Ibeno is located in the south of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state ...

. Ibeno town lies on the eastern side of the

Kwa Ibo River The Kwa Ibo River (also ''Quaibo River'') is a river that rises near Umuahia in Abia State, Nigeria, and flows in a southeastern direction through Akwa Ibom State to the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's ...

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 carryin ...

, and is one of the largest fishing settlements on the Nigerian coast. Ibeno lies in the Mangrove Forest Belt of the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

region of Nigeria, bounded to the west by

Eastern Obolo Eastern Obolo (or Obolo agan̄ Mbum-ura in the native Obolo language) is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in southern Nigeria, with its headquarters at Okoroete. It is a coastal local government area in Akwa Ibom St ...

Local Government Area, to the north by

Onna Onna is a Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Its name comes from an acronym of the names of the four predominant clans in the area: Oniong, Nnung Ndem, Awa Afaha and Asuna Nung Oku. Onna has a population of about 295,000 people ...

Esit Eket Esit Eket is a town and Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, southern Nigeria. The administrative center of Esit Eket Local Government Area is situated in the town of Uquo, which is located within the Akwa Ibom South Senatorial Zone of t ...

and

Eket Eket is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name ''Eket'' or Ekid also refers to the indigenous people of the region who are the Ibibio people of the southern part of Ibibioland and to their dialect which is E ...

, and to the south by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Ibeno Local Government is the host of Exxonmobil Unlimited, now Sepl

Location

Ibeno Local Government Area is located at the south end of Akwa Ibom State, occupying a vast coastal area of over 1,200 km². It is bounded in the south by the

and shares borders with

and

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 called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

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 A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, 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 The Efik are an ethnic group located primarily in southern Nigeria, and western Cameroon. Within Nigeria, the Efik can be found in the present-day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state. The Efik speak the Efik language which is a member of the Be ...

meant that the

Andoni people The Obolo people, also known as the Andoni or Doni, is an Ijoid tribe in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Obolo people are of ijaw ancestry and are primarily found in Rivers and Akwa Ibom State. The Obolo occupy the longest stretch of the ...

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 Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. However, farming and petty trading enjoy appreciative notice. The presence of

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods V ...

activities by oil giant

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

and other service companies influence activities both upstream and downstream.

Tourism

The

Ibeno Beach The Ibeno Beach is one of the beaches on the Atlantic Ocean along the shorelines of Ibeno in Akwa Ibom State. It is the longest sand beach in West Africa Qua Iboe River estuary is the major estuary in Ibeno Beach. Ibeno Beach stretches for about ...

is a major tourism destination in Akwa Ibom State and, an emerging destination in Nigeria.

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 socie ...

. The people have many age-long traditional institutions like

Ekpe Ekpe, also known as Mgbe/Egbo ( Ekoi language: ''leopard''; derived from the Efik term for the same), is a West African secret society in Nigeria and Cameroon flourishing chiefly among the Ejagham. It is also found among a number of other ethni ...

, Obon, Uke, Ekong, Akata, Eka-Ebitu, Umom Isong, Oluo, Ikini and the age-grade system (Nka) which is highly recognized and practiced in Ibeno.

People

Ibeno people are ancestrally related to the

and

Oron people The Oron people (or Örö people) are a multi-ethnic tribal grouping that make up the Akpakip Oro or Oron Nation. The Oron people (Örö) are located primarily in southern Nigeria in the riverine area of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State a ...

in origin. The common

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

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 Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live. Aquatic(s) may also refer to: * Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...

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