Literature

Akpabio dared where others dreaded ? Offonmbuk Akpabio

Offonmbuk Akpabio, a lawyer and writer based in Abuja, has just published a biographical work titled He Dared: The Story of Okuku Udo Akpabio, The Great Colonial African Ruler. The book is on the life and times of her grand-father-in-law, Okuku Udo Akpabio, who lived in the colonial era as a famous leader and a source of inspiration to his people.In the book, she chronicled how this great man, who is the father of the former Premier of defunct Eastern Region, Ibanga Akpabio, and grand-father of the current governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, ruled as a Warrant Chief for the colonialists and leader of his people in Ukana clan. In this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, she speaks about the book, which will be launched on December 20, 2012 in Uyo.

What inspired you into writing this book on the legendary Okuku Udo Akpabio?

It is a product of curiosity; it is something that came about as a result of curiosity. There is so much about Okuku Udo Akpabio I wanted to know because his is a legend in this part of the world. To satisfy my curiosity I decided to find out more about him beyond the stories that were being told.

You could have written on else since we have many legends in Africa; why did you choose this particular personality?

I chose him because he was a unique man among all the men who lived in the late 19th century and early 20th century. This was a man that dared where others dreaded. He was a man with an intriguing insight; he was someone who was filled with wisdom and was able to steer the affairs of his people very well. He also acted as a bridge between the indigenous people, that is, the Anang people and the colonialists.

Before he became a Warrant Chief, a chief by government Warrant, he was already a Paramount Head or clan head in Ukana. The colonial masters found him very remarkable and useful in terms of maintaining the peace. The colonialists wanted someone who had a structure already on the ground, who could influence people and they made him the President of the Native Court. He was the first Paramount Ruler of Ikot Ekpene area. And he really proved the British right as he was able to steer the affairs of his people remarkably well.

Specifically, what are the attributes that made him an outstanding leader?

What was remarkable about this man was that he had this leadership quality right from his youth. He was not supposed to be the clan head by lineage, but he rose to the position because of his wisdom and interaction with many groups in the course of his business interests and transactions. He also travelled widely. So when it came to choosing a leader, the people felt that this man that had traveled widely and gained a lot of experience in dealing with people should be their leader. So, they made him a clan head and he was able to manage things very well.

At that time the most flourishing business was slave trade. When the British and Americans abolished slave trade, it became a hot commodity. But he refused to be sucked into the greed of the slave traders despite the fact that he wielded so much power and influence.

Slave traders were coming from the Oyo axis and the hinterland to get more slaves to sell to the unscrupulous white men and local collaborators still engaged in the illicit trade.,In fact, one or two of the traders approached him, urging him to use his great influence to do the business; but Udo Akpabio told them he would never lay his hands on another fellow human being and sell him for money. He did not only refuse to participate, he made sure that nobody did that around his enclave. He completely frowned against it. He even preached against it. Yet, he was neither a Christian nor moved by Christian beliefs. He was moved by the traditional beliefs that one must be the others? keeper.

Another unique attribute of the great man was that even though he was not educated, he encouraged his sons to gain Western education. He was intrigued by the white man and felt that if the white man could know so much, there was sense in his sons learning the ways of the white man.

The book is titled He Dared; can you expatiate on that?

He dared because he did things that were not common, not usual at the time. He wasn?t hindered by boundaries. He wanted people to move beyond the frontiers and embrace Christianity; his children went to Methodist School; he dared because he rose beyond the traditional norms. He strengthened these institutions for his own use. The book also talks about the traditional institutions at that time. How did they work? How was the culture of the people shaped? It?s a book that talks about the advent of the British and how the people managed the advent of the British.

It seems the Akpabio family has been favoured by history and the descendants are reaping from the historical fame; the present governor of Akwa-Ibom state is his descendant. Would you say it is this education of his children that resulted in this?

Yes. And the governor is not the first prominent Akpabio we are having; he is building on history. For instance, Ibanga, the man?s direct son, was minister and Premier in the former Eastern Region. He was the one who passed the motion for the setting up of University of Nigeria, Nnsuka, when he was the minister for Education. Akpabio Hall is named after him in that university.

In fact, there are several Akpabios, great professionals. In my opinion, the Akpabios are the largest stock of one single entity with great professionals, with leadership qualities and attributes in everything that they do.

It is a story from a remote past; how were you able to reconstruct it, where there available works on him from which you researched?

One sad thing was that there was no available book on him. I couldn?t find a book that chronicled his life and times unlike in the West, where you find so many things about great men, so many articles and books. Here I couldn?t find much. All I could lay my hands on were just a few materials in the Calabar Museum. There I found an excerpt from a book written by one Margery Perham, a British writer, who lived in Nigeria in the early 1920s. In her bid to chronicle the most remarkable Africans who had done so much for their people and for the British, she researched and wrote a book on ten Africans. And out of these ten great Africans was Okuku Udo Akpabio. It is from the excerpt of the book at the Calabar Museum and a photograph of Okuku Udo Akpabio, that I got a lead to the subject-matter.

Fortunately, the Aro people have more books written about them. So, what I had from them and from Rev. Grooves, a white missionary of the Methodist extraction, who came during the time of Okuku Udo Akpabio, I started poring through. I also pore through every available article, book and journal of the colonial administrators so as to find who knew him at the time he lived. That is how the book came about.

Since your husband is from the Akpabio family there is the tendency that you could be judgmental, unduly praising your subject. What do you say to this?

A biography talks about a person; this is my own perception of the man from the materials I have gathered. I just told the story as I know it. The book is not all about his greatness; it?s also about his weakness as a normal human being. He had challenges and many ups and downs. The larger picture is that this was a man that left an enduring legacy, which you can see today in his offspring. I didn?t make any judgment about what happened. I just wrote the account about what happened. I just want people to look at this book and make their own judgment about it.

But more importantly, I just love Okuku Udo Akpabio because at that early time, he saw the need for education and he encouraged his people to go to school. Even one of his daughters at that time went to school in spite of the ridicule. He had the insight to do what was right.

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