Bassey Ekpo Bassey II (born November 1949) is a Nigerian journalist and politician

Early career

Bassey was born in November 1949, son of Etubom Dr EE Bassey a medical doctor and grandson of King James Ekpo Bassey of Cobham Town. He had his early education in Calabar, Onitsha and Lagos. In 1974 he graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka with a degree in journalism. . He followed a journalism career which saw him working in several parts of the country for organizations like the Nigerian Chronicle, The Punch, Newbreed magazine and The Call. Bassey was also for a time vice-president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, and National Publicity director in the now defunct Nigerian Peoples Party. A socialist, in February 1989 he was head of the Directorate for Literacy and at about the same period he moved from crypto-politics to actual participation when he contested and won the elections for chairmanship of calabar Municipal council. . In 1991 he was a gubernatorial aspirant in

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

, running on the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

platform. he was also National vice chairman(south south) for the Alliance for Democracy. He was also a kingmaker in the Efik Kingdom, and on 31 August 1991 he crowned Edidem Nta Elijah Henshaw VI as the Obong of Calabar in controversial circumstances. In 2004, while chairman of Chairman of Cobham Town Combined Council in Cross River State, Bassey called for the federal government to respect the decision by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

that the

Bakassi Peninsula Bakassi is a peninsula on the Gulf of Guinea. It lies between the Cross River (Nigeria), Cross River estuary, near the city of Calabar and the Rio del Ray estuary on the east. It is governed by Cameroon, following the transfer of sovereignty f ...

should be ceded to the

Republic of Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

. In response, the Cross River House of Assembly resolved to withdraw his certificate of recognition as a chief which they had no authority to do.

Allegation

As chairman of the Etubom Traditional Rulers Council, in February 2004 Bassey announced the dethronement of Nta Elijah Henshaw on the grounds that Henshaw had failed to observe traditions and had failed to preserve peace. Henshaw refused to accept the decision, and cast doubts on Bassey's credibility on the basis that he represented a community in

Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, 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. The state takes its name from the Qua Ib ...

state whose ruling house no longer existed. According to traditional rules, although an Obong may be deposed, a new Obong may not be crowned until the previous Obong has died. In April 2008 Bassey accused police of trying to assassinate him. In August 2008 Bassey's home in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and c ...

was stormed by gunmen, and he narrowly escaped death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassey, Bassey Ekpo Living people 1949 births