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By Comrade Imefon Benjamin Ikpe
I will begin this piece with my boyhood reminiscences of a place called Ikot Ekpene Udo – The Little Town in Akwa Ibom State and the mystique which it held for me and my brother Eno. I and my late elder brother Eno left home in Ikot Ebiyak in Etinan to stay with our father Pastor Benjamin Akpan Ikpe, now late, who was the pastor in charge of the famous Qua Iboe Church in Ikot Ekpene Udo.
My late father pastored the Church there for nine years. I first set foot there in 1956. Interestingly, the beautiful young lady whom we were classmates from standard three to standard six became the mother of our present Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State Pastor Umo Eno.
What first struck us about Ikot Ekpene Udo was seeing a planned village where all the roads leading to and from the four wards of the village viz, Ikot Okpon, Ikot Udo Obok, Ataa Idung and Ikot Abasi Nya formed a confluence in the church square; and these major roads were scrupulously maintained on regular bases. What next amazed us was the Qua Iboe Church itself, a massive mud and wattle structure donning an exquisite wooden pulpit whose fame spread to the Qua Iboe Churches including the famous Qua Iboe in Etinan, which went to see and copy the pulpit structure.
Not to be forgotten is the quality of choral singing. The church choir adapted the words of an old chorale; “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” to “Pray for the peace of Ikot Ekpene Udo”. The effect of this song and the phraseology was electrifying.
This little town of Ikot Ekpene Udo had a well-organized Youth League and built a hall at Ikot Abasi Nya. The league even sponsored one of its members at the West African People’s Institute, WAPI, in Calabar. We observed that the people of Ikot Ekpene Udo loved Calabar just as the Efiks, the Efuts and the Quas of Calabar loved Lagos. Virtually every other elder of the village had once in his lifetime peregrinated in Calabar.
At the site of the onetime massive mud and wattle Qua Iboe church, today stands a splendid mini-cathedral that matches the Qua Iboe church in Etinan in aesthetics and acoustics. The foundation of this splendid church was laid by my late father Pastor B. A. Ikpe.
Since Bethlehem, the Almighty God has always in His inscrutable mystery brought forth an icon or icons out of even the remotest village and hamlet. And so has it been with the little town of Ikot Ekpene Udo. There was a son of Ikot Ekpene Udo who lifted himself by his boot straps and from a humble beginning rose to become Nigeria’s Ambassador abroad but is now of the blessed memory.
There was another star footballer, a super brilliant young chap from primary school, who rose to the rank of a professor – a renowned professor and a seeded academic at the University of Maiduguri. In the nature of things Professor Effiong Edeminam an erudite professor of Mathematics returned to his maker rather too early.
Another son of a powerful and influential chieftain, a product of Etinan Institute, a consummate chattered accountant, who ambled into the murky traditional institution and rose to become the paramount ruler of Nsit Ubium and Oku Ibom Ibibio the third, but this prominent chief was brutally assassinated shortly after. Ikot Ekpene Udo today can boast of a host of prominent sons and daughters even though quite a number have long returned to their ancestors.
The little town of Ikot Ekpene Udo may least have expected an icon moulded through the church domain, but God thought differently. In 2016 another son of Ikot Ekpene Udo stepped on the pinnacle. Rev. Ndueso Archibong Ekwere Ph.D, JP, AIPM emerged as the National CAN Chairman. Today the little town of Ikot Ekpene Udo hosted the state and the cream of Nigeria Society again when another son Pastor Umo Eno emerged as the governor of Akwa Ibom State, an example par excellence of triumph. O Little Town of Ikot Ekpene Udo! How great we see thee lie!!.
What urges me to put pen to paper this time is the death of the first lady, the wife of the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State from this same little town of Ikot Ekpene Udo – Pastor Mrs. Patience Umo Eno. The death of this noble lady has emerged as the major enigma of our time. In part it derives special appeal from the dead lady’s youth and vitality. And in part, it is the deliberate product of widely differing political forces and tendencies – including tendencies of dangerous implication to the Nigerian system. The death of this noble woman has been viewed by so many people as a personal loss and an individual tragedy. But as believers, we trust that the Almighty God is the Author and Finisher of our fate.
Everything has meaning and purpose in the pattern of existence. Only it’s not always possible to understand what that design is. Only God can understand the design because He invented it. It’s like a magic puzzle. We can’t expect to understand everything. Some things are beyond the bounds of human comprehension. But if we trust in God and believe in Him, no harm can come to us. We must have faith in our part of the design, in the part He has given us to play, and if it appears dissatisfying to us, we must always realize that God knows best and that everything is part of a pattern more perfect than anything any mortal can ever visualize.
This time again, the little town of Ikot Ekpene Udo is on the spotlight once more. I wish herewith to extend my words of condolence, consolation and courage to His Excellency Pastor Umo Eno, the children and the entire people of Ikot Ekpene Udo. “No matter what trials come our way, God will see us through each day. If only we put our trust in Him. The light of His love will never dim. Don’t ever think that God has forgotten you. Never ask the Lord for an easy road, but only for strength to carry your load. For through your sorrows, you will find, the Lord is with you always. He is loving and kind. Life can be so awful sometimes. Fate could be cruel. We simply have to be tough to be able to face it at all. Don’t think life has treated you so badly. Look at the other aspect when you have been extraordinarily fortunate. No life is ever lived through a plain of perpetual exaltation. And no matter how long and tedious your mental winter may seem, spring will come again.
Naturally, bereavement brings with it deep sorrow, but it calls for faith. But there is eternal and everlasting reality, in whom we live and move and have our being. Whose being in some sense we share. There is a light beyond our darkness. And a purpose that makes the music of our confusion. May that light which shines beyond our darkness guide the soul of our noble lady to eternal rest in the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ – Amen.
Written by Comrade Imefon Benjamin Ikpe, 08147834519
