Dan Abia and his rescue mission of the Niger Delta BY NSIBIET JOHN

 

 

When the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in the year 2000 by then President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was the belief of many that the Commission will come in to serve wholeheartedly the interests of the Niger Delta People as a unit and Nigeria as a nation. With nine states in its geographic location, followers of the restive natives of the region had believed that, indeed, the component states of the region will be able to boast of good road networks, improved infrastructures, improved/qualitative education and improved standard of living. 

Ibibio, Etim Ibaba, Etim Usung Afere

Protocols
Introduction 

I find myself privileged and humbled by the invitation extended to me as Guest Speaker at this  epoch-making occasion, if  you permit me to hazard a guess, I would think that my choice as Guest Speaker may have been born out of my relationship with the Distinguished Senator. Otherwise, it is the extension of the common ancestry between Etefia Ikono and Anantia Ibiono. It is this ancestral affinity that explains our cultural bonding when we proclaim:

Ito Usung Idung Ke-ed
Inwongo Ukud Idim Ke-ed
Ikpono Iso ndem Ke-ed
Ita adukpok eku ke-ed

But what provided a greater impetus to my coming here today is the undisputed position of Ikono as the cradle of the Ibibio nation (Ntippe Ibibio) Noah (1994), Ukpong (2007) Umana & Eka (2012), Umoh – Faithman (1999), Udo (1983), Ettang (1987), Ukpon et al (2001).
Umoh- Faithmaqn (1999) succinctly captures the place of Ibibio genealogy when he said