Do you know that Ibeno L.G.A has 25 communities and all 22 are Island settlements that is not even much captured in the map..
Others are Mbo L.G.A with 7 Island communities while Eastern Obolo L.G.A has 9 island communities ..
Thus making Akwa Abasi Ibom state the only state with 38 island settlements in Nigeria.
Akwa Ibom currently has the longest seaband or coastal line in west Africa making it a tourism heaven just like the river Nile in Egypt....with a whopping 2410 km2 coastal line, ibeno alone has 1200km2 while others is shared among Mbo, Easyern Obolo, Ikot Abasi etc
Let talk briefly about Ibeno L.G.A, Ibeno is bordering at the east flank by Mbo LGA, at the west flank by Eastern Obolo by north by Eket and by the south by the Atlantic Ocean.
Ibeno people are the extracted people from Andoni in River state & Eastern Obolo people inwhich they share the same culture and traditions with Andoni people of river state...
Bonny Island became popular becos of industrial present in that island ... leaving the 38 island settlement in Akwa Ibom state unknown and untapped ...
When I went on a tour to those islands in Ibeno..
Shockingly they were an island you travel for 1 full day from the jetty in Iwou-Achang in Ibeno to Utana obulop island.
This island took us 23hours with a speed flying boat engine fitted with two 75 horsepower engines to be able to get to that Island of Utana Obolop Island.
The interesting part was I saw huge population of people and majority were people from other countries like Satomi and Principe, Gabon , Togo and even people from Edo state and I was amazed about the untapped island .
Shocking they was no federal and state governments present in those islands ... No nigerians schools, hospital, police stations etc meaning the only thing that links that island to Akwa Ibom state and Nigeria is that the chiefs in this islands are from Ibeno period.
Is saddened how this guys are abandoned by both the state and federal government letting them to live and do thier business alone with steady international travels from one countries to the other without visa or etc.
Akwa Ibom state might not be big in size in the Nigeria map but the state is deep in realiality.
This island house up to 80 thousand inhabitants of various countries ... Jesus my lord I felt like crying while writing this piece. The primary occupation there is fishing and once in a while some foreign fishing companies and NGOs drop food & medical aids in the island in exchange of sea food....
If this Islands are well tapped it will make Akwa Ibom look like Miami of USA, or the Bahamas.
Please I used this opportunity to ask all well meaning Nigerians to go and invest and our journalist not to only covers cities and politics but go inside this islands and bring them to limelight.....
Am just so angry I won't be surprised we losing some of these islands in the future to foreign Governments like we did to bakassi..
Ibeno is gotten from the word Obolo which means white sand beach.
Akwa Ibom alone houses 80 thousand Ghanaian living in both Ibeno and Mbo L.G.A. in short there is a place in Iwouachang in Ibeno called Ghana town.
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