In the Beginning, Part 2: The Ugep Struggle for Identity

By Okoi Obono-Obla 

In the Beginning, Part 2: The Ugep Struggle for Identity

I finished my NYSC in September 1991 and returned home to my community, Ugep, then the headquarters of the defunct Ugep Local Government Area. Ugep Local Government Area had been carved out of the old Obubra division of Cross River State in 1988. At the time, it was an emerging sleepy urban town with traces of ancient traditional African settlement.

My father, a Second World War veteran who had a distinguished career as an engineer in the defunct Post and Telecommunications Department of the Federal Ministry of Communication from 1948 to 1987, had died in March 1991. I lost a father whose mentoring would have been vital as I transitioned from teenager to young adult. The responsibility now fell on my mother to guide a young man fresh from university, law school, and national service—one deeply influenced by the major social and political events shaping both the world and Nigeria.

Globally, this was the period when the Cold War and ideological division between the United States and the Soviet bloc, which had shaped the world since 1945, was drawing to a close. In Nigeria, fervent agitation was building against military dictatorship, which had ruled since 1983. Universities became breeding grounds for these movements. The military regime, wary of dissent, introduced a political transition program in 1988. As part of this program, more states and local government areas were created in September 1991.

One day in September 1991, while playing scrabble in Ugep with a group of young people including the late Neil Offem, we discussed the national speculation about new states and local government areas. We concluded that Ugep ought to be a Local Government Area. We further resolved that if the military government failed to create it, we would lead public demonstrations to draw attention. It was a dangerous course, given the military’s notorious intolerance of agitation and dissent.

The very next day, the military announced the creation of new local government areas. In Cross River State, Ugep South and Ugep North Local Government Areas were created, with headquarters in Idomi and Ugep respectively. We erupted with joy during our scrabble gathering. Yet, I sensed something was wrong. It seemed odd that Ugep South Local Government Area, comprising communities such as Itigidi, Ediba, Mkpani, and Ekori—nearly all of present-day Abi Local Government Area—would have its headquarters in Idomi, less than a 20-minute drive from Ugep. It simply didn’t add up.

My fears were confirmed the next day when the military governor of Cross River State, Colonel Ernest Kizito Attah, reversed the creation of Ugep South and Ugep North, replacing them with Abi and Yakurr Local Government Areas respectively. This reversal angered us, and we resolved to demonstrate. Brimming with youthful idealism and revolutionary rhetoric acquired as a student activist at the University of Jos, I mobilized young people to march around Ugep. The police quickly interrupted, breaking the march with brutal force.

I was beaten, arrested, and detained at the divisional police headquarters in Ugep. But the youth mobilized in large numbers, besieging the station and demanding my release. The Obol Lopon of Ugep, the late Obol Ubi Ujong Inah—a shrewd, urbane, and wise traditional ruler—intervened decisively, negotiating my release to prevent a violent showdown. This instantly made me a local hero and youth leader, courted by the political elite. The next day, people from all strata of the community marched again, blocking the strategic Ikom-Ugep-Calabar federal highway to demand the creation of Ugep Municipal Local Government Area. We did not succeed.

My youthful “aluta” and revolutionary fervor soon found expression in law practice, where I have since focused on human rights, corruption, and political disputes. Have I been beaten or detained since then? Stay tuned for more episodes.

Author’s Note (Written 19 November 2017)
I originally wrote this article on 19 November 2017 as part of my memoir, which I intend to publish soon. However, due to attempts by some revisionists to distort and muddle the historical facts concerning the creation of the present Abi and Yakurr Local Government Areas in 1991, I had to revisit my archives and pull it out for publication. This is to set the record straight and preserve the truth of those events.