25/08/2025
When Life Made Sense: Uyo in the 1980s
_By Mkpisong Dr. Joseph Rankin_
Introduction: Uyo Before the Crown
Between 1970 and 1987, Uyo was not yet the capital of Akwa Ibom State. It was still a modest but growing town under Cross River State, while Calabar stood proudly as the capital. Yet, Uyo carried within its streets a kind of dignity, rhythm, and pride that those who lived it can never forget.
The roads were fewer, the houses smaller, and the economy simplerâbut life was balanced. There was hardship, yes, but there was also fairness. Prices matched incomes, families lived with dignity, music gave us joy, and transport carried not only bodies but also the pride of an entire people. To remember those days is to touch a time when life itself made sense.
*The Economy of Dignity*
The economy of Uyo in the 1980s was not measured in billions or foreign reservesâit was measured in how far one naira could take you, and how much peace of mind it could buy.
Garri was forty cups for one naira. That single naira could sustain a family for days. Housewives poured it into enamel basins, added water, sugar, or milk if the family was lucky, and called it a meal.
A single room rented for âŚ18 per month. Even the junior civil servant could afford it without despair. Families lived close, siblings shared space, but there was dignity in the fact that rent was not a mountain no one could climb.
School fees were modest, uniforms were sewn by local tailors, and foodstuffs in the market were priced in harmony with the earnings of clerks, teachers, and traders.
One small receipt from Hotel Helena on Igwe Street tells the entire story of an era. On August 8, 1985, my brother Ezekiel Ntuk ate a feast: two bottles of Guilder, a small stew, a mineral, gizzard, and meat. The bill came to just âŚ9.10. That receipt, written in blue ink, is today a relic. It is not only a piece of paper; it is a testimony that the naira once carried dignity, that ordinary people once lived with balance, and that life itself once matched its promise.
*Hotels and Joints: Memory Factories*
The hotels and joints of Uyo were more than businessesâthey were memory factories. Each had its own character, each its own flavor.
Hotel Helena (Igwe Street): Modest, reliable, and known for fair pricing. It was a place where workers went to relax, to eat well, and to feel human.
Metro Hotel (Barracks Road): The hotel whose phone numberâ085-201451âwas etched into memory. It welcomed travelers with consistency, a landmark of reliability.
Golden Palace Hotel (Ukana Offot Street): A hub for traders, families, and civil servants. Its simple lobby carried conversations of contracts, politics, and dreams.
Lord Motel (Ikot Ekpene Road): Known for its pepper soup, roasted goat, and laughter of men who had returned home from journeys. The smell alone invited you inside.
Bellavista Night Club (Ikot Ekpene Road): Its neon glow painted the night, and its highlife rhythms carried dancers until dawn. For many young men and women, Bellavista was the crown jewel of nightlife.
Unithought Joint (Akpan Essien Street): The beating heart of Uyoâs evening life. Known for its âready at quicker spaceâ meals, it served hot dog meat and fried plantain, sizzling from the pan to the table, washed down with bottles of Star, Guilder, or Maltina. Students, civil servants, and market women sat together at wooden tables, their laughter rising above the smoke of fried plantain.
These hotels and joints were not just places to eat or drinkâthey were stages for memory. Many friendships began there, many courtships were nurtured there, and many stories we still tell today were born in their walls.
*Music: The Soul of Our Nights*
If the hotels gave us a place, music gave us a heartbeat. Uyo in the 1980s was alive with soundâvoices, guitars, drums, and harmonies that lit up our nights and shaped our childhood memories.
E.E. Akpan and the Hunters Dance Band: Masters of highlife, their guitars and horns carried dancers into joy.
Afi Usua: A voice of sweetness, carrying Ibibio melodies like stories set to rhythm.
The Doves: Their harmonies were like threads weaving memory into music.
Emmanuel Ntia and Udo Abianga: Masters of rhythm, who gave Uyo its musical backbone.
Mike Umoh: Whose youthful voice and energy captured a generation.
Doris Ebong: A songstress whose voice still echoes in memory.
Bassey Black and Sunny Risky: Who electrified nights with flair and rhythm.
Monday Akpa Utong: Another troubadour who carried Ibibio stories through song.
Udo-Ekarika & His Band: Whose music filled halls, joints, and open grounds alike.
And above all, Professor Samuel Akpabot: The scholar and composer who married Ibibio traditional music with orchestral brilliance, proving that our music belonged not only to us but to the world.
These musicians were not entertainersâthey were custodians of culture, narrators of identity, healers of community. Their music told us who we were, reminded us of our roots, and gave our nights a rhythm we still remember today.
*Road Transport: Our Pride and Our Stories*
Transport in the 1980s was not merely movementâit was pride. For the Ibibio nation, the great transport companies were giants that carried our identity across Nigeria.
InyangEtte Line
Utuks Motors Limited
Usoro & Bros
These names were more than companiesâthey were legends.
In 1982, I boarded an InyangEtte Line luxury bus to Lagos. The fare was âŚ12, all rights reserved. At Onitsha, Igbo men and boys rushed to see the magnificent buses. One exclaimed: âNah eeee!â At Ojuelegba in Surulere, Lagos, the entire area was owned by Inyang Ette himself. In Kano, the name InyangEtte still reigned. These buses were not just transportâthey were rolling monuments of Ibibio pride.
And then there was the story of Usoro & Bros. When the state government could not pay salaries, it was Usoro & Bros who stepped in, paying civil and public servants with the strength of their wealth. Think of that! We were not just part of Nigeriaâs economyâwe were the economy itself.
*Calabar By Air: The Fearless Drivers of Uyo Roundabout*
Then came the legend of âCalabar By Air.â
After the commissioning of the CalabarâItu Road, the drivers at Uyo Roundabout began to boast that they could take you from Uyo to Calabar in 20 minutes. If you were born then, you will know I am not lying. Their buses flew so fast that the name âCalabar By Airâ stuck to history.
It took the governmentâs intervention to put an end to this madness, and in that story entered two unforgettable women: Mma Ekpo and Mma Efa. These policewomen were legends in their own right. Drivers feared them, respected them, and even local women spoke of their power. Ask your uncles or auntiesâthey will tell you: the sight of Mma Efa alone could straighten the back of any reckless driver. They were order in human form.
*Water Transport: MV Oron, MV Obudu, and the Ebaches*
Besides roads, our waterways carried us. The MV Oron and the MV Obudu were lifelines, ferrying passengers and goods across to Calabar. They were steady, dependable, and respected. Traders, civil servants, and families used them to cross waters, connecting towns and kindred.
And then there were the ebaches (canoes). They were not toys or relicsâthey were valued. Fishermen trusted them, traders depended on them, and communities thrived by them. Waterways were not secondary transportâthey were part of the rhythm of our daily life.
*Sports: Dreams on Sandy Fields*
In the 1980s, Uyo carried dreams not only in business and music but also in sports.
The Jetimos Football Club of Uyo filled stadiums with chants and dreams. The Etesiâs of Eket gave us heroes whose names stirred pride. Children in sandy compounds kicked makeshift footballs, their bare feet pounding dust, their voices shouting âJetimos!â with joy. Sports was not about money or contractsâit was about community, pride, and joy.
*The Bitter Contrast with Today*
Fast forward to 2025, and the arithmetic has collapsed.
That âŚ9.10 meal at Helena now costs âŚ8,000 or more.
A bottle of Guilder that once cost less than âŚ1 is now over âŚ1,000.
A soft drink that once cost 60 kobo is now âŚ700.
The minimum wage is âŚ30,000, swallowed in days.
The naira, once nearly equal to the dollar, now trades at over âŚ1,400 per dollar.
Electricity flickers, hospitals demand cash up front, water taps run dry, and the proud legacies of InyangEtte, Utuks, Usoro & Bros, MV Oron, MV Obudu are gone. The Jetimos and Etesiâs live only in memory. The music of Mike Umoh, Doris Ebong, and Bassey Black has faded into nostalgia. Life no longer balances itselfâit tilts toward struggle.
*When Life Made Sense*
Yet, memory lives. And memory is heritage.
We still recall: Helenaâs receipt, Metroâs ringing phone, Golden Palaceâs lobby, Lord Motelâs pepper soup, Bellavistaâs neon glow, Unithoughtâs fried plantain, E.E. Akpanâs highlife, Mike Umohâs voice, Doris Ebongâs songs, InyangEtteâs buses, Usoro & Brosâ generosity, Mma Efaâs authority, MV Oronâs steady voyage, Jetimosâ goals.
These were not luxuries. They were life itself. They were proof that Nigeriaâand Uyo in particularâonce had balance, pride, and dignity.
It was a time when life made sense. Today, it is a bittersweet memory. But perhaps, by remembering, we may find the courage to rebuildânot just the economy, but the spirit of dignity that once defined us. _*This story was inspired by my Brother Ezekiel Ntuk and written by Mkpisong Dr. Joseph Rankin.*_ *_If you notice anything missing about Uyo, please kindly add it to this._*
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