Akwa Ibom

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Location
Akwa Ibom State State nickname: Land of Promise

Statistics
Current Governor Party Previous Governors	Victor Attah PDP
Date Created	23 September, 1987
Capital	Uyo
Area	7,081km² Ranked 30 of 36
Population 1991 Census 2005 (estimate)	Ranked 9 of 36 2,359736 4,805,451
ISO 3166-2	NG-AK
Website	Akwa Ibom State

Akwa Ibom is a state in Nigeria. It is located in the south-east of the country, lying between latitudes 4°321 and 5°331 North, and longitudes 7°251 and 8°251 East. The State is bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the South by the Atlantic Ocean.

Area: 8412.00 sq kilometres
Population: 3,000,000 (1993 est.)
Languages: Ibibio, Annang, Oro, Ibeno, Eket

Uyo is the capital of Akwa Ibom State. Ikot Ekpene, Abak, Oron, Eket, Ibeno are a few of many prominent cities.

Ikot Ekpene, also called IK, is a very famous small town in Nigeria. It is located at an important junction in the south of the country, joining Calabar, the eastern port, with Port Harcourt, the southern port, Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, and Eket, a major Oil producing town.

1 History
2 Administrative Divisions
3 People
4 Local Government Areas
5 Politics
6 External links

[edit] History

Akwa Ibom State was created out of Cross River State on September 23, 1987. Akwa Ibom was created by combining the Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Eket and Abak divisions of old Calabar province.

Languages: Ibibio, Annang, Oro, Eket and Ibeno

[edit] Administrative Divisions

Akwa Ibom is divided into 31 Local Government Areas, or LGAs:

Abak
Eastern-Obolo
Eket
Esit-Eket
Essien-Udim
Etim-Ekpo
Etinan
Ibeno
Ibesikpo-Asutan
Ibiono-Ibom
Ika
Ikono
Ikot Abasi
Ikot-Ekpene
Ini
Itu
Mbo
Mkpat-Enin
Nsit-Atai
Nsit-Ibom
Nsit-Ubium
Obot-Akara
Okobo
Onna
Oron
Oruk-Anam
Ukanafun
Udung-Uko
Uruan
Urue-Offong/Oruko
Uyo

[edit] People

Akwa Ibom State is made up of a homogeneous group of people believed to have originated from a single ancestral stock. The languages spoken in the state are closely related, the Annang and Ibibio languages are mostly identical with a few dialectical differences. The Oro language has highly distinctive features, while Eket and Ibeno languages are more closely related to each other than to the Ibibio and Annang, and are only partially understandable by speakers of these two languages.

The people are predominantly of the Christian faith although some native African religions are practised by some of the people.

The inhabitants of the state are:

The Ibibio are the largest group, whilst the Annang, which form the second largest group, speak a language very similar to the Ibibio Language. Oro lays claim to a distinct ethnic nationality and has its people in 5 out of the State's 31 Local Government Areas [LGAs]. Ibeno and Eket [3 LGAs] speak a similar language, and are located at the ocean, contiguous to Oro. The Ibibio language belongs to the Benue-Congo language family, which forms part of the Niger-Congo group of languages.

[edit] Local Government Areas

Akwa lbom State has 31 Local Government Areas: Abak, Eket, Ibiono Ibom,Ika, Etinan, Nsit Atai, Essien-Udim, Ikono, Ikot Abasi, Ikot Ekpene, Itu, Mkpat-Enin, Mbo, Nsit-Ubium, Oron, Esit Eket, Okobo, Nsit Ibom, Etim Ekpo, Onna, Oruk-Anam, Ukanafun, Uyo, Uquo-Ibeno,Uruan, Obot Akara, Ibesikpo Asutan, Uruan, Urue Offong/Oruko and others.

The inhabitants of the state are:

Ibibio Annang Oron Ibeno Eket

[edit] Politics

Politics in Akwa Ibom state is played on a tripod, representing the three dominant ethnic groups comprising the Ibibio, Annang and Oro.

Of these three, the Ibibio remains the dominant and has held sway in the state power equation since its creation. This scenario has led to expressions of marginalisation by the Annangs and Oro people who would want a democratisation of power [or "power shift"] from the dominant Ibibio group. But the most consistent in this quest for power are the Annangs who are in the fore-front of this quest for a change of guard. The dominant political party in the State, the PDP, has fielded an Annang person, Godswill Akpabio, for the 2007 Governorship election.

[edit] External links

v • d • e States of Nigeria
Abia \| Abuja Federal Capital Territory \| Adamawa \| Akwa Ibom \| Anambra \| Bauchi \| Bayelsa \| Benue \| Borno \| Cross River \| Delta \| Ebonyi \| Edo \| Ekiti \| Enugu \| Gombe \| Imo \| Jigawa \| Kaduna \| Kano \| Katsina \| Kebbi \| Kogi \| Kwara \| Lagos \| Nassarawa \| Niger \| Ogun \| Ondo \| Osun \| Oyo \| Plateau \| Rivers \| Sokoto \| Taraba \| Yobe \| Zamfara