Akwa Ibom State

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

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 speaks Oro a language of its own 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 Oron, 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 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 for the creation 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 organization 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.

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