Oku Ibom Ibibio Eulogises Obong Nyong Essien

Oku Ibom Ibibio Eulogises Obong Nyong Essien

Some members of the Obong Nyong Essien’s First Annual Planning Committee, on Wednesday, 12th of November 2025, paid a courtesy call on the Oku Ibom Ibibio, Ntenyin Solomon Etuk at his palace in Ikot Ukobo, Nsit Ibom Local Government Area, to intimate him of the epochal event.

The team was led by the Chairperson of the Committee, Prof. EnoAbasi Urua. Other members of the team included the Convener of the Obong Nyong Essien Annual Lecture, Hon. (Dr.) Itorobong Etim, Member, Representing Uruan State Constituency, in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Hon. Asuquo Nyong Essien and Dr. Uwem Jonah Akpan.

The Ibibio Patriarch recalled with pride, Obong Nyong Essien’s pioneering role in many aspects such as parliamentary business, chieftaincy, legal services, local government administration, trade unionism, the missionary enterprise, etc. He strongly maintained that, based on his unmatched contributions, he deserves to be imortaliised. He preached love among the Ibibio, stressing that they should be defenders of their homeland.

Obong Nyong Essien was a Pan-Africsnist, a nationalist, pioneer federal legislator in present-day Akwa Ibom State, the first and only President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, the first Nsom of Uruan and the first Paramount Ruler of old Uyo Division (including, Uyo, Uruan, Busy Atai and Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Areas).

The First Obong Nyong Essien’s Annual Lecture holds on Saturday, 15th November, 2025 at Ibom Hall, Uyo. The keynote address will be presented by an erudite historian, Prof. OtoAbasi Akpan, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Akwa Ibom State University.

The high point of the event will be the public presentation of a book entitled “Mountain Beyond Mountains:The Obong Nyong Essien Phenomenon in Nigerian Politics and Heritage, A Collection of Essays, edited by Prof. EnoAbasi Urua, Drs. Uwem Jonah Akpan and Itorobong Etim.