01/05/2025
A Workers’ Day Tale from Ikot Ekpene"*
🗓️ May 1st, 2025 | 📍Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State**
In the bustling town of **Ikot Ekpene**, where the sun kisses the earth with warmth and the palm trees stand like quiet sentinels, **Workers’ Day** isn't just a holiday — it's a celebration of legacy.
Long before factories and offices, this town earned the name **“The Raffia City”** — known for its world-class craftsmanship. The hands of its people wove **raffia into royal chairs**, slippers, hats, and mats that traveled beyond Nigeria’s borders. Those hands, strong, skilled, sun-warmed, were the original economy.
On this International Workers’ Day, the town square comes alive. **Artisans**, once apprentices, now masters, display their works beside fresh graduates returning home with new ideas. **Drummers beat the rhythms of progress, blending tradition and tomorrow. Young boys practice the ancient art of raffia weaving, while elders nod with pride, not just at what is being made but at who is making it.
A banner waves high above:
**“From raffia roots to rising dreams — We are the hands that build.”**
And Ikot Ekpene stands not as a sleepy village but as a beating heart of resilience, craft, and quiet power.
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