Ikot Ekpene In A Nutshell
Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area is located in the North Western part of Akwa Ibom State. As presently constituted,it is geographical residue of Ikot Ekpene Division of the colonial era from which Essien Udim,Obot Akara, Ikono and Ini Local Government Areas were later carved out.It is made of forty seven (47) contiguous villages grouped into two clans (Ikot Ekpene Urban and Amayam). Indigenes of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area belong to a larger Annang ethnic nationality and they speak the Annang Language.English is also widely spoken in the area .
Historically , Ikot Ekpene is a long standing administrative center having served as headquarters of Ikot Ekpene Urban District Council (1914) Ikot Ekpene Division (1951) and Annang Province (1956).It is also on record that the introduction of the British type of Local Government was first experimented in Ikot Ekpene in 1951 before being adopted in other parts of Nigeria and other places in West Africa.This was different from the Township and Municipalities proclaimed much earlier by the Colonial Administration in different parts of Nigeria (Lagos,Kano, Ibadan Port Harcourt,etc).
The area is so strategically located that in less than two hours,one can conveniently shuttle between Ikot Ekpene and several other important towns and cities within and outside Akwa Ibom State, namely Uyo, Abak,Oron,Eket, Calabar, Umuahia,Aba and Port Harcourt.
It is no exaggeration to state that Ikot Ekpene is the epi-center of African culture and land of artistic ingenuity.
This is manifested in arts and crafts which earn it the sobriquet as Raffia City of Nigeria.
