National Confrence: Ekid people insist on Umoyo, Wilson BY EMMANUEL AKPAN

Ahead of the proposed National Conference by the Federal Government which all the states in the Federation have submitted their various delegates lists to the Federal Government, the people of Ekid Nation have rejected Chief Nduese Essien who is one of the delegates submitted by Akwa Ibom State.
The people spoke under the umbrella of Ekid Poeople’s Union, a socio-cultural organization and the apex mouth piece of Ekid Nation comprising of Eket and Esit Local Government Areas.

In a press release signed by the National President of the group, professor Asindi  Asindi and made available to our reporter during a press  conference at the Nigeria Union of  Journalists (NUJ) secretariat ,last week Wednesday, the people observed that there is a serious imbalance in the Akwa Ibom State representation the upcoming  conference, adding that Chief Nduese Essien was nominated by Federal Government and not the people of Ekid Nation.

Although Chief Nduese  Essien  is from Eket LGA in Ekid Nation, prof. Asindi Asindi  noted that it will be terribly unfair and a glaring injustice for Ekid ethnic Nationalities to be excluded from the conference, adding that they will view the exclusion as another step to malign and oppress them and that Ekid Nation stands by its earlier nominees sent to the conference which were: Senator Etang Umoyo and Professor Desmond Wilson.

Prof. Asindi  Asindi said the people of Ekid have faith in their representation and that their protest is predicated on their firm belief that the conference will address a lot of injustices and marginalization in the country which will determine the continuity as a country after years of existence even as he called on those concerned not to gold over the numerous protests and agitation.

The release reads in part “we saw the list of delegates for the National conference published in the Daily Sun Newspaper of Friday, 7th March 2014 at P.53. It is of grave concern to us that Ekid representation as an ethnic Nationality has deliberately and the conspicuously been excluded from the list of delegates to this very important National Conference. We have been assured even by the Federal Government in it’s publication that ethnic Nationalities would be given due consideration at the conference but this appears not to be so. Nigeria has not less than 250 ethnic Nationalities and if this number is represented at the conference in conjunction with other group, then it would have been a balanced conference to serve the interest of the people and Posterity”.

The group president further maintained that the purpose of the conference already looks defeated because of the numerous agitations and petitions flooding the newspaper, adding that some of the delegates listed for the conference ought not to be there even as he said they are already being recycled to the detriment of those with new ideas to move Nigeria forward.

According to him “It should be noted that Ekid Nation greatly contributes to the economic growth of Nigeria as bulk of the resources sustaining the country comes from Ekid shores. There is serious imbalance in the Akwa Ibom State representation at the conference .what we have observed from the list of Akwa Ibom State delegates lends credence to the assertion of some selfish and myopic people that Akwa Ibom State rests on the tripod of Ibibio, Anang and Oron to the deteriment of other ethnic Nationalities in the state”.