Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, yesterday recorded another enduring legacy of his administration in the traditional institution with the inauguration of a 2,500 seating capacity ‘Asan Ibibio’ edifice, for the Ibibio people of the state.
Inaugurating the edifice at Ikot Oku Ikono, Uyo, Governor Emmanuel explained that the Asan Ibibio was built to strengthen the heritage and unity of the Ibibio people and by extension, the entire Akwa Ibom state.
The Governor called on Akwa Ibom people to shun divisiveness and fragmentation of the Ibibio nationality, describing such as deviation from the ideals of the Ibibio forebears, who paid no attention to trivial differences that may end up reducing into segmenting the very elaborate Ibibio nation, which forms the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
“Ibibio connotes the entire Akwa Ibom. Ibibio does not refer to the tribal sentiments some people are trying to play with now. Not at all.
“We had the likes of Chief Sampson Udoidiong, Akpabio, Attah, and others who formed what was then called the Ibibio State Union, with which they started the agitation for the Akwa Ibom State we have today.
“So when we are talking about the Ibibios, it refers to the entire Akwa Ibom people and even some across the rivers”, he stated.
He, therefore, called on all Akwa Ibom people to own the Asan as a symbol of unity and utilize the economic advantage of various components of the edifice which, he maintained, has the largest auditorium in the state with modern facilities for conventions, conferences, wedding ceremonies, among other events.
Also speaking, the State Governor-elect, Pastor Umo Eno, described Mr Udom Emmanuel as a pride of the Ibibios in whom the fathers were pleased.
He said that the inauguration of the Asan marked the beginning of a new era of unity for the Ibibios and urged all Akwa Ibom people to bury disaffection that may thwart the growth and development of the state.
Reviewing the project, Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Professor Eno Ibanga, said the auditorium, completed with three galleries, has a 2,500 seating capacity, larger than any event centre in the state.
He added that the facility has seven offices, three conference venues of 200 capacity each, twenty-five conveniences and a parking space that can accommodate 200 cars.
In his goodwill message, the President-General Akwa Ibom State Traditional Rulers Council and Oku Ibom Ibibio, Ntenyin Solomon Etuk, described the Governor’s gesture as housing and covering the nakedness of the Ibibios and prayed the blessings of the fathers of the land on him.
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