The Concourse – 23.09.2026
By Soney Antai, serial award-winning columnist
Congratulations, Akwa Ibom!
Wow, Akwa Ibom is 39! Already 39? It feels like the years have rushed past, but it is all right. Yes, Akwa Ibom State took a long time in coming, but like many things we expect and do not get when we expect them, the state had its own due date, and it came at that appointed time. And what shall we say? At the right time, the Creator makes everything beautiful — for those who have the right kind of eyes to see it.
We came here from the then Cross River State with only 10 local government areas, which were, like their kindred, intended to be centres of development, not just growth. From that initial number, we are now 31. But have they met that expectation? Your answer is as good as mine. For me, it is a case of you win some, you lose some.
On the winning side of our balance sheet is physical infrastructure, especially in Uyo, the seat of government. This is how this column sees it, at least. You only need to drive through Shelter Afrique Estate, Ewet Housing, Oron Road, among other areas, to see what I mean.
We have also witnessed advancement in road infrastructure. Until the creation of the state, this column cannot recall Uyo having any dual carriageway. The story is different today. From Uyo city centre to the four-lane carriageways to Ikot Ekpene, Abak, Ibesikpo, and Okobo — down to the T-Junction at Okopedi — the roads are good; all a dividend of the creation of Akwa Ibom State.
Our population, even without a credible national headcount, has increased — a clear indicator that our married couples have not disappointed their calling and anointing. Seriously. From zero universities, we now have several: three federal, one state-owned, and several private. Polytechnics are also many, both public and private. Our civil service is doing well, even as the women who were mere girls at the birth of the state have now fully arrived, and the men are beginning to wonder what happened. No fewer than 4000 are joining the service in a week’s time. That’s in some way like unemployment’s behind. Virtually all our governors have been cerebral people, even though some critics wonder if that is why there are muted complaints about their alleged taste for unfair share of the state cookies. Well, it is all alleged, if you remember the courts.
We cannot exhaust the benefits of having a state in the limited space we have here. But the anniversary should not be only about clinking glasses and swaying to celebration music. It should also be about reflecting on whether we have met the minimum criteria for great leadership: justice and righteousness. It is about whether the various components of the state feel accepted, cherished and protected, which is dispensing justice. It is about the poor woman farming in the hamlets of Ini and Obot Akara, or the poor fisherman struggling in a fishing settlement in Eastern Obolo or Mkpat Enin. Do they honestly feel they have a stake in the state? How does governance from Uyo benefit them? These and more belong on the debit side of our state’s performance balance sheet.
Moreover, our local governments are barely working. The positional leaders there are practically extended fingers of Uyo. Of course, why not? How many of them were actually voted in by their people? Here, wisdom tells us that he who pays the piper calls the tune. A situation where a local government chairman owes his office to the selection of a governor, or a self-appointed plutocratic class, is not democracy; it is dictatorship, which promotes narcissism. If it were the former, constituents would have the final say on who occupies any elective office. That way, the occupier would be accountable to the people. The way things have been promotes mediocrity through the tyranny of a cabal of self-appointed kingmakers who are only responsible to themselves. This is the main reason for the poor performance of councils. Generally, their beneficiaries are incapable of winning a fair political contest because they rarely enjoy community approval and acceptance.
That offering, many say, is also the case with the national and state legislatures. The political leadership recruitment process always starts at the party nomination stage. The same godfatherism syndrome of imposing unprepared, inexperienced and pliable people plays out for the most part. It should be for the people themselves to choose who will lead them.
Addedly, we must not take our current relative peace for granted. Stranger elements are all over our nooks and crannies. The Neighbourhood Watch should not be sleeping on duty. The price of liberty, the ageless saying goes, is eternal vigilance. Nothing short of this must be allowed.
As we celebrate, the state authorities should remember those who made their marks on the political arena long before Akwa Ibom was born. We have streets and structures named after persons apparently because those in power like their faces. There are persons who bore our flags and faced tough opposition in the 1950s and 1960s because they fought for their minority groups. They formed the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State Movement that was pivotal to the creation of states in Nigeria.
I stand to be corrected, but I am afraid persons like Prof. Eyo Ita (Nwaenang), Mr. Oyokunyi Otu Ita, to mention two, should not be missing from the elevated corner of our state creation hall of fame. If nothing has been done to immortalise these persons, something should be. Our elders tell us, and they are right: Ema efre ntak, ntak otogho — If we forget our provenance, it protests.
And one last thing: industrialisation. The last administration made a sandy mole hill into rocky mountain of industries that were just not there. Where are those hyped ‘industries” today; where is the money invested in them? Why isn’t someone called to account?Just like the one before it, industrialisation was the song, but non-delivery left the floor without dancers; yet the drummers were deafening in their orchestration.
The state needs cottage many industries in locations where raw materials are readily available. They will boost job creation and fight poverty. It is possible if the will power is available.
Happy Anniversary, Akwa Ibom State!