Ekid People's Union - EPU

31/12/2025

𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗘𝗞𝗜𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘, 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡.

By Assam Abia

Governor Umo Eno’s outburst in Eket during the commissioning of a so-called model medical centre at Nduo-Nduo was not merely unfortunate; it was reckless.

To twist a lawful notice issued by a people into an act of “terrorism” is not a slip of the tongue, it is a dangerous provocation born of arrogance and contempt.

Such unprovoked vituperation from a sitting governor against a people who freely gave him their mandate is not leadership. It is an embarrassment to the office he occupies and a betrayal of the democratic trust placed in him.

Dr. Samuel Udonsak, President-General of the Ekid People’s Union (EPU), is a medical doctor of international standing and one of Africa’s finest private medical practitioner. His academic credentials and professional integrity have never been in doubt. He contested the 2015 governorship election not out of desperation, but out of competence, vision, and a genuine desire to serve Akwa Ibom State.

For Governor Umo Eno to direct his misconceptions and insults at a leader so revered by the Ekid Nation is an assault on the collective dignity of a people who, incidentally, played no small role in his rise to economic relevance. In doing so, the Governor has grossly miscalculated, biting the very fingers that steadied his climb.

Let it be stated clearly and without equivocation: the Ekid people are not a nation to be cowed by intimidation or threats. Our resolve is anchored in justice, fortified by history, and sustained by collective dignity. No amount of pressure, blackmail, or name-calling will force us to abandon a legitimate cause.

We also place it firmly on record that should anything untoward happen to the President-General of the Ekid People’s Union, the Ekid people will know precisely where to direct a lawful, thorough, and uncompromising inquest. Responsibility will not be obscured. Accountability will not be negotiated.
A government that truly seeks peace does not insult landowners, it engages them.
A government that truly seeks development does not erase history, it builds on justice.
These two principles should be the compass of governance in Akwa Ibom State today. Instead, they have become the standard by which the Ekid people now measure an alarming disconnect between power and principle.

When a Governor responds to a lawful caveat with insults, rage, and the dangerous language of criminality, then something has gone terribly wrong, not with the people, but with governance itself.

INSULTS ARE NOT A PEACE STRATEGY

Peace is not achieved by name-calling.
Peace is not enforced through intimidation.
Peace is not sustained by dismissing legitimate grievances.
Labeling landowners as terrorists for asserting ancestral rights is not leadership, it is escalation. It sends a chilling message that lawful advocacy is unwelcome and that silence is preferred to justice.
History is unequivocal: where governments mock grievances, resentment festers; where they listen, peace endures.

Ekid did not insult the government.
Ekid issued a caveat, a lawful instrument, after repeated efforts to compel the Umo Eno administration to respect the rule of law he swore to uphold. The appropriate response should have been engagement, not public rebuke, verbal assault, and reckless accusations.

DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT JUSTICE IS DISPOSSESSION

Development that ignores ownership is not progress, it is displacement by another name.
You cannot build roads over unresolved judgments.
You cannot lay foundations on denied history.
You cannot attract credible investors by pretending disputes do not exist.
Every serious development framework begins with clarity of land title. That clarity exists, in Ekid history, in binding court judgments, and in documented records. To pretend otherwise is not governance; it is deliberate denial.

HISTORY IS NOT AN INCONVENIENCE TO BE ERASED

The 1918 Privy Council Judgment is not a footnote, it is a foundation. It affirms Ekid ownership of the lands now referred to as Stubbs Creek (Akoiyak). That judgment has not expired. It has not been overturned.
Any development that requires historical amnesia is already defective. A government confident in justice does not fear history, it confronts it honestly and governs accordingly.

ENGAGEMENT IS NOT WEAKNESS.

Listening to landowners does not diminish authority.
Acknowledging court judgments does not weaken power.
Respecting host communities does not stall progress.
On the contrary, it legitimizes governance.
True engagement would have meant:
• Consultation before allocation
• Consent before construction
• Compensation before occupation
Instead, Ekid was insulted, publicly, dismissively, and on its own land.

WORDS FROM THE CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER MATTER.

When a Governor deploys security language against civil and legal claims, the implications are grave. Such rhetoric criminalizes dissent, poisons dialogue, prejudices resolution, and hardens positions.
Peace is built through dialogue rooted in respect, not rhetoric fueled by anger.

THE CHOICE BEFORE AKWA IBOM.

Akwa Ibom State stands at a crossroads:
• Build with law or bulldoze with power
• Engage communities or alienate them
• Respect history or attempt to rewrite it by force
The Ekid people have made their position unmistakably clear: we are not opposed to development; we are opposed to injustice.

CONCLUSION.

A government that truly seeks peace does not insult landowners, it engages them.
A government that truly seeks development does not erase history, it builds on justice.
These are not threats.
They are warnings drawn from history.
Ekid demands dignity, legality, and fairness, not favors.

31/12/2025

AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, GOVERNOR UMO ENO, ON STUBBS CREEK (AKOIYAK), EKID PEOPLE ARE NOT TERRORISTS.

Your Excellency Pastor Umo Eno,

I write as concerned citizen of Akwa Ibom State and as a member of the Ekid nation, compelled by recent statements credited to you during the inauguration of a Model Health Centre in Nduo Eduo, Eket Local Government Area, where you responded angrily to a formal caveat issued by the Ekid People’s Union (EPU) concerning the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve (Akoiyak).

This letter is not written in defiance of development, but in defence of law, history, and justice.

1. EKID IS NOT AGAINST DEVELOPMENT, EKID IS AGAINST ILLEGALITY

At no point did the Ekid People’s Union declare opposition to development.

What EPU issued was a caveat emptor, a lawful and globally recognised warning to investors, following repeated actions by the State Government in allocating portions of Ekid ancestral land to the Navy and private companies without consultation, consent, or compensation to the Ekid people.

Development that tramples on lawful ownership, ignores court judgments, and sidelines host communities is not progress; it is a recipe for conflict.

2. STUBBS CREEK IS NOT “GOVERNMENT LAND ” BY FIAT

Your Excellency, the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve was created under Forest Reserve Order No. 45 of 1930 strictly for conservation purposes. That reservation did not extinguish ownership, nor did it convert Ekid land into Crown Land or State Land.

Under Nigerian law and the Land Use Act of 1978, the Ekid people retain title and deemed right of occupancy over Akoiyak. Forest reservation is regulatory, not proprietary.

This distinction is elementary in land law and cannot be wished away by executive declarations.

3. THE 1918 PRIVY COUNCIL JUDGMENT STILL STANDS

It is deeply troubling that Your Excellency described EPU as a party “still in court” and implied that Ekid was acting improperly by asserting its rights.

For the avoidance of doubt:

* The Privy Council Judgment of 1918 (Ntiaro & Ikpak v. Ibok Etukakpan & Edohoekit), delivered in London, affirmed Ekid ownership of the swamps and littoral lands east of the Qua Iboe River which is the area now called Stubbs Creek (Akoiyak).

* This judgment has never been set aside, overturned, or vacated.

* Records of proceedings, maps, and survey plans remain accessible at the British National Library, Kew.

* You asking us to go back to the government of 1918 sounds like you are ready to take our ancestral land from us

Ekid did not “run to court for fun.” Ekid returned to court only after repeated refusal by successive governments, including this administration, to respect and implement that judgment, despite the enactment of the Akwa Ibom State Map Law of 2023, which aligns with Ekid’s territorial claims.

4. CALLING LANDOWNERS “TERRORISTS ” IS DANGEROUS AND UNJUST.

My Excellency, your description of EPU President Dr. Samuel Udonsak and Ekid people asserting ownership as “terrorists” is profoundly disturbing.

The Ekid people are not militants. They are not insurgents. They are law-abiding citizens invoking court judgments, statutes, and documented history.

Such language, especially when used by the Chief Security Officer of the State, is capable of:

* Criminalising legitimate civil claims.

* Expose great biased for the opposite side.

* Justifying repression.

* And inflaming communal tensions in an already sensitive area.

History has shown, repeatedly, that dismissing legitimate land grievances with threats and insults does not bring peace, it breeds resistance and enmity.

5. INVESTORS WERE WARNED BECAUSE GOVERNMENT ACTIONS CAUSED THE CRISIS.

You cited stalled investments: including the BUA project as justification for attacking EPU’s caveat.

With respect my Excellency, investors withdrew not because Ekid spoke, but because:

* The State Government misrepresented ownership to them;

* Allocations were made without resolving long-standing legal claims;

* Due diligence exposed unresolved land title issues.

* No serious investor proceeds where land ownership is contested and unresolved. EPU’s caveat merely stated the truth after the damage had already been done.

6. DIALOGUE CANNOT REPLACE THE RULE OF LAW

You urged Ekid to “embrace dialogue.”

Dialogue is valuable but dialogue cannot override court judgments. Dialogue cannot legalise illegality. Dialogue cannot replace restitution, consultation, and consent.

Ekid has always been open to engagement, but engagement must start with acknowledgment of facts, not denial of history.

7. DEVELOPMENT NUMBERS DO NOT LIE

Your Excellency, let us speak plainly.

In your third year in office, Ekid land has received:

* One Model Primary School.

* One Model Primary Health Centre.

That is commendable but it is grossly inadequate.

* Eket and Esit-Eket:
Host major oil and gas assets.

* Bear environmental burdens.

* Generate enormous revenue for the State and Federation.

Ekid lays the golden egg.
A people that lay the golden egg deserve more than symbolic gestures.

8. FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU MY EXCELLENCY

● Why were Ekid people rebuked publicly in the presence of those seeking to take Ekid land?

● Why was no public reprimand issued to agencies and investors who proceeded without consulting Eket and Esit-Eket who are the host communities?

● Does dignity still matter in governance, especially when speaking to a people with legitimate grievances?

● Is it wrong for Eket and Esit-Eket to ask for compensation on their ancestral land?

● If asking for compensation is wrong in Ekid, why is it acceptable in other parts of Akwa Ibom State?

● Has the 1918 Privy Council Judgment been overturned, and if not, why is it treated as irrelevant? And why are you not obeying the ruling?

● Does a peace committee override a subsisting court judgment?

● On what legal or moral basis are landowners asking for recognition described as “terrorists”?

● What message does such language send to young people taught that lawful advocacy is not a crime?

● Will Akwa Ibom be built on bulldozers and anger, or on law, consent, and fairness?

● When Ekid youths read this chapter years from now, will they say their Governor Pastor Umo Eno had listened?

Your Excellency,
These questions are not threats.
They are not sabotage.

They are the language of a people seeking dignity within development.

The Ekid people remain open to dialogue but dialogue anchored on truth, law, and respect.

History awaits your answers my Excellency.

9. A FINAL APPEAL TO LEADERSHIP AND STATESMANSHIP.

Your Excellency, you stood on Ekid soil to inaugurate a project meant to serve Ekid people. That moment should have been one of reassurance, not confrontation.

We urge you to:

* Cease further allocations within Stubbs Creek pending full resolution.

* Respect and implement the 1918 Privy Council Judgment.

* Recognise Ekid as rightful landowners and engage them as partners, not adversaries.

* Withdraw inflammatory language that labels legitimate land claims as terrorism.

* Establish a legal compliance and restitution framework, not a political committee, to resolve the matter.

Ekid is not against Akwa Ibom. Ekid is not against development. Ekid is for justice, legality, and peace.

A government that truly seeks peace does not silence landowners and call us terrorists, it listens to them. A government that truly seeks development does not bulldoze history, it builds on justice.

The Ekid people will continue to defend their ancestral heritage peacefully, lawfully, resolutely and we will give our last into it.

WE ARE NOT TERRORISTS YOUR EXCELLENCY

✍️🏾 Peters Buhari
New Born Journalist

29/12/2025

Ekid People Warn Investors Over Land Deals in Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve

By Solomon OKPO

The Ekid People’s Union (EPU), the apex sociocultural organisation of the Ekid nation, has issued a formal caveat warning members of the public, investors, and corporate entities against engaging in land transactions within the Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve area of Akwa Ibom State.

In a notice jointly signed by the President General of the Union, Dr. Samuel Udonsak, and the Secretary General, Sir (Barr.) Bassey Dan-Abia, the EPU asserted that the land lying east of the Qua Iboe River along the Gulf of Guinea, popularly known as the Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve and traditionally called Okoyak, Okoiyak or Akqiyak, is the ancestral land of the Ekid people.

The Union stated that Ekid ownership of the land was judicially affirmed as far back as 1918 by the Privy Council in London in the case of Ntiaro and Ikpak v. Ibok Etukakpan and Edohoekit, as reported in the Nigerian Law Report (NLR).

According to the EPU, records of the proceedings, including maps and survey plans tendered during the trial, are still available at the British National Library in Kew, Richmond, London.
EPU disclosed that the landmass covers approximately 310 square kilometres and is situated between latitude 4°32’N and 4°38’N and longitude 7°54’E and 8°18’E, extending across parts of Eket and Esit Eket Local Government Areas.

While acknowledging that the area was designated a forest reserve under Forest Reserve Order No. 45 of 1930 by the colonial administration, the Union clarified that the designation did not amount to acquisition or extinguishment of Ekid ownership rights.

It stressed that the reservation was solely for forest conservation purposes and did not convert the land to Crown Land or land acquired for overriding public interest.
“The Ekid people were never divested of ownership of the land and still retain title or deemed right of occupancy under the Land Use Act of 1978,” the notice stated.

The Union further accused the Akwa Ibom State Government of what it described as fraudulent misrepresentation of land ownership to the Federal Government and to local and foreign investors.

EPU claimed that such actions have contributed to stalled and delayed investments within the area, including setbacks associated with the proposed Ibom Deep Seaport project.
Consequently, the Ekid People’s Union warned that any individual, corporate body or investor who transacts with the Akwa Ibom State Government, the Ibeno people, or any other group as purported landlords over any portion of the Stubb’s Creek Forest Reserve within the stated coordinates does so at its own risk.

Reaffirming its resolve to defend the ancestral heritage and land rights of the Ekid people, the Union urged all stakeholders to take due notice of the caveat and avoid actions capable of igniting further disputes over the land.

28/12/2025

https://share.google/ENaIk7n0vLowISVqI

The Nation Newspaper Ekid speaks on disputed Stubb's Creek Forest Reserve

26/12/2025

NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN to the whole world that the Government of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria has in recent years become so fraudulent as to make fraudulent misrepresentation to the Federal Government of Nigeria, local and foreign investors appertaining to the said land with intent to defraud, and actual defrauding the said investors of huge amounts of money, a situation which regularly stalls investments on the said land such as stalling of Ibom Deep Seaport.

THEREFORE any person, natural or corporate who deals with the Akwa Ibom State Government with the Ibeno people or any other people as landlords of any part of the Stubb's Creek Forest within the above coordinate does so at their own peril.

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas to you and all of yours

20/12/2025

PRESIDENT GENERAL'S ADDRESS

AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT - DR SAMUEL UDONSAK - AT THE 2025 ANNUAL CONGRESS OF EKID PEOPLE'S UNION (EPU) HOLDING TODAY 19TH DECEMBER 2025 AT THE EKET CITY HALL, EKET.

PROTOCOL:

We are extremely delighted to welcome everyone to our 2025 Annual Congress holding today at our flag staff house - Eket City Hall, in Eket. All our members, affiliates, invitees, the strong Ibibio delegation, particularly the Oku Ibom Ibibio are all heartily welcome to Ekid and the Annual Congress. The theme of this year's Congress is Celebrating our Heritage: shaping our future."

No doubt, when you know that it took the strong British Empire seven (7) military expeditions to subdue our forebears, when you know how our forebears defeated decisively, our early land grabbers up to the Privy Council in 1918 and when you reminiscence on how our forebears flourished as southern Ibibios in the Ibibio Union, then no heritage or past, can be more glorious. The heritage of a resilient people, the heritage of a united people, the heritage of a people in joyful and peaceful interaction with their kit, and kins, is certainly glorious and worthy of celebration and perhaps emulation. The Ekid today bears no semblance to the glorious past. Rather, it cuts a sorry sight. The glorious past appears to have been extinguished or, at best is extinguishing.

Recall, our villages were correctly listed in all the Edicts in Eastern Nigeria up to the Cross River State Law no 9 of 1983, which was the last Edict before the creation of Akwa Ibom State(AKS). Indeed, the AKS Edict no 15 of 1990 also listed our villages correctly under Uquo-Ibeno LGA, However, the TRC law of 2000 after the creation of Ibeno LGA, deliberately and incorrectly, listed all our villages in the defunct Uqua Ibeno LGA as villages of Ibeno LGA. In essence, listing the villages of Uquo as villages of Ibeno LGA. Agitation, protests and attempts to correct this anomaly led to the Traditional Rulers Law Cap 134. Traditional Rulers (List of Recognised Villages and Clans) Revocation Order 2008. Despite this Revocation Order, since there is no new Enactment on the listing of villages, villages of Uquo in Esit Eket Local Government Area continue to be administered as villages of Ibeno LGA against the Revocation Order 17 years on AKS has been running it villages and clans under an edict that has been revoked. All we do is "plead" like an emasculated people, with the government to, as a matter of urgency, list our villages correctly under an appropriate enabling law.

Our forebears saw through the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve Ordinance of 1930 and the running of the Forest Reserve as per the Ordinance. However, present-day Exid is watching government after government, misinterpret and misconceived, the Ordinance as an acquisition, that it wasn't. The Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve Ordinance was not and is not an acquisition. The survey plan of the Reserve just 12 years after the 1918 Privy Council judgement is consistent with the 1918 Privy Council judgement that gave the ownership of the lands and swamps from the mouth of Qua iboe River to Child Point (Okposo) to the Ekid people. A judgement that invalidates Ibeno as a people or their surrogates from ever holding any opinion or joining any conversation on the ownership of Akoiyak. Can the present day Ekid be as resilient as their forbears to stem and reverse the embarrassing, criminal confiscation of the Stubb's Creek Forest by one government after the other? Today, BUA, TULCAN, and many others are occupying the Subb's Creek Forest (Akoiyak) illegally. The proposed Naval Barracks, Oriental Energy, Emade Energy, would soon join the party to confiscate and plunder the Stubb's Creek Forest, Ekid land under our watch. Would this be likened to the glorious days of the past? After all these, what will be left of the 310sq km SCF of our forebears' inheritance? What are we passing down to our children?

The State Map Establishment Law of 2023 has come to stay and is subsisting. There are no new laws or judicial pronouncements to the contrary. We now have evidence of the remit of the official map of Akwa Ibom State by the Surveyor General's office to the National Boundary Commission, with the Certified True Copy (CTC) of Akwa Ibom State map. The official map of Akwa Ibom State is also available on Google. This map truly and correctly defines the boundaries of our Local Government Areas and Akwa Ibom State's territories. Yet Ibeno Local Government Area, in defiance of this Law, continues to build and occupy territories that are not theirs, Seplat Energy goes ahead to illegally, incorrectly and criminally rename the QIT terminal Eket, as QIT terminal Ibeno. Even the government, against its own laws, continue to mislead others and administer these territories of Ekid as if they were territories of Ibeno. Yet, in the face of these provocations, hell is not let loose! This complacency, cowardice, and calm disposition, of the present day youths, elites, politicians and leaders of Ekid, in the face of extreme provocations like these are the extinguishing glorious flames of the Ekid of our forebears!

All the credible and plausible migration and settlement theories of Ekid, Oro, and indeed. the southern Ibibios, that I have read, agreed that they all migrated from Usakedet and the Camerons. To lay credence to this, in the very beginning. Eket had 11 clans, while Oro had 9 clans. All the 9 clans of Oro were also the 9 clans in Eket. The Etebi in Esit Eket is today almost indistinguishable from Oro. In the glorious past, our forebears lived with Oro as brothers and sisters. But, today, in the lifetime of our Paramount Ruler, His Majesty Edidem ECD Abia, a key player at that time. Oro is peddling an irrelevant, unnecessary and irritating blasphemy that our very revered General Esuene short changed Oro to site ExxonMobil on Ekid land even at a time when there was no significant ethnic difference between Oro and Ekid.

There is no map ever conjectured as the map of Akwa Ibom State that has any part of Oro to be 500 meters to the Atlantic shoreline. So how could a micro, non-Littoral enclave have hosted ExxonMobil terminal? Today this non-Littoral territory is desperate to host Ibom Deep Seaport, this non littoral settlement wants to gazette itself as a Littoral community for deep water PIA Trust by fraudulently annexing Okposo 1 and 2 which are territories of Ekid as a territory of Oro. In all the maps of Akwa Ibom State either attempted or legal, the territories of Oro are the same, not compromised, in any manner, yet they are in court with non aborigines to challenge the lawful map of AKS that makes their territories complete with Tom Shot Islands, that were not there in the unlawful maps.

In an unimaginable economic conspiracy and brigandage, Oro shed its known and accepted identity, camouflaged itself as Obolo, and joined the inglorious attempt to flee with Akwa Ibom's entire coastline and its economy to a phantom state of utopia. At this rate, Oro, if not checked, would literally go to war with Eket and the rest of Akwa Ibom State. This Congress must resolve how Ekid or the Ibibio hierarchy would peacefully engage with Oro to step back from the precipice and come back to the glorious and harmonious relationship they once had with their kith and kins.

For decades, Ekid land has remained one of Nigeria's most productive oil-bearing enclaves, contributing immensely to the nation's federal revenue. The wealth extracted daily from our soil sustains national budgets, fuels development across distant regions, and powers the Nigerian economy. Yet, paradoxically, the Ekid people continue to suffer from systemic neglect Federal presence in Ekid remains embarrassingly thin, no major federal institutions, limited higher educational facilities, and glaring underrepresentation of qualified Ekid sons and daughters in Federal Ministries, Boards and Parastatals. This imbalance does seem to be accidental but appears to be a sustained deliberate marginalization of a people. A nation that thrives on the resources of a people must invest proportionately in that people. Reciprocity should now replace neglect. Infrastructure, education, and inclusive appointments are not favors-they are obligations. Nigeria must begin to treat Ekid not merely as a resource base, but as a partner in progress.

On the national security front, the Federal Government's renewed commitment to tackling insecurity offers optimism. A secure Nigeria is the foundation upon which economic growth and social justice can stand, and the Ekid people pledge their support toward this collective goal.

At the state level, there are now visible developmental strides recorded under this administration. Roads, social programs, and governance reforms reflect purposeful leadership. However, equity demands that the Ekid people who form the economic backbone of the state-receive proportionate attention and benefits. Development must not bypass those who generate the wealth.

More pressing, however, are longstanding injustices surrounding the enactment and incorrect listing Ekid's villages and its inheritance, particularly the unresolved issues relating to the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve. Court judgments exist. Justice has spoken. What remains is the political will to implement those decisions. True peace and sustainable development can only thrive where justice is respected. We urge most respectfully, that the Akwa State government correct these institutional wrongs and restore trust.

Looking ahead, the proposed Ibom Deep Seaport stands as a symbol of regional economic transformation. Its realization depends on effective collaboration amongst the Federal and state government as well as interested private investors. This tripartite partnership is not optional-it is essential. The seaport, Qua River Hotel, China Market promises jobs, trade expansion, and industrial growth that will benefit not just Akwa Ibom, but Nigeria at large. Congress urges the State Government to double its efforts towards the realization of these projects.

We also want to use this occasion to call the Ekid in diaspora to rise to its responsibility. Annual EPU Congresses should become mandatory gatherings of identity, truth, and accountability-a global assembly where Ekid people take collective stock, resolve internal issues, and speak with one voice. Unity is our strongest currency, and disengagement weakens our cause. The Diaspora must provide for us the legal template and platform for us to be able to sue Seplat, Tulcan etc in their native bases for any infraction they commit on our motherland.

Ekid people remain patriotic Nigerians. We support the administrations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Umo Eno, and we are ready to contribute meaningfully to national and state development. But our support does not require silence in the face of injustice. Our heritage must be protected. Our contributions must be acknowledged. And our future must be secured. A people who have given so much and this much, deserve no less.

This Congress must admit that our relationship with our Ibibio brothers fractured at a point, somewhere between the not too distant past, and when we took over, it was not that glorious and did not reflect our heritage. It can be stated boldly that a great achievement of our administration was the reconciliation of Ekid to our Ibibio kits and kins. This unity was tested. For it was the harmonious ibibio people, united under the Ifim Ibom Ibibio, and the Supreme leadership of His Eminence, the Oku Ibom Ibibio that made a mince meat of the agitation for the creation of Oro-Obolo State It is this United front that would continue to insist and ensure, that no inch of Ibibio land can be used to create a non-Ibibio State A successful Ora Obolo State would have witnessed the robbery of our entire coastline and its resources, the deprivation of the entire state of its blue economy and revenue earnings. Such a monumental calamity was only prevented by a united Ibibio front.

Unity would be key to our future. Unity would make us speak in one voice as a people Ekid, as a united enclave, would birth the future of our dream. Only a united Ekid can transfer and project the gains of our glorious heritage to the future.

We started building a united Ekid from our first year in office in December 2019. Our National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees were harmonised to reflect parity between our 2 local government areas as well as the unity of inclusivity of all component parts of Ekid. Today, our draft Unity Charter would be unveiled. This Charter would be the foundation of our shared values, culture, and heritage. The Charter would ensure that all that our forefathers handed over to us would be protected and enjoyed by all of us in Eket and Esit Eket LGAs, irrespective of any Local Governments that may be carved out of us in the future. The Charter would one make Ekid one monolithic and indivisible entity. An Eket man or woman can be the Chairman of Esit Eket and vice versa.

In trying to promote Ekid as a model society we would invite Congress to pass resolutions that would give teeth and effect our standing committees on Reconciliation and Discipline. This was one of the outcomes of our last Joint BOT/EXCO/Expanded Stakeholders meeting. Modern and Model Societies desirous of harmony, progress and prosperity must be able to resolve its internal conflicts amicably and enthrone discipline. The future of Ekid as this harmonious and glorious entity cannot be different.

As our six years tenure ends today, we trust that Congress would accept; the establishment of Akwa Ibom State Map Law 2023, the revitalization our Ibibio unity, the restoration of the pride of our heritage, the defeat of Oro-Obolo state creation and the Ekid Unity Charter as a summary of our notable achievements in 6 years

Finally, on behalf of the Executive Council, let me thank you all for your invaluable support through out our tenure and permit me once again to have the pleasure of welcoming you all to the 2025 Annual Congress.