Intergroup Relations in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: An Appraisal of Interactions between Ibeno and Her Neighbours

Susan I.Iseyen

Department of History and Strategic Studies,

Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos,

Akoka, Lagos State,

Nigeria

Suesapphire91@gmail.com

Abstract

This article attempts to examine the natureof intergroup relations between Ibeno and her neighbours, in order to determine the level of acrimony and harmony, as well as to investigate the changing patterns of those relations. It is carried out mainly to reconstruct the history of inter-group relations among Ibeno, Onna, Eket and Eastern Obolo.

This paper shows how interwoven the aforementioned Ibibio subgroups have been long before the coming of Europeans, and points to the fact that these subgroups have interacted with one another in diverse ways even before European intrusion. In Nigeria, a large amount of ink has been spilled on understanding the level of mutual interdependency that had transpired among various ethnic groups.

These intergroup relationships took varied processes, in the form of war, diplomatic interactions in the form of marriages, migration patterns, long and short distance trade,culture interchange, and many others. Regardless of the scope and pattern of inter-group relations, it is important to note that historically, Nigerian ethnic groups had achieved a level of symbiosis. As such, intergroup relations among Ibeno and her neighbours existed, stilldo in contemporary times, and cuts across pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras.

The article made use of primary sources in the form of oral traditions and interviews. Secondary sources employed written sources in the form of articles, books and unpublished materials.                                                                                              

Introduction

The term, “intergroup relations” has become a prominent decimal in recent themes of both African and Nigerian historiography.The world in general is engendered through mutual interactions between individuals and society as well as those between diverse groups of people. This diversity has more often than not been marked not only by economic, cultural and social relations among various groups, but also by conflicts between groups who share different social and cultural life, and ultimately conflicting interests and values.

Although intergroup relations are sometimes naturally mutual, they can vary in extremity, from harmless activities such as marriages, migration patterns, trade and commerce, diplomatic intercourse, traditional and religious settings, to hostile relations such as war and violent conflicts. Nigeria as a country comprises an ethno-diverse group of peoples.

These people had different levels of contact and interactions between several ethnic groups around them.Oral traditions and copious literature reveal that the indigenous people of Akwa Ibom land in south-southern Nigeria, during the pre-colonial and colonial times, engaged in relations among the different Ibibio subgroups. Thus, intergroup relations were mainly in the form of migration, trade, intermarriages, religion, and even tribal warfare.

Conceptual Clarification     

Inter-group relations as a social phenomenon has been subjected to varieties of definitions by scholars. The earliest and classic definition of inter-group relations was however given by Muzafer Sheriff, who argued that the term refers to “relations between two or more groups and their respective members.”¹ He further defined it as a process “whenever individuals belonging to one group interact collectively or individually with another group or its members in terms of their group identification, we have instance of inter-group behaviour.”²Flowing from the above definition, the term refers to both individual interaction involving members from different groups and the collective behaviours of groups in interacting with other groups, either at intra or inter-ethnic levels.

Other definitions of the concept have been made by Henri Tajfel who describes the process of relations between groups as “the interaction between people belonging to, and identifying with different social groups.”³Adiele Afigbo, cited in OkpehOkpeh’s article, for his part, contends that “inter-group relations presuppose contact and interaction between groups, each of which has an identity to make some inputs into the relationship, in short, each of which has some scopes and areas of autonomous action.”⁴

The aforementioned conceptualizations thus demonstrate that the phenomenon revolves around contact and interactions between groups of which each have a significant role to play for the progress of the relationship.

Literature Review

An important aspect of conducting this research has to do with the critical review of existing literature that is relevant to this research. Literature review aims at promoting a better understanding of historical writing and puts one in an advantageous position to further conduct contributory research.

Thus, to gain a lucid and comprehensive understanding of the nature and pattern of intergroup relations betweenIbeno and her neighbours, a few works have been examined. There are copious literatures on intergroup relations between groups in AkwaIbom State and her surrounding neighbours. A. F. Usman and G. O. Odeh’s article⁵ sets the ball rolling for it aptly explores varying patterns and dynamics of inter-group relations in Nigeria in the nineteenth century.

They explain that the concept of inter-group relations is a multifaceted one as it connotes all forms of interaction that cut across political (including war and peace), economic, technological and cultural (which of course includes art, dance, music, marriage rituals, code of dressing), language, religion, philosophy and other forms of interaction.

Okpeh Ochayi Okpeh corroborates this viewpoint in his article, “Patterns and Dynamics of Inter-Group Relations in Nigeria, 1800 – 1900AD”⁶ where he highlights the various facets of contact and interdependence between groups in Nigeria, ranging from geographical, economic, cultural and social factors. He concludes that the people of Nigeria were never and have never been in isolation from each other.

Patrick and Eno⁷ acknowledge the fact that long before the establishment of colonial rule in what later became Nigeria, the different groups of people that inhabited the Akwa-Ibom area, specifically the Annang peoples interacted with one another and with their Igbo neighbours outside the region. Factors that promoted intergroup relations were migration, trade (in which the principal items were slaves, palm oil and palm kernel), religion, intermarriage and tribal warfare. The Annang people according to Patrick and Eno had external contacts with their Igbo neighbours such as the Abia, Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi peoples, and a minor fraction of those in the Delta and Rivers States, amongst others.

Uwem Jonah Akpan,⁸ a learned historian of AkwaIbom history examines the diplomatic relations that existed between the Ibibio of Akwa-Ibom state and the Ogoni people of Rivers state, who both live in the Niger Delta region. It discovers that diplomatic intercourse existed between these two groups during the pre-colonial and colonial periods, engendered by diverse factors such as common origin, geography, shared cultural values, economic and political needs, colonization and the missionary enterprise.

The writer insists that even though at present the Ibibio and Ogoni live in areas separated by the Imo River and in distinct states of the federation, their separation is a recent experience triggered by forces of history.

On the view of language as a form of intergroup relations, Igbara and Keenam⁹ suggests that the Ibibio and Ogoni languages both exercised such an “absorptive power” that these frontiers communities became bilingual. Both authors postulate that the Ibibio and Ogoni languages contain basic core vocabularies but that of the Ogoni differs considerably from those of their current neighbours within the Niger Delta.

Monday Abasiattai,¹⁰ a distinguished historian posits in his book that the Ibeno people of Akwa-Ibom had a form of relation with the Opobo people under the control of King Jaja which involved conflict. It was such that in 1881, some leaders of Ibeno arrived in Opobo to reach an agreement where the Ibeno people and her territory would be placed under the protection and authority of the king of Opobo “for all times coming.”

The relations in this case according to the author were cemented by inter-marriages, ritual contracts and other forms of inter-communal and inter-personal relationships, in addition to the purely economic and commercial contacts.

In analyzing the effect of food-culture on inter-group relations in Ibibioland, Professor Eno Blankson Ikpe’s contributory chapter titled, “Food-Culture and Inter-Group Relations in Ibibioland”¹¹ explains that food among other factors played a vital role in fostering unity and a feeling of community among the different sub-groups of which the Ibibio of which Ibeno is a part. She explores the different food festivals that were celebrated as a sign of goodwill and peaceful co-existence between Ibibio and her neighbours.

She listed the food festivals as the New Yam Festival and the Ibibio Feast, known indigenously as UsukUdia and Usoro Ibibio respectively. Ikpe also asserts that food trade was a factor of intergroup relations between Ibibioland and her neighbours as they imported yams and exported fish products, and as such, intricate diplomacy and arrangements were required to guarantee peaceful flow of trade beyond ethnic borders.

She infers that attempts to control food resources by the Ibibio have led to the migration of Ibibio farmers into non-Ibibio areas of Nigeria, Fernando Po and Cameroon, where they have developed methods of peaceful co-existence with their host communities.

These works that have been reviewed are relevant to the conduct of this study in different ways. However, as shown, they have not comprehensively addressed the nature and pattern of inter-relations betweenIbeno community and her immediate neighbours. It is on this ground that the current study seeks to bridge the gap in literature and knowledge. Inadequate and incomplete as these works have been, they have still remained the primary, if not the only authoritative sources from where information about the varying degrees of interaction among the peoples of south-southern Nigeria, of which the people ofIbeno are a partcould be obtained.

The Land and Peoples of Ibeno

The expanse presently occupied by Ibeno community lies in the region commonly referred to as the Niger Delta area. This is the delta of the Niger River, sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria.

¹²It is typicallyconsidered to be located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers States.¹³Ibeno, (also pronounced Ibuno) a typical fishing community is precisely located at the southern end of Akwa-Ibom State. It lies roughly on Latitude 4^o34’07’’north and Longitude 7^o58’35’’east, with an estimated coastal area of 1,200 square kilometres, and stretches from Okposo at the eastern flank bordering Mbo Local Government Area and Bakassi peninsula to Atabrikang village on the western side. It is also bounded in the north by Eket and Onna;in the east by Esit-Eket and in the west by Eastern Obolo Local Government Areas.

¹⁴Ibeno is a sizeable community of between 100,000 and 150,000 people, and the present Ibeno Local Government Area is said to be made up of about twenty largegazetted villages, and about forty seven ungazetted villages.

¹⁵ The territory of the Ibeno community includes a large deposit of onshore and offshore petroleum resources, while playing host to the oil giant – Exxon-Mobil.¹⁶ Together with a potentially rich area of tropical rainforest, Ibeno is endowed with arable lands on both the mainland areas of Upenekang, Okoroutip, Iwuochang and Mkpanak, and the riverine area of Ntafre, Atabrikang and Opolom, all of which are considered to be the seven original or ‘primary’ villages of Ibeno as it is often called.¹⁷

Given this concise background, the aim of this article is to critically assess the nature and patterns of inter-group relations between Ibeno and her neighbours. However, the focus of this research is on the three immediate neighbours of Ibeno, namely, Eket, Onna and Eastern Obolo.

 Ibeno – Eket Inter-Group Relations

            The community of Eket is situated north of Ibeno, along the Qua Iboe River.¹⁸ The Eket people engage in timber logging, hunting, mat making, and cultivate cash crops like palm trees, as well as food crops such as plantain, cassava and yams.¹⁹ A major aspect of inter-group relations between Ibeno and Eket is the factor of origin and migration.

Both are Ibibio sub-groups, and both are related by ancestry, which oral traditions confirm. Eket tradition of origin affirms that the Eket were the first batch of Central Ibibio, who pressed by new arrivals of Central Ibibio, migrated southwards to their present home. It further revealed that both the Eket and Ibeno peoples migrated together as sea-borne Ibibio people, from the Cameroons.

The traditions further show that it was from Eket that small groups of Ibeno people began to migrate to the region south of Eket in search of more land, and that this led them to where is known today as Ibeno.²⁰ It was the welcoming attitude of the Eket people, according to oral tradition, that earned them the name, Ibeno or Ibono, which literally means, “remain here,” “stay here,” or “settle here.”²¹ It is also vital to note that both Eket and Ibeno, apparently because of shared ancestry, were in the same Local Government Area before Ibeno became a separate entity in 1996.

Another important facet of relations between the Ibeno and Eket is based on socio-cultural ties. Both groups share the same socio-cultural organization, especially those of theLeopard (Ekpe), Masquerade (Ekpo), Age Grade (Nka) and Women of the Land (EbanIsong) societies. In essence, all these socio-cultural institutions fostered relations between the Ibeno and Eket people.

Trade was perhaps the commonest feature that promoted strong relations between the Ibeno and the Eket, from the pre-colonial period up till now. Trade is a natural phenomenon of economic life, arising from the fact that no two areas are exactly alike. Every region in the world is unique, having its own climate, products, technology as well as human needs.

Therefore, each is dependent to a greater or lesser extent on the other region. Both communities engaged in open sea fishing, however, the Ibeno people seemed to engage more in fishing than the Eket people. This is so because while the Eket people engaged in fishing, they engaged also in other agricultural activities like farming. The Ibeno, on the other hand, do not have enough cultivable land for farming, hence, they are by and large, traditionally a fishing people.

Thus, the early Eket and Ibeno people traded with each other and attended each other’s markets, where fish, salt and later, European goods from Ibeno were exchanged for condiments like palm oil, palm kernel and cassava from the people of Eket.²² Thus, both communities exchanged their commodities for goods which the other lacked. In addition, commodities like fresh fish, crayfish, periwinkles, dry fish as well as other sea food produced in both communities, were often taken inland for exchange of other commodities produced in the hinterlands, especially IkotEkpene, Etinan, Uyo, Okat, and Abak.

Ibeno was also the commercial hub and distribution centre where fresh fish, dry fish, periwinkles and crayfish were bring collected and sold both in Ibeno, Eket and beyond. Important markets like the UruaIbeno in Iwuochang and Iwuo-Okpom areas were the places where these commodities were sold. Trade, according to a knowledgeable Ibeno chief, was the key instrument for intermarriages between both communities.

This happened especially in instances where Eket traders would travel to these markets in Ibeno and would sometimes stay overnight with friends and return to their homes the next day. This certainly fostered relationships which gradually developed into marriages from both communities.²³

Eket and Ibeno inter-group relations were those of peace, mutual respect and also of conflicts. There have been several legal contentions over some territories from decades without any violent incident.

The increased petroleum business and commercial activities, the creation of a new local government of Ibeno from the existing one for political expedience, the new creation comes with new demand, need for space, status, and political identity and the whole need for survival, resource control and power provided the proximate cause of conflicts between Eket and Ibeno. The impact of these crises has led to loss of lives, displacement of people and destruction of property.

²⁴ The Ibeno clans in their testimony declared that Eket people have always attempted to claim their land through judicial means. According to them, there has been at least one major suit in respect of the lands in the Stubbs creek Forest Reserve, in the area. Additionally, the Eket village of EsitUrua unsuccessfully challenged the title of Upenekang village of Ibeno over their land. The Eket village of Edebuk also instituted action against the Ibenos in 1961 for a large piece of land in the western flank of the Qua Iboe River also known as IkotInwang.

Ibeno people alleged that Eket abandoned the suit after close of the pleading and the suit was struck out with cost in favour of the people of Ibeno.²⁵In fact, conflicts principally over the land in the Qua Iboe Terminal, in 1993, led to violence between the people of Eket and Ibeno. It is evident from the foregoing that the two neighbouring communities, Ibeno and Eket, have lived together for more than a century with shared values, norms and even conflicts.

 Ibeno – Eastern Obolo (Andoni) Inter-Group Relations

 Eastern Obolo is located in the Niger Delta fringe between the estuaries of the Imo and Qua Iboe Rivers. It is bounded in the north by MkpatEnin Local Government Area, northeast by Onna, west by IkotAbasi, southeast by Ibeno Local Government Area, and in the south by the Atlantic Ocean.²⁶The name “Obolo”means “Great River” and is the original and indigenous name of the group of people living west of Ibeno.

However, they earned the name “Andoni” from European traders, specifically the Portuguese who came to the Niger Delta from the end of the fifteenth century.²⁷ In the case of Ibeno and Eastern Obolo people, factors such as traditions of origin, geographical proximity, economic and social forces engendered contact and inter-dependence between them from the pre-colonial period to the present.

A cursory glance into the Eastern Obolo and Ibeno tradition of origin show that both the Eastern Obolo and Ibeno peoples originated from the Cameroons, from where they moved together along the east bank of the Cross River until they got to present day Calabar.

While some of them are also said to have moved to the Andoni Flats (now in Rivers State), a few others migrated to Eastern Obolo. It is obvious that in the course of migration, the two groups had settled in Obolo, and from Obolo, the Ibeno migrated and settled in their present location. This factor of origin and migration is a unique feature of relations existing between the Ibeno and Eastern Obolo communities.

Marriages between the Ibeno and Obolo peoples also constituted important instruments of relations. Trade was a veritable factor in this regard. It was not uncommon to see fishermen from both communities getting married. This was evident especially during fishing trips from Ibeno to Eastern Obolo or vice versa, which often took a few days. Owing to loneliness and other factors, relationships were often developed between them, which eventually culminated in inter-marriages.²⁸Both communities also have strong cultural affinities.

Ibeno and Obolo’s forms of marriage, inheritance and burial are generally the same in all respects. Additionally, the Obolo State Union (OSU) emerged in 1949, as a result of the close relations that had existed between the Eastern Obolo people and Ibeno. The function of the union was to stimulate unity and socio-political consciousness of its members.²⁹

Economically, Ibeno and Eastern Obolo had traded in varying capacities. Ibeno and Eastern Obolo traditions indicate that fishing and trading activities played vital roles in cementing the relationship between Ibeno and her neighbour. The Ibeno people often embark on their fishing expedition into Eastern Obolo Rivers and creeks.

Their fishing venture even took them to the immediate surroundings of Obolo villages. As fishing communities, both Ibeno and Eastern Obolo exchanged sea foods, on the basis of comparative advantage. They both complemented each other in this sense.³⁰ The Eastern Obolo people remained content to exploit their waters. The Obolo people also exchanged smoked fish and salt for canoes made by the Ibeno people.

Furthermore, Obolo women who engage in fish trading also came down to the rivers and creeks in Ibeno to buy fresh and dry fish from the Ibeno fishermen. They regarded Ibeno as the “food basket” where they could buy large quantity of fish at cheaper rate to re-sale at Obolo. The Obolo women found this venture very lucrative and as a source of supplying fish to their people since the catch of their fishermen cannot meet all the fish need of the people.³¹ Thus, the Obolo women fish traders became the intermediary that forged closer link between the Ibeno and Obolo communities.

Hence, it can be said that both communities were looking for as large a share as possible of the local waters; and an element of competition and strife could hardly be avoided. However, there were relations of symbiosis rather than of competition. Both communities seemed to have been content to remain within their ecological zones and to exploit the each other’s resources, rather than trying to invade the other’s zone and extend its range of exploitation. As a result, it can be said that these relations between both communities were, by and large, stable and peaceful.

Ibeno – Onna Inter-Group Relations

Onna is a Local Government Area in Akwa-Ibom State. Its name is said to have come from an acronym of the three predominant clans that live in the area: Oniong, NnungNdem and Awa. It is bounded in the south by Ibeno, Eket in the east, Etinan in the north and MkpatEnin in the west.³² Because of its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, just like the Ibeno, the people of Onna are predominantly fishermen.

Neighbouring communities would always interact with one another. TheIbeno and Onna have interacted with each other in diverse forms for mutual and complementary benefits. Their geographical proximity had made it possible for close links to be established between these two communities, and these links have existed till now. The interactions between them were manifested in their origin, trade and commerce, inter-group marriages, cultural contacts as well as conflict situations.

Both the people of Ibeno and Onna are said to have originated from the same place, that is, both communities are Ibibio sub-groups and speak the Ibibio language. Trade is an important factor and indeed the lifeblood of inter-group relations.

The striking cultural similarities between the Ibeno and Onna could be attributed to their common origin. Before the advent of Christianity, both cultures regarded twin babies as evil.in the event of multiple births, both mother and children were usually ostracized, an action the early missionaries successfully eradicated by their activities within the Cross River basin. Ritual brotherhood also existed between both communities and strengthened their relationship.

It is said that the people of Ibeno often attended the EkpoNyoho and Ekpe festivals of the Onna, while the Onna people visited Ibeno during the UsoroIyak festival.

In another direction, the marriage factor was another decisive instrument in their relations. It is reported that marriage was mostly used as a diplomatic tool in amending Ibeno-Onna relations, occasioned mostly after periods of land conflicts. These marriages were often conducted as a means to an end.

For example, an informant noted how a certain family in Onna used marriage as a tool in mending a somewhat strained relationship with a prestigious family in Ibeno.³³ While on other occasions, inter-communal marriages between Ibeno and Onna occurred not for diplomatic purposes but for the fact that intending couples might have developed interests.

The informant puts it succinctly that the marriage that happens between the Onna and Ibeno is an age-long practice right from their forefathers through whom the practice has been passed to the present generation.

He further attested that the place of marriage in the relationship with their Onna neighbours is indisputable as both groups have for long been inextricably intertwined as a result of the offspring from these marriages.³⁴ Therefore, given the foregoing analysis, the fact that marriage was conducted between both communities and constituted a major factor in the Ibeno-Onna relations, has been established.

Furthermore, both groups had in time past expressed their pre-colonial relations via the art of trade and commerce. Trade as a factor of contact between Ibeno and Onna arose from the fact that both communities under our scope of study were differently endowed with resources. For example, while the people of Ibeno were known mostly for their fishing expeditions, Onna was known both for fishing and agriculture.

This therefore compelled some of both communities to engage in local and long range exchange by the need to transcend their limitations and maximize their comparative advantages. Outside seafood products, Onna communities were noted for craftsmanship, and so they often exchanged crafted items like raffia, bags, hats, mats, among others, for fresh fish, dry fish, periwinkles, salt and crayfish from Ibeno.

Onna Local Government Area and Ibeno Local Government Area were until 1989 and 1996 respectively, an integral part of the former Eket division, one of the oldest districts in the Eastern Region of Nigeria, thus giving credence to the Ibeno-Onna relations. Being neighbours, Ibeno and Onna had originated from Usak Edet in the Cameroons, intermarried, traded together and had beneficial cultural exchanges. These connections had in more ways helped to improve the relations between them.

Conclusion

Contacts between people and cultures are as ancient as human history. Their importance as a stimulus to human development is also widely recognized. Inter-group relations,is indeed very common among the various groups in Nigeria. One way or the other, people of different ethnic background were at one time or the other engaged in some sort of relations. At one time, these relations were peaceful.

At other times, the people engaged in violent confrontations. Whatever shape the relations assume, it is important to note and uphold the fact that inter-group relations existed and still exists between and among the peoples of Nigeria. Findings based on this research showed that the relations that existed between Ibeno and her neighbours took numerous dimensions, ranging from commerce and trade, cultural exchanges, migration patterns, conflict, marriage, among others. This work also showed how intertwined these groups have been long before the coming of Europeans.

The study maintains that inter-group relations between Ibeno and her neighbours, is an age-long phenomenon and is still very much in existence. The conclusion of this work, therefore, is that in spite of brief skirmishes in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial times, all the groups still live in peace and harmony.

Endnotes

1. MuzaferSherif, Intergroup Relations and Leadership: Approaches and Research in Industrial, Ethnic, Cultural and Political Areas (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1962), 5.

3. Ibid
4. Henri Tajfel, Social Identity and Intergroup Relations (UK: Cambridge University Press 1982), 17.

34. Okpeh O. Okpeh, “Conceptual and Theoretical Issues arising from Studies in Inter-group Relations,” in Inter-Group Relations in Nigeria during the 19^th and 20^th Centuries, ed. OlayemiAkinwunmi, Okpeh Ochayi Okpeh Jr. and Gwamna D. Je’adayibe (Markurdi: Aboki Publishers, 2006), 12.
35. F. Usman and G. O. Odeh, “When Contact is not Enough: Issues arising from a Century of Inter-Group Relations in Nigeria,” Polac International Journal of Humanities and Security Studies. Maiden Edition (2015): 77-95.
36. Okpeh Ochayi Okpeh, “Patterns and Dynamics of Inter-Group Relations in Nigeria, 1800-100 AD,” Journal of Historical Sociey of Nigeria 17, (2007/2008):123-137.
37. Patrick Chukwudike Okpalaeke and Uwemedimo Eno Usoro, “A View from the Periphery: A Historical Appraisal on Annang-Igbo Inter-Group Relations in Pre-Colonial Times,” African Journal of History and Archaeology 2, no. 1 (2017):31-40.
38. Uwem Jonah Akpan, “The Ibibio-Ogoni Relations in the Niger-Delta: The Pre-Colonial and Colonial Experience,” International Journal of Research in Arts and Social Sciences 9, no. 2 (2017):182-192.
39. Igbara and B. Keenam, Ogoni in Perspective: An Aspect of Niger Delta History (Port Harcourt: Onyoma Research Publication, 2013).
40. Monday Abasiattai,A History of the Cross River Region of Nigeria (Enugu: University of Calabar Press, 1990).
41. Eno Blankson Ikpe, “Food Culture and Inter-group Relations in Ibibioland,” in Race, Ethnicity & Nation Building in Africa, ed. R. T. Akinyele (Nigeria: Rex Charles Publication in association with Connell Publications, 2003).
42. Michael Hogan, “Niger River,” in TheEncyclopedia of Earth: A Complete Visual Guide ed. M. McGinley (Washington, DC: National Council for Science and Environment, 2013), 467.
43. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Nigeria-showing-the-Oil-Producing-States-in-Niger-Delta-Region-excluding-offshore_fig1_256834670 (accessed 20 February 2018).
44. Marcus Leton, “The Politics of a Company Town: A Case Study of Eket and Ibeno, AkwaIbom State,” Working Paper 2 (2006):3.
45. Chief Dan (Village head of Iwuochang; Iwuochang, Ibeno), in discussion with the author, 28 December 2017.
46. Nsikak Akpan (Retired school teacher; His residence, Iwuochang village, Ibeno), in discussion with the author, 11 December 2017.
47. Leton, “The Politics of a Company Town,” 3.
48. Uwem Jonah Akpan, Akwa Ibom and her Neighbours: A Study of Regional Diplomacy since the Pre-colonial Period (Uyo: Heritage Preservation Foundation, 2018), 14.
49. Edem Sunday Edem, “Eket-Ibeno Conflict: A Study of Indigenes-Settlers Conflict, 1900-2013 (PhD thesis, Department of History and International Relations, University of Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, 2016), 3.
50. The informant requested anonymity in the interview conducted with the author on 1 June 2018.
51. Uwem Jonah Akpan (Lecturer, University of Uyo, AkwaIbom State), in discussion with the author, 12 December 2017.
52. Udom Paul (Elderly man; Upenekang, Ibeno), in discussion with the author, 2 January 2018.
53. The informant requested anonymity in the interview conducted with the author on 2 January 2018.
54. Edem, “Eket-Ibeno Conflict,” 5.
55. The informants requested anonymity in the interview conducted with the author on 31 May 2018.
56. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Obolo (accessed 28 July 2018).
57. Nkparom C. Ejituwu, An Outline of Obolo (Andoni) History in Modern Times (Diobu: The Blueprint Limited, 2010), 2.
58. Adiaha Noah (Trader; Ntafre, Ibeno), in discussion with the author, 1 June 2018.
59. The informant requested anonymity in the interview conducted with the author on 2 January 2018.
60. ,25 August 2018.
61. Peace Akpan (Fish trader; Ntafre, Ibeno), in discussion with the author, 1 June 2018.
62. https://tukool.com/know-nigeria/know-akwa-ibom-state/know-about-onna/ (accessed 28 July 2018).
63. UlaetoUlaeto, in telephone conversation with the author, 25 August 2018.
64. Ibid