Obong Akpan Isemin was elected governor of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria from January 1992 to November 1993 during the

Nigerian Third Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi B ...

. He also held the traditional title of Obong Ikpa Isong Ibibio, one of the traditional titles amongst the Ibibio nation.

Background

Isemin was born about 1939 in Mbioto, Etinan local government area in Akwa Ibom state, of

Ibibio Ibibio may refer to: *Ibibio language *Ibibio people *Ibibio Sound Machine, an English electronic afro-funk band who sing in Ibibio See also * Ibiblio ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections", a ...

background. He attended the Etinan Institute for his secondary education, then the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he earned a B.Sc. degree in Economics. He first worked with Agip and Esso Standard in the oil industry. In 1969, he joined Avery Limited as Sales Executive, holding this position for 13 years and rising to become an executive director before retiring. He also wrote a column in Business Times.

Political career and death

Running on the

National Republican Convention The National Republican Convention was a Nigerian political party established by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida and ultimately disbanded by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1993. Alignment The party was organized to cat ...

(NRC) platform, Isemin was elected Governor of Akwa Ibom state on 14 December 1991, serving from 2 January 1992 to 18 November 1993, and losing office after the military coup that brought General Sani Abacha to power. He was known for his "Ubom Noah" (Noah's Ark) philosophy, within which all people should be given opportunity regardless of ethnic origin, and demonstrated this through his appointments of people with diverse origins. He managed to persuade the Federal government to increase the oil revenue allocation from N350,000 per month to N11.2 million. At the start of the

Nigerian Fourth Republic The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and ...

in 1999, Isemin again sought election as Akwa Ibom governor running on the All People's Party (APP) platform, but lost to Obong

Victor Attah Obong Victor Bassey Attah (born 20 November 1938) was Governor of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), but has since joined the All Progress ...

. In 2003, he unsuccessfully sought election as a senator on the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) platform. Later he joined the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP).

Death

Isemin died on 23 June 2009. There was some controversy over his death, with his widow blaming it on poor facilities at the

University of Uyo Teaching Hospital 'The University of Uyo Teaching Hospital'' (UUTH) is a tertiary hospital in Abak road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, an administrative division of Nigeria. The hospital started as the Akwa Ibom State Specialist Hospital, formed by the Akwa Ibom State Gov ...

, where lack of electricity prevented him receiving dialysis, and the hospital claiming that he had refused to accept the recommended treatment.

References

1939 births 2009 deaths National Republican Convention politicians All People's Party (Nigeria) politicians All Nigeria Peoples Party politicians Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) Governors of Akwa Ibom State University of Nigeria alumni Ibibio people {{nigeria-politician-stub