Here tells the story of the poem I wrote on the journey of the Ibibio. I am glad to see the Ibibio History Facebook group acknowledged it.
8th April 2023, a bright day that the Lord has made. It wasn't just any other day, it was a day in Easter. And coming from the Lets-Go-A-Fishing programme, I decided to see what Facebook has in stock for me.
I made a quick browse through and what greeted me, brought a few nostalgic tears down my eyes. It felt good to see a work you wrote becoming a tool for celebration.
This is what Kingsley Peter Akpan wrote in the IBIBIO HISTORY public group which has more than 2.51 members.
Some everyday words our forebears used.
Akwa aduk - Ibibio.
Poet Laureate - English.
*Photo
From "Best Nature Poem for the Ibibio People of Akwa Ibom State" by Nsikak Andrew, January 27, 2021.
We are celebrating the Ibibios with this inspirational poem about their roots.
This is one of the best poems for the Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State. The poem is inspirational and natural in nature that tells the root of the Ibibio people.
The Ibibios are blessed, people. Come share in their joy with these natural poems for the delight of the Ibibios.
The Ibibio’s
In the silent of nights
In the blossom of morning
In the harshness of the sun
In the coldness of the evening
Our forebears whelm the forest
Without a fear of the beast that governed.
Across the lakes
Across the mountains
Across the rivers
Across the narrow paths
The feet of our forebears did not weary
A journey across the forest they migrate
In search of virgin land for their descendants.
From Usakedet in Cameroon, they set-forth
In Ikot Oku Ikono – Uyo their foot was not in vain
Posterity was the light that guides their path
For the land that flows with promise and fulfilment
They made their first home of rest
Today, you are the bride every tribe courts with envy.
Great achievers of Akwa Abasi Ibom State
The pride fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria
The first to agitate for state creation
The land whose son was the first soldier in Nigeria
The first M.Sc holder in Agriculture
The first black Cardinal in Nigeria
The first black Prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria
The Firstborn of Akwa Abasi Ibom State
The first in virtually all spheres of life.
Your land is pride in black gold,
Your soils are pastures that shame hunger
Your water is a blessing that breathes life
Heritages of your forebears you uphold in high esteem
Your maidens are pride that uphold the family values
None would ever fault your reign,
For the globe, your descendants bestrode with might.
Descendants from Usakedet, the Ibibios we are
Like a true son from the Ibibio tribe
I salute in the dialect of our ancestors
For it is said, a warrior greeted in the dialect of the warriors
Shall ever regain his strength as a warrior.
Ibibio isong o!
Ibibio isong o!!
Ibibio isong o!!!
Nsikak Andrew
Reading through the reactions is something that would forever be a blessing to my heart. Here are the reactions.
Kingsley Peter Akpan this is beautiful, I love it. Yak isong odot Ukana!!!
— Essien Ndifreke Ekerete
Adod ukana isong.
— Essien Ndifreke Ekerete
Kingsley Peter Akpan I feel tears within me to come on FB and saw the poem. It took me back to memory lane when I wrote the poem. I am honoured.
— Nsikak Andrew
Nsikak Andrew, We feel greatly exalted by your inspiring poem.
You captured the migration of our illustrious ancestors in beautiful poetry.
And because of your piece, their journeys, come alive to us their descendants, and the modern audience, with a deep and solemn sense of pride. Thank you very much indeed.❤️
— Kingsley Peter Akpan
Kingsley Peter Akpan Thank you so much. This for me is so encouraging.
— Nsikak Andrew
This honour to have contributed a poem in the celebration of the journey of our forebears is something that would remain evergreen in my mind. Nothing much to see, the Ibibio are a blessed tribe and a blessed people we shall always be.
Apart from the Ibibio poem, I did write down others to celebrate Akwa-Anasi Ibom State, my dear very land of promise.
Asan Ibibio
A bend from Ekom Iman Junction
There, a virgin land sprung with a virgin history
Here it was our forebears first set their foot upon
As they journey across from Usakedet in Cameroon.
Centuries have passed by
Yet our virgin land has not weathered away
But have become our virgin hope of birth
A rallying point for all the Ibibios.
Our sanctuary of strength
From here begins the spread of the Ibibio civilization
For in unity, our forebears found one voice
That voice that still preserved our values and heritage.
Arise, the descendant of the Ibibio race,
In hands let us join our Ifim Ibom Ibibio
Yes, our Supreme Council of Ibibio Traditional Rulers
That we shall build our treasure home – Asan Ibibio.
In our ancestral home – Ikot Oku Ikono
There, our Asan Ibibio would always stand
A collection of our ancestral artefacts would be housed
And the needed information about our race will be there.
Come let us join hands
Come let us extend love
Come let us build our treasure Asan
Come let us cultivate, nurture and practice -
Ima, Mboho and Eduek
That our children yet unborn would tell our story.
Nsikak Andrew
Akwa Ibom
Akwa Ibom
Our land of promise
In you
We found our fulfilment.
Our precious land
That flows with milk and honey
In the abundant deposit of black-gold
Is the heritage of your soil rewarded.
23rd day of September 1987 was your birth
Even before that day, you were alive
In the heart of the people that you endeared
With the hospitality that you enthrone.
The land where the swing of hips is your glory
Your dialects a pride in the mouth of your own
How your delicacies are a delight in the celebration
Your land, I am proud to be a descendant.
Land of the earliest intellectuals
In abundance
You have produced pacesetters
That your land and beyond celebrates.
AkwaAbasi Ibom
Home to the Ibibios
Home to the Annangs
Home to the Ukpabangs…
Home to all who bear your root
For in peaceful co-existence, you reign.
Nsikak Andrew
Ibom Connection
Hot afternoon,
The sky rejoices in its brightness
To celebrate your reign.
Calm evening,
The sparkle of lightening gathered
In praise of your beauty.
Every passing day,
Roll of cars, troupes of Okadamen
Beehive of feet…
All add praises to your towering might.
In evergreen pastures,
Species of nature cloths your nakedness
In a combined beauty of flower attires.
Roundabout your enclave
An ounce of nature’s water claps
To chant your victory
As the centre of connection.
Rejoice former Uyo Circuit
For the coming of Ibom Plaza
Has rechristened you – Ibom Connection.
Rejoice! Oh rejoice,
Centre heart of Akwa Abasi Ibom State
For you shall ever stand
As a symbol of unity in our land of promise.
Nsikak Andrew
Ifim Ibom Ibibio
Ifim!
The scare stool
That only our Royal Majesties could sit down
Ifim!
What does it symbolize?
The cradle of our civilization.
From the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria
Her descendants came in unity from wide and near
With a royal blessing, Ifim Ibom Ibibio was born -
The Supreme Council of Ibibio Traditional Rulers.
The hub of Ibibio unity
Our traditional custodians
We salute your brave courage
For in our roots, you have come to identify
That we shall build our treasure Asan
Where our children’s children will accord
The spread of our journey.
Show me a man with a future
Then I will show you a man that knows his root
Show me a man that knows his past
Then I will show you a man that knows his future.
Nsikak Andrew
Dance Of Our Maidens
Every season awaits our maidens
For the pride of womanhood
Shall unveil her true colour
Colour of her swinging hips
Colour of her moving hands
Colour of her moving lips…
Yes… colours that tell her story
Of whom she is and where she comes from.
Mboppo dance shall unveil her colours
So shall Ndok Ufok Ebe add hers
Asian Ubo Ikpa shall be there
So shall Asian Mbre Iban
These, Akwa Abasi Ibom shall rejoice.
Mboppo dance shall unveil her colours
On Udua Mboppo day she shall come to town
Her confined freedom she must celebrate
That the men folks would take a look
For a life partner, they would choose.
Ndok Ufok Ebe shall add hers
For once in a year she would choose her date
In folk songs of dance and complain
She would alert the entire community
The plight of maltreatment by her husband
Asian Ubo Ikpa shall be there
So shall Asian Mbre Iban
In combined colour of songs and dancing
They would share in a united purpose
A word in songs they came to remind
We are beautiful and eligible
Let the unmarried young men take a look.
Dance of our maidens, guided in our cultures
The colour of our dance, displayed in its richness
Our maidens have found their unique voice
To tell our heritage in the pride of their displays
Just the way it is.
Nsikak Andrew
Find all the other chapters you need to read about Diary of Nsikak Andrew here.
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