Akwa Ibom State

Akwa Ibom State
State
Nickname(s): Land of Promise

Location of Akwa Ibom in Nigeria
Coordinates (neymar): 05°00′N 07°50′E / 5.000°N 7.833°E / 5.000; 7.833Coordinates: 05°00′N 07°50′E / 5.000°N 7.833°E / 5.000; 7.833
Country  Nigeria
Date created 23 September 1987
Capital Uyo
Government
 • Governor
(List)		 Udom Gabriel Emmanuel (PDP)
 • Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo
 • Senators
 • Legislature Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly
Area
 • Total 7,081 km2 (2,734 sq mi)
Area rank 30 of 36
Population (2016)[1]
 • Total 5,450,758
 • Rank 15 of 36
 • Density 770/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Akwa Ibomite
GDP (PPP)
 • Year 2007
 • Total $11.18 billion[2]
 • Per capita $2,779[2]
Time zone WAT (UTC+01)
ISO 3166 code NG-AK
Website akwaibomstate.gov.ng

Akwa Ibom is a state in Nigeria. It is located in the coastal southern part of the country, lying between latitudes 4°32′N and 5°33′N, and longitudes 7°25′E and 8°25′E. The state is located in the South-South geopolitical zone, and is bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost tip of Cross River State.

Akwa Ibom is one of Nigeria's 36 states, with a population of over five million people. The state was created in 1987 from the former Cross River State and is currently the highest oil- and gas-producing state in the country. The state's capital is Uyo, with over 500,000 inhabitants. Akwa Ibom has an airport and two major seaports on the Atlantic Ocean with a proposed construction of a world-class seaport Ibaka Seaport at Oron. The state also boasts of a 30,000-seat ultramodern sports complex. Akwa Ibom state is also home to the Ibom E-Library, a world-class information centre.[3] In addition to English, the main spoken languages are Ibibio, Annang, Eket and Oron.[4]

Major cities

Uyo, Eket, Ikot Ekpene, Etinan, Oron, Abak, Ikot Abasi, and Ibeno.

Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Akwa Ibom

Here are the list of ministries in Akwa Ibom[5]

Local government areas

Akwa Ibom State consists of thirty-one (31) local government areas. They are:

Media Houses

History

The region of the state was created out of Cross River State on September 23, 1987.

Demography

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

The Ibibio, Annang, and Eket, who speak a dialect of the Ibibio language, Oron and Obolo, comprising Ibono (Ibeno) and Eastern Obolo people, are the largest ethnic groups. The Oro [Oron] is an ethnic group similar to the Efik, who also speak a dialect of Ibibio language and predominate in neighbouring Cross River State, and are found in five of the state's Local Government Areas. Located at the Atlantic Ocean coast are the Eket, Ibeno and Eastern Obolo people. The Ibono have similarities with the Oro and Obolos. Some people of the North western border of Akwa by virtue of their interactions with the Igbos tend to be bilingual, likewise the Igbos at the border who are fluent in Annang. However Igbos are not indigenous to Akwa ibom

The Ibibio language belongs to the Benue–Congo language family, which forms part of the Niger–Congo group of languages.

Despite the homogeneity, no central government existed among the people of what is now Akwa Ibom State prior to the British invasion in 1904. Instead, the Annang, Oron, Efik, Ibonos and Ibibio were all autonomous groups.

Although several Scottish missionaries arrived in Calabar in 1848, and Ibono in 1887, the British did not firmly establish control of the area until 1904. In that year, the Enyong Division was created encompassing the area of the current state of Akwa Ibom, with headquarters at Ikot Ekpene, an Annang city described by the noted Africanist Kaanan Nair, as the cultural and political capital of Annang and Ibibio.

The creation of Enyong Division for the first time allowed the numerous ethnic groups to come together. This further provided a venue to create of the Ibibio Welfare Union, later renamed Ibibio State Union. This social organization was first organized as a local development and improvement forum for educated persons and groups who were shut out from the colonial administration in 1929. Nonetheless, some historians have wrongly pointed to the union to buttress their argument about the homogeneity of groups in the area. The Obolo Union, comprising Ibono and Andoni stock, was another strong socioeconomic and cultural organisation that thrived in the region. The Ibono people have fought wars to maintain their unique identity and territory in the region more than any other group.

When Akwa Ibom state was created in 1987, Uyo was chosen as the state capital to spread development to all regions of the state.

Education

The Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education is tasked with monitoring the education sector of the state. The current region of Akwa Ibom State in old Calabar Kingdom was the first to encounter Western education in Nigeria with the establishment of Hope Waddell Training Institute, at Calabar in 1895, and the Methodist Boys High School at Oron in 1905 as well as other top schools such as the Holy Family College at Abak and Regina Coeli College in Essene.

Some educational institutes in the state are:

Notable People from Akwa Ibom

Politics

Politics in Akwa Ibom state are dominated by the three main ethnic groups, the Ibibio, Annang and Oron. Of these three, the Ibibio remain the majority and have held sway in the state since its creation. For the past eight years, the Annang people held sway, since the governor for those eight years was from Ikot Ekpene senatorial district.

References

  1. ↑ Akwa Ibom State History
  2. 1 2 "C-GIDD (Canback Global Income Distribution Database)". Canback Dangel. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  3. ↑ http://www.ibomelibrary.org/
  4. ↑ "Akwa Ibom State Government official Website gets a new look – The Premium Herald". The Premium Herald. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  5. ↑ https://akwaibomstate.gov.ng/page-page-akwa-ibom-state-executive-council-.html
  6. ↑ http://www.sfp.edu.ng/
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