Essien Udim, A’Ibom and a worthy daughter

BY TIJAH BOLTON-AKPAN

It was interesting. Last Monday, September 22, was the eve of Akwa Ibom State’s twenty-seventh anniversary and the drums were already rolling. As usual with such dates on the calendar of the Akpabio administration, the fanfare was necessarily tempered with symbolisms of development. So, even as the sounds of clinking glasses were yet to fade, the governor was putting scissor to ribbon at project commissioning events from Uyo to Nsit Ibom to Obot Akara. 

Then it got very interesting. As the afternoon wore on, and after a frenetic round of convoying the governor and his entourage half-way across the state, it became clear to everyone that all roads would empty out at Afaha Ikot Eba, headquarters of Essien Udim local government area, where the council chairman, Nse Ntuen, had arranged a feast fit for a big day. And such a big day it was. At the centre of the day’s show was a ‘big house’, the Council Secretariat’s new administrative building. 

That the governor was about to commission this fully furnished state of the art complex in his home local government area was not really news. That it was built by Ntuen, the state chairman and deputy national chairman of ALGON (Association of Local Governments of Nigeria) was not much news either. What really caught with the newsmakers was that the epic project was named after the governor’s wife, Ekaette Unoma Akpabio. 

Over the years, Mrs. Akpabio’s charming personality and inspiring lifework has become a subject for armchair commentators, trend spotters and serious observers alike. She has been a supportive force beside her husband for the state’s development revolution during the Akpabio years, for which she has been fondly nicknamed “Mkpouto Akwa Ibom” or “The Jewel of Akwa Ibom”. 

As he commissioned the council building, an elated Governor Godswill Akpabio could not miss the opportunity of showering words of praise on a deserving wife: “My wife deserves this honour” the governor beamed. “She is the secret behind my success and the pillar of the uncommon transformation we are witnessing in the state today.” Indeed it was this support that earned Mrs. Akpabio the prestigious award of “Most Supportive Governor’s Wife in Nigeria” by the Sun Publishing Group last year. 

Beyond the famed support for her husband, though, Mrs. Akpabio’s biggest impact has, perhaps, been through her non-governmental organisation, the Family Life Enhancement Initiative (FLEI). The organisation has played an outstanding role in addressing marginal social empowerment questions that often escape the huge remit of the formal establishment. Deliberate efforts are made to ensure that FLEI programmes are spread equitably across the state. No local government area in the state can claim not to have been touched by the governor’s wife and her interventions. But Essien Udim has claimed the prime spot in the news by expressing their appreciation for the inspiring life and legacies of Mkpouto in such a grand style. She is one of their own, after all; a daughter in whom they are well pleased. 

It bears no repeating here that like thousands of others across the state and beyond, several indigenes of Essien Udim have been touched by Mrs. Akpabio’s programmes, be it through the Shelter for Widows’ Scheme, the quarterly multiple birth intervention, the livelihood programme or any of the other intervention planks through which the governor’s wife has consistently reached out to less fortunate constituencies across the state. Women from the area have also benefitted from the political empowerment and leadership programmes of the governor’s wife, with several of them now in key positions at the LGA level and the state. 

Essien Udim plays host to a number of the homes the governor’s wife has built for widows across every local government area of the state. For seven years running, Essien Udim has also played host to an annual yuletide empowerment programme, through which the governor’s wife empowers hundreds of widows and other vulnerable women with cash grants and other gifts every December. The LGA is also the pilot location for the Family Life Multipurpose Cooperative Society, a model farming and agro-processing value chain initiative through which scores of rural widows have been organised into farmer cooperatives to produce food crops, fish and livestock and then process same into value added, export-ready products. Of course, as a worthy wife and daughter, there must naturally be so much else she has been doing for her kin that, expectedly, would be off the radar.

But the smiles that Mkpouto puts on the faces of her home folk in Essien Udim must surely pale into insignificance compared to the high they must be getting each time they see her being celebrated in the news, not just as an Essien Udim wife and daughter, but as a star-studded gift from Akwa Ibom to the world. They must be really proud of this daughter of theirs and her exploits – on the one hand as a change maker in her own right, inspiring families and changing lives; and on the other hand as a supportive wife to Akwa Ibom’s promise keeping governor. 

It was therefore not hard to understand why the 44-room edifice built by Nse Ntuen and his Council at the cost of N250 million ended up as a legacy named after this maid of history. On why he decided to name the Complex after the governor’s wife, the council boss explained: “Her Excellency Ekaette Unoma Akpabio remains a reference point for womanhood in our society. She has been a blessing to many people in this area and it is befitting to name this place after her to demonstrate the council’s appreciation of her good works.” His wife, Nene, added: “I am so excited today not only because my husband is commissioning this project for his people, but also because the building has been named after a woman who has touched many lives, especially women and children in this state.”
Asuama Sydney, coordinator of FLEI, also shared her thoughts: “As a daughter of the soil I am proud to be associated with her. She has impacted positively on so many lives not only in this local government area but also across the state. I’m so happy that this legacy has been put in place here so that future generations in Essien Udim and the state at large can celebrate this phenomenal and inspiring woman”.

Chairman of neighbouring Ikot Ekpene local government council, who is herself also a daughter of Essien Udim, expressed her excitement: “Ekaette Unoma Akpabio is no ordinary woman. She is a unique and influential woman. We the women in government are all living testimonies to her influence. And I am so excited that she is being recognised here in this very unique way. This state will not forget her in a hurry.”

The Paramount Ruler of Essien Udim, Edidem His Royal Majesty Obong Cosmas Akpan couldn’t have put it better: “She is a daughter that Essien Udim is very proud of”.  

For the people of Essien Udim, the governor’s home town, last Monday was a day for joining other Akwa Ibom citizens in celebrating how far the state had come, twenty seven years on. And so they did, with the unveiling of a landmark project. But it was also a day for celebrating an outstanding daughter of Essien Udim and Akwa Ibom State, a woman whose name will electrify hearts and inspire hope even beyond our shores for years to come.

Tijah Bolton-Akpan, a development practitioner, is on the staff of Family Life Enhancement Initiative (FLEI). He contributed this piece via tijahbolton@gmail.com.