SLC-S25/W3 | Community World Tour: Landscapes & Sacred Sites

_{Eyo Ibibio}

Talking about legends, Eyo Ibibio, as he was called, played a significant role in the state's creation. I was marveled the first time I saw the monument as a kid but I never knew what that was and the history it had.

I took a tour of the circus to take a wonderful picture of the monuments and the environment there. It has an eco-friendly environment which I enjoyed touring around. Let's move ahead as I tell you more about this monument and its importance to the community.

Narrative & Cultural Meaning

_{Ibom plaza circus}

This monument is the most outstanding, at the heart of Ibom Plaza. This circus plays a very significant role in the existence of this monument. Ibom Plaza, which was known as the Piccadilly Circus in the early 1930s, was a central hub that connected other villages and roads together.

In this modern day, it is now a tourist center that connects different local government areas together. It is a very important circus in the state that everyone knows. Not leading you to sightseeing but to show its role in this monument.

The Figure in this monument shows a man with a cloth around his waist, holding a traditional wooden horn, which was mostly used by the Ibibio for cultural events. Likened to town criers who use their metal gongs to make announcements to the villagers.

The man Eyo in the monument was the voice of the Ibibio people, whose wooden horn represents the voice and the location where it is sited, the Ibibio Plaza, which denotes the connection of many villages, shows that he speaks for the whole state. That's why he is also called Uyoh Ibibio which is translated to The voice of the Ibibio.

He wasn't a warrior, he had no swords or guns, he wasn't a king he had no crown. He had a voice that he gave to his people, he was the whisperer of wisdom for his people, due to his good works the people answered his calls whenever he made the call, he is the voice of the people, he is the voice of Akwa Ibomites

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STORY OF EYO IBIBIO

The heart of the city, Uyo, which is beautified by a modern circus with great history, holds a static monument of a man with a huge wooden horn pressed in his lips. He blows the sound to summon all the villagers, women, and passes down information to them since it wasn't the digital age.

Effiong Okon Eyo, who was born in 1918, is from Ibesikpo Asutan, a local government in the now-called Akwa Ibom state. He is an advocate for peace, and he played a very significant role in the state's creation. He was a one-time deputy House of Assembly member who, with other colleagues, brought about the creation of Cross River State, Ogoja, and one other state. This shows the level he was in the country.

Moving over to 1970, he started to propose a new state from Cross River, for which he wrote a pamphlet about the creation of a new state. This movement was finally granted, you could see how a person United people with different but similar languages, Ibibio, Annang, and Oron to form a single state. He brought about all these voices as one.

I heard about a book he wrote about the killings that happened; he was accused of killing his fellow politicians, and he wrote a book on "who killed who", stating everyone involved in the case. All he did was for the people, he wanted to see a united state with peace, and he decided to speak out for the people to have justice and freedom from other majority regions.

His voice, proposal and hardwork has made us who we are today, a people United, filled with knowledge and love now holding one of the best states in the country, the cleanest state in the country and one of the best place to relax, the state is fast developing and it will meet a good standard soon.

_{Side view of the monument}

He also made a move to sponsor the indigenous people to study for the benefit of the state. These people he sponsored have helped the state in one way or another. He saw what the future had and he took the opportunity to make it happen. He played a very significant role in the state, and you can now see why his monument is placed in the heart of the city.

Many people mistook this monument to represent a local Town crier whose work was just to deliver information to the people. It has a great meaning beyond that. The wooden horn shows that he is the voice of the people. Why is the circus or the ibom plaza important? And why was his sculpture placed there?.

The circus serves as a center which links to all other tribes and regions in the state, during the colonial era, the ibom plaza was known as the Piccadilly circus which people from other regions in the state came for cultural or business purposes, so it was an inter-regional point where the people from the whole state meet. Now the monument placed here shows that he spoke for all the people in the state, he was the voice of the people.

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_{A selfie from me}

"Where different races are found, the voice speaks through the horn, calling us to remember who we are as one, we were born for greatness and we will show the world how bright we shine"

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I would love to invite my friends to share their personal view and experience of the ibom plaza @samuelbrilliant, @us-andrew and @precious9.

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A sketch of the monument, my username, and the current date are boldly written.

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[//]:# (!steematlas 5.03465555 lat 7.9281232 long Ibom plaza, Uyo d3scr)

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Map	Link
Steematlas link	[//]:# (!steematlas 5.03465555 lat 7.9281232 long Ibom plaza, Uyo d3scr)
Google map link	https://maps.app.goo.gl/AThtZikL7mgar7Ge7