OIL RIVERS STATE

OIL RIVERS STATE

…Why Ibeno opted out

…The Okpolupm Etteh Connection

…Why LG Chairman Refused To Sign Communiqué

The people of Ibeno Local Government have said they should be counted out of the proposed Oil Rivers State.

The people, through their elected representatives, under the aegis of Elective Representatives Forum, have drawn the attention of the leadership and members of the just concluded National Conference in Abuja to newspaper and online publications of an alleged inclusion of the area in the proposed Oil Rivers State.

In a statement addressed to the Chairman of the Conference and signed by 12 elected office holders of Ibeno extraction, the forum opposed such inclusion. According to them, “While we do not oppose the creation of an additional State, we vehemently reject any attempt at balkanization of the State with the aim of taking out Ibeno Local Government Area or any other Local Government Area for that matter out of the present geopolitical structure of Akwa Ibom State. This does not mean that we are opposing any people outside Akwa Ibom State from agitating for Oil Rivers State, but we state unequivocally that delineation of such a State MUST NOT INCLUDE any portion, village, community or square metre of Akwa Ibom State. We oppose it and for good reasons.”

“Ibeno Local Government Area is the primary and major reason the state is the current largest oil producing State in Nigeria. That accounts for the huge revenue profile of the Federation and of the State from the Federation Account,” the statement noted.

The Forum said it would have counseled the perpetrators of the alleged inclusion of the area in the proposed Oil Rivers State, saying “We speak on behalf of the people that elected neither us that we were consulted nor our consent sought in this ill-fated project. We would have counseled against it because we have the ears of the grassroots electorates of Ibeno people.”

“We, the elected representatives of Ibeno people, therefore, urge the National Conference to expunge Ibeno Local Government Area from the proposed Oil Rivers State.  Ibeno will engage in any open process of State Creation when all the peoples of Akwa Ibom State will agree to determine how the State should be further divided when the need so arises,” the statement concluded.

Signatories to the letter include the member representing Esit Eket/Ibeno in the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Okpolupm Etteh; the Vice Chairman of Ibeno Local Government Council, Esther Nnitor; the Leader and Deputy Leader of Ibeno Legislative Council, Sunday Johnson and Charity Akpanowong; Mkpat Enyina; Ichulo Sunday; Kingsley Akwa-Udo; Emmanuel Mkpat; Ikoabasi Uko; Moses Itam Moses; Douglas Noah and George Ekah

Findings show that some powerful forces in the state were behind the inclusion of the state the Cofab report. Previously, the state was not one of the states approved by the conference committee which sat on the matter.

Investigations reveal that the powers were out to  put spanners in the works of Etteh in his quest to become Governor of the state in 2015.

For sometimes now, one of the issues raised against Etteh has been his Ibeno origin. This, our investigation also revealed, is one of the strategies used by opponents against him. In their campaigns, most of his opponents tell their hosts, especially men from their tribe, that Etteh is Ijaw and that Ibeno is an Ijaw settlement.

The National Coordinator of Ikpoto Akwa Ibom, one of the several groups campaigning for Etteh,Mr. Nsima Uwak, however,says the Ijaws know that Ibeno is not an Ijaw territory and cannot, therefore, lay claim to it. According to him, Ibeno was founded by Mbang, a brother to Ukpabang, the progenitor of Oron Nation,

“This informs the wide acceptability of Etteh among the Oron,” Uwak said.

“Even at that, that means even if we believe the blackmail,who is more Akwa Ibom than Etteh in this race? He is from Ibeno, his mother is Ibibio from Ikono, his grandmother is another Ibibio from Uyo; his wife is Annang from Etim Ekpo; his ancestor is Mbang, a brother to Ukpabang, founder of Oron nation. They can never rubbish his pan-Akwa Ibom citizenship through the myopic criticism of Ibeno being an Ijaw settlement and wanting to join an Oil Rivers State,” Uwak stated.

Etteh had to call a meeting of elected representative in his Ibeno home where a decision was taken to count Ibeno out of the Proposed Oil Rivers State. His Local Government Council Chairman, Mr. Henry Ekpe Nko, however, refused to give assent to the communiqué distancing himself from the state for personal reasons.

Investigation reveals that Ekpe Nko has been tipped by the Akwa Ibom Consolidated Alliance (ACA) as the State House of Representatives’ candidate for Eket Federal Constituency, to open the space for Mr. Udom Emmanuel to be Governor.

For this reason, the Chairman, who is said to be one of the main supporters of Udom Emmanuel in Ibeno because of his ambition to go to the Federal House in 2015, has gone away from the political inclination of his mentor, Etteh.

A stakeholder in the area told our reporter that Ekpe Nko is deceiving Udom. According to him, “He is playing stomach politics. For someone Etteh single-handedly made Chairman and Party officer to support Udom now, it is for his ambition. He is not loyal to the course. Udom should not be deceived. He is not also on ground. Every of his political achievements has been courtesy of Etteh. So, Udom should watch him closely.”