Ibom State was created, shares of NNMC were redistributed with the federal government holding 90 percent of its shares, Akwa Ibom State Government 5.5 percent, and the Cross River State Government owning 4.5 percent. When the company was in operation it fed the print industry, particularly the print media, in the country with newsprints. In the Akwa-Cross region, many entrepreneurs set up newspapers, and used their newspapers to buy huge amounts of newsprint paper from the NNMC. They would, there-



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after, use some newsprint to produce their newspapers and make a profit by selling the bulk of the remaining newsprint to the big newspaper companies in the country. This led to a proliferation of many newspapers of suspect quality in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, as these entrepreneurs went for cheap labor to minimize overhead costs. More so, with this arrangement, their profit was assured, and publishing was simply a storefront activity. After its creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987, the state government established the Pioneer newspaper in 1988, with Nnamso Umoren as its editor. At the time of his recruitment to edit the Pioneer, Mr. Umoren was an associate editor with African Concord, a magazine published by the Concord Group of Newspapers owned by Moshood K. O. Abiola. At this time, the Community Concord had been shut down, and Umoren had been transferred to the African Concord. That same year, the first privately owned newspaper in Akwa Ibom State, the Bell, also sprang up. A weekly tabloid fashioned in the form of a community newspaper, it was published by the Ikot Ekpene Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, and it was based in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, and edited by Udeme Udofa. The Lead newspaper joined a couple of years later; it was also based in Ikot Ekpene and was published by Godwin Ekpenyong. Another early newspaper in Akwa Ibom State was Roots News, published by Udeme Umoh and Option published by Rev. Martin Nkanta. The number of privately owned newspapers in the present-day Akwa Ibom State is about 89, which is down from what it was about ten years ago when it had ballooned to over 110, including many that were owned by politicians and populated by quacks. They also lent themselves to be used for smear campaigns and blackmail. The privately owned newspapers in the state are spread into two chapels—the Federated Chapel and the Consolidated Chapel, and the current chairman of the state branch of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Amos Etuk, and his executive team, have taken steps to address quackery in the journalism fold in the state. CONCLUSION The print media in Akwa-Cross region has remained vigorous and relevant, comprising mostly politics-focused publications, though not necessarily party-rooted publications. Mostly established by individuals, the multiplicity of newspapers attests to the political awareness and sagacity of the citizens of the region, and indicates that the agitation spirit of early journalism in the region has waxed stronger over time. However, contemporary and economic realities have necessitated adaptations in quests to have platforms through which to express and influence opinions and continue to critically scrutinize

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governments in the region and beyond. With the advent of the internet, the peculiarities of its access, and their effect on print as a medium, print media journalists are adapting to online publishing for enhanced audience reach, and continued efficacy as “watchdogs at the forefront of socio-economic and political change,” and many veterans of the early Akwa-Cross print can be found behind their operations. REFERENCES Adeniyi, A. S. (2014). “Quest for State’s Creation in Nigeria: A Harbinger of Development or Underdevelopment?” Journal of Culture, Society and Development: An Open Access International Journal 4(68). Afolabi, Abdul-Rasheed (1987). “A Brief History of Printing in Nigeria.” The Nigerian Voice. https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/169311/a-brief-history-of -printing-in-nigeria.html. African Development Bank Group. (2013, November). “Nigeria—Oku-Iboku Pulp and Paper Project—ESMP Summary.” https://www.afdb.org/en/documents/docu ment/nigeria-oku-iboku-pulp-and-paper-project-esmp-summary-34258. Agba, J. (2017). Topical Issues in the History of Nigerian Mass Media. Calabar, Nigeria: UNICAL Printing Press. Akak, E. O. (1983). “Efiks of Old Calabar: Akaks Press.” The Nigerian Voice. https:// www.thenigerianvoice.com/thread/41451/169311/1. Akpan, M. B. (n.d.). “Black Spokesmen and Activists: The Liberian Elites in the Nineteenth Century.” Calabar Historical Journal 1(1). Archibong, M. (2005) “Hope Waddell: A Nigerian Metaphor.” Daily Sun, 17 February. https://www.laits.utexas.edu/africa/ads/413.html. Aye, E. U. (2000). The Efik People. Published under the Association for the Promotion of Efik Language, Literature and Culture. Calabar, Nigeria: APELLAC. BBC. (N.d.) “The Story of Africa: Newspapers.” https://bbc.co.uk/worldservice /africa/features/storyofafrica/13chapter7.shtml. “Calabar: Is This Africa’s Oldest Press?” (2014). Daily Trust, 20 January. https:// dailytrust.com/calabar-is-this-africa-s-oldest-press Daramola, I. (2006). History and Development of Mass Media in Nigeria. Lagos: Rothan Press Ltd. Echeruo, M. (1976). “History of the Nigerian Press.” In The Story of the Daily Times 1926–1976. Lagos: Daily Times of Nigeria. Founders Online. ”From Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 16 January 1787.” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-11-02-0047. Hasty, J. (2003) “Ghana,” In Amanda Quick (ed.), World Press Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. Jika, A. (1991) “Book Publishing and Development in Nigeria.” In C. Udofia (ed.), African Journalism in Perspective. Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: Itiaba.



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MacBride, et al. (1981). Many Voices, One World (Nigerian ed.). Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press. Okudzeto Ablakwa, Samuel. “Statement to Mark United Nations’ Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.” New York: United Nations. Olayiwola, R. (1991). “Political Communications: Press and Politics in Nigeria’s Second Republic.” Africa Media Review 5(2). The Story of the Old Calabar: A Guide to the National Museum at the Old Residency, Calabar (1986). National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

Chapter Nineteen

The History of Radio Broadcasting in the Akwa-Cross Region Eddy Ekpenyong and Effiong Efa Nyong

INTRODUCTION From its roots in Nigeria in 1932, courtesy of the British colonial administration, broadcasting has passed through many phases, occasioned conspicuously, by political and technological developments. As a creative art form driven by professionalism, broadcasting exploits its unique characteristics as a medium of mass communication to materialize as a veritable national resource. With its cardinal responsibility of informing, educating, and entertaining the populace, broadcasting positively alters the consciousness of the people toward the attainment of national growth, unity, and social cohesion. For the individual, broadcasting provides the window through which he or she sees the world, as underscored in the sixth edition of National Broadcasting Code (p. 11): Every Nigerian is expected to partake in the sharing of ideas and experiences that will enrich the life of the citizenry and help them live in a complex, dynamic and humane society, as stated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

From Lagos, where it was first planted in the country, broadcasting, like a tree planted by the river, has blossomed in all parts of the country, serving as a bridge between the government and the people. Even in private capacity where it is run as a commercial enterprise, broadcasting still provides social services to the people.

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THE BIRTH OF NIGERIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION Twenty-five years after it began in Nigeria as a novelty, broadcasting evolved into a new phase with the establishment of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) by the federal government. Given impetus by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation Act of 1957, the establishment, which was a bud of the colonially controlled Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS), was modeled after the British Broadcasting (BBC) and intended to provide Nigerians with an independent and impartial broadcasting service. As its pioneer directorgeneral. Mr. J. A. C. Knott, OBE, explained in a Talk on Radio Nigeria on 1 April 1957: The ordinance lays upon the corporation, the duty of carrying on the service as a means of disseminating Information, Education and entertainment. The ordinance also expressly provides that the corporation shall ensure that its programme’s service, when considered as a whole, reflects the unity of Nigeria as a federation and at the same time gives adequate expression to the culture, characteristics, affairs and opinions of the people of each region or part of the federation. (Amadi and Atilade, 2001, p. 5)

For this to be achieved the services of NBC were expanded beyond regional boundaries to major towns in the country. Consequently, stations were established in the northern cities of Sokoto, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Zaria, Jos, and Katsina in 1962. In the west, stations were also established in Abeokuta, Warri, and Ijebu Ode. Similarly, in the east, Onitsha benefited from the exercise just as Port Harcourt and Calabar were the beneficiaries in the south. Although the stations were considered subsidiaries of regional stations that were earlier established by the respective regional governments and inherited by the federal government, they produced and broadcasted a few local programs whose content catered to the needs and interest of the locals. PERSPECTIVES OF PIONEERING ON-AIR PERSONALITIES FROM AKWA-CROSS ON BROADCASTING IN THE REGION The history of broadcasting in present-day Cross River and Akwa-Ibom State is very recent. The earliest broadcaster of prominence was the former propagandist Chief Okon Okon Ndem, who was a staff member of Radio Nigeria Enugu at the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War, who found himself on the Biafra side of the war. Broadcasting actually started in the Akwa-Cross region after the Nigerian Civil War, with the establishment of Radio Nigeria Calabar, which served the Akwa-Cross people until the emergence of Akwa



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Ibom Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC). After the state was created by the federal government of Nigeria during the rule of military president Ibrahim Babangida in 1987. Therefore, the history can be said to be very recent. It must however be signposted that journalism itself is not new to the people of Akwa-Cross, as one of the earliest printing presses in the old Southern Protectorate was established by the Presbyterian mission at the famous Hope Waddell Training Institution in Calabar where newsletters and bulletins were published. The Catholic Mission also joined with the establishment of the Sacred Heart Press on Egerton Street, Calabar Contemporary journalists also had the imprints of the Akwa-Cross region, in the person of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who had his early training at the Hope Waddell Training Institution and founded the Morning Post newspaper in Lagos in 1941. It has been argued that a number of early media men from the region were influenced by Dr. Azikiwe; they include individuals like Increase Coker, whose mother worked with the Daily Times and Ernest Etim Bassey, Ray Ekpu, Etim Anim, Patrick Okon, Oqua Itu, and others. But regarding broadcasting, Radio Nigeria Calabar, as a division of the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation, came into existence after the creation of South-Eastern State in 1967, it metamorphosed into the Cross River Broadcasting Service and later Cross River Radio in 1976. The pioneers of the station include individuals like Aloyscious Ekenem, Edwin Ejah, Monday Idiong, Samuel Ibok, Brenda Akpan, and a host of others. It is important to note that the region also produced a good number of top-quality broadcasters, who practiced their trade in Lagos, they include, individuals, like Jones Usen, Eno Young, Patrick Okon, Theresa Essien, Phill Ushie, Willie Egbe, Patrick Ugbe, Effiong Nyong, Peter Etim Godwin Asuquo, Eddie Becom, and Paul Bassey, among others. It should be noted that an indigene of Akwa-Cross, Unwana Samuel Akpan, was the first person who conceived “Traffic and Weather Reports” on Radio Nigeria, Lagos. The program was first aired on Radio Nigeria in 2006 on Metro FM, the FM dial of Radio Nigeria in Lagos. Unwana was the anchor of the daily “Traffic and Weather Reports,” which was a delight for Lagos residents who were battling with the daily serpentine traffic in Lagos. The program got so popular that other radio stations in the Lagos metropolis, and in other cities in Nigeria had to copy from and incorporate daily traffic reports in their programming. Due to the popularity of the “Traffic and Weather Reports,” anchored by Unwana, the Lagos state government had to open a radio station dedicated to only traffic reports, known as “Traffic Radio.” Unwana has now joined academia, and teaches at the University of Lagos.

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Theresa Essien, a broadcaster and former general manager of Cross River Radio revealed that the industry has been on the rise, despite the challenges, from two radio stations in 1976 to three in 1987, the region now has fifteen radio stations in 2022. Seven stations in Cross River namely: 1.  Cross River Radio, Calabar 2.  Cross River Radio, Ikom 3.  Hit FM 4.  Fad FM 5.  Sparkling FM 6.  Correct FM and 7.  Canaan City FM There is also an online radio known as Free Smoke Radio in Calabar, Cross River State. In Akwa Ibom State there are: 1.  Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation AKBC 2.  Planet FM 3.  Inspiration FM 4.  Comfort FM 5.  Excel FM 6.  Redemption FM 7.  Passion FM and 8.  Premium FM In the words of Theresa Essien, “so much has happened” from the humble beginnings of the late 1970s to what occurs today. Theresa was inspired by her mother who was an independent programs producer at the (NBC) Nigeria Radio Corporation, Ikoyi, where she met other voices, like Ikenna Ndaguba and Eno Irukwu, Stella Awani, and Sienne-Allwell Brown. She singled out Stella Awani as her mentor. In her assessment of the industry she called for personal training in the art of broadcasting as well as upgrades in the equipment used by government stations to enhance quality in all areas of the trade. Despite not practicing professionally in the region, Citizen Jones, who still practices with TV Continental and Radio—now in Lagos—posits that the broadcast industry is in the forefront in educating, entertaining, and informing the people of the Akwa-Cross region; it has grown to be an emerging force in the employment of young people. He is also of the opinion that training should be given priority. Comparatively, Citizen Jones gives kudos to private media organizations, especially in his native Akwa Ibom State, for the bold-



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ness in their balance of reports as a counter to reports of government-owned media in both states. Furthermore, Jones Usen, who has been in the business of broadcasting for over forty years, suggested in an interview that the growth cannot be divorced from politics and government deregulation of the industry precisely during the reign of former military head of state General Sanni Abacha. The emergence of DAAR communications with Ray Power and African Independent Television was followed by Silverbird Communications and, like they say, the rest is history. These stations pioneered the revolution of modern broadcasting in Nigeria, which Akwa Ibom and Cross River States are part of. The revolution also opened the door to new forceful voices like Effiong Nyong, George Essien, Etoma Edu, John Nkamiang, Affiong Bassey, and Borong Uranta, among others. Jones Usen further posits that effective broadcast stations in the region must take seriously the production and rendition of programs in local/native languages. The current trend is for program presentations in English and Pidgin and probably one or two local languages, whereas in Cross River State alone, more than fifty languages are spoken. This leaves a huge chunk of the population not being catered to while their language, culture, and tradition are driven into extinction. Usen believes that radio and television remain powerful tools for language and values revival, promotion, and presentation. Government media in both states have fallen short in education and information, considering their roles as social service organizations not commercial interests. In about fifty years, broadcasting in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States has grown from one station in 1976 to about fifteen as of 2022. The huge challenges, as noted by Maurice Inok and Dr. Anetie Ukpe, chief executives of Cross River Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC) and Akwa Ibom State Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC), vary from station to station. They note the challenging economic environment that they have to contend with in the face of the ever-rising cost of operations, and the dearth of trained professionals. For private stations, the ownership of the stations constitutes the greatest impediment to growth and professionalism, which was found during our investigation to include: • Political lineage: where owners set up their stations purely to promote the political party to which the owners belong. • Poor recruitment policies and processes: based on sentiments rather than their competence. • Immediate expectation of a return on investment due to poor understanding of the industry and its dynamics despite professional advice and projections.

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• Power: this remains a huge challenge to both government and privately owned broadcast media organizations; public power remains erratic while the cost of diesel at eight hundred naira is at an all-time high. Breakingeven becomes impossible. • Nature: The states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River state lie in the most weather tormented region of the country, where thunderstorms occur almost throughout the year, putting broadcast equipment at risk all year round. The upside is the realization that the broadcast industry is not only here to stay but has a huge potential for growth. NIGERIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, CALABAR (RADIO NIGERIA) With the creation of twelve states in Nigeria by the Gowon administration in 1967, Radio Nigeria, Calabar, like its sister stations in other parts of the country, assumed the full status of a state station; however, with its umbilical cord still tethered to Radio Nigeria, Lagos. Operating with two transmitters (short wave and medium wave) from its Akim Road studios, the station served its listeners with a mixture of local and network programs relayed from its mother station, in Lagos. Some of the relayed programs were a news magazine program, Across The Nation (Sundays 1:30 p.m.), Concert Hour (Sundays 2:30 p.m.) and Network News (daily 7. a.m.–10 a.m., 1 p.m.–4 p.m. and 10 p.m.). Apart from joining Lagos hourly for the news summary, the station also remained hooked to Lagos for the news in major Nigerian languages at 8:03 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. on weekdays. Also on the station’s schedule was a daily educational service program relayed from Lagos. Administratively, the station, like its sister stations, was headed by a state controller, who was supported by heads of the various departments. Engineer Augustus Asiak was its pioneer controller before O. O. Philips took over. Asiak later became the general manager, when the station metamorphosed into Cross River Broadcasting Corporation in 1979. Locally, the station produced and aired programs to satisfy the preferences and needs of the people. Popular among these were Saturday Treat, which was presented by Aloysius Ekanem, Calabar Music Room, Midday Melodies, Matters of the Moment, and a Saturday-night program, Calabar Night Out, which was broadcast live from popular Night clubs in town, notably the Luna Nite Club, African Club, and The Taj Mahal. It was a weekly delight anchored by Edwin Ejah, who was also the head of the Sports and Outside broadcast unit.



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Another popular program was a daily (except Saturdays and Sundays) morning drive-time music show, Seven-Ten Safari (named after its air-time of 7:10 a.m., when the Network News, which lasted for ten minutes ended). Different presenters handled the show on different days. Monday Idiong, Affiong Ekpeyong and Joseph Idiong, Patrick Ogar, Okon Etim and Alfred Ekpe, Sam Ibok, Martin Edu, and Okpo Ojah were some of the presenters. Schools Challenge and Twenty Questions were audience-participation programs, which also held vast listenership arising from the masterly presentation of Louis Barnaby Ephraim, who handled both programs in their early days before Ubong Nda took over. For the Ibibio/ Efik listeners, their weekly package of fun was Efik Play—a drama program produced by Okon Atakpo, an Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service veteran, who also headed the Nigerian languages unit. In the News Department at different times were state editor Victor Effiom (who would later join NTA, where he retired as executive director (News and Current Affairs), Mr. Emeli Fonwu, Ekpenyong Ekpenyong (who, years later became the public relations manager of the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company, Oku Iboku, Itu), Isaac Takon, and Victor Akpan. Etim Anim, Mr. Imeh Usoroh, and Kate Okon later headed the News Department when the station became Cross River Broadcasting Corporation. On the news readers roster were microphone pearls like Martin Edu, Otong Akpabio (head of programs) Edwin Ejah, Monday Idiong, Sam Ibok and Effiom Ekpe, Atim Ekpo, Victoria Ekong, and Effiom Ekpe, who usually came in from the Ministry of Information. Victor Effiom and Ekpenyong Ekpenyong also read the news in English, while Okon Atakpo and Effiom Iyamba read the news in Efik. In the following years they were joined by Nyong Edet and Effiom Archibong. CROSS RIVER BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CRBC) However, despite an independent and impartial disposition purported in its establishing ordinance, the NBC stations, under the control of the military government, which wielded the power to hire and fire media executives as dictated by their whims and caprices, fell short of expectations. Consequently, the stations suffered overbearing control and interference by the government. In fact, the control hit a climax in 1976 when the Obasonjo administration returned broadcasting to the exclusive list and took over the control and financing of all media houses, centrally. However, a new dawn broke for broadcasting in 1978. As the military prepared to hand over power to a democratically elected government in 1979, it promulgated Decree No. 8 of the same

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year. The instrument established the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) while decentralizing radio broadcast and restructuring the industry. Consequently, all NBC affiliate stations and their transmitters were handed over to their respective state governments, as stipulated in the decree. This action marked the birth of Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, which had the call signal “Cross River Radio.” Engineer Augustus Asiak was appointed the general manager. But inheriting the moribund NBC station came with a price. According to the decree the stations were required to get rid of their shortwave transmitter and restrict their operation to a maximum 10 kilowatts medium wave transmission and a field strength of one millivolt per meter as measured at the state boundary. According to Uche (1985, p. 25). These provisions were intended to curtail the political influence of some ambitious powerful state governments and their people, especially in periods of political crisis. The decree also changed the NBC to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and structured it into four national zones, with their headquarters located in Lagos, Kaduna, Ibadan, and Enugu. While the state station coverage area was limited to the state, that of the zonal FRCN stations was made wider because they were empowered to transmit on the short-wave band. The development also taxed the production ingenuity of the members of the staff of the stations, who had to create contents to fill the airtime created by the discontinuation of programs hitherto relayed from Lagos. In Cross River Radio, Calabar, the Programs Department, under Otong Akpabio and parading a team of passionate, dedicated, and committed producers like Ekanem Emah, Aloysius Ekanem, Dave Ibarn, Edwin Eja, Patrick Ogar, Emmanuel Ikoh, Okon Atakpo, Bassey Ekanem, Raph Ekuri, Paul Idagu, Anietie Thomas, Jewel Akwa, Roseline Effiong, Nyong Edet, Edem Duke, and Effiong Archibong, most of whom were trained by the BBC (London) and the Radio Nigeria Training School (Lagos), was able to meet the expectation of the listeners with top-quality programs. Some of the popular ones were The Peoples’ Right to Know, anchored by the then head of Mass Communication Department, Polytechnic Calabar, Professor Ahaziah Umanah, a program he still anchors in his privately owned radio station, Redemption FM, Abak. There was also Youth Connection created by Patrick Ogar and Monday Idiong’s, Sports Round Up, presented by Njomo Kevin, City Caravan created by Ime Inyang, and Ndito Ndito (kiddies magazine) produced by Anietie Thomas (later Aye) and No Do Am Again. At that time, the Announcers Corps had expanded with the signing-on of persons like Victoria Ekong, Effiong Afahame, Everest Ekong, Joseph Idiong, Nse Inwang, Magaret Eshiet, Roberta Nyong, Uwem Essienton, William Williams, and Ikemesit Smith (I-Smith The Gold).



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The station was still a state-owned outfit when a democratically elected government of the National Party of Nigeria, took over the reins of power in the country. The same party also won in the state, with a former Central Bank governor, Dr. Clement Isong as the governor. In the unfolding political milieu, Cross River Radio acquitted itself well in mobilizing support for the new administration while discharging its other statutory functions. But a couple of years later, unfolding political developments would launch the station into another phase. The state governor, Clement Isong, had lost the governorship bid for a second term in a disputed primary election preceding the 1983 general elections. In protest, Isong switched loyalty to the Unity Party of Nigeria, whose governorship candidate in the state, Brigadier Udokaha Esuene, leveraging on his impressive achievements as a former military governor of the state (when the state was South-Eastern State) was poised to give the NPN a good fight. At this time, a young businessman, Mr. Anietie Okon, had been appointed the chairman of the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation Board. As a strong party man and an Isong ally, Okon used the station as an instrument of protest against what Isong supporters believed was a gang up against the governor by some Abuja-based members of the party, who were infamously referred to as the Abuja front. Effective execution of this mission implied that the station, like the governor, must switch loyalty, though veiled, to the opposition. To realize this, Okon needed to change the station programming format from the more AM-style talk to the more music-evolving FM orientation, which was gaining popularity in the country, especially after the establishment of Radio Rivers 2, Port Harcourt, in 1981. Taking after the first FM station in Nigeria, Radio Nigeria 2, Lagos, Radio Rivers 2 had adopted popular music content as a template for its programming—a departure from the humdrum and stereotypical days of yore. The innovation earned for the station a fanatical followership across the southern states. Following this trail, Okon started by changing the on-air identity of the station from Cross River Radio, Calabar, to CBC, which sounded trendier. He followed this up by introducing many music programs that were presented in the breezy disc jockey style. Under this rebranding, the station’s image rejuvenated and listenership swelled. Meanwhile, the state government had established substations in Ogoja and Abak to boost the stations’ signal and enhance reception in all the parts of the state. For the smooth take-off of the substations, some trained staff of the mother station in Calabar were deployed to the new stations. Senior producer Aloysius Ekanem was sent to head the Ogoja station as the officer in charge, with Paul Idagu as head of programs, while a senior technical officer, Monday Jackson, took charge of the Abak substation that had Emmanuel Ikoh as head of programs.

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On the other divide, to make up for the loss of CRBC, the NPN-led federal government, which was vying for a second-term mandate and its retention of Cross River State (and other NPN-controlled states), as well as winning more states in July 1983, set up high-powered Radio Nigeria at Owerri, Benin, Akure, Jos, Abeokuta, and Calabar. The Calabar station, operating from the outskirts of the town Anyanganse, had its administrative office on Thomas Henshaw Street, off Hawkins Road. The Assistant general manager of the CRBC, engineer David Andrew Bassey, was appointed the general manager. Ready to square up against the state radio in a fight for the soul of the state, the federal government station transferred the velvet-voiced Fidelis Ekom from FRCN, Enugu, to Calabar and immediately threw him into the battlefield. To add to the mercenary devices, the new station poached some popular producers and presenters (to most of whom it dangled an incentive of one grade level salary advancement) from the CBC. They were Patrick Ogar, Margaret Eshiet, Effiom Archibong, Edwin Ejah Nelson Coco-Bassey, Nkanu Egbe, and William Williams and Uwem Essienton. Apart from serving the political interests of their owners, the two radio stations complemented each other in terms of providing alternatives to listeners, depending on the individual’s political inclination. Joining the fray on the federal government side was the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 9, which the federal government had established in the state in 1978. Being a federal government organ and given the political exigencies of the time, the station denied the Isong administration access to its services while promoting the interest of the NPN-led federal government. As a solution, the Cross River state government promptly established the Cross River Television Authority UHF channel 45 in Uyo. The station, operating with a 1 kw transmitter, could hardly make the intended impact, as its signals were too weak to cover the mainland part of the state, let alone the entire state. The key programs staff were Gina Ikpe and James Umosen, Ifonketi Ibokette, Ini Ansa, Eno Nkwot (now Eno Esenam), and Emem Esenam. The news staff were Comfort Umanah, Donald Etukakpan, Nsima Akpan, Usen Ekanem, and Chris Ikpoto. It was the genesis of the Television Service of Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation, following the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987. CRBC AFTER THE CREATION OF AKWA IBOM STATE With the military back in power in 1983, the station resumed its former call name of Cross River Radio. Following the creation of Akwa Ibom in 1987, disengagement of the services of indigenes of Akwa Ibom, and their subsequent return to the new state, the station continued to function with presenters



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like Fidelis Ekom (joining from Radio Nigeria) Effiong Effiom, Erim Egar, Sam Enoh, Lydia Okon, Atim Ekpo, Felix Ibiang, Joe Ekanem, Joe Ekpenyong, and Ebetem Ivara holding the fort until another generation of presenters emerged with the birth of the FM arm of the corporation. The FM station, which was christened the “House on the Hill,” transmitted from Odukpani, in the outskirts of Calabar, on 92.5 FM, On the team were Felix Ibiang Peter Tex Etim—a veteran nightclub DJ—Fabian Avoh, Aso Okon, Violet Adams, Ekpeyongawan Anderson, and Maurice Inok. Others were Edem Esang, Marian Bassey, Emem Afia, Matina Ayendi, Nyok Ita, Lekis Laura, and Davina David. Frank Edoho, David Ecoma, Joseph Ekpang, Maurice Ekot, Kookie Ekanem, Vina Bassey, and Eton Eteng were also on the staff list. Currently, CRBC, operating with the slogan “the paradise station,” operates on 105.5 FM from its IBB Way studios office, which also houses the Cross River Television. CRBC IKOM To make up for the inability of CRBC, Calabar, to cover the central and northern parts of the state, the government set up CRBC, Ikom, comprising radio and TV in 2003. Transmitting on 89.7 FM, the station had Chief Sylvester Odey as its pioneer general manager. He was later succeeded by Paul Idagu. Currently the station is headed by Mary Ushie and is under the supervision of the special adviser to the governor on CRBC, Mr. Patrick Ogar, who also oversees CRBC, Calabar. Priding itself as “The station of possibility” CRBC Ikom had Friday Adeba (Who was deployed from CRBC, Calabar) as its pioneer announcer, while Erim Ega also deployed from CRBC, Calabar, later joined. Others were Comfort Sampson, Jimmy Ndoma, Jude Ebo, and Perpetua Ochelebe. The television arm is currently off the air due to transmitter problems. From 1978 till today, CRBC has had at different times different chief executives. They are Engineer A. J. E Asiak, Engineer Uyai Ekaette, Martin Usenekong, Dr. Akomaye Okoh, Mr. Alaga Bassey, Mr. Joe Oruh, Mr. Sylvester Odey (sole administrator) Patrick Ogar, Mr. Eno Young, Theresa Essien, Mr. Aye Henshaw, Mr. Eniang Ndem, and Maurice Inok. CANAAN CITY FM The federal government reestablished its presence, media-wise, in the state when the Obasanjo administration decided to set up FM stations in all the state capitals of the federation. This gave birth to Radio Nigeria’s Canaan City FM 99. 5, Calabar, in 2014.

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PRIVATE STATIONS IN CALABAR The deregulation of broadcasting by the federal government in 1992 opened up the industry for private participation. With this development, HITS 95.9 FM owned by former media aide to former governor Liyel Imoke, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, led the way as the first privately owned radio station in Calabar, when it began operations on 18 February 2016. FAD FM 93.1, owned by Fad Media group, followed on 1 September 2017 while Sparkling 92 .3 FM, owned by Onorowanza Communication Ltd., came on board in 2018. The same year Correct FM 97.3 owned by Consolidated Media Associates arrived on June 2nd. AKWA IBOM STATE BROADCASTING CORPORATION With the creation of Akwa Ibom state by the Babaginda administration in 1987 and the subsequent setting up of administrative structures in the new state, the establishment of a state radio as a symbol of the new geo-political identity and rallying medium for mobilization and information became necessary. Thus, five months after the creation of the state, the military government of Colonel Tunde Ogbeha established Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Service, by enacting Edict no. 4 of 1988, which had a retrospective effect from 1 March 1988). According to Otu (2006, p. 188) the edict was recorded as “Akwa Ibom state of Nigeria Gazette No 7, volume 21 of 18th February 1988.” The instrument merged the Cross River Radio substation at Abak and the Cross River Television Authority, Uyo, into the nucleus of Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation. Section 27(1) of the edict ensured that staff members of the Abak station and television station in Uyo were deployed to the new corporation. The corporation also inherited Akwa Ibom indigenes disengaged from the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation following the creation of Akwa Ibom, the previous year. Administratively, the AKBC edict brought the two services into one management under the control of a managing director, assisted by two directors, one each for radio and television. Chief John Ekwere, OFR, who had been the chief executive of the Cross River Television Authority, Uyo, was appointed the managing director, while a former engineer with the Nigerian Television Authority, Sunday Ibok was made the director of the television service. Under the same arrangement, Reverend Father Francis Mbaba, who was among the disengaged Akwa Ibom indigenes in CRBC, was made the director of the radio service. With its administrative structure erected, AKBC inherited the Cross River Radio substation at Abak and the CRTV facilities at Uyo with which it started operations.



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However, the facilities were grossly inadequate to cover the entire state, as their signals were too weak for a meaningful output. To turn the situation around, Colonel Godwin Abbe who took over from Col. Tunde Ogheha, began the construction of a new television transmission station and studio at Ntak Inyang Itam near Uyo. With a 10 kw transmitter and operating on channel UHF 45 The station, christened “The Ultimate in Television Broadcasting,” was inaugurated in 1991 by the then military president General Ibrahim Babaginda, during the tenure of Idongesit Nkanga, who was then a wing commander and the state governor. The same year, the FM arm of the corporation, Radio Akwa Ibom, built by the Nkanga administration was inaugurated by the governor himself. Fitted with a 30 kw transmitter, the station whose service was complemented by the AM station at Abak was christened “The Voice of Promise.” It operates on 90.5FM Apart from Cross River Radio programmers “brought forward,” like Ubong Nda, Monday Idiong, John Ekot, Eddy Ekpenyong, Ikemesit Smith, William Williams, Comfort Williams, Emmanuel Ikoh, Margaret Eshiet, and Bassey Akpan, the station threw up a new generation of broadcasters, like Essiet Nsudo, Mary Essien, Bassey Odungide, Akanubong Ukoh, Eunice Egharevba, Benita Kingsley, and John Obot, among others. Before the birth of the station, Radio Rivers 2, Port Harcourt, had not only dominated the airwaves in the southern part of Nigeria, but had also set a bar for FM broadcasting in the region. Thus, it was with much expectation that the people looked forward to the coming of the station. When it finally came, it not only met the people’s expectation but effortlessly surpassed it. The station did so well that one of the five military administrators from the neighboring states who attended its inauguration, Navy Commander Oguguo of Imo State described the station as “the oppressors of the airwaves.” Still, on account of its popularity, the station attracted two Radio Rivers 2 top presenters, Victor Burubo and Jude Tabai, who were signed on as guest artists. ATLANTIC 104.5 FM Radio Akwa Ibom continued to enjoy the monopoly of the airwaves until 2013 when Radio Nigeria’s Atlantic FM 104.5 commenced business, bringing with it new voices like those of Carlos Attoe, Emilia Ogemudia, and Uduak Udoete, among others. Operating on the slogan “A promise fulfilled,” the station like, its counterpart in other states of the federation, relays some programs including the network news from Radio Nigeria, Lagos.

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PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS IN AKWA IBOM STATE In 2014, Planet 101 FM, made history as the first privately owned station in the state. Owned by TAF and Associates, Planet FM, which operates on the mantra “Revolving around You” gave listeners an alternate source of information, different from the perspectives provided by its predecessors. INSPIRATION 109.5 FM Inspiration 109.5 FM came on board as the second private radio station in the state when it began operations in 2016. The station, which is owned by a top banker, Erautus Akingbola, identifies itself as “Your Number One Family Radio” and has branches in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, and Abuja. COMFORT 95.1 FM In 2017, Comfort 95.1 FM changed the narrative in the state when it came into the scene as a twenty-four-hour station. However, high operational costs compelled the station to shrink its daily hours of operation to eighteen hours one year after. The station gained global prominence in 2018 when it covered the FIFA world cup live from Russia. The following year, its presenter George Essien won Nigeria’s Sports Journalist of the Year, even when he was away covering a Nations Cup qualifier between Nigeria and South Africa. OTHER STATIONS On the heels of the birth of Comfort 95.1 FM was the establishment of Passion 94.5 FM, in 2018 by Advocate Broadcasting Network and Excel 106.9 FM, owned by XL Communications Ltd. While Passion 94.5FM goes with the slogan “The Voice of The People,” Excel 106.9 FM calls itself “Your More Music Radio.” More was to come as Mix 88.7 FM, owned by a special assistant on protocol to Governor Udom Emmanuel, joined the mix in 2020, priding itself as “Your Feel Good Neighborhood Radio.” The following year, Redemption 101.5 FM owned by Hacom Communication Limited, Abak joined the party as the Citizens’ Voice. Located at Abak, a fifteen-minute drive from Uyo, the station was the first to operate outside the state capital. Before listeners in Abak could get acquainted with the programs schedule of



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the station, another radio outfit, Premium 89.9 FM Abak came on board in the same town. Owned by the SouthWave Communication Service Ltd, the station operates on the slogan, “Your Preferred Station.” CAMPUS BROADCASTING IN AKWA IBOM STATE As a way of providing opportunities for practical experience, as well as promoting social well-being for their students and leveraging the provision of section of 9.11.1 of the National Broadcasting Code, which recognizes campus broadcasters to train student in broadcasting and other related fields, the University of Uyo set up Uniuyo 100.7 FM in 2008. Heritage Polytechnic, Eket, followed suit by establishing Heritage 104.7 FM in 2014. As campus radio stations their area of coverage is limited to the university community. TELEVISION BROADCASTING IN AKWA IBOM STATE AKBC TV’s monopoly of the television space in the state was brought to an end in 1992 when the federal government set up the Nigerian Television Authority NTA, channel 12, Uyo. Another NTA station on channel 35, proposed for Eket, is yet to commence transmission. PRIVATE TV STATIONS IN AKWA IBOM STATE TAF and Associates, owners of Planet 101.1 FM and Tangsio FM, made history as the first operators of the private television in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States when its Spectrum TV came on air in 2021. The station is on Channel 136 on Startimes. Advocate Broadcasting Network, owners of Passion 94.5 FM, followed suit in 2022 when it advanced its ABN TV transmitting on channel 140. REFERENCES Amadi, T., and A. Atoyebi (eds.). (2001). Radio Nigeria Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Abuja, Nigeria: Northwood Resources. Nigeria Broadcasting Code, Sixth Edition (2015). National Broadcasting Commission. Otu, Mercy. (2006), Broadcasting in Nigeria: Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation. Uyo, Nigeria: MEF (Nigeria) Ltd.

Chapter Twenty

The History of Television Broadcasting in Akwa-Cross Charles Obot, John Obot, and Victor Ayara

INTRODUCTION Broadcasting is defined in different ways by different people at different times. Mgbejume (2006, p. 10) defines broadcasting as “the spreading or scattering of News, entertainment or any other programme over a wide area with many people simultaneously receiving the transmitted programme in their homes via Radio or Television sets.” A more comprehensive definition that involves Television Broadcasting is the one provided by Chester Giraud, Garrison Garnet, and Wills Edgar, in their book Television and Radio in 1978. They define broadcasting as “the transmission through space, by means of radio frequencies, signals capable of being received by the general public” (Chester, Garrison, and Wills, 1978). BROADCASTING IN NIGERIA The Western Regional government established its own broadcasting service in 1959—Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service and Western Nigeria Television Service. The Eastern Regional had its own in 1960, known as Eastern Nigeria Broadcast Service, with headquarters in Enugu, to serve the eastern part. And the Northern Regional with the Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria in Kaduna, established in 1962, served the north (Otu, 2006). In 1978 the then military administration decided to restructure radio broadcasting in the country, and this led to the establishment of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) backed up with Decree No. 8 of 1978. The FRCN was then made up of the External Service, the Home Service Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC 2), the Broadcasting Corporation of Northern 313

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Nigeria (BCNN), and the two powerful transmitted complexes of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo, Imo and Anambra States The most important of the provisions of the Decree establishing FRCN are as follows: • The former NBC stations were handed over to the state government, while each state was required to promulgate an edict formally setting up its own radio station. • Commercial broadcasting was removed from the FRCN arm of broadcasting and limited to only the state radio stations. • The FRCN was given the exclusive use of short-wave transmission while state radio stations were limited to only the medium-wave band. • The FRCN is headed by a director general with the four zonal directors responsible to him. The four zones, referred to as national stations, are Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, and Kaduna. • Except for Lagos, where the language of broadcast is limited to English, 90 percent of the music is indigenous. The zonal stations are to use 20 percent of their airtime in English and the remaining 80 percent to be shared among the various languages operating in these areas (Mackay, 1964). The FRCN structure with respect to the zoning system, is to carry out broadcasting in twelve Nigerian languages comprising of: Edo, Yoruba, Igala, and Urhobo in the Ibadan Zone; Igbo, Izon, Tiv, and Efik languages in the Enugu Zone; and Hausa, Kanuri, Fulfulde, and Nupe languages in the Kaduna Zone. It is also to ensure that at least 85 percent of the population of Nigeria is covered by the FRCN programs in all these languages. For network news—The FRCN is to broadcast three national network news programs at 7 a.m., 8 p.m., and at 10 p.m., and it is mandatory for all zonal as well as state stations to relay the network news at those times. BROADCASTING IN SOUTH-EASTERN STATE/ CROSS RIVER STATE Radio and television broadcasting came to the South-Eastern State (our mother state then) because FRCN (Radio Nigeria) comprising Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, and Kaduna zonal stations covered all the states of the country and we from the South-South used to receive our programs from Enugu Network station in the days of the great orator and master interpreter, Mr. Okokon Ndem, the popular Efik voice on Radio Nigeria Enugu. Later, Radio Nigeria was established in Calabar the capital of Cross River State, which broadcast



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on the medium-wave band while the state-owned radio station was Cross River Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC) and the Nigeria Television Authority (Otu, 2006). Two of the voices that echoed on Radio Nigeria Calabar then were those of Fidelis Ekom and Nkanu Egbe, while on the state radio CRBC were voices like Peter Tex Etim, Margaret Esshiet, Victoria Ekong, Ubong Ndah, John Ekot, Monday Idiong, Ikemesit Smith, and the rest. With the creation of Akwa Ibom State from Cross River State in 1987 by the Babagida administration, the Akwa Ibom State Broadcasting Corporation, AKBC was established, and most of these professionals of the Ibibio origin left CRBC in 1988 to start the AKBC, which comprises both radio and television services. AKWA IBOM BROADCASTING CORPORATION— RADIO AND TELEVISION SERVICES AKBC was established by Edict No. 4 in April 1988. It institutes the radio and television services with the director general as the chief executive officer who supervises and coordinates the activities of the two organs. The mandate of the corporation as spelled out by the edict that established it, is to, among the other things, “promote independent and impartial TV/Radio broadcasting services in the state [and] ensure adequate expression is given to the culture, character, affairs and thinking of the people of the state.” (AKBC Handbook) Apart from fulfilling the general objectives of the mass media, AKBC through its radio and television services, has in the last twenty-five years fashioned well-articulated programs that have contributed to all spheres of social life through information, correlation, reinforcement, mobilization, entertainment, education, and promotion of integration and economic development of the state. There are also programs that provide instantaneous twoway communication between the management and the government on one hand, and the listener/viewer and the governed on the other hand. The radio service christened “Radio Akwa Ibom” and “Voice of Promise,” transmits on a frequency modulation of 90.5 MHZ. It broadcasts an average of eighteen hours daily from 5:30 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. The radio service is broadcast in English and in the local dialects of the people. The program contents of AKBC Radio are quite rich, and this informs why it is rated as one of the stations with a high number of popular programs. Some of the most popular and highly-rated programs of the station are Sibaba—Sibaba, Sports Magazine, Sports Arena, Awang Idit-Oro (a drama program in Oron language) as well as Afe Mbono (“The People’s Rendezvous”), which is another program in Anang dialect. There are Famine Touch, Spicy, Style and Fashion, Lunch Time-Out, and Hilltop Safari, as well as Afternoon Ride (which I presented for years

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before crossing over to Radio Nigeria, Lagos). All of these programs are open to sponsorship; however, the station also accepts packaged programs from agencies, clients, and independent producers who meet its program policy guidelines and standards. THE TELEVISION SERVICE OF AKBC The Cross River Television Authority (CRTV) established by the Clement Isong administration in Cross River State through Edict No. 7 of 1983 was the foundation on which the new television arm of Akwa Ibom Broadcasting rested (Otu 2006, p. 89). The improved 25 kw television station was built by the military governor Idongesit Nkanga and commissioned by President Ibrahim Babangida on April 23, 1991. Edict No. 4 of 1988, which established the Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation—the parent organization of the Television Service—states: “The functions of the Corporation shall be to promote independent and impartial television and radio broadcasting services in the State and other States of the Federation as well as ensure that adequate expression is given to the culture, character, affairs and thinking of the people of the State” (AKBC Handbook). AKBC TV broadcasts on channel 45 on the ultra-high-frequency band and on channel 113 on StarTimes. It has five departments, namely: Administration, Engineering, Programmes, News and Current Affairs, and Marketing. However, the Accounts Department serves both the radio and television services of the Corporation (Otu, 2006). Each department is headed by a deputy director, with the director general at the apex of the corporation’s management. The television service, with the slogan “The Ultimate in Television Broadcasting,” is reported to be widely received with an active audience cutting across all age brackets and socioeconomic groups (Otu, 2006). This marks AKBC TV as the ultimate in Television Broadcasting and a gateway to the Eastern market and even beyond. The program policy has the interest of the people at the center, giving exposure to regional culture, tastes, and character, while at the same time, educating, informing, enlightening, and entertaining the people of the state and beyond. Based on this dynamic policy, the directorate of the station designs exciting programs to meet the tastes of the numerous viewers, thereby providing a receptive atmosphere for effective marketing communication. The station was on a twenty-four-hour transmission from September 2007, but discontinued in 2010 due to the high cost of running the generator and manpower. Transmission is now eighteen hours daily with a prime viewing time of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. There are well-crafted and attractive program belts with popular and compelling shows that have become must-watch TV for many viewers. The morning belt pres-



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ents yet another window for advertisers to reach their target audience. Some of the popular morning shows are AM45, Series of Pathfinders, Heartbeat, Centre Point, and Focus. These are live compelling magazine programs that feature discussions, comedy, drama sketches, motivational talks, music, and interviews. Some of the other popular programs on AKBC TV are ICT World, Youth Corner, Angel on TV, Music Alive, Reflections, Asuama, Menu 45, Nuptial Crystal, Night Bliss, and Studio 45. On AKBC TV, there is also a vernacular belt from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. daily titled Nta-Nta Asakka (“Youth Corner”)—for the young and the young at heart. Angel on TV, a live phone-in program enables the viewers to call in and share a real-life experience on relationships. Music Alive is a live music entertainment program that showcases talent in different genres of music. Asuama is a vernacular drama that portrays contemporary society and boardroom politics in government and private enterprises. Also, Legend highlights the success story of great achievers with a host of others that are open for sponsorships. The marketing directorate of the station can be contacted for details. Packaged independent programs that meet the station’s standards are also acceptable. TOP BROADCAST PERSONALITIES IN AKWA-CROSS In the days of South-Eastern State when there was no state-owned radio and no television in the two states, the name Okokon Ndem was a lone voice we grew up hearing on Radio Nigeria, Enugu, while Christiana Essien—Mrs. Agbeno—was on NTA Enugu on the village masquerade. When Cross River State was created, there were two stations—Radio Nigeria and Cross River Radio—with NTA Calabar. Top voices like Monday Idiong, Ubong Ndah, John Ekot, Ikemesit Smith, Brian Etibeng, Edet Ikotidem, Margaret Esshiet, and Victoria Ekong reverberated on Cross River Radio, while on Radio Nigeria there were Fidelis Ekom, Nkanu Egbe, and others. When Akwa Ibom State was carved out of Cross River State and AKBC was established, most of these top names formed the pioneer staff of the new station. It is of note that the very first voice on AKBC Radio was that of a prolific presenter par excellence, Eddie Ekpenyong. Following him were those of Aniefiok Nkereuwem (the good old sailor), Bassey Odongidi, Edet Ikotidem, Margaret Esshiet, Victoria Ekeng, Mary Essien, Arit Efiwat, Akan Ubong Uko and Aniekpenno Nkpanam, Itoro Lawrence (It Law), Eno Essien, Esther Ukor, Mike Etibeng, John Obot, Boniface Ebeowo, and a host of many others. Today with the advent of many private stations, hundreds of new top broadcast personalities are all over the state, making waves and carving niches for themselves. Also, in the early 1980s there were top international reporters of Akwa-Cross origin on both radio and television like Alex Udoh, Ekerette Udoh, Okokon

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Ukpayang, and the likes, while great presenters like Effiong Effiom, Effiom Archibong, and many others also held sway at the time. Victor Ayara had been a known voice and face on radio and television, as well as Austin Okon Akpan, a renowned sportscaster. The list goes on. THE COMING OF NIGERIAN TELEVISION AUTHORITY (NTA) INTO THE AKWA-CROSS REGION The Western Region government headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo pioneered broadcasting in Nigeria with the establishment of Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) in 1959, followed by a radio service—the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS)—in May 1960 (Otu, 2006). The Eastern Region established the ENTV on October 1, 1960, while the Northern Region established a Radio and Television Service—the Radio Kaduna Television (RKTV) in 1962. Decree 24 of May 1977, which gave birth to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), was promulgated in March 1977 and took effect retrospectively from April 1976 (Otu, 2006). By that decree, the authority became the only body empowered to undertake television broadcasting in Nigeria. With that decree, all ten of the existing state television stations were incorporated in NTA. The decree provides for one national governing body that has overall responsibilities for its policy and standard. The authority therefore remains the corporate legal entity, which may sue and be sued in its corporate name. The director general as the chief executive of the authority is a member of the board. It is pertinent to note that the exclusive right of television broadcasting enjoyed by the authority when it was inaugurated in May 1977 by the federal military government was removed by the 1979 Constitution, which gave right of ownership to state governments, organizations and individuals that the president may authorize to operate television stations. The provision in the Constitution gave birth to the establishment of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in 1992 and resulted in the issuance of television and cable broadcasting licenses to private operators for the first time in the history of broadcasting in Nigeria. There is at least one NTA station in each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. NTA CALABAR Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) channel 9, Calabar, was established in 1978 at the Murtala Mohammed Highway, Calabar. It has a sister-station,



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channel 6 in Ikom with an effective radiated power of 60 kw to guarantee effective coverage of its signal throughout the state. BRIEF HISTORY OF NTA, UYO The Nigerian Television Authority, Uyo, was formally established in 1988 following the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987; and in pursuance of the federal government policy of locating one NTA station in the state capitals in the country (AKBC Handbook). Prior to its being accorded a state capital station, NTA Uyo operated as a community station under NTA 9, Calabar. The station began with nineteen members of staff redeployed from NTA Calabar under the supervision of an officer-in-charge, Mr. Eyo Umoh, assistant chief engineer, who was then assisted by a senior administrative officer, Mr. Charles Udoudom, redeployed from NTA headquarters, Lagos. Others were Engr. Ntekpere, Mr. Monday Emmanuel, Mr. Ekpenyong, Mr. Ime Okon Akpan, Mrs. Cecilia Mboho, and Mrs. Ime Udo. The station commenced test transmission in October 1992, while full transmission commenced in 1993 with a 5 kw Marconi transmitter on channel 12. In February 1998, the station Table 20.1.  General Managers from Inception Mr. Ahmadu Aruwa Engr. Gregory Gbadamosi Mr. Eso Eghobamien Deac. Christiana Obot Mr. Olaniyi Oyeleye Mr. Chidi Uluka Mrs. Patricia Jibunoh Mr. Ohifeme Aigbochie Mrs. Nkechinyere Iheme

1993–197 1997–2000 September–November 2000 2000–2006 2006–2010 2010–2016 2016–2018 2018–2021 2021–2022

Source: Author created.

Table 20.2.  Heads of Divisions Charles Udoudom Effiong Ntekpere Paulinus Asuquo Okon Thomas Etukudo Christiana E. Obot Smart A. Usanga Source: Author created.

Administration Engineering Finance Marketing News Programmes

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relocated its administrative office from 7 Kevin Street, Uyo, to its permanent site along Aka Etinan Road, where its studio complex was sited. Table 20.1 shows the general managers from inception, and table 20.2 shows the heads of the divisions. COVERAGE AREA/REACH AND TRANSMITTING HOURS With the installation of the new 5 kw transmitter at inception, the signals of the station were significantly boosted and could be received throughout the state extending to Rivers State in the West, Abia in the north and Cross River State in the east. At inception the station transmitted for twenty hours, and went up to twenty-four hours daily. However, due to aging equipment and high running cost, the station now transmits for eighteen hours. NTA UYO EARLY TELEVISION PROGRAMS The following were the early programs on NTA Uyo: 1.  Afrim Akpa, a drama program that portrayed societal ills on a weekly basis. The program was in Ibibio language. 2.  Home Guard, which, as the title implied was a program on family matters that proffered solutions to problems relating to the home. 3.  Health Watch was a public enlightenment program aimed at creating healthy living conditions. 4.  The Nigerian Child was a public enlightenment program that highlighted the vulnerable nature of the social structures that facilitated child upbringing and its effect on child development in Nigeria. 5.  Weekend Train. 6.  Junior Theatre offered children the opportunity to express themselves in drama. Participation was open to all nursery and primary schools in the State. 7.  Mboho Ibaan was a program on family matters. It highlighted familyrelated problems and finding solutions to them. The program was in Ibibio language. 8.  Our Dances was a thirty-minute family-targeted program that portrayed the State’s rich cultural heritage and tradition with a view to curbing the ills or excesses of our society.



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9.  Ifiok Ikemeowo was a thirty-minute drama program in vernacular which mirrored the ills in our society and proffered ways and means of curbing them. 10.  Bush House. Table 20.3.  Current Programs on NTA, Uyo Children Jamboree Growing Up Children’s Summit

Daily News Kiddies Train Ibom Arise

Program to celebrate children birthdays/children’s day. Debate program to educate students. Emerged as part of other events organized to mark the anniversary of the creation of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria’s Independence. As part of its corporate social responsibility, NTA channel 12, Uyo, has since 2012 organized Children’s Summit—a speechmaking event to give children a platform to express themselves, as well as bring to the attention of government and stakeholders their needs and expectations. A daily thirty-minute news bulletin with translations in the major local dialects, a delight to our viewing public. Children’s variety show. Comprises numerous segments to showcase the rich culture of the state, and discussion on prevailing issues in the state.

Religion and Life. Source: Author created.

CURRENT PROGRAMS Some past programs could no longer be transmitted for lack of sponsorship. Table 20.3 gives the current programs. ABN TELEVISION, UYO Advocate Broadcasting Network (ABVN), Uyo, located at the Banking Layout, off Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo, was established in September 2021. It transmits on channel 140 on StarTimes and on channel 28 on Strong decoder. It has as its vision: “to offer quality broadcasting that is unbiased, factual and promotes national cohesion.” The following departments exist in the station: News, Programmes, Transmission, Engineering, Camera, and Editing. The managing director of the station is Mr. Ishaka Aliyu, while Mr. Ikechukwu June is the general manager.

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SPECTRUM TELEVISION, UYO Spectrum Television is the first privately owned cable television station in the Akwa-Cross Region (Spectrumtv). It transmits from Ibiaku Uruan, Akwa Ibom State. Its vision is “to be the preferred choice for great content, unbiased and engaging stories that ultimately fulfill the deep-rooted obligation of unraveling the truth and empowering the citizenry” (Spectrumtv). It began test transmission on September 28, 2021, and full transmission on November 1, 2021 (Spectrumtv). Some of the programs aired on Spectrum TV are: Akwa Ibom Decides, Battle of the Fans, Business 360, Connect, EmpowHer, Entertainment Now, Reach Out, #Trending, and Political Spectrum. The management team is comprised of Tony Afia, chairman of TAF Media Group; Ekaette Afia, managing director; and Sunday Edet, general manager. Some of the On-air-personalities of the station are: Bitto Bryan, Edidiong Martin, Francis Edet, Godswill Edidaha, Janice Cobham, Rachael Davidwhyt, Saviour Robert, Uyai Aniekan and Unyime Cyril; Mr. Nsikak Umana serves as camera operator. CRBC-TV As stated earlier, the Cross River Broadcasting Television (CRBC-TV) was established by the Cross River state government in 1994 primarily to educate, entertain, and inform the populace. It is a free-to-air television station owned by the Cross River state government. It broadcasts local content to residents across the state, especially those without access to cable television networks. CRBC-TV transmits on Channel 27 on the UHF Band from 1 IBB Way, Calabar. In order to achieve effective coverage of the entire State because of the peculiar topography, the Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC) also has a sister TV station at Ikom. It transmits on channel 54 on the UHF band. The departments in CRBC-TV are: News/Current Affairs, Programmes, Marketing, Administration, Engineering, and Accounts. The most influential media practitioners in Cross River State are: 1.  Patrick Ugbe 2.  Edem Duke 3.  Therrasa Essien 4.  Effiom Archibong 5.  Effiong Nyong 6.  Aye Henshaw 7.  Macdonald Peter—Anyangbe



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8.  Christian Ita 9.  Maurice Innok 10.  Ukay Ogar 11.  Stanley Nsemo 12.  Duke Emmanuel 13.  Effiong Ekpenyong 14.  Hope Obeteng 15.  Robert Ekpo 16.  Friday Awade 17.  Eric Anderson 18.  Andy Ekpo 19.  Ralph Udofa 20.  Eyo Ita 21.  Diana Mary Owan 22.  Peter Tex Etim (The Godfather) 23.  Agba Jalingo 24.  Iwara Iwara and a host of others. These media practitioners serve as role models to the young generations that want to emulate them, and venture into the profession with a view towards also winning laurels and carving their niches in the profession. Many who developed interests in broadcasting after constant listening to and interacting with these top broadcasters have today risen to various stages of professionalism in the media broadcasting space. So, it is a fact that broadcast journalism holds the ace for the younger generation, hence the need for them to take it one step at a time, pick a role model, ask questions on what and how, learn at their feet. and grow in it. Though the media space is now saturated with new media outlets, the mainstream media still thrives, and it offers diverse opportunities for the young and the young at heart of the future. CONCLUSION With the deregulation of broadcasting in Nigeria for thirty years, the broadcast media sphere keeps expanding with the establishment of more government and privately owned broadcast stations. This is healthy for everyone— owners/proprietors, practitioners, scholars, the citizenry, democracy, and good governance. Because of the important role broadcast media plays in bringing about a well-informed populace, the more robust the media ecology, the more virile the democratic culture of that society.

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REFERENCES Akwa Ibom State Broadcasting Corporation. (N.d.) AKBC Handbook. CRBC-TV, Calabar. https://www.tv14.net/crbc-tv/. Garrison, Chester G., and G. Wills. (1978). Television and Radio. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Mackay, I. K. (1964). Broadcasting in Nigeria. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. Mgbejume, O. (2006). The Technique of Video Tape Recording. Ibadan: Bookcraft. Nigerian Television Authority, Channel 9, Calabar. https://cultureintelligence.ynaija .com/platforms/nigerian-television-authority-nta-calabar/. Nigerian Television Authority. (N.d.). NTA Handbook. Otu, M. (2006). Broadcasting in Nigeria: Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation Experience. Uyo, Nigeria: MEF Ltd. Spectrumtv, Uyo. www.spectrumtv.ng.

Chapter Twenty-One

The History of Sports Activities in Akwa-Cross Unwana Samuel Akpan, Effiong Efa Nyong, and Austin Okon-Akpan

INTRODUCTION The authors start this chapter on sports in Akwa-Cross by celebrating an illustrious daughter of Akwa-Cross who is a living legend and has made the Akwa-Cross people and Nigeria as a country proud for breaking the Guinness World Record for cooking for four days. She is Hilda Bassey Effiong, a twenty-seven-year-old talented Nigerian chef from Nsit Ubium Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, who owns a food brand in Lagos called “My Food by Hilda.” The Akwa-Cross chef and entrepreneur popularly known as Hilda Baci, at the Amore Gardens in Lagos, broke the current Guinness World Record for the “longest cooking marathon by an individual,” tagged “Cook-A-Thon,” after surpassing the ninety-six-hour target and then extending it to a 100-hour record time to break her own record. Congratulations to Hilda! Her resilience, skill, and beauty are a perfect representation of the Akwa-Cross and Nigerian blood! According to the Punch newspaper: The Lagos-based chef began the competition on Thursday after she turned on her cooker at 4 pm and surpassed the current world record holder on Monday morning. If certified after the 100th hour, she will be displacing the current world record holder, Lata Tondon, an Indian chef who achieved the feat in 2019 with 87 hours 45 minutes record uninterrupted cooking. (Punch, 2023)

The tough rules for the Guinness World Record Marathon Cooking were: to cook for four days nonstop; to stand while cooking; the participant was not allowed to take coffee, stimulants, or any energy drink to artificially boost her energy and bodily strength while cooking; she was allowed to eat food, drink water or fruit juice, and take glucose; she was to cook round the clock with no 325

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sleep; five minutes of rest were given per hour. She got a thirty-minute break every six hours, and she spent the thirty minutes in a medical van close by, within which she could use the restroom, and also get a medical assessment or checkup on the spot. The rules also say that whatever she cooks must be shared with the people at the venue for free; she must cook different meals simultaneously, and she is at liberty to cook any meal she likes. The World Record title is about cooking within a time frame, not about what is cooked. Every meal cooked and every plate served is recorded. By the third day, she had cooked over 115 meals with almost 3,000 portions. Hilda Baci started the cooking on a Thursday and was expected to complete the target time frame by Monday evening, 15 May 2023. She was attempting to cook for ninety-six hours, going an extra nine hours to break the world record of eighty-seven hours, forty-five minutes. She tagged the cooking project a “Cook-A-Thon.” Uber, one of her partners, offered a 40 percent discounted ride to the venue for people who wished to join and cheer her on. Hilda’s mother is also a chef. She owns a food brand called “Calabar Pot.” Sports activities in the Akwa-Cross region have remained very vibrant, with up-to-date stadiums in both Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The E. U. Essuene stadium and the Champions Nest, both in Calabar, have endeared sports lovers to the region. The two states boast of two functional football clubs that are in the Nigerian Football League: the Akwa United Football Club of Uyo and the Calabar Rovers FC). Basically, numerous studies have shown that communities (Lederach, 2002; Gasser and Levinsen, 2004; Lambert, 2006a; Lambert, 2006b; Giulianotti, 2011; Majaro–Majesty, 2011), nations (Vrcan and Lalic, 1999; Toft, 2003; Armstrong, 2006), corporate organizations (Stone, Joseph and Jones, 2003; Peetz, Parks, and Spencer, 2004; Kellner, 2004), companies (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995; Burton, Farrelly, and Quester, 2000; Shuart, 2007) and the advertising sector (Till, 2001; Stone, Joseph, and Jones, 2003; Suegker, 2003; Veltri et al., 2003; Temperly and Tangen, 2006) have over the years come to understand the power of sports in nation building (Mitrany, 1943; Mixon, 1984; Nwankwo, Nweke, Okechi, and Onyishi, 2016), peacekeeping (Azar, 1990; Boutros-Ghali, 1995; Armstrong and Giulianotti, 2004) and for commercial benefits (Kotler, 1973; Bush, Martin, and Bush, 2004; Freifeld, 2004). The history of sports dates back to medieval Europe (Higgs, Weiller, and Martin, 2003; Giulianotti, 1999), and since then, the various sports have enjoyed official annual and biannual congregations of sports participants and sports lovers to compete for medals in various categories. The first widely known documented tournament in history has been the Olympic games, which first took place in Athens, Greece, in 1896 (Giulianotti, 1999; Council of Europe, 2001; Coakley and Pike, 2009). Other well-known sports tournaments are the FIFA World Cup,



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CommonWealth Games, and West African Football Union Game. In Nigeria, sports, and especially football, have mass appeal and acceptability across the length and breadth of the country. It is estimated that approximately 75 percent of Nigerians are football fans. According to Naijalives.com (2021, para. 1): Nigeria has an estimation of about 75% football fans including men and women although women make up only a little percentage of the total percent. Many Nigerians are involved in football for certain reasons such as betting, passion, etc. As a football fan, I made some research on football clubs with the most fans in Nigeria and it turned out thus: Chelsea—25.5%, Man United—19.5%, Arsenal—18.2%, Barcelona—13.5%, Liverpool—10.8%, Real Madrid—8.5%, Man City—4%.

Nigerians are sports lovers (Awosika, 1992; Okediji, 2015; Odegbami, 2020), and they use sports sometimes as an escape for the biting economic situation in the country (Todaro and Smith, 2006; Solaja, 2014; Emeka et al., 2016), while it is also a unifying factor in Nigeria. Some scholars are of the view that it is only sports that unifies the already broken ethnic and religious trust among Nigerians (Kuper, 1995; Gasser and Levinsen, 2006). SPORTS AND NATIONAL COHESION Sports the world over are heavily supported by corporate organizations, governments, and individuals because of its tendency to foster national cohesion and gender equality. The excitement that comes with sports tournaments is unrivaled, and most sporting activities these days are antidotes for various vile tendencies in society (Kuper, 1995; Paris, 1997; Kriesberg, 2003; Levermore, 2004; FFK, 2006; Laity, 2006; Kvalsund, 2007; Levermore, 2008; United Nations, 2013; United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), 2015). Governments tap into and build on this therapeutic power for national cohesion. The power of sports cuts across ethnic, religious, and gender lines, especially in Nigeria where there is so much ethnic and tribal tension. Sport has proven to be a defining and a unifying component of Nigeria’s history. For instance, anytime Nigeria has a major football game, the show of support across the length and breadth of Nigeria becomes overwhelming, from the south to north, and from the west to east. It has been on record that the Nigerian national football team is the one sector in the country where you never hear complaints of tribalism or religious animosity. Football is one of the sports that is generally accepted and viewed by all, irrespective of skin color, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, or political ideology

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(Akpan, 2020); other games also preoccupy the minds of most people around the world. Joseph (2006) agrees with the fact that, it is not just in the United States, but globally, that sports has been an integral part of all societies and cultures. It is common knowledge especially in Nigeria that over the years, sports such as football have been a tool in uniting Nigerians across the board, bonding peoples across the country. Despite the fragile multiethnic and multireligious nature of Nigeria, it is a common sight during football matches to see people of all religious and ethnic persuasions staying together in football viewing centers cheering Nigeria’s national team or their favorite football clubs to victory. The bond of nationalism increases and is strengthened during such matches. This is why Nwankwo et al. (2016, p. 41) observe that “sports in Nigeria has grown from a humble beginning as an entertainment and recreational part-time activity to a prominent phenomenon and a lucrative gold mine, breaking cultural differences among tribes and regions through its impact; and harnessing our diversities by its influence felt in all spheres of lives of the citizenry.” Also, Efebeh (2020, p. 472) has argued that despite the religious and ethnic intolerance in the country, Nigerians get to unite during sports activities. As he further explained, Nigeria is a country riddled with political chauvinism, religious bigotry and ethnic prejudice but all these are always put aside as Nigerians, irrespective of their political affinity, religious commitment and or ethnic affiliation, are always in unison when it comes to sports, especially football. What separates them at that instance is usually the team they are supporting. Such routine considerations like quota system or federal character are not relevant in choosing representations for the country in international competitions.

Sports lovers when bonding during sports tournaments do not show partiality to religion, ethnicity or political ideology. They do not care if the athlete is a Christian or Muslim, male or female. In scenarios like this, they have a common interest and a common goal. All they care about cheering on their national team to win. This is a potent instrument and the right spirit in national cohesion, nation building, and fostering peaceful coexistence among Nigerians. SPORTS AS A UNIFYING FACTOR FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT The National Sports Festival in Nigeria was established in 1973 to serve such a purpose. Odegbami (2020) said that it was conceived and introduced into



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Nigeria’s social fabric as one of the vehicles to be used to cushion the ethnic mistrust, pain, bitterness, and other fallouts of the 1967–1970 civil war. Sport has become a powerful instrument that transcends barriers where little else can (Kotler, 1973; Mandela, 2000; Kriesberg, 2003; Armstrong & Giulianotti, 2004; Armstrong, 2006). Former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela (1994–1999) said sport is a unifying factor for people from different parts of the world and religious creeds. During any major sports competitions, such as the NUGA games, Olympics, Commonwealth Games, All African Games or Nigerian National Sports Festivals, athletes from different sociological backgrounds all converge and camp in a spot, such as the games village. This common vicinity brings them together for bonding and for national cohesion. The United Nations in their notion of sport believes that it is capable of empowering the mind of the individual person, and fostering a positive outlook for the future, which is an essential component to achieving development (United Nations, 2013). Mandela in 2006 said that “sports has the capacity to change the world.” It therefore means it is capable of unifying people in a fragmented nation such as Nigeria. It can act as a balm in healing generational ethnic mistrust, acrimony, or bitterness among a people in a nation. CHARACTERISTICS OF SPORTS The International Olympics Charter says that sports has the capacity to promote peaceful attributes in three forms: Firstly, sports carves out space and time for putting conflicts aside (friendship and truce); secondly, sports treats people as equals under the rules of the game (justice and equality); and thirdly, it teaches people to tolerate and celebrate their differences (solidarity, tolerance, mutual understanding and nondiscrimination). One of the attributes of sports is that, apart from bringing humanity together globally, it creates a sense of friendship, oneness, and equality among the participants. During sports competitions, all forms of divisiveness and sentiments that divide humanity are ignored, and this disposition breeds the atmosphere for national meaningful development. Aside from the collectivism sports tournaments create, sports create an atmosphere where friendship and team spirit are birthed. Sports presents a big platform for women to showcase their prowess in sports endeavor. In tournaments, the women folk try to make a statement that what a man can do a woman can do better. In the NUGA games, women also competed in all the games that were part of it. Its strong ability to connect different races and creeds and divert violent behaviors to productive ones is what countries of the world should tap for national and international

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stability, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence. Odegbami (2020) posits that “sports are a very powerful weapon. This is the reason the Olympic Games were conceived and have been sustained as the only human social activity that has remained constant to its grand objective of global peace, unification of all people . . . and extending the frontiers of physical and mental human capacity”; and all have agreed that sports can be used in positive ways (Frey and Eitzen, 1991; Holmes, 1998; Eastman and Billings, 1999; Dugan, 1996; Joseph, 2006; Laity, 2006). Some instances have shown that some sports tournaments were created for reconciliation. For instance, in 1973 the National Sports Festival was established in order to promote friendship and cushion the pains and bitterness that followed the bloody civil war that ensued in Nigeria. Three years after the civil war ended in 1970 the sports tournament was created. A similar gesture was initiated in Bosnia and Herzegovina called the “Open Fun School Project,” where the vehicle of sports was again used to quell the bitterness of the war and at the same time provide the enabling platform for the development of social networks between former warring communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some scholars have observed that the grassroots sports initiative in 1998 witnessed the youth football program bring together thousands of children from once enemy communities to play football together in a peaceful atmosphere (Paris, 1997; Gasser and Levinsen, 2004; Kvalsund, 2007; Coakley and Pike, 2009). Obviously, sports have the tendency to push through divisive barriers that pitch people against each other, and governments the world over have come to realize that it is a potent tool that can be used to prevent conflict and build peace around the world. Sports tournaments could breed the spirit of oneness, tolerance and thus promote social integration and reduce ethnic, religious and racial tension in communities around the world. Sports can also be used to stem crime in a society. If the government provides modern facilities in the neighborhoods, this could motivate the youths to redirect their energies into sporting activities and automatically channel their attention to positive and gainful enterprise. For example, in the slums of Medellin in Colombia, a program organized by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDP) in 2005 showed a drop in criminal behaviors among youths; while in Brazil, the Segundo Tempo sports program became a gateway for children to walk out of misery and violence. The sports creed is value, fairness, and friendship; and these virtues are necessary for global peaceful coexistence and development across tribes, races, and genders in any society.



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HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF SPORTS ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION Sports in the old South-Eastern State of Nigeria—which later became Cross River State and got divided into two states, Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State, now referred to as Akwa-Cross—is like the story of Africa, which is seen and written about from the perspective of people from outside the region. Like the ancient Greeks and the people of the era who celebrated the Olympic games even before the birth of Christ, the people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, celebrated sports in their unique style and understanding basically through their vocations, traditions, and leisure. As a vocation, the people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River states were known hunters, fishermen, and farmers. As hunters, the men competed among themselves to determine who could kill the leopard, tiger, or crocodile. This took days and weeks and the man who returned with the biggest kill was rewarded with a title, fishing was also done in this manner. Also, the canoe/boat regatta was another derivation from fishing, with young men from different surrounding riverine villages competing among themselves to determine the village that could paddle their canoe the fastest. This contest has survived centuries, as it is still practiced today. It is often displayed during big traditional and national festivals like the “Utomo Obong” in Calabar and Nigeria’s Independence Day celebrations on the Calabar River. It is referred to as “Mbuba Ubom.” During leisure contests held among young men, this contest is called “Mbuba Mbok,” women were wooed using wrestling contests, as women prefer their men to be strong so they can be guaranteed security. The Efik of Cross River State also had a traditional play which they call Ukwa. Ukwa is practiced like fencing; the contestants, while dancing with their swords engage each other in a sport similar to modern-day fencing. Looking at the people and their vocation, it is clear that they engaged in sporting contests long before the arrival of foreign influence and interests. The debate has been on as to where exactly modern sports began in Nigeria, earliest reports show that football was one of the earliest sports to be played, and the first match was between missionaries of the Presbyterian church and sailors from merchant ships who were mostly English men. The match was played at the Hope Waddell Training Institute’s playground in Calabar. This occurred even before the 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria. History has it that the first football cup competition known as the Beverley cup was played in Calabar in 1906. The cup according to Elder Chief Effiong Ukpong Aye was donated by Captain Beveley who was a captain in the British Army. Wiebe Boer in his books on

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the history of football in Nigeria indicated that as early as 1847 football was already being played in Calabar (Boer, 2004; Boer, 2006). Late football icon, historian, and former vice chairman of the Confederation of African Football Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo, always recounts that as early as the middle 1800s football had been introduced into schools such as Duketown School and Creek town School and the School teams were engaging each other in football matches. In another account Barrister Ekpo Nyon, who is (one of the authors’) Effiong Nyong’s paternal uncle narrated about the role football played in the history of Duke Town School and Creek Town Primary School. Another indication that organized sports and football specifically developed first in the Akwa-Cross region, was in 1901 a football match between the southern regimental army and students of Hope Waddell Training Institute in a memorial game for Queen Victoria. And history has it that a football league was already in place by 1906 in Calabar. Lawn tennis, now known as tennis, is another sport that developed very early in present-day Akwa-Ibom and Cross River State. A visit to the Calabar sports club, which was founded in 1898 as the European Club, would show that even in 1900, trophies were already being won from tennis tournaments in Calabar. Sports such as track and field were also being practiced in the Akwa-Cross region as early as the 1800s (Boer, 2004; Boer, 2006). Consequently it can be posited that organized sporting events in Nigeria started in the Akwa-Cross region precisely in Calabar the capital of Cross River State long before the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914. It is worth noting also that by 1930 the game of football had spread to other parts of Nigeria with Lagos featuring heavily with a football league (Boer, 2004; Boer, 2006). The league had a number of teams playing club football, prominent during this era were a number of teams that included a team from Akwa-Cross. The team was known as the Calabar XI; other clubs included Lagos United Football club, Railway African Amateur Club, Diamond Football Club, PWD Locomotive Apprentice Football Club, Survey Football Club, Nigeria Marine African Star recreation club, Star Football Club, French Football Club, Red Roof Football Club, Orients Football Club and the Posts and Telegraphs Football Club. Let’s also elucidate an event that took place in 1939 during selection of players, when the chairman Etim Ekpeyong reminded his players that the name Efik Ebrutu was on his shoulders as they departed Calabar for Lagos, this was after non-indigenes were admitted into the Calabar XI team. As sports developed into the 1950s the Catholic Church seems to have taken over from where the Presbyterian mission left off. Other Akwa-Cross provinces like Eket and Abak became involved. It is on record also that Mr.



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Efiom Okon from Akwa-Cross was one of the first African vice chairmen of the football association in 1955 from the same axis with Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo of blessed memory who became one of the longest-serving secretary generals of the Nigeria Football Association and life vice president of the Confederation of African Football. He also became the first Nigerian to serve at the world football governing body FIFA. Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo was responsible for opening the door for other Nigerians into Confederation of African Football (CAF). For instance, he brought the ace sports journalist, Mr. Paul Bassey, who is the current Chairman of Akwa Ibom State Sports Commission to CAF. Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo was the first Nigerian in CAF. Akwa-Cross also boasts another first in the world of boxing for Nigeria. Hogan Kid Bassey as early as 1957, three years before Nigeria’s independence in 1960, became Nigeria’s first professional world boxing champion in the featherweight category. As recorded in the preface of his 2004 book, Hogan Bassey, Ademola Omotosho, the man widely referred to as Nigeria’s encyclopedia in professional boxing, says boxing, the noble sport and of self-defense, has come a long way in Nigeria and further identifies the Akwa-Cross region as where the sport of boxing took off, apart from Lagos. Besides Hogan Okon and Asuquo Bassey, a.k.a. Hogan Bassey, some other Akwa-Cross indigenes of that era also played leading roles to encourage the development of sports in the region. Mr. Mathew Mbu, Nigeria’s high commissioner in London, once said, “twice I have seen Bassey in action, I was present in Belfast when he dramatically won the featherweight title from Kelly of Ireland in 1955. I was at the ring side when he successfully defended his titles in Northernham two months ago on a previous occasion.” There was also E. E. Esua who was the secretary general of the Nigerian union of teachers, and P. E. Ekpe, secretary of the Calabar Improvement League. Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist at the Olympic games, Nogeem Maiyegium who won bronze in Tokyo, Japan in 1964 said, “Hogan Bassey was an inspiration to all of us as an ex-boxer and coach. This underscores the fact that Akwa-Cross has indeed footprints in the sands of Nigerian sports from boxing to track and field, where a good number of Nigerians excelled in the 1960s and 1970s. Distinguishing themselves among other Nigerian athletes, the list includes for 100 meters Utitofon Uko, Judy and Bela Belgam, and Eno Smart Ekpo, and Ekpeyong Eyibio for 110 men’s hurdles. Others are Grace Apiafi, Augustine Ola, Enefiok Udobong, Mercy Nku, and a host of other athletes. Cecelia Otu (Little Janet) and Offiong Edem are two female table tennis players who still represent the country despite all odds. Weightlifting is another sport where indigenes of Akwa-Cross have distinguished themselves over the years. Names like Oliver Orok, Patrick Ironbar Bassey, and Lawrence Iguaibom are some of the names that have represented

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Nigeria on the world stage in weightlifting competitions. It is rather sad and unfortunate that Patrick Ironbar Bassey has been abandoned by the Nigerian government. He is now seen packing refuse and patching potholes along the Ajah-Badore axis of Lagos. In boxing, there are Hogan kid Bassey and Samuel Okon Peter. In swimming, we have John Ebito and his brothers, who were sensations at the second All-Africa games in 1973 in Lagos. Ewa Henshaw still lives in Lagos, but he retired from the Lagos State Sports Council. He is related to Ewa Henshaw the footballer. Let us add that there were some other great athletes who were very outstanding but could not or did not make the national team due to the era when they surfaced and the competition at the time. Some others were victimized because of nepotism, for example the exclusion of Etim Esin from the USA 1994 World Cup team, which according to Effiong Nyong, who was Etim Esin’s manager, “was orchestrated between Stephen Keshi who was the captain of the national team then, and Clemens Westerhof, the then coach of the national team.” According to Effiong Nyong who was his manager, “I met Sanni Toro, the NFA secretary at his Ogunlana Drive office in Surulere, Lagos, who told us it was FIFA who prevented Etim Esin from being on the USA 1994 World Cup team because of a certain case he had with a lady, and luckily Joseph Sepp Blatter, the then FIFA secretary who later became FIFA president was conducting a pre–World Cup course at the National Institute for Sports in Lagos. We met Blatter, Etim Esin and I, and he told us FIFA had no hand in it, and that we should talk to our country’s football authorities. Friday Ekpo had a similar treatment from the same set of persons, the national team had cliques and godfathers, it was not all about merit. A reason many quality players don’t get to our national teams.” In football, Akwa-Cross indigenes have meritoriously represented the states in global tournaments and became outstanding. Names of footballers from Akwa-Cross who made it to the national team, apart from the UK tourist team of 1949 are: Francis Ukot, Charles Bassey, Martin Eyo, Etta Egbe, Batholomew Ogbeche, Etim Esin, Andrew Uwe, Ebariba, Chris Oyobio, John Okon Ene, Troost Ekong, Carl Ikeme, Friday Ekpo, Vincent Enyeama, Calvin Bassey, Edem Omon, and Ephraim Innameti, and some others were in the national camp but did not play. Also, Efioawan Ekpo played for the Super Falcons, while Essienanwan Edet played volleyball at the national level. Nigeria’s female handball team to the Algiers all Africa Games in 1978 had about four players from Akwa-Cross which were Okima, Margaret Paul, Margaret Ekpe Ita and Magdalene Ita. The present-day pictures do not justify the early exposure of people from the region to sports in the arcs covered by the two states. Today there are only two stadiums, one in Calabar and the other in Uyo, the other sports facilities are simply school fields made possible largely



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by missionaries. So much is lacking. It should be noted that the Pelican Stars football club in Calabar is the most successful female football club in Nigeria. CONCLUSION Sports at all stages of human history have been used in numerous ways as a potent instrument for economic growth and social stability in societies, and this can work in the Akwa-Cross region. Constant engagement of citizens in sports activities can enhance the chances of social cohesion among a people and reduce crime in the Akwa-Cross region because young people would channel their energy into sports and not crime. As stated earlier, participation in sports has the tendency and capacity to promote unity in a diversified society such as Akwa-Cross. This would foster sustainable social and economic development in the region. An average Nigerian lives and breathes sport, and it is fast becoming a way of life for them and a unifying factor for a better nation. How Adamu discusses football freely with Adekunle, Effiong, and Ugochukwu is a testament that sports can unify Nigeria regardless of ethnic group and religion. It is during football events that Nigerians put aside ethnic and religious bigotry to come together for a common goal, which is for Nigeria to win or their club to win. With this fact, what better way to achieve gender equality, development and national cohesion in a multitribal and multiethnic nation like Nigeria, except through sport? Women are builders of homes, national cohesion, and they possess the team spirit and teamwork skills needed to drive a peaceful nation, and a sustainable society. Sports participation would better equip them to challenge societal norms, traditions, cultures and practices that continue to drag women down, repress them and relegate them as second-class citizens in their societies. Massive participation of Akwa-Cross women in sports would open the floodgate of liberation for women around the world who live under repressive traditions and under laws that are repugnant to the social justice, social welfare, and rights of women. Governments around the world and international actors and donors are beginning to deploy the tool of sports to bridge the gender inequality gap. For instance, the United Nations Resolution in 2003 in their 58/5 project, advised governments around the world to use the instrumentality of sports to promote education, health, development, and peace. This has also explained why UNESCO and UNDP have constantly engaged in sports programs among children as a means of both international bodies recognizing the potent value of planting the interest of sports in the young people as a means of development, peaceful coexistence, empowerment, and gender equality.

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The real result of these endeavors is that from these tournaments, any woman who wins a sports medal sets the standard for the upcoming ones. When one girl breaks through, the aspirations of other girls grow, inspiring other girls to question the status quo by challenging the metal-like cultures that societies pitched to limit them from squaring up with their male counterpart. Moreover, by so doing, they refute gender stereotypes, and redefine cultural norms, and showcasing through their sports wins that women can square up in every manner of activities with men if granted the opportunity and level playing ground. Serena Williams, the American tennis star while explaining the secret to her sports success said, “luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.” She was once ranked eighty-first in the world, but Williams at one time defeated top ranked Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open. RECOMMENDATIONS It is stating the obvious that sports for Nigerians are a unifying factor. Therefore, the governments in Akwa-Cross region should endeavor to create sports villages, competitions, sports projects, and incentives that can encourage the average Akwa-Cross Riverian to dissipate his/her energy on sports, rather than crime, divisiveness, and other vices. These sports tournaments should be made economically attractive so as to reward sportsmanship, especially from the grassroot. Also, the government should encourage women to take part in sports tournaments so the disparity in gender inequality can be closed. The Akwa-Cross region should as a matter of urgency establish a sports festival that would foster healthy sports competition among the indigenes of Akwa Ibom and Cross River. This way, old sports greats that the federal government has abandoned can be taken care of. The region should invite the private sector to fully participate in partnering to build a successful commercial aspect of sports in order for the sports talents to be rewarded for those who want to make a career in sports. Also, sports grounds and arenas should be built across the rural areas, as this would encourage the youths to partake in sports. This would go a long way to mitigate all manner of juvenile delinquencies in the society.



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Nwankwo, B. C., P. Nweke, B. Okechi, and E. Onyishi. (2016). “Harnessing Diversity through Youth Sport for Sustainable Development.” Global Journal of HumanSocial Science: Arts & Humanities–Psychology 16, 5. Odegbami, S. (2020). “The National Sports Festival: The Greatest Sports Show in Africa,” Lagos: The Guardian, February 29. Okediji, H. (2015). “The Relevance of Sports to the Development of Education in Nigeria, 1904 till Date.” History Research 5(3), 188–96. Paris, R. (1997). Peacebuilding and the Limits of Liberal Internationalism. London: Routledge. Peetz, T., J. Parks, and N. Spencer. (2004). “Sport Heroes as Sport Product Endorsers: The Role of Gender in the Transfer of Meaning Process for Selected Undergraduate Students.” Sport Marketing Quarterly 13, 141–50. Punch. (2023). “Hilda Baci Completes 100 Hours of Marathon Cooking.” https:// punchng.com/breaking-hilda-baci-completes-100-hours-of-marathon-cooking/. Shuart, J. (2007). “Heroes in Sport: Assessing Celebrity Endorser Effectiveness.” International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship 8(2), 126–40. Solaja, M. (2014). “Nigerian Perspective to Development: A Sociological Discourse.” https://ssrn.com/ 2470119. Stone, G., M. Joseph, and M. Jones. (2003). “An Exploratory Study on the Use of Sports Celebrities in Advertising: A Content Analysis.” Sport Marketing Quarterly 12, 94–102. Suegker, B. (2003). “Lifestyles of the Fit and Famous.” Biography 7(1), 60–65. Temperley, J., and D. Tangen. (2006). “The Pinocchio Factor in Consumer Attitudes toward Celebrity Endorsement: Celebrity Endorsement, the Reebok Brand, and an Examination of a Recent Campaign.” Innovative Marketing 2, 97–111. Till, B. (2001). “Managing Athlete Endorser Image: The Effect of Endorsement Products.” Sport and Marketing Quarterly 10(1), 35–42. Todaro, M. P., and S. C. Smith. (2006). Economic Development. 9th ed. New York: Pearson Addison Wesley. Toft, Monica Duffy. (2003). The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. www.un.org/ga/search/view_do .asp?symbol=A/70/L.1andLang=E. United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace. (2013). Sport for Development and Peace: Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. http://www.un.org/themes/sport/task.htm. Veltri, F., A. Kuzma, D. Stotlar, R. Viswanathan, and J. Miller. (2003). “AthleteEndorsers: Do They Affect Young Consumer Purchasing Decisions?” International Journal of Sport Management 4, 145–60. Vrcan, Srdjan, and Drazen Lalic. (1999). “From Ends to Trenches, and Back: Football in the Former Yugoslavia.” In Armstrong and Giulianotti, Football Cultures and Identities. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Akwa-Cross: Looking to the Future Unwana Samuel Akpan, Joseph A. Ushie, and Odudu Okpongete

INTRODUCTION Any discourse concerning the future literally and figuratively means “development.” When scholars across disciplines discuss development in Africa in their writing, the central focus and cause of it is always chronic poverty and lack of assistance by the Global North, especially those developed countries that were once colonial masters. For instance, one author posits that “many of our colonies are in the condition of underdeveloped estates which can never be developed without imperial assistance . . . [for] the benefit of their population and for the benefit of the greater population outside” (Okigbo, 1989, p. 1). In 2022 the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released figures on the poverty index in Nigeria revealing, among other things, the poorest states in the country. The NBS report shows that Sokoto, Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa, and Plateau are the top poorest states in 2022. According to the report, Sokoto leads the list of the poorest states with 90.5 percent of people in the state being impoverished. The list is followed by Bayelsa with 88.5 percent of people in poverty, Gombe with 86.2 percent, Jigawa with 84.3 percent, and Plateau with 84 percent. The list of the least-poor states in the country are Ondo with 27.2 percent of people in poverty, Lagos with 29.4 percent, Abia 29.8 percent, Edo with 31 percent, and Anambra with 32.1 percent. The report revealed that 65 percent of poor Nigerians (86 million) were domiciled in the North, while 35 per cent (nearly 47 million) were resident in the South. The NBS reports revealed that “overall, 65 percent of poor people—86 million people—live in the North, while 35 percent—nearly 47 million—live in the South. In general, a disparity between North and South is evident in both incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty, with the North being poorer” (Punch, 2022). 341

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The NBS disclosure means that 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor. The Punch newspaper (2022, para. 1) further reports: In its latest National Multidimensional Poverty Index report launched on Thursday, the NBS said that 63 per cent of Nigerians were poor due to a lack of access to health, education, living standards, employment, and security. The Multidimensional Poverty Index offers a multivariate form of poverty assessment, identifying deprivations across health, education, living standards, work, and shocks.

The Akwa-Cross region was lucky to have escaped being listed among the poorest states in Nigeria. This is the reason scholars around the world have come to identify that the future and the development of the world lies in digital technology. The future belongs to artificial intelligence (AI). The fact that the future is digital technology calls for a digital revolution in the Akwa-Cross region. In the past, the world witnessed agricultural, industrial, and technological revolutions, and lately, the digital revolution. This book project signals an Akwa-Cross historical and cultural revolution. It is digitally oriented and projected. This chapter is projective of the Akwa-Cross region’s inevitable economic and human growth, focused on systemic, systematic, and methodological change. The chapter advises the governments in Akwa-Cross on how to discover untapped digital potentials inherent in the region for the benefit of the people and the region. Any lasting development is always a people-centric one. Moreover, any discourse built around development is always viewed from the lenses of planned change, and it is often more likely to work than unplanned change. Definitions of development are numerous, depending on who defines it and from which discipline it emanates. A lot of scholars from different backgrounds see development as being a blueprint and conscious mental proposition. Some scholars see development as a colonial, postcolonial and post–World War II design (Andereck and Vogt, 2000; Kornelia, Kriszan, and Lang, 2012; Kojola, 2020). As a result, scholars seem to be at home with Beltran’s (1985) definition because it is distinctive. Development, according to Beltran, is: a directed and widely participatory process of deep and accelerated sociopolitical change geared towards producing substantial changes in the economy, the technology, and the ecology and the overall culture of a country so that the moral and material advancement of the majority of the population can be obtained within the conditions of generalized equality, dignity, justice and liberty. (p. 27)



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The above definition seems to say that if development must be achieved, the generality of the people must be involved; in other words, it must be peoplecentered, and people represent culture. This definition captures the real core essence of development. REDEFINING DEVELOPMENT AND ITS THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES The premier academic disciplines that have long championed developmental studies have been communication, philosophy, project management, political economy, sociology, anthropology, international studies, theology, and gender studies. Each of these branches of knowledge throws up questions and administers its epistemological and deterministic methods regarding how development should be achieved in the society. For instance, political economists consider the thesis that culture is a major determinant to achieving any development (United Nations, 2015; Messner, 2015; O’Keefe et al., 2022). This notion has tremendously influenced how scholars define development theory, especially as it relates to communication or digitized messages. Communication and media studies approach development, especially concerning media metamorphosis, from the standpoint that methods of communication could fuel and propel civilization and development if the people it seeks to impact are carried along and infused in the development dynamics (Postman, 1993; Wilson, 1999; United Nations, 2015; Messner, 2015; Griffin, Ledbetter and Sparks, 2019). A good stream of theories leading to some notable development theories from functional and assertive perspectives to critical development and dialogic theory were birthed during the peak period of the electronic age, and the narrative was dotted by critical comments from some leading African scholars (Rodgers, 1964; White, 1991; Porras and Robertson, 1992; Moemeka, 1998; Molefi, 2019) who viewed them as imperialist creations that might sideline the development of traditional African means of communication due to the mainstream mass media’s biases, especially by not recognizing some forms of indigenous African media, for example, the town crier. The digital age comes with its own challenges regarding incorporating the indigenous media into the digital space so that the indigenous media can equally gain prominence in international communication, just as radio and television have converged into the digital space. There are late-age theories of development, such as postmodernism, critical-cultural theory, and feminist perspectives that have still not seen the need to recommend the integration of culture to its theoretical tenets; thus this obviously calls for the need to fully

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integrate aboriginal cultures and traditions into their different pedagogical approaches to development in the twenty-first century. Upcoming theories and across-the-board axiologies need to be incorporated and woven into the present-day cultural existential realities. These should include cross-indigenous media, geo-cultural theorizing, theorizing from the periphery, and application of indigenous media and aboriginal ideations and cultural theories (Rapley, 1996; Worsley, 1999; Radcliffe and Laurie, 2006; Brownell and Kopp, 2007; Gunaratne, 2008; Downing, 2008; Willems, 2014). This way, the essence of cultural realities of the indigenous people would be captured, preserved, and represented. Moreover, in reflecting the budding intellectual frenzy of contemporary development urgencies, there is a need for the emerging models and theories to embrace culture as a major partner in the development project. THE WHICH, WHAT, WHY AND HOW OF DEVELOPMENT At the height of the digital age, various fields of study have brought divergent axiological and epistemological lenses to bear on examining and developing the methodological trajectory for development. In developmental efforts, there is a need to ask pertinent questions relating not only to the “which,” “what,” and “why,” but also the “how” of development. The systematic process and methodology matters. How you incorporate and integrate cultural elements into the digital hubs in Akwa-Cross does matter for the benefit of the people and the region. One scholar reflected this in his submission that “development is the process whereby peoples are dominated and their destinies are shaped according to an essentially Western way of conceiving and perceiving the world” (Tucker, 1999, p. 1). This means “how” development would be carried out Tucker is of the view that the term development is an “imperial process . . . whereby ‘developed’ countries manage, control and even create the Third World economically, politically, socially and culturally” (p. 1). He reiterates that, in the long run, development “distorts our imagination, limits our vision, blinds us to the human ingenuity capable of imagining and implementing” (p. 1). Tucker’s notion on development seems to dispel even the very good side of development.



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THE UNITED NATIONS’ CONCEPT FOR DEVELOPMENT In 2015, the United Nations came up and adopted seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs), a renewed initiative to promote societal development, progress, and positive change, particularly in the Global South. When studying SDGs, a core variable is very prominent in all of its eight goals— culture. For the United Nations (UN), cultural elements are enwombed in all eight goals of the SDGs. This is because the UN believes that the culture of the people has a central role to play in the development agenda of the aboriginal people. In the development paradigm, every human effort is always calculated toward creating wealth, eliminating crime and poverty, and protecting and promoting individualistic and communal well-being. Usually, development projects are planned events. At its elemental level, development borders on individualistic and communal quality of life or, collaboratively, “the moral and material advancement of . . . the population” (Beltran, 1985, p. 27). For some, development is a myth (Langer, 1969; Tucker, 1999; Messner, 2015), because it fails to embrace and give a place to aboriginal cultures, traditions, and ideations. Basically, development as postulated in the SDGs is entirely about the advancement and improvement of the welfare of members of society. It is on this premise that this chapter examines the need for the governments in Akwa-Cross to create digital hubs in the region for indigenous development. Development also entails applying cultural communication to the overall developmental agenda of the people, through the means of the application of communication doctrines, practice, theory, and research toward achieving development goals and objectives (Melkote, 1991; Musa, 1997, 1998; Melkote and Steeves, 2001; Radcliffe and Laurie, 2006; Brownell and Kopp, 2007, Servaes, 2008; Manyonzo, 2014). WHERE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY DEVELOPMENT RESIDES PRESENTLY True wealth is presently in innovation, the digital revolution. Table 22.1 shows that in 2006 only one IT company (Microsoft) featured among the richest companies in the world. But ten years later, in 2016, five IT companies became the richest, and only one energy company, Exxon Mobil, managed to make the list.

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Table 22.1.  List of World’s Largest Companies by Market Capitalization between 2006 and 2016 World’s Largest Companies (by market capitalization) in 2006.

World’s Largest Companies (by market capitalization) in 2016

Exxon Mobil General Electric Gazprom Microsoft Citigroup Bank of America Bank of America Royal Dutch Shel BP

Apple Alphabet (Google) Microsoft Berkshire Hathaway Exxon Mobil Amazon Facebook Johnson and Johnson

Source: Table created by authors.

In a related development in 2022, seven of the top ten billionaires made their fortunes in digital technology, with the exception of Arnault, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, and Adani Group founder Gautam Adani. Eight out of these ten companies are headquartered in the United States of America, and this explains why the United States is the most developed nation in the world. These digital companies have impacted the American society in its economy, education, military, agriculture, and even culture. Such development can be replicated in the Akwa-Cross region. Most governments around the world are making plans to move from fossil fuels to clean energy with electrically and digitally enabled vehicles, and this means that these countries might not be buying the Akwa-Cross crude oil anymore. Akwa-Cross and, indeed, Nigeria should diversify and look elsewhere apart from oil. Table 22.2.  2022 List of World’s Richest Men, Net Worth, and Their Countries

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name of World’s Richest Men in 2022

Net Worth

Country

Elon Musk Jeff Bezos Bernard Arnault and family Bill Gates Warren Buffett Larry Page Sergey Brin Larry Ellison Steve Ballmer Gautam Adani

$219b $171b $158b $129b $118b $111b $107b $106b $ 91.4b $ 90.7b

United States of America United States of America France United States of America United States of America United States of America United States of America United States of America United States of America India

Source: Table created by authors.



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THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND DIGITAL REVOLUTION The Global South’s past and future trajectory have been and remain largely defined by Western external forces. The bitter and traumatic experience of slavery and colonization has been the core reason the continent has not recovered from the low self-esteem that drives the continent’s backwardness. In the twenty-first century, the struggle for Africa’s soul should be in digital decolonization. Scholarly discussions among Akwa-Cross intellectuals should be around digitizing . The fierce debate and dialogic impasse that ensues regarding digitization and development confirms the fact that development hinges on digitization. In some of my studies, I have asked some leading questions connecting development with digitization that have echoed in some intellectual forms (Akpan, 2019, Akpan, 2020, Akpan, 2022). But is there a limit to our right to alter or eliminate our Akwa-Cross history from our digital hub? The answer is no. Our legendary music, dance, drama, and poetry are important elements in Akwa-Cross societies that must be integrated into the Akwa-Cross digital hubs. Akwa-Cross history and culture do not deserve simple reinventions by other authors who are not conversant with the region. Akwa-Cross people have a right to tell their stories in a manner that is fair and objective. This would bring development. Often the Global North’s representation of African history contains considerable distortions, and that would include AkwaCross’s history. The idea that Africa had no written history seems particularly contentious, and Akwa-Cross digital hubs could correct these errors by showing Nsibidi as an early form of writing in the region before the arrival of the colonial masters. Akwa-Cross’s story should be portrayed by its own digital hubs. This would be an affirmation of the region’s commitment to ending the misinformation about the Akwa-Cross people, culture, and traditions. At its primal level, while scholars across disciplines become telescopic on issues surrounding the African narrative as it relates to development, and different academic disciplines exhibit different intellectual lenses and theoretical perspectives to analyze what development really is, cultural elements should not be separated from development efforts. Cultural elements integrated into development initiatives should be dialogic because communication scholars have been interested in the way culture has impacted communication and development. CONCEPTUALIZING AKWA-CROSS DIGITAL HUBS Digital revolution and disruptions across traditional communication and media platforms have bi-directionally made communication both a substructure

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and superstructure in an emerging global nonauthoritarian and orthodox infoeconomics order. These digital disruptions have swiftly made inroads into highly regulated and censored media corridors. As the nations of the world approach the third decade of the twenty-first century, the divide between the “have-it-all-countries” and the “have-not-countries” continues to broaden rather than vanish. Historical evidence across literature reveals that societies in the medieval and precolonial periods all strived to protect, promote, and preserve their way of life, which has to do with systems of communication. Retrogression automatically occurs when traditional systems stall or fail to advance. Sociologists have found that culture is locomotive and never inert (Radcliffe and Laurie, 2006; Brownell and Kopp, 2007; Chen and French, 2008; Martin and Nakayama, 2018). Likewise, media channels are, mostly, either advancing or retrogressing, thus for its own development, the AkwaCross region needs to jump on digitally. The nature and direction of historical and cultural change in any society is determined by who is propelling it and how it is reflected in its experiences— either positive or negative. Rewriting historical facts can foster generational social and cultural change. Broadly speaking, it can be planned or unplanned, gradual or instantaneous. Instantaneous sociocultural change takes the form of a revolution. History is replete with instances of revolutionary change. Over time, the global picture of societal metamorphosis has evolved in recent times through the agricultural, industrial, and information (digital) revolutions. Different parts of the world in the past have witnessed pockets of political ideological revolutions from the French, Bolshevik, Chinese, and Iranian revolutions as a result of political upheaval that forcefully disrupted the established political structures. Some classical examples are the socialist revolutions Russia, China, and Cuba; the Nazi takeover in Germany; and the rise of many military dictatorships in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East through coup d’états. Some revolutions led to the toppling of dictators and oligarchs in a bid to enthrone democracies. The American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Velvet Revolution, and the Romanian Revolution are clear examples. Recently, the ripple effects of these democratic revolutions are seen in Mongolia, Tunisia, and Sudan, among others. One of the main features typical of a historical revolutionary endeavor such as ours is that it is rapid and spontaneous. It takes a few like-minded scholars or radicals to affect it, and it often occurs within a short space of time. It permeates and transforms a wide range of aspects of the society it is targeted at.



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STAMPING AKWA-CROSS CULTURE AND TRADITIONS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE Some countries in the Global South may have acquired political independence from their colonial masters, but these third world countries to a great extent still remain historically, economically, and culturally shackled when portrayed in the digital space. This is the reason the decolonization and deWesternization of the African continent remains an ongoing project, a project that should resonate with every Akwa-Cross and every African region. We should call for a reconceptualization. Efforts in decolonizing and deWesternizing Africa will remain incomplete project as long as Africa’s historical, cultural, traditional, and moral foundations are discarded and undermined by Western definitions of the social matrix and the paradigm of socio-communicative and sociocultural development. Our culture must be a critical factor in any development agenda for Akwa-Cross. Skelton and Allen (1999) believe that “culture must be understood as the overarching context in which development and all forms of social change occur” (p. 5). They view culture as the missing ingredient in the Global South’s development. Culture is a dynamic force that propels, forms, and shapes social identity and being. It involves a web of symmetrical meanings in which people at a geographical location see themselves. Rapley (1996) submits that “culture refers to a people’s intellectual, spiritual, and moral endowment” (p. 171). This implies “that cultures produce people to a greater degree than people produce cultures” (p. 171). Walter Rodney (1973) in his work examined how Africa was underdeveloped by the colonialists in that they severed the people from their various cultures, exploited the continent’s natural, material, and human resources. Scholars of cultural determinism aver that the most important thing that has thwarted Africa’s development is the detaching of the people from their culture. Westernized views about Africa have fractured the traditional and cultural confidence of Africans, including the people of Akwa-Cross. The rich Akwa-Cross cultural and traditional heritage should thus be digitally transported to the digital space. METHODOLOGICAL AND DIGITAL APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT IN AKWA-CROSS Available statistics from all facets show that the Akwa-Cross region is basically a civil service state, and as a result the region might be retrogressing instead of advancing due to zero digital investment in the region. The

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Akwa-Cross region might have produced much of Nigeria’s crude oil, but to a great extent the region has remained economically and culturally shackled and alienated, as it could not develop to become a digital hub of the continent. It is not enough to claim that the region produces the largest amount of crude oil for the country if the proceeds cannot be used to create employment for youths and also attract foreign investments. Is it right to say the Akwa-Cross region is developing compared to what transpires in other non-oil producing states like Lagos? What are the factors by which development can be weighed? What has been the role of culture in the region’s digital development? How can the injection of culture into digital contents in the region and making the region a digital hub help build investment in the region? Most developing countries have largely depended on the Western world to dictate, define, and direct development. The continent of Africa today is, doubtless, the only region in the Global South whose history and future have been and remain largely defined by external forces of the West and China. Digital innovation has greatly sparked a worldwide revolution that has birthed multipolar cultural centers of influence. Therefore, the governments in the Akwa-Cross region should develop high-tech AI technology that can advance the unique strategic geographical location of the region and provide employment, security, and wealth. Media ecologists have all come to agree and recognize that AI technology promises wealth creation because it is multifaceted, neutral, and malleable. The reason technological determinism alone can never deliver much-needed change to Africa is that the people’s cultures are detached from the concept. There’s an immediate need to bring the issues of culture, traditions, and indigenous ideations to the front burner. There’s a need to see issues of regional and national development through aboriginal lenses. De-Westernizing and decolonizing every region in Africa, including the Akwa-Cross, will remain a half-done task as long as its cultural elements are undermined by the Westernization model. Real development in whatever sector entails that “development programmes cannot produce change without an ongoing, culturally and socially relevant communication dialogue among development providers and clientele, and within the recipient group itself” (Servaes, 2008, p. 15). Seers (1969) found that to gauge whether a country is developing one needs to answer some key questions surrounding poverty and cultural inclusion. If the region does not create digital hubs that would produce AI as soon as possible, insecurity, poverty, inequality and unemployment will continue to soar. The economic gap between Akwa-Cross and the economically viable states in Nigeria will continue to widen if the region does not encourage the establishment of digital hubs. As long as development initiatives emphasize the elevation of



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Western ideas of what development should look like to the exclusion of culture and traditional systems, the region will not develop tangibly. FINAL SUBMISSION This chapter has significantly identified relevant methodological frameworks that are novel, all-embracing, Afrocentric, Afrokological, and appropriate in integrating Akwa-Cross’s rich cultural heritage into the digital space. We submit that any proposal for tangible development that excludes the ways and systems of the aboriginal ideations cannot last, or even work—by this I mean cultures of the native people. The quest for any sustainable development that can impact the people should be approached from economic, political, cultural, technological, and philosophical angles if it is to permeate and be appreciated by the generality of the people. A holistic approach to development in Akwa-Cross should prioritize and integrate Akwa-Cross’s culture and traditions into the digital hubs for the region. Some may regard the suggestion of incorporating cultural elements into the digital framework as obsolete in view of ever-changing digital realities. Cultural imperialism has had decades of heavy influence on the development psyche of Africans, and it prevents them from developing fitting indigenous entities that can position African media in the global information space (Tomlinson, 1991; Moemeka, 1998; Neuman, 1998). For Akwa-Cross, total dependency on Western models of acculturation, modernization, capitalization, development, and digitization has caused the region’s backwardness. The region’s development should be driven by its people and culture. Westernized concepts of development will not succeed in Africa because its tenets are alien to Africa, different from our cultural values and beliefs. For Africa, development means valuing our cultural and traditional systems above individualistic ambitions. This is why its cultural elements should be part and parcel of any development agenda for Africans. Detaching Africa’s development goals from its cultural heritage has impoverished the continent and dragged her people into unprecedented cultural illiteracy, loss of history, massive poverty, disease, preventable deaths, moral disorder, and despondency. If new Akwa-Cross digital hubs are able to incorporate Akwa-Cross’s cultures into their designs, they will liberate and elevate the region’s human capacity and potential for authentic development, and showcase the region’s rich cultural heritage. Akwa-Cross’s digital hubs policy should create and promote employment, foster educational access, and reduce poverty in the region. The moral foundations of the culture of Akwa-Cross must be

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emboldened to tally with Africa’s communal and communitarian values (Moemeka, 1998; Molefi, 2019), which are part and parcel of Akwa-Cross culture. The Akwa-Cross digital revolution would make communication, arts, and music both substructural and superstructural in the emerging global political-economic and sociocultural order. REFERENCES Akpan, U. (2020). “Elite Local Leagues and Transnational Broadcast of European Football.” In Chuka Onwumechili (ed.), Africa’s Elite Football: Structure, Politics, and Everyday Challenges (pp. 34–44). London: Routledge. Akpan, U. (2021). “Nigeria: Olympic Games a Mystery for Rural Dwellers in Lagos.” Olympicanalysis.org. https://olympicanalysis.org/section-2/nigeria-olympic -games-a-mystery-for-rural-dwellers-in-lagos/. Akpan, U. S. (2022). “Kids Talent Hunt and Football Development in Nigeria: A Study of Channels Television National Kids Cup.” SAU Journal of Management and Social Sciences 2(2), 77–90. https://journals.sau.edu.ng/index.php/sjmas /article/view/624. Andereck, K. L., and C. A. Vogt. (2000). “The Relationship between Residents’ Attitudes toward Tourism and Tourism Development Options.” Journal of Travel Research 39(1), 27–36. doi:10.1177/004728750003900104. Beltran, S. L. R. (1985). “Development Communication: Alternative Systems.” Documento escrito por encargo de Wilbur Schram para una enciclopedia. http:// www.bibvirtual.ucb.edu.bo/beltran/digital/PP-AI-045.pdf. Brownell, C. A., and C. B. Kopp. (2007). Socioemotional Development in the Toddler Years: Transitions and Transformations. New York: Guilford. Downing, J. (2008). “Social Movement Theories and Alternative Media: An Evaluation and Critique.” Communication, Culture & Critique 1(1), 40–50. Chen, X., and D. C. French. (2008). “Children’s Social Competence in Cultural Context.” Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 591–616. Griffin, E., A. Ledbetter, and G. Sparks. (2019). A First Look at Communication Theory, 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gunaratne, S. A. (2008). “Falsifying Two Asian Paradigms and De-Westernizing Science.” Communication, Culture & Critique 1(1), 72–85. Kojola, E. (2020). “Who Speaks for the Place? Cultural Dynamics of Conflict over Hazardous Industrial Development.” Sociological Forum 35(3), 673–95. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12. Kornelia, E., A. Kriszan, and L. Lang. (2012). “Urban Development in Central and Eastern Europe: Between Peripheralization and Centralization?” Planning Review 48 (2), 77–92. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02513625.2012.721611. Langer, J. (1969). Theories of Development. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.



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Manyozo, L. (2014). “Rethinking Communication for Development Policy: Some Considerations.” In R. Mansell and M. Raboy (eds.), The Handbook of Global Media and Communication Policy (pp. 319–35). Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell. Martin, J. N., and T. K. Nakayama. (2018). Experiencing Intercultural Communication: An Introduction, 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Melkoke, S. R. (1991). Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Melkote, S., and H. L. Steeves. (2001). Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Messner, D. (2015). “A Social Contract for Low Carbon and Sustainable Development: Reflections on Non-linear Dynamics of Social Realignments and Technological Innovations in Transformation Processes.” Technol. Forecast Soc. Change 98, 260–70. Moemeka, A. A. (1998). “Communalism as a Fundamental Dimension of Culture.” Journal of Communication 48(4), 118–41. Molefi, M. (2019). “Ububtu and Development: An African Conception of Development.” Africa Today 66(1), 97–115. Musa, B. A. (1997). “Uses and Abuses of Development Media Theory in Sub-Saharan Africa: Critique of a Quasi-Descriptive/Prescriptive Theory.” Ecquid Novi: Journal of Journalism in Southern Africa 18(1), 132–47. ———. (1998). “Popular Theatre and Development Communication in West Africa: Paradigms, Processes and Prospects.” In K. Salhi (ed.), African Theatre for Development (pp. 135–54). Exeter, UK. Intellect Books. Neuman, S. G. (ed.). (1998). International Relations Theory and the Third World. New York: St. Martins. Okigbo, P. N. C. (1989). National Development Planning in Nigeria, 1900–1992. London: James Currey. O’Keefe, V. M., E. Waugh, F. Grubin, M. Cwik, R. Chambers, J. Ivanich, R. Weeks, R., and A. Barlow, A. (2022). “Development of ‘Culture Forward’: A Strengths and Culture-Based Tool to Protect Our Native Youth from Suicide.” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 28(4), 587–97. https://doi.org/10.1037 /cdp0000546. Porras, J. I., and P. J. Robertson. (1992). “Organizational Development: Theory, Practice, and Research.” In M. D. Dunnette and L. M. Hough (eds.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 719–822. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Vintage. Punch. (2022). “Nigeria’s Poverty Exceeds World Bank Projection, Five States Lead.” https://punchng.com/nigerias-poverty-exceeds-world-bank-projection-five -states-lead/. Radcliffe, S., and N. Laurie. (2006). “Culture and Development: Taking Culture Seriously in Development for Andean Indigenous People.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 24(2), 231–48.

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Rapley, J. (1996). Understanding Development: Theory and Practice in the Third World. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Rodgers, R. H. (1964). “Toward a Theory of Family Development.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 26, 262–70. Seers, D. (1969). “The Meaning of Development.” IDS Communication 44. https:// www.ids.ac.uk/publications/the-meaning-of-development-2/#:~:text=Published %20on%201%20 January%201969,of%20poverty%2C%20inequality%20and%20 unemployment. Servaes, J. (Ed.). (2008). Communication for Development and Social Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Skelton, T., and T. Allen. (1999). “Culture and Global Change: An Introduction.” In T. Skelton and T. Allen (eds.), Culture and Global Change, 1–10. New York: Routledge. Tomlinson, J. (1991). Cultural Imperialism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Tucker, V. (1999). “The Myth of Development: A Critique of a Eurocentric Discourse.” In R. Munck and D. O’Hearn (eds.), Critical Development Theory: Contributions to a New Paradigm, 1–26. London: Zed Books. United Nations. (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. New York: United Nations. White, J. M. (1991). Dynamics of Family Development: The Theory of Family Development. New York: Guilford. Willems, W. (2014). “Provincializing Hegemonic Histories of Media and Communication Studies.” Communication Theory 24(4), 415–34. Wilson, G. (1999). “Local Knowledge and Changing Technologies.” In T. Skelton and T. Allen (eds.), Culture and Global Change, 58–69. New York: Routledge. Worsley, P. (1999). “Culture and Development Theory.” In Skelton and Allen, Culture and Global Change, 30–41.

Afterword

Hurray! At last, here we have a fine collection of scholarly essays tied together in book form that provides an unusual historical perspective on AkwaCross. This work is a brilliant historical account of the Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria. First, let me congratulate the editor of this volume, Dr. Unwana Samuel Akpan, for assembling such an array of scholars whose intellectual prowess and credentials are indeed intimidating. I also salute the contributors’ courage and pedagogical insights into the various subjects they have treated in the book. In refreshing and thought-provoking manner, the essays in this volume, written by both the older and the younger generation of Akwa-Cross intellectuals, examine, investigate, explore, engage, and critique the multifaceted Akwa-Cross traditions and cultures historically and open a new vista to the rich legacy of Akwa-Cross culture. A must-read for scholars, students, and all those committed to the study of African scholarship. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture brings together contributors from a wide range of disciplines to provide insights on the historical narrative of Akwa-Cross. The seasoned scholars in the collection are ancestors of the study of communication, history, media, religion, culture, and economy in Africa. The themes and ideas in this book will continue to reincarnate in different forms and discussions on the subject of Akwa-Cross. The subject of cultural and traditional relevance and superiority in Africa is a very pertinent one. This is essential in the light of the experiences of what transpires today in many African cultures in which personalization and imposed traditions and cultures are pushed down the throats of minority groups. The wide range of reflections included in this masterful work substantiate the impact and influence of Akwa-Cross’s legacy on the evolution of African culture and traditions. It is a compendium of anything and everything that matters, not only 355

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for understanding Akwa-Cross cultures, but also for appreciating the shape and the beauty of African cultures, which cannot be overemphasized. I have no hesitation in recommending Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture because the contributors present a compelling collection of studies that build on the pathbreaking scholarship already in place and offer critical future narratives and analyses on tradition, culture, economy, religion, sports, and media for the people of Akwa-Cross. These essays draw from research on Akwa-Cross cultures that was long forgotten, in which the contributors showcase the rich historical heritage and contemporary challenges of the region and make the case that the emphasis on history, sacred texts, and religious institutions as indispensable resources ought to be grounded in critical Akwa-Cross cultural analysis. The contributors offer a critical probing of the Akwa-Cross world. They variously argue that AkwaCross local values remain significant resources to counter the historical errors and despoliation that have become so rampant in a postcolonial and neoliberal age. The contributors demonstrate an optimism that the Akwa-Cross people, scholars, and faith communities will build a healthy environment; promote peace and gender equality; and encourage and sustain cultural, traditional, and social well-being. This meticulously researched book provides a timely analysis of the Akwa-Cross discourse. While works abound on the Nigerian cultures, this one is unique because of the deep narratives of causation, sociocultural ideations, memory, historical errors, inventions, truth, and their continuing impact. Anyone interested in the true historical perspective of the Akwa-Cross people and their rich cultural heritage and values must read this book. I endorse and recommend this book as a must in libraries around the world, universities, governments, and international agencies. Mr. Moses Ekpo Deputy Governor Akwa Ibom State Nigeria (2015–2023)

Index

abaak atama, 149 afang, 128, 130, 148, 259 Afia Efere Ebot, 150 Afro-ethno-feminism, 168, 169, 171, 178, 179, 181, 189, 190 Akata, 39, 67, 74–87, 91– 97, 153, 161, 162, 183, 285 Akwa-Cross, 1–8, 74, 105, 109, 110, 111, 113, 122, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 125, 137, 172, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181, 183–90, 197–99, 201, 204, 213, 215, 220, 237–63, 265, 275–85, 287–94, 300, 325, 326, 342, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351 Akwa Ibom State, 1, 109, 110, 111, 113, 117, 118, 121, 122, 136, 147, 152, 153, 164, 181, 242, 249, 250–56, 258, 260, 262–63, 266, 276–78, 280, 290–93 Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC), 299, 301, 314, 316 Annang, 3, 16, 157, 168, 178, 180, 197, 202, 203, 209, 252, 258 Anyan ekpang, 146 Atama soup, 149, 150, 259 Calabar Flank, 41 Chronicle, 55, 290, 291

COR STATE, xiv, 9–10, 27, 30, 55, 281, 290 COR Advocate, 10, 55, 290 Cross River Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC), 303, 305, 306, 307, 308, 314, 316 Cross River State, 1, 4, 109, 110, 111, 113, 117, 118, 136, 147, 152, 153, 164, 205, 250, 253, 254, 255, 262, 301 decolonizing, 2, 168, 172, 191, 349, 350 de-Westernizing, 2, 168, 172, 191, 349, 350 domesticating, 2 Edikan ikong, 147, 148 Editan, 149 Efik, 3–5, 8, 11–12, 16, 23, 51, 69, 157, 163, 168, 178, 180, 181, 197, 202, 208, 211, 223, 240, 250, 251–52, 256, 258, 259, 260, 263, 283, 284, 285, 289, 314, 331 Ejagham, 16 Ekids, 16 Ekois, 16 Ekoong, 153, 160, 161, 209 Ekombi, 153, 163, 211 Ekpang Nkukwo, 151 357

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Ekpe law, 221 Ekpe masquerade, 2, 77, 82, 88, 89, 153 Ekpo, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 209 Fattening House, 202, 210–12, 240 Fere Ndek Iyak, 150 Ibibio, 8, 16, 157, 168, 178, 180, 181, 197, 202, 208, 240, 242, 251–52, 254, 256, 258, 259, 263, 282, 283, 284, 303 indigenizing, 2 Mary Slessor, 71, 125, 131,132, 134, 215, 217, 230, 231, 233–34 Mutanda Oyom Namondo, 5

Nka Iban, 168, 169, 171, 172, 176, 178, 179 Nsibidi, 4, 74, 76, 77, 81, 87, 88, 89, 90, 347 Obolos, 16 Obukpong Efik, 289 Oro, 16, 51 Pioneer, 293 Things Fall Apart, 5, 69 Ubuntu, 77, 78, 168 Udoabara Ikang, 5

About the Contributors

Ememobong Anam Akpan studies at the University of Maryland, USA. She is a life coach and mentor to numerous youths in her community, and she loves to cook. Reverend Fr. Francis Anthony Akpan is a native of Ikot Uko in Midim Clan, Abak Local Government Area. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. He holds BPhil and BD degrees from Pontifical Urban University, Rome; a post-graduate diploma in education and MEd (master’s degree in education) from the University of Uyo, and a PhD (Doctoral degree in Philosophy) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. As a pastor, he has worked in many parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene. Being a teacher, he taught in various institutions of learning. Presently, he is a formator in St. Joseph Major Seminary, Ikot Ekpene, where he lectures on pastoral care and counseling as well as pastoral theology. He is a counselor and has written many books and published numerous articles in local and international journals. Dr. Unwana Samuel Akpan is a media scholar-practitioner with over two decades of broadcast experience. He has been a visiting scholar at the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies (CCMS), where he completed his postdoctoral studies at the School of Communication and Media Studies, Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA. He is the editor of the University of Lagos Communication Review. He started his career with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, and was deployed to the National Broadcast Academy, its training arm, after obtaining his PhD in mass communication. He is presently a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria. He has publications in 359

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the form of book chapters and research articles in prominent national and international journals. He has delivered several research papers at international conferences. His classes are where research, teaching, and learning interface, and he’s dedicated to making students succeed in the classroom and beyond. His research and teaching investigate and explore broadcast contents, sport communication, African communication systems, diaspora communication studies, and media aesthetics. Dr. Unwana is the author of the recently edited books Nigerian Media Industries in the Era of Globalization and Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: Historicizing and Factualizing. Grace Akpakpan is a nurse practicing in the United Kingdom. She is also a language teacher, and she loves to cook. Professor Uduak Archibong, PhD MBE, is the pro vice-chancellor (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), directs the Centre for Inclusion and Diversity, and provides strategic oversight for equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across the institution. She is a fellow of the West African College of Nursing and a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was listed in the New Year Honours list 2015 and was made a member of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to higher education and equality. Recognized as a foremost authority with a sustained, distinguished presence in the field of diversity management, she is currently leading in setting the agenda to drive research, learning, and knowledge exchange activities internationally and has published extensively on inclusion and diversity. Informed by over thirty years’ experience working in the health and higher education sectors, her academic and professional work has major impacts locally, nationally, and globally. Key among these impacts is that the body of her research work has provided the evidence base for, and a robust understanding of, the development and application of cultural solutions and diversity interventions in public, private, and third sector organizations. She is at the forefront of transforming organizational culture for sustainable diversity and inclusion approaches. Her research has provided a unique international definition of positive action and application for representational and participative diversity. She led to completion a major multimillion-dollar European Commission–funded gender equality research project, GENOVATE, across seven European Universities and led the EDI elements of a multimillion-dollar European Horizon 2020 project, RRING, in collaboration with twenty international partners. Her research projects, Disrupting the Disproportional Disciplinary Proceedings in the UK NHS and Cracking the Concrete Ceiling for the Advancement of UK BME Academic Staff, have made a major contribution to shaping the agenda on race equality and informed global debates on systemic racism and other



About the Contributors 361

forms of structural inequality. She is currently leading a portfolio of research on residential segregation, school segregation and factors in hate crime reporting in the city of Bradford as part of the Bradford for Everyone program. Victor Ayara is a doctoral student at Liberty University, Virginia, USA. Prior to moving to the United States some years ago, Victor was one of Nigeria’s most recognizable, leading faces and voices in the media. He started his broadcasting career in Galaxy Television Lagos. Victor later forged his journalistic talents and prowess in television and radio with Silverbird Television and Rhythm 93.7 FM Lagos, as a news anchor known for his hard-hitting interviewing skills and style. In 2010, he won the Newscaster of the Year Award in Nigeria. He is the owner of two Public Relations consulting firms. Victor is presently a senior scrum master with one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the United States. Edang Yolanda Ekpo Bassey is a native of Ikom, in Cross River State. She is a holistically trained mass communicator with versatile interests and capabilities. Having a decade-long experience as editor-in-chief and publisher of a regional newspaper, she is a prolific, interdisciplinary researcher and communication strategist. She is presently a lecturer in the Mass Communication Department at the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH). Bassey specializes in print journalism and social and behavior change communication (SBCC). She is a proponent of participatory communication approaches, and applies learner-centered strategies in her work. Her interests include photography, writing and capacity building. Dr. John Bosco Ekanem hails from Nto Obo village, Midim clan, in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene, Nigeria, a professional legal anthropologist, and a seasoned academician who has published many books and articles in reputable international and national academic journals. He is the current editor-inchief of The Oracle: International Journal of Culture, Religion and Society. He is an associate professor of Anthropology at the Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, Akwa Ibom State University, Obio Akpa Campus and a visiting lecturer at St. Joseph Major Seminary, Ikot Ekpene. He is the parish priest of St. Mary’s Parish, Ikot Atasung/Ikot Obong Otoro in Ikot Ekpene Diocese. Eddy Ekpenyong obtained an OND in mass communication and a bachelor’s in communication arts from The Polytechnic, Calabar, and the University of Uyo, respectively. He had his professional training in production, journalism

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and presentation at the FRCN Training School, now National Broadcast Academy, Lagos. In an illuminating and illustrious forty-two-year public service career that began in Cross River Radio through Radio Akwa Ibom, Uyo, where he retired as deputy director of News and Current Affairs in 2014, Ekpenyong has been an inspiration to many generations of journalists and broadcasters. Currently, he is the station manager and head of programs of Comfort 95.FM, Uyo. Ekpenyong is also a speech communication trainer. Akpan Hogan Ekpo is professor of economics and public policy, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He was vice-chancellor, University of Uyo, 2000–2005 and has been a visiting scholar to the World Bank and the IMF at various times. He is a recipient of the Federal Government of Nigeria Merit Award on Productivity. He has consulted for several global and national institutions such as the World Bank, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), UNDP, UNCTAD, UN-ECA, ACBF, Forum of Federations, Center for Democracy and Development, National Manpower Board, and Federal Ministry of Finance, among others. He is well published and his latest book: Nigeria: A Resource Rich Economy in Disarray has just been published by the University of Lagos Press. He attended Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA, and Northwestern University (AEA fellowship), Evanston, Illinois, USA. He holds a PhD in business administration and a PhD in economics from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Professor Comfort Memfin Ekpo is a well-researched scholar who was the first female professor cum first female vice chancellor at the University of Uyo, as well as the second female vice chancellor to head a federal university in Nigeria after Professor Grace Alele Williams of University of Benin. She has served in several educational reform boards in Nigeria and has been a mentor to a lot of upcoming scholars around the world. Professor Comfort Ekpo is a fellow of the Nigeria Association of Educational Media and Technology (NAEMT); fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC); member of the Nigeria Academy of Education (NAE), former director of the Institute of Education, professional teacher at the Development Center, and former vice chancellor, University of Uyo. Professor Comfort Ekpo attended several prestigious institutions in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. She is the ambassador of Read and Write Now (RAWN) Project in Nigeria, a fasttrack reading program using synthetic phonics. Currently she is a lecturer and researcher in educational resource management and teacher professional development, University of Uyo.



About the Contributors 363

Thelma U. Ekukinam is associate professor of educational technology. She holds a doctoral and master’s degree in educational technology with a first degree in English education. Her research interest is on the utilization of local resources for teaching and learning and most especially improving the performance of teachers. She is a member of the Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN), which has impacted positively on children’s reading habits, a pioneer researcher in the Read and Write Now project (RAWN), Dr. Ekukinam is a certified trainer in Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar. Currently lecturing at the University of Uyo. Mercy Ekwere is a nurse practicing in New Jersey, in the United States; and she loves to cook. Ubon Asuquo Essien holds a PhD in agricultural economics (agricultural finance and project analysis) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is a staff member of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO). Three years into his career at FUTO, Dr. Ubon Essien was appointed by the presidency as the executive director (Agricultural Services) of the Cross River Basin Development Authority, a position he held for three years before returning to the university community. A member of several professional bodies, Dr. Essien bagged the prestigious 2019 Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAMAN) “Award of Excellence” for outstanding contributions to the development of agriculture in Nigeria. A lover of sports, Dr. Essien watches football in his spare time. He is married to Daberechi, and the marriage is blessed with children. Dr. David Lishilinimle Imbua is an associate professor, a historian, an author ,and a novelist. He is an award-winning lecturer at the Department of History and International Studies, University of Calabar, Nigeria. He researches the Atlantic world and the institution of pawnship and slavery in precolonial and colonial southeastern Nigeria. He has been quite prolific in scholarly output and in participation at academic conferences, seminars, and symposia around the world. Dr. Imbua is the author of several books, which traverse history and historical fiction, book chapters, and articles in learned national and international journals. He is the author of Intercourse and Crosscurrents in the Atlantic World: Calabar-British Experience, 17th–20th Centuries (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2012) which won the Lapai Book Prize for Outstanding Historical Text in International History in 2015. Among his works in progress is The Notorious Massacre at Calabar in 1767, with Paul E. Lovejoy and Randy J. Sparks.

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Dr. Stella Nwosu possesses a BSc degree in chemistry (First Class), a postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE), a master’s in educational technology and a PhD in educational technology. Her research interests include instructional systems designing, differentiated instructional strategies, and teacher professional development. Dr. Nwosu has over twenty-three years’ experience in science teaching, and is currently involved in continuing professional development of secondary and tertiary education teachers. She is a lecturer and a staff member in the Institute of Education and Professional Development, Faculty of Education, University of Uyo, in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, where she also serves as the research project coordinator and secretary of the Institute of Education Research Committee among other duties. Effiong Efa Nyong hails from Ataema in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State. He is a teacher, journalist, author, broadcaster, and dramatist. He attended Duke town and Salvation Army Primary Schools; Ikeja Grammar School; Saint Patrick’s College, Ikot Ansa Calabar. He holds a BSc and master’s in education from the University of Lagos. PR, London Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Ascon, Topo, Badagry. Effiong Nyong is an athlete and a basketball player. He is also a poet, humanist, art collector, politician, activist, social and public affairs commentator, and media practitioner. Former editor at Armada Magazine and ex-head of Sports, SilverBird Television, as well as ex-group head of Sports Radio Continental Broadcasting Service and head of News, TVC. He was also the general manager, DBN Television, Lagos, as well as the former general manager, Sparkling FM, Calabar. He is currently the CEO First Sports Entertainment, director Media/ Entertainment Ojez Group, and chairman Ghetto Music. Effiong is widely traveled; his hobbies include, reading, music, dramatic arts, traveling, and preservation of African culture. Charles Obot is professor of broadcasting, development, and political communication and head, Department of Film and Multimedia Studies, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He has practiced journalism across the major mass media, including The Pioneer—the Akwa Ibom State government-owned newspaper and Master Detective—a Lagos-based news magazine. He also worked with the Nigerian Television Authority, where he rose to the position of principal reporter/editor before transferring his services to the University of Uyo in 2007. Prof. Obot had also taught mass communication on a part-time basis at the Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo, Abia State University, Uyo Study Center. He spent his sabbatical leave and held an adjunct appointment at the Department of Mass Communication, Akwa Ibom State University in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 sessions, respectively,



About the Contributors 365

where he contributed significantly to the building of that department. While there, Prof. Charles Obot was the pioneer editor-in-chief and editor of AKSU Journal of Communication Research. Prof Obot attended the University of Cross River State, Uyo, and the University of Uyo respectively and has over thirty-six research publications in national and international journals to his credit. He is on the editorial board and also a reviewer for several national and international journals. Obot is a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); the International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS), Japan; and the European Center for Research, Training and Development, United Kingdom. His research interest is in broadcast media, governance and development. John Obot is a broadcast journalist of over two decades. He is presently working in the News Department of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos. Austin Okon-Akpan is a proud Akwa Ibom son, and a distinguished broadcast journalist and communications professional. He works as a sports anchor and head of Sports at the multiple-award-winning television station, Channels Television, Lagos, Nigeria. He anchors a prime-time show that has good followership nationwide and internationally. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from the reputable Covenant University, Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria, and a master’s degree in international relations and global governance from the prestigious Aston University in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Austin is a professional that has made a good name in broadcasting using his unique reporting and engaging presentation style. Austin has redefined sports broadcasting in Nigeria. His passion for television is contagious, and he displays love and passion for sports development from the grassroots. He is the convener of the Power of Sports series, where he tells life-changing stories on how sports can promote inclusion and transform and empower persons who are physically challenged. He is also an advocate of citizen journalism. Before getting into full-time broadcasting, he worked as a production/client service representative at SO & U Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency where he learned how to build brands from bottom to top and sustain their market relevance using effective PR and communication skills. He commands respect in Nigeria’s media space. He also does freelance broadcast journalism work with the BBC in Salford, Manchester. Austin has indeed been distinguished. He has received several recommendations, nominations, and honors, which include the award of Television Programme Presenter of the Year and Best TV Production work by the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA) committee. He also received the award for media excellence

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from the organizers of Opportunities for Africans in Baltimore, USA. He has received the award of Sports Journalist of the Year in the TV category from the Nigerian Sports Award, and has been awarded Football Journalist of the Year for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020. Austin is a good model of turning passion to profit. He is a total inspiration to his generation. Dr. Okon Godwin Okon hails from Mbioto 1 in Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He obtained his BSc (Hons.) in biology (2011) from the University of Abuja, Nigeria, MSc (2015) and PhD in botany (plant physiology/phytochemistry) (2018) from the University of Uyo, Nigeria. Dr. Okon started his full-time teaching career at Ritman University, Nigeria; he left to join the Akwa Ibom State University in 2019 where he teaches courses in different areas including molecular biology, general biology, plant tissue and organ culture, plant and environmental pollution monitoring and control, general ecology, general mycology, Nigerian vegetation, advanced plant metabolism, mineral nutrition in plants, and science innovation and environment at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Dr. Okon is extremely passionate about research and has about forty-four scientific publications in reputable international journals and eight book contributions to his credit. He is happily married. John Justus Okon is professor of communication and media studies at Stratford University, Virginia, USA. He is an experienced professor of communication with a demonstrated history of working in higher education. His expertise is in communication, education and humanities with twenty-five years’ background supporting students, developing instructional plans, and ensuring proper student development. He thoroughly understands the learning process and works hard to adapt methods and use various teaching styles. He is an innovative educator with proven success in implementing technology-based curriculum delivery and assessment tools and has been commended for sustaining an effective learning environment through prepared classes and relevant assignments and consistently achieving classroom management and academic goals. He is highly skilled at motivating students through positive encouragement and reinforcement of concepts via interactive classroom instruction and virtually. Odudu Okpongete has been a practicing journalist since 1997 and has often found himself as part of the foundation team of key regional and national newspapers. He was a foundation editorial staff member of the defunct National Post, a subsidiary of the moribund Champion Newspapers and an editor and editorial board member of the defunct South-South Express. He



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joined The Independent, the first true broadsheet newspaper in Nigeria as its senior correspondent covering the volatile Niger Delta region. He attended the Polytechnic Calabar, now Cross River State University of Science and Technology, where he graduated with a national diploma in mass communication before moving to the University of Uyo for his bachelor’s degree. He won prizes both as the Best Student in the Department of English and the Faculty of Arts as a whole. A master’s degree holder in public relations from the University of Maryland Global Campus, USA. He is the executive editor of content and strategy. Dr. Arnold B. Udoka, a scholar of the commonwealth in choreography and Nigeria’s first national choreographer is a television director and producer, culture administrator, award-winning playwright, and multi-award-winning choreographer with performances exhibited in more than twenty countries. He choreographed the ceremonies of the Eighth All-Africa Games 2003, CHOGM 2003, Nigeria Centenary 2014, World Expos in Lisbon ’98, Hanover 2000, Aichi 2005, and Nigeria Our Heritage, John F. Kennedy Center Washington, D.C., 2014. Author of many creative works and scholarly articles and chief adjudicator of Carnival Calabar, he holds certificates from Black Dance Development Trust, England; International Choreographers Residency Program, American Dance Festival, U.S.A.; a BA (Hons.) in theatre arts, University of Calabar; an MA in dance studies, Laban Centre for Movement and Dance at University of London Goldsmiths’ College, London; and a PhD in directing, University of Calabar, where he lectures in the Department of Theatre and Media Studies. Professor Godwin Jeremiah Udom has been teaching at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, since 1991 where he has supervised the completion of ten PhD theses, and many BSc and MSc projects. He graduated from the University of Calabar with a BSc degree in geology in 1983. After NYSC, he obtained MSc and PhD degrees from the same university. He is a registered environmental practitioner (NREP, USA), and a member of NMGS, COMEG, NAH, NIST, and IAH. Prof. Udom is a seasoned academic, having published many papers in high-impact journals. He has attended local and international conferences/workshops and has some awards to his credit. Prof. Udom has made remarkable impact in consultancy, with participation in over seventy environmental impact assessment (EIA) jobs in the Niger Delta Region and beyond. His experience enabled some IOCs to solve crucial groundwater pollution problems in the Niger Delta around 2003 and 2004. In 2007, he had a worthwhile sabbatical leave in SPDC. Prof. Udom has served twice as head, Department of Geology, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State,

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Nigeria; twice as coordinator geology and mining program; director, Centre for Petroleum Geosciences, and is a permanent member of the Senate of the same University. He is an external examiner and assessor of academics to the professorial cadre in many universities. He is happily married with children. Dr. Ndaeyo Uko, a journalist with major newspapers in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and United States, has been teaching journalism and communication in Australian universities, James Cook University and Monash University, since 2000. He left full-time teaching at Monash to devote time to research on the Nigeria-Biafra War and the humanitarian crisis. He is a communication and editorial consultant for the African Development Bank. He holds doctorates in narrative journalism and creative writing. Dr. Anietie John Ukpe is the director general of Akwa Ibom State Broadcasting Corporation and a fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy. Prior to his appointment to this position, he had served as the chief press secretary/senior special assistant to the governor of Akwa Ibom State (2011–2015), and earlier as special assistant on media (2008–2011). He had also served as the chief press secretary to the deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State (1999–2005) and had worked as a journalist for over fifteen years (1983–1999). Dr. Ukpe received his BA degree in mass communication from Abia State University, and his MA and PhD degrees in business and organizational communication from University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. He has published papers in several journals and chapters in books. He has also attended several international workshops including a workshop on government reform management at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA, organized by the World Bank. His research activities are focused on journalism, communication, leadership, and public relations. He was the lead resource person in an orientation workshop for the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in 2007. He has also been a resource person in workshops hosted by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Standard Organization of Nigeria, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Information and Strategy, and a host of others. Dr. Anietie Ukpe was ordained a minister of the gospel in 1995 by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa of blessed memory. Professor Ahaziah Umanah is the chairman and CEO of Redemption FM 101.5 Abak, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He grew up as a Sunday school teacher and in 1966 rose to become the president of the Nigerian Christian Youth Movement (NCYM). His exemplary role as the youth president gave him a ticket to attend the International Youth Conference in 1968 in Cape



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May, New Jersey, while he was studying for his diploma in tropical agriculture at the School of Agriculture, Umudike. In his quest to further broaden his scope of knowledge, Ahaziah Umanah was admitted into Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA, where in 1971, he received his BA (summa cum laude) in English and humanities. In 1975, he completed his master’s program at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, and earned an MA degree in journalism and mass communication. He currently holds two PhD degrees in mass communication as well as sociology from the same institution. He also has a professional chaplaincy certificate in clinical pastoral education (CPE) from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic. In 1971, Prof. Ahaziah Umanah was ordained a deacon in an all-white First Christian Church, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. In 1980, he was ordained a church elder and between 1997 and 2009, he was ordained as pastor and rose to become a superintendent pastor. In 2000, he was elected as the president of the Community Association of Christian Prelates, and in March 2010, he was consecrated as a bishop of the First Temple Church of the Nazarene. He was later elected vicar, Information and Public Relations, Association of Charismatic Ministers and Bishops of Nigeria (ACMB) and was later elected the president of ACMB. Bishop Prof Ahaziah has distinguished himself as an academic scholar and has served in capacities such as: director of Development and Advancement, Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene; coordinator and secretary to the Board of Trustees, Ritman University; professor (broadcasting and international communication), Texas Southern University, Houston, TX (Dec. 2012–2014); director of International Affairs and Industrial Cooperation, Akwa Ibom State University (2009–2011); member of Senate and Academic Board, Akwa Ibom State University (2009–2011); secretary, Board of Trustees, Centre for Skills Acquisition and Rural Development, University of Uyo (Feb. 2001–2007); member of Senate, University of Uyo (1985–2003); executive director, Centre for Skills Acquisition and Rural Development, University of Uyo (February 2001–September 2003); associate editor, International Journal of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Uyo (2000–2003); member, University Development Committee, UNICROSS (1985–1987); chairman, Developing and Structuring of Faculty Wide Courses, UNICROSS (1985–1986); founding head of Department of Mass Communication, The Polytechnic Calabar (1978–1981); assistant professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simpson’s College, Indianola, Iowa (1976–1977); research assistant, Media and Publications, Department of Special Support Services, University of Iowa, USA (1978–1977); visiting staff lecturer, Agency for International Development (AID) Workshops, Michigan State University, Baton Rouge, Michigan, USA (1973–1975); instructor,

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Department of English and Humanities, Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA (Summer 1973). As a distinguished administrator and public servant, Bishop Prof Ahaziah Umanah has at numerous times been trusted with positions of great responsibilities where he performed creditably. Some of these are: director, Higher Education and Development Outreach, New Covenant Faith and Miracle Arena Inc., Bronx, New York, USA (Jan 2005–2006); executive chairman, Etim Ekpo Local Government Caretaker Committee (May 1994–September 1995); director, Public Affairs and Information, National Planning Commission, The Presidency, Lagos/Abuja (1993–April 1994); special assistant to the Hon. Minister of Trade and Tourism, Ministry of Trade and Tourism, Abuja (1990–1993); member, Board of Directors, Akwa Ibom Newspaper Limited, Uyo. (September 1989–1991); assistant director, Information and Programmes Support Communication, Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI), The Presidency, National Assembly Complex, Lagos (August 1988–November 1990); general manager, Cross River State Newspaper Corporation, Calabar (October 1981–1983); principal research consultant–Media and Information, Where One or More Gather Inc., Davenport, Iowa, USA (1976–1977); secretary, Akwa Ibom State Development Trust Fund (2001–2005); director, Akwa Ibom Newspapers Limited (1989–June 1991); member, Newspaper Proprietor Association of Nigeria (1980–1984). As a consummate politician and social critic, he has earned portfolios such as contributor to the Nigerian Outlook newspaper, Enugu (1962–1964); columnist (international affairs) The Daily Iowan, Iowa city, Iowa, USA (1971– 1972); columnist, The Nigerian Chronicle, Calabar (1978–1982); Bi-Weekly Commentator, Cross River radio program, The People’s Right to Know and in NTA Calabar (1979–1982); producer WSUI-KSUI National Public Radio, Iowa city, Iowa, USA (1976–1977); consultant director of Organization and Publicity, United Party of Nigeria, Cross Rivers State (1981–1983). Bishop Prof Ahaziah is the author of several books and his academic works have been published in many local and foreign journals. He has attended several conferences and workshops within and outside Nigeria. On the whole, Bishop Prof Ahaziah Umanah is an effective and fulfilled family man. He is a thoroughbred academician and scholar. He is a distinguished administrator and public servant. He is a consummate politician and social critic. He is a passionate Christian crusader and religious administrator. He is a cosmopolitan individual in services and responsibilities (Courtesy of Ikpaisong Reporters). Joseph A. Ushie is professor of general stylistics and literary criticism in the Department of English, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. He is an award-



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winning scholar and the current dean of faculty of arts, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Des Wilson is professor emeritus of ethnocommunicology and African communication systems, University of Uyo, Nigeria. He is also the former acting vice chancellor of Obong University, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.