Ibeno is located in the south south of
Nigeria and is a
Local Government Area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
of
Akwa Ibom State.
Ibeno town lies on the eastern side of the
Kwa Ibo River about from the
river mouth
A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as another river, a lake/reservoir, a bay/gulf, a sea, or an ocean. At the river mouth, sediments are often deposited due to the slowing of the current reducing the carrying ...
, and is one of the largest fishing settlements on the Nigerian coast. Ibeno lies in the
Mangrove Forest Belt of the
Niger Delta region of Nigeria, bounded to the west by
Eastern Obolo Local Government Area, to the north by
Onna,
Esit Eket and
Eket, and to the south by the
Atlantic Ocean.
Location
Ibeno Local Government Area is located at the south end of Akwa Ibom State, occupying a vast coastal area of over 1,200 km
2. . It is bounded in the south by the
Atlantic Ocean and shares borders with
Eket,
Esit Eket,
Onna and
Eastern Obolo local government areas...
History
Ibeno Local Government Area was created out of the defunct Uquo-Ibeno Local Government Area on December 4, 1996, by the
Federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
instrument.
Before the creation of Uquo-Ibeno Local Government Area, the people of Ibeno were in Eket Local Government Area – Ibeno Edoh, Uquo Ibeno respectively. Ibeno Local Government Area has thus graduated from being part of Eket Local Government area to part of Ibeno-Edor with headquarters at Inua-Eyet Ikot Ibeno (now defunct) to being part of Uquo Ibeno with headquarters at Uquo (now headquarters of Esit Eket Local Government Area) to a distinct and separate local government area, Ibeno Local Government Area with headquarters at Upenekang. It is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State.
Geography
Ibeno occupies the largest Atlantic
coastline, more than 129 km, in Akwa Ibom State.
Located in the
mangrove swamp forest, the area has rain throughout the year with the peak between May and September. The climatic condition in Ibeno is favorable all year round for fishing and farming.
Ibeno Beach, the longest in West Africa, is a popular tourist attraction.
Language
The people speak Ibeno dialect of the Efik–Ibibio-Andoni language. The need to establish trade links with the
Efik people meant that the
Andoni people that settled in present-day Ibeno had to coin the language to suit. The people of Ibeno are of
Oron
Oron may refer to:
"Light" or someone that is "being able" or "capable" of doing anything posible or impossible.
*Oron people a multi ethnic group of people living In the lower Cross River basin.
*Oron Nation, one of the major states in the old Ca ...
–Efik extraction.
Commerce
The prime occupation of the people is
fishing. However, farming and petty trading enjoy appreciative notice. The presence of
oil exploration activities by oil giant
Exxon Mobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
and other service companies influence activities both upstream and downstream.
Culture
Ibeno people are rich in
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
. The people have many age-long traditional institutions like
Ekpe, Obon, Uke, Ekong, Akata, Eka-Ebitu, Ubom Isong, Oluo, Ikini and the age-grade system (Nka) which is highly recognized and practised in Ibeno.
People
Ibeno people are ancestrally related to the
Andoni people and
Oron people in origin. The common
dialect of Ibeno people is the
Ibeno language, prominently spoken by Ibeno and
Eastern Obolo people in Akwa Ibom State. The people also enjoy an active
aquatic life.
Population
References
*http://www.helloakwaibom.com/ibeno-lga/ Hello Akwa-Ibom
{{LGAs and communities of Akwa Ibom State
Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State
Towns in Akwa Ibom State
Populated coastal places in Nigeria
Fishing communities in Nigeria