About Akwa Ibom state

Akwa Ibom is a state in Nigeria located in the south-east of the country. The State is bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the South by the Atlantic Ocean.   Akwa Ibom State was created out of Cross River State on September 23, 1987. Akwa Ibom was created by combining the Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Eket and Abak divisions of old Calabar province.

A New State

Quick Facts

¨ Akwa Ibom State is made up of a homogenous group of people believed to have originated from a single ancestral stock. The languages spoken in the state are closely related, and the Annang and Ibibio languages are mostly identical with a few dialectical differences. The Eket and Ibeno languages are more closely related to each other than to the other two, and are only partially understandable by speakers of the other two languages.

 

¨ The Ibibio are the largest group, whilst the Annang, which form the second largest group, speak a language very similar to the Ibibio Language. Ibeno and Eket speak a similar language, and are located by the ocean. The Ibibio language belongs to the Benue-Congo language family, which forms part of the Niger- Congo group of languages.

¨ Akwa Ibom people are farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. A majority of the rural populace engage in farming. Other traditional occupations of the people are fishing, trading, hunting, wood-carving, raffia works, blacksmithing, pottery, iron works, tailoring, and crafts creation.

The People

Climate & Vegetation

¨ The location of Akwa Ibom just north of the Equator and within the humid tropics and its proximity to the sea makes the state generally humid. The climate of Akwa Ibom State can be described as a tropical rainy type which experiences abundant rainfall with very high temperature. The mean annual temperature of the state lies between 26°C and 29°C. As with every Nigerian coastal area, the state experiences two main seasons, the wet and the dry seasons. The wet or rainy season lasts between eight to nine months starting from mid- march till the end of November. The dry season has a short duration of between the last week of November or early December and lasts till early march.  Despite the seasonal variations, by the nature and location of the state along the coast which exposes it to hot maritime air mass, rainfall is expected every month of the year. 

 

 

¨ The climate of the state allows for favorable cultivation and extraction of agricultural and forest products such as palm produce, rubber, cocoa, rice, cassava, yam, plantain, banana, maize, and timber.

Natural Resources

¨ Akwa Ibom State is the largest petroleum producer in Nigeria because of it’s large deposits of oil and gas both on and off-shore.  The state also has mineral resources such as limestone, clay, gold, salt, coal, silver nitrate and glass sand.

 

¨ Forestry remains a large part of the economy as the state has one of the largest palm forests in the country.

Information for this page and additional information on Akwa Ibom State can be found at these sites:

Akwa Ibom State Association of Nigeria (USA)

colorado Chapter