HISTORY of EKET NATION
Common surnames include Odungide, Akanimo, Assam, Inwang, Essiet, Udoito, Edoho, Edohoeket, Etukudo, Ukpong, Abia, Ekpo, Ikott, Abasekong, Asamudo, Nyoho, Ekong, Ekanim, Udofa, Edem, Inyang, Itauma, Udosen, Usoro, Etti, Etteh (actually meaning father), Udofia, Ukoetuk, Uku, Abia and Nsien. Just like the remainder of West Africa, the family name normally is an indicator of which specific region one is from.
Education:
Due to the advent of Christianity in Eket towards the end of the 19th century and the activities of European traders, Western education came to Eket early. However, the first Primary School was the Government Primary School, Hospital Road, Eket which was established in 1905. According to Chief J.B. Adiakpan, the Grace Bill Institute, Afaha Eket was set up in 1916 by Miss Ema Bill daughter of the Rev. Samuel Bill as a Home for the training of girls. It became Grace Bill Memorial Institute after the death of Mrs Grace Bill and finally Grace Bill Institute. It was approved by the government in 1931. The institute later became the Qua Iboe Church Teacher Training College, Afaha Eket before the civil war. However, although Qua Iboe Church set up several primary schools in the area for the training of teachers and clerks, secondary schools were not established in Eket until the 1960s. Eket people had to send their children to secondary schools outside Eket, e.g. Etinan Institute, Etinan, Methodist Boys’ High School, Oron, Hope Wadell Training Institution, Calabar and St Patrick’s College, Calabar or to schools outside Calabar Province. The first secondary schools to be established in Eket were St Francis Secondary School, Ikot Ataku/Ikot Akpandem established by the Catholic Church in 1962 and Edoho Memorial Grammar School, Ikot Usoekong founded in 1962 by the late Chief D.J. Edoho, commissioner for Uyo Province. After the liberation of Eket by the Nigerian Federal Forces in 1968 the QIC TTC, Afaha Eket was moved to QIC TTC, Ndon Eyo so that its premises could become the premises of Edoho Memorial Grammar School whose name was now changed to Government Secondary School, Afaha Eket while the former premises of Edoho Memorial Grammar School, Ikot Usoekong was taken over by the Nigerian Army.
In the 1970s and 1980s several communities, individuals and organizations established secondary schools in Eket to provide education for the increased population of the town. Such schools include Community Secondary Commercial School, Ikot Usoekong (1977), Girls High School, Ikot Ibiok (established in 1983 by the Eket Women Development Association), Nduo Eduo High School, Nduo Eduo, Community Secondary School, Idong Iniang (1982), CDA Secondary School, Iko Eket, Community Secondary School, Odio and Apostolic Church Secondary School, Esit Urua.
The town has a number of private secondary schools and about 90 Private Nursery/Primary Schools. A few of such schools are: Excellent Comprehensive Secondary School, Dayspring School, Hope Power International School, Ideal Preparatory School, Wills’ Secondary Commercial School, Alex Secondary Commercial School, Bilson Secondary Commercial School, Pegasus Schools owned by Mobil Producing Nigeria, All-Weather International Nursery/Primary School, New Era International School, Aunty Chinny’s International School, Divine Seeds Schools, Adiaha Obong Nursery/Primary School, Nobel’s Nursery/Primary School, Ideal Nursery/Primary School, Abraham Memorial Nursery/Primary School, Apostolic Church Nursery/Primary School, Qua Iboe Church Nursery School, etc.
The only post-secondary educational institution in the Local Government Area is the privately owned Heritage Polytechnic owned by Dr Emmanuel Ekot, a Chemical Engineer. The school started in 2000 as Heritage College but in 2010 it was licensed by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to operate as a Polytechnic. It is located at Ikot Udota, off Eket-Oron Road. The Mass Communication Department of the Polytechnic operates the Heritage Radio, Eket. There is also the School of Nursing attached to Immanuel Hospital, Eket, run by the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health for the training of Nurses. Mobil Producing Nigeria also runs a Technical Training Centre (TTC) for the training of technicians for the oil and gas industry.
Health care:
The iconic Immanuel General Hospital is the main public hospital in Eket. It was established by the Lutheran Mission in 1953 and the Rev. Dr. Karl Kurth, the executive secretary of the Syndical Conference Missionary Board of North America officially opened the hospital and dedicated it to the glory of God in a special service on May 2, 1953, although the corner-stone laying ceremony was performed on 20 June 1951 with the participation of Sir John Stuart Macpherson, K.C.M.G., Governor-General of Nigeria. The 218-bed hospital is now owned and run by the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health which in 2020 commissioned the re-modeled and re-equipped Immanuel General Hospital. There is also a Psychiatric Hospital and a School of Nursing run by the State Ministry of Health.
There is a Government owned Polyclinic on Hospital Road and Health Centres at Idong Iniang, Okon, Efoi, Nduo Eduo, Idua, Ikot Ebok, Afaha Atai, Ebana, Esit Urua, Iko Eket, Ikot Usoekong, Odio, Ikot Ukpong, Ikot Abasi (Okon), Ikot Abia, Ikot Okudomo. The former Minister of Health, Senator Helen Esuene, facilitated the establishment of a Health Centre at Mkpok. Eket is blessed with a good number of private clinics which provide high quality medical services to the people. The first of such clinics was Riviera Klinic which was established by the late Dr. U.E. Umoekuk in the 1970s.
The hospital has since ceased to exist. Others are Samaritan Hospital, Afaha Uqua owned by Dr Nnah Etukudo, Redemption Clinic, Marina Road, Carmella Hospital, Afia Nsit, Holifield Hospital, RCC Road, Nduye Medical Services, Ekpene Ukpa Street, Assurance Medical Centre, Abasiekeme Specialist Clinic and Maternity, Good Sheperd Hospital, Eket-Oron Road, Iha Foundation Medical Centre, Ikot Ebok, Goodcare Medial Centre, Utibe Abasi Clinic, Trinity Clinic, Bethany Medical Centre, Solution Clinic & Maternity, Caleb Medical Centre, Cozar Specialist Hospital, Afia Nsit, Victory Medical Centre, Ikot Usoekong, Romivic Specialist Hospital, St. Polycarp Medical Clinic, Wills Memorial Medical Centre, Amado Medical Centre and many others. There are also dentists, opticians and optometrists practising in Eket.
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