Effiong Okon Eyo (1918 - 1983) was a Nigerian politician who was a former deputy speaker of the House of Assembly, Eastern region of Nigeria. Eyo was originally a member of NCNC but after a fallout with party leader, Azikiwe, he joined the opposition. Thereafter, he was involved in a petition to probe of the affairs of African Continental Bank and the bank's relationship with the regional government in 1956. [1]
Eyo, popularly known as Eyo Uyo, was born in Ibesikpo area of Uyo. He attended Government College Umuahia(Ref); after stepping out of Umuahia, he then took on various duties including working as a school teacher (where, which school, who were his students?), trader and clerk. In 1949, he calined ownership to a scholarship program organized and funded by the Ibesikpo community. The scholarship was planned to send 100 students from the community to secondary school and four students in tertiary institutions, it was funded by the April palm produce of community members. When representative democracy began in 1951, Eyo won the election to represent Uyo at the Eastern regional House of Assembly, following his victory and through an electoral college system, he was selected as a member of the House of Representatives between 1953 and 1954. In 1953, there was a crisis in the House of Assembly which led to the resignation of the premier, Eyo Ita and call for new mandates. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the leader of opposition in the Western region, moved to the east where he contested and won election in Onitsha, his hometown. Azikiwe became the new premier with support of legislators including Eyo who was appointed Chief Whip and chairman of the Eastern Region Development Company. Towards the end of 1956, Eyo and Azikiwe had a fallout, Eyo then petitioned the colonial government to probe the role of the premier in the affairs of a private bank. Eyo warn the case against Azikiwe and the crown court in England declared that Azikiwe has run short of honesty and the UBA bank was taken and handed over to the eastern Nigerian government.
When a fresh election was called, Eyo joined the Action Group [2] and was elected, he was now as a member of the opposition with a primary focus on the creation of a Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers (COR) State.When a Southeastern State was created, Eyo was a commissioner under the military administration of Esuene. In 1977, he was a councilor representing Uyo and later joined Great Nigeria People's Party during the Second Nigerian Republic. He was the second president of the Ibibio Union, after Ekong Etuk. He was awarded Obong Ikpaisong Ibibio ye Anang by the traditional rulers of Ibibio and Anang thereby making him the highest traditional title holder in what is currently Akwa Ibom State. When Effion Okon Eyo was accused of masterminding the killing of his political opponents during the Nigerian civil war, He was summoned by the chiefs in 1982 to the Lutheran High School Hall, Obot Idim, Uyo. He requested to go public with what he knows about the killings during the Nigerian civil war but was opposed by the chiefs. E.O.Eyo then compiled and presented a pamphlet titled 'WHO KILLED WHO' which he chronicled letters of complaints from traditional chiefs from various divisions against various players in the war in their localities to Col. Adekunle who led the Nigerian army to liberate the mainland south eastern state which is the current Akwa Ibom State and copies of those complaints were forwarded to Eyo as a first class chief. The chiefs then forbade him from publishing the document to prevent further escalation with the assumption that, attributing the killings to Eyo alone would be better than exposing the chiefs who masterminded the killings to the relations of the dead. Lack of this vital information has led to age long misinformation and claims that he single handedly killed all his political opponents in Ibibio and Anang before 1975. This is the same Effiong Okon Eyo who championed the creation of Akwa Ibom State and gave the state the name of the state at Oron stadium during the launching of Akwa Ibom State movement and all successive governments in the state has refused to honour or immortalize him.
Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe River which bisects the state before flowing into the Bight of Bonny. Akwa Ibom was split from Cross River State in 1987 with its capital Uyo and with 31 local government areas.
The Ibibio people are a coastal people in southern Nigeria. They are mostly found in Akwa Ibom, Cross River State and the Eastern part of Abia State. They are related to the Efik people. During the colonial period in Nigeria, the Ibibio Union asked for recognition by the British as a sovereign nation.
The Anaang are an ethnic group in southern Nigeria, whose land is primarily within 8 of the present 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State: Abak, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ikot Ekpene, Obot Akara, Oruk Anam, Ukanafun in Akwa Ibom State. The Anaang are the second largest ethnic group in Akwa Ibom state.
Uyo is the capital city of Akwa Ibom in South South Nigeria. Ibibio is the language spoken in Uyo.
Ikot Ekpene, also known as The Raffia City, is a historic town in south-southern state of Akwa Ibom. It is the political and cultural capital of the Annang ethnic group in Nigeria. The town is located on the A342 highway that parallels the coast, between Calabar to the south east and Aba to the west, with the state capital, Uyo, on this road just to the east. Umuahia is the next major town to the north.
Eket is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name Eket or Ekid also refers to the indigenous ethnic group of the region and to their language. The Eket people use the endonym Ekid for themselves and their language, but Europeans spell and pronounce the name as "Eket".
The Oron people are a multi-ethnic tribal grouping that make up the Akpakip Oro or Oron Nation. The Oron are located primarily in southern Nigeria in the riverine area of Akwa Ibom and the Cross River States and in Cameroon. Akpakip Oro are regarded as an ancient warrior people, speaking the Oron language which is in the Cross River language family of the Benue–Congo languages. They are ancestrally related to the Efik people of the Cross River State, the Ibeno and Eastern Obolo( ie Adoni East) in Akwa Ibom, the Andoni people in Rivers State ,Ohafia in Abia State and the Balondo-ba-Konja in the Congo.
Ibiono-Ibom is a Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State in the south-south region of Nigeria. It has its administrative headquarters at Oko Ita.
Nsit Atai Local government area was created in the year 1996 with its capital at Odot by the government of Gen. Sani Abacha. It has an area of out of an about 17,000 square kilometers, with 62 villages.
Uruan is a Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, south of Nigeria.
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Michael Okon Enyong is a Nigerian politician who represents Uyo, Uruan, Nsit Atai and Ibesikpo Asutan in the Nigerian National Assembly. Before being elected into office, he was chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Tourism Board.
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