Comments on: Akwa Ibom, be nice

By: Okechukwu

Okechukwu — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:10:27 +0000

Ochereome got it slightly wrong in the use of such strong, evocative word as “unjust”. The history of the oil wells in contention is clear. It was Akwa Ibom’s until 2005 when Obasanjo’s FG ‘handed’ them over to Cross River in consolation in order to fulfil its civil war commitment (digression: A war fought by FG in deliberate effort to exterminate a race. Saro-Wiwa et al hailed. Today, it is their/everybody’s turn!!). Then Cross River’s Donald Duke would rather seek judicial intervention than brotherly discussion as wished Akwa Ibom’s Victor Attah. Now, the table has turned. And my good friends in the National Assembly are hungrily or perhaps, angrily striking. Their Akwa Ibom folks are also sending key messages.

In truth, what comes around goes around. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. But Nigerians are averse to these time-tested truths. Remember, similar instance where oil wells which ought to be credited to Abia and Imo have eternally been credited to Rivers for sinister yet clear reasons of contempt for South East which dared stood up, even momentarily, to the Nigerian Leviathan.

Akwa Ibom and Cross River states are inhabited by good peoples. Same go for Rivers and Imo and Abia. But, oftentimes, official misdeeds haunt even good peoples. The remedy is due process. When wrong happens to or visits your neighbour please condemn/fight it. The next bus-stop could be your doorstep.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:34:06 +0000

Ifeoma , i can really see the “love” in this Nnanna fable, calling us names, I will not want to delve into analysing your write up bcos i know what it will degenerate to, let sleeping dogs lie. As for nnanna , this write up shows how he performed in class, , copying other students assignments without going thruogh it himself, he must have been a poor student, You want to write the history of Akwa Ibom and Cross River without doing a proper research, it is very poor of you!. meanwhile , how much were you paid to distort history? You are just cheap! Akwa Ibom made what ever calabar in particular is today just because it was the former capital of South eastern State. Your reference to people from Calabar as being very proud and epicurean, i wonder what are were proud of, are they proud of akwa Ibom sweat or is laziness pride?, Meanwhile what is the population of these “Very proud Calabar people”? Give me a list of these of these very very proud calabar people that have made a mark in Nigeria, and compare the list with achievements of Akwa Ibom people. I think you should say that the Akwa Ibom people are always proud bcos they do exploits anyway they go. Let me tell you categorically, no amount of blackmail can deter akwa Ibom from moving forward, the 76 oil wells are Akwa Ibom propertty and will always be,so CROSS RIVER PLEASE BE NICE!!

By: Ubom Emem

Ubom Emem — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:10:06 +0000

Acording to Ochereome Nnanna, A Ibom should be nice, and of course A Ibom is in inumerable ways nice – opening door to every group or persons to live freely in A Ibom. The one time so called “Calabar Boy” has been struggling to take charge of his destiny; now is the time. He has evolved from his “minicry” living it behind for others like Ochereome Nnanna to take turn. The good thing is that “Calabar Boy” was honest hence was always entrusted. No surprise then as the higest position of trust in the country as the First Governor of the Central Bank given to him.
The problem between the two sisters Calabar and Akwa ibom will be settled among them because both care for each other. It does not call for an external agent. Ochereome Nnanna should stay clear than incur the wrath of the people as some are already making it a personal attack. Calabar, unfortunately, is the victim of circumstance civilly morgaged to pay the price of the war it did not cause. The Federal political tide has changed to favour the underdog – this is the marvel of Providence of All High powers. What can we do, Ochereome Nnanna?

By: Anthony Edet

Anthony Edet — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:03:56 +0000

Initially I did not want to say a word concerning this article, but when I remembered that we are a set of people who are not far from the primitive era. It is not been long since the whites resolved not to buy our children any more, I felt I should say few words. It is unfortunate to have ‘writers’ who are so parochial in reasoning such that they flounder from expedience to the opposite.

To insult a people be it the Igbos, Yorubas or any other tribe in Nigeria is not a solution to the poverty that is confronting Nigeria. Nigerians of the Igbo tribe are hungry that is why have majority of them in all forms of crime, from robbery to ritualism. Like wise the people of the Ibibio tribe are hungry and they take to ’servitude’ to fight against that hunger.

The solution to all these should be the way forward and not to insult anybody, we should pass this level. We should start laying emphasiz on how to give all our children education and be sincere with any form of resources we have. I am not saying that they should give all the oil wells to Akwa Ibom or any other state. A state like Cross River State has what it takes to take care of the citizens of that State. If the Federal Government is sincere it should help that state to harness the potentials of tourism which it has to make that State a tourist center in Nigeria which it deserves. They should allow the export free zone programme to work.

For the information of all of us, the greatest consumer of oil the United States of America has started exploring alternative to it. And if they succeed which I strongly believe they will because of the zeal and sincerity they put in thier work I wonder what will be the source of our survival. Our leaders from the Igbo, Yoruba, Housa, Calabar, Ibibio and all the governors and their cohorts should start experiment drinking the oil to see if it will quench our hunger.

Anthony Edet
Atlanta

By: Ifeoma

Ifeoma — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:01:44 +0000

As an avid reader of the Ochereom Nnanna column, I understand the intents of this article -love. The author simply called for unity and a demonstration of love between the sister states. Everything else in the article are not really substantive enough to warrant direct attacks on the person of Nnanna. If anything, these attacks in this comments column portray Akwa Ibom people as a very wicked and short sighted people. Personally I believe that wickedness is arguably Nigeria’s biggest problem. Wickedness caused all the problems we had in the past and it is causing current ones. For someone to make reference to the Biafran genocide as a justifiable “lesson” or “punishment” for the Igbo for questioning the injustice of 1966 and 1967 show that such people have not learned anything from history. Personally, I as an Igbo (determind to learn from history) believe that the most foolish thing for any Igbo to do is to sympathise with anyone in the South South region for anything whatsoever. Ochereome should concentrate his writing energy and time to issues that affect ndigbo in Nigeria. Nigeria stands on a tripod -no matter the ill fated attempts (by envious neighbors) to deny us our position in Nigeria. Ndigbo (the most hard working tribe in Nigeria) should work with the Hausa (the ruling tribe) and Yoruba (the most accommodating tribe in Nigeria) to continue ruling Nigeria. That is our God given position in Nigeria. We must not loose it by caring about savage hatred in the South south.

By: Okon Eyo Akpaitim

Okon Eyo Akpaitim — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:49:05 +0000

Mr. Ochereome Nnanna, You’re the type who bought education certification from rotten Nigeria educational system. You’re elitist Iboman who sees himself as most superior person than the Ibibio people. The Ibibio oil money was used in developing the headquarter of Eastern Nigeria[Enugu]. As one of the Biafrans who is bent on ridiculing the Ibibio people, you’ll fail as Biafra did. Mr. Nnanna, you’re a syco,& that’s all I can say to idiot as you.

By: Umar

Umar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:51:29 +0000

The rule of law should take effect,it is the Cross River state government that toke AIBOM people to the court of law twice,this will serve as a big lession in future.

Cross River be nice

By: Etibeng

Etibeng — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:43:46 +0000

Ochereome Nnanna, Well I read your publication with great dismay fwhy you should insult the people of Akwa Ibom State with all manners of sarcastic words. Well, before any further publications please, conduct a thorough investigation so as to ascertain your article for people to read. For your infromation, Akwa Ibom State is also made of Annang Speaking people where the present Governor is identified. Akwa Ibom and Cross River are sister states, no doubt but, Akwa Ibom as a state that has very huge responsibility to cater for her people. An average Akwa ibom man is very accommodative. Meanwhile, If you have an issue bothering you with your sister, and you cannot settled such differences amicably, you prefer court to do it better, what do you expect, The rule of law has now prevailed, what else?. The 13 percent is not even enough what we need is Resource Control. 76 Oil Wells justly handed over to Akwa Ibom is credit to the people of Akwa Ibom. Finally, this rightly judgement should be seen by the people of Cross River State that the truth must be told one day, and it has come. This should serve as an eye opener to politicians , that it doesn’t really matter how smart they may think they are that one day what was usurped wrongfully because of position with evil intention must come back to the owner. I pray for good governance. The people of Cross River Stateshould be nice always not to claim what does not belong to them.

By: tata

tata — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:30:38 +0000

Ocherenome Nnana if I am correct should be from Abiriba…and unfortunately for some writers know the Calabar area more than the present generation of Akwa Ibom descendants…Nnana was delving into the history of the area well before the creation of Akwa Ibom.

The people who most contributed to uplifting the area, are the generation that benefited from the Ibibio Union largesse …the two most prominent being Udo Udoma and the irrepressible Eyo Uyo. I hope Jeff was referring to this man instead of Eyo Ita who was not around when states were created. Ita was the leader of government business in the Eastern Region. Ibi-ibio stands for short item and not Ibio-ibo…there is nothing like the latter. Eyo Uyo was the only Ibibio man who openly made a statement asking for the creation of Akwa Ibom. Obasanjo is alive to tell the story of how Prof. Udoh the then Deputy Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan led a delegation which prostrated before him asking for Akwa Ibom NOT to be created. Esuene, Isong, etc…came to enjoy the fruits of others…there is nothing on record that they took part in any agitation for COR State that led to the creation of South Eastern State.

Every society rests on laws, and unfortunately there is no legal document or Supreme Court judgment that has settled the boundaries of the two states. If and when that happens, and CRiver loses the oil wells, so be it. What is most fraudulently omitted is that they are Efik people in present day Akaw Ibom who were driven out from their homeland and are languishing in refugee camps in Ikot Ekpo in Calabar, they were driven out of Oku Iboku and its environs well before the Bakassi incident. Ibaka is Efik land and to buttress this, the grandfather of Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey has his Ekpe Shrine there and is also his final resting place. Bassey was the erstwhile challenger to the Obong of Calabar throne.

Thus there is nothing wrong with AIbom taking all the oil wells if that is what the law requires, all the Calabar descendants are asking is that AIbom treat the Efik in their midst fairly and recognize that AIbom is made up of FOUR ethnic groups instead of THREE.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:10:15 +0000

Ochereome Nnanna is not the state you should develop your career with, before publishing such an article make proper research. You are envious of the fact that Akwa Ibom is growing stronger and stronger everyday while the so eastern states precisely yours has nothing to show for.

By: Frank Akpan

Frank Akpan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:29:44 +0000

Nanna,

I have gone gone through your article on the dispute between Akwa Ibom and Cross River States and have observed that you have ignored the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter.

I cannot agree with your thinking that the decision was reached by a federal agency in Abuja without any reference to the Supreme Court ruling. It is sad that you are acusing the Akwa Ibom Government of failure to cooperate when it was Cross River that dragged the matter to court. Should not Akwa Ibom Government wait for the case to be decided by the Supreme Court before talking about a political solution.

No doubt the people of the two states have a common history but the people loving disposition of the Akwa Ibom person should not be taken for granted. Let the law take its course. After all, when the Federal Government ceded the oil rich Bakassi to Cross River State, Akwa Ibom accepted the decision and when they finally lost it to Cameroun and the subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court, they should accept it in good faith.

Best

Frank

By: Anietie

Anietie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:24:42 +0000

No pay back evil for evil, the Holy Scripture says. Let’s forget whatever the Cross River State had done to us in the past. To me, we’re still one. I pray God to grant the President wisdom to solve this matter amicably. The two sister- states are the pride of Nigeria, so the entire region need to develop by all means.

By: oma Patrick

oma Patrick — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:30:20 +0000

Its a pitty that we have to go this far to resolve issues between the so called sister states.An independent minded Nnanna has made a submission I consider appropriate.Lets be nice whatever goes around comes around.period.

By: Akpan

Akpan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:35:28 +0000

At what point in history did Akwa ibom people seek or ask to be badged “Calabar Boys”? Just as Northeners refer to people from the East as “nyamini” and the Westerners refer to same as “Omo Ibo”, out of ignorance, some people refer to all from the former South Eastern/Cross River State as “Calabar” people.

An ignorance apparently shared by Ochereome Nnanna and his stereotyping ilk. The criminal cedeing of Bakassi directly affected Akwa Ibom people as well as Cross River, and is a loss to Nigeria as a whole.

Akwa Ibom citizens did not take Cross River State to court and if they have been cheated by the Nigerian state, they should seek redress.
Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and National Boundary Commission (NBC) are not headed by Akwa Ibom indigenes.
Cross River State took this case to court as far back as 1999, even before cedeing of Bakassi and the evil onshore/offshore dichotomy.
Check your facts and you may be shocked to find that Akwa Ibom oil wells have been wrongly and deliberately given to Rivers and Cross River States in the past.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:15:48 +0000

it is very sad to have people like Ochereome Nnanna have acces to the print media to insult akwa ibom people, he has suddenly forgotten the contributions of Akwa Ibom people to the development of Calabar as the state capital, the same calabar people like nnanna is bragging about, present akwa Ibom State produced back then in the former cross river state people like UJ Esuene(Governor)from Eket who calabar stadium is named after, Clement Isong (Governor and later governor of central bank), Eyo Ita (representing former south eatern state),etc, you called akwa ibom people cooks, etc, but you have forgotten that present cross river is still an educationally disadvantaged state while akwa ibom has been an educationally advantaged state since creation. All the feats acomplished by the former cross river where done by akwa Ibomites,so peopple like nnanna should go back and do his assignments properly and submit to me befor the end of work today!. When the said 76 wells were collected from Akwa Ibom and given to Cross River in 2005 bcos of the friendship Donald Duke enjoyed with Obasanjo to help them claim Bakassi, they rejoiced and forgot that what goes around comes around, now its the time for Akwa Ibom to get back what was taken from them in 2005 , Cross river is now crying foul, i pity your legislators, they are going to die of starvation. You said that akwa ibom don’t want to associate with calabar, yes! because we cannot associate with people like you who have disdain for us, we are Proudly Akwa Ibom, you don’t like it? Go and Die! akwa Ibom today is developing at an astonomical rate and very soon we are going to get our Airport and sea Port, so we will no longer depend on your calabar airport you are bragging about. i think you should change you caption to “Cross River be nice” because from your write up, it shows that Cross River has never been nice to Akwa Ibom right from inception.

By: Mac

Mac — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:37:50 +0000

Ochereome Nnanna, please make sure you research your stories properly before publishing. Ibibio, or derogatorily pronounced ‘ibio-ibio’ has at no time referred to the Ibibio as being descendants of the Igbo, it rather refers to them as being short in stature – a situation which is clearly false.
On the issue of 76 oil wells lost by Cross River, are you suggesting that Akwa Ibom should hand over these wells? That is merely wishful thinking and even contemplating your suggestion amounts to breaking the law. My advice to the Akwa Ibom State government is to utilise the God-given oil and gas resources properly for the benefit of her citizens.

By: Emem

Emem — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:03:09 +0000

I am not sure of joining issues with the two state even though i belong to akwa ibom. But the fact remain that this governors should get their priority right, akwa ibom with d huge issues at it desposal how is it affecting d mass except ofcourse d politicains dat are feeding fat, no employment etc,

By: EHIRIM,T.J.

EHIRIM,T.J. — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:29:15 +0000

Ochereome Nnanna,
In your service to your father land, you have done it again. Your call on the Akwa Ibom people and by implicit implication, the Federal government of Nigeria is patriotic, it is comendable and it is prophetic.
Politics is nonesensical if it is not aimed at seeking and achieving the greatest good for the greatest number. What shall it profit anybody in Nigeria if Cross River is driven down to poverty by Man-made decisions? Nothing, absolutely nothing! President Umaru Yar’Adua, please do not play sensible politics, save Cross River from collapse; Akwa Ibomites please be nice!
EHIRIM,T.J.
Johannesburg, South Africa.

By: Bassey

Bassey — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:18:21 +0000

Ochereome Nnanna; thanks for insulting Akwa Ibom people thoroughly. Let Cross River go to hell, if people like you believe that the rule of law must be set aside.
Why should Akwa Ibom be nice to Cross River when it is clear that Cross River has taken the former to court on two occasions for no just reason?
Did Cross River go to court for nothing. If the judgements had been in their favour would they have surrendered the ownership of the oil wells to Akwa Ibom.
Akwa Ibom became an oil producing state because the onshore/offshore dichotomy was abrogated by an act of the national assembly. After all, when Akwa Ibom suffered after the Supreme Court judgement on resource control dealt a serious blow on the resources of Akwa Ibom state, Donald Duke and his people in Cross River rejoiced.
What has suddenly happened to Obudu Ranch and Tinapa that they cannot generate any revenue to the coffers of state after those projects have gulped over N60 billion.
Cross River should idea seek compensation from the federal government for the loss of Bakassi or make do with what they have.
Is Lagos state and other states not doing better without getting one kobo from derivation? Wasn’t there a period in this country when derivation was completely abrogated?
I am aware that you know what UJ.Esuene did in the former South Eastern State, which you mentioned, without derivation fund. His developmental records are yet to be marched; not even by Donald who used media hype to run his administration.
Cross River should set its priorities right , instead of organizing month long parties where they spend billions of naira to stage free shows in the name of Christmas celebration and carnival.
The issue of the 76 oil wells is not the fault of Akwa Ibom people. It is a decision taken by the court and implemented by the necessary authorities in the executive.
Ochereome Nnanna, for suggesting that the rule of law should be set aside in this matter, I will not be off the truth if I describe you as a hypocrite and hack writer.
I have surely lost one of your regular readers.