2013 has been a fantastic year for newshunters and media people (especially those in the editorial department) as they have had amazingly big stories. Some of these stories shook the state and shaped the year under consideration. www.connoisseurNG.compresents you the biggest stories of the year. These stories were picked based on how far they travelled, how long it was talked about by people, how long they dominated newspaper headlines and they extent they went viral on social media.
- Prince Akpabio’s night club brawl: This particular
story (Read HERE) travelled very far and was discussed within and outside
Akwa Ibom State. It was discussed in government circles, private talks,
social gatherings, etc for months. Many newspapers and blogs made a meal
out of the very juicy story.
- Assault on Onofiok Luke: The Member
Representing Nsit Ubium State Constituency in the Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly, Hon. Onofiok Luke was allegedly assaulted at Ika during the
burial of the in-law of one of his colleagues. He is said to have been
assaulted by fellow government functionaries in an event which was
attended by Gov. Godswill Akpabio. The media fed fat on this story while
the social media was agog with discussions about it.
- UNIUYO Riot: June 12 is a
historic date in the annals of Nigeria, but this year, it went on to becoming
an unforgettable date in the history of the University of Uyo for a wrong
reason. Students of the varsity protested an increment in transport fares
from the town campus to the permanent site and the peaceful protest went
bloody as men of the Nigeria Police Force in the process of trying to
quell the crisis allegedly ended up killing a student. The school was
closed down indefinitely and it is set to re-open only seven months after
the riot (though compounded by ASUU strike) with students paying heavy
restoration fees. 45 students were arrested, thrown in to prison and
charged to court because of the crisis. 43 have been set free (though the
case is still in court) and two are reportedly still languishing behind
bars several months after. (READ STORY 1, STORY 2, STORY 3, STORY 4)
- 2face Idibia’s wedding to Annie
Macaulay:
Indisputably the marriage of the year. Africa’s music legend, Innocent “2face”
Idibia finally got married to longtime girlfriend, Annie Macaulay. The wedding
was held in Eket in great aplomb and having had a beautiful daughter from
Annie, 2face finally walked the path of honour and “did the needful”. The married
was the biggest but the controversy that followed after the ceremony
however continues to highlight why it was one of the biggest news stories
of the year. Governor Akpabio in his usual benevolent self gave two SUV
Prado jeeps to 2face and wife (though the government later denied that it
was one) and paid flight tickets for 30 family members to travel to Dubai
for the wedding. This sparked a serious controversy and drew hard knocks
on the governor from those who think that the singer is rich enough to buy
as many SUVs as he wants, hence the governor shouldn’t have given him the
car(s) and paid for flight tickets. This dominated newspaper headlines for
many weeks. (READ HERE STORY1, STORY2, STORY3, STORY4, STORY5, STORY6)
- Aloysius Etok vs Gov. Akpabio: A video where Gov.
Akpabio said he cancelled other aspirants’ names out in order to make
Aloysius Etok return to the senate went viral, especially on blogs and
newspaper articles were not left out. After Sen. Etok had debunked claims that
he was not single-handedly returned to the senate by Akpabio, a serious
war broke out between the duo and political loyalists of the governor
worked on a recall of Etok from the Senate. This was battled for many
weeks but it never saw the light of the day. It was the most talked about
political feud in the state in the year under review.
- Ime ‘Bishop’ Umoh’s marriage: Many call him different
names such as Udo Yes, Iyammi, Bishop, Okon Lagos, Cafenol, Iraq etc
because of either his act name or name of movies in stars in. Nsit Ibom
born movie actor, Ime Umoh got married his heartthrob Idara in a very
spectacular fashion in October 2013. The crowd at the traditional marriage
was intimidatingly in the size of spectators in a world cup final match or
a money-sharing political rally. Fans had the opportunity of catching a
live glimpse of their favorite act say ‘I do’ in a wedding event that was
well attended by Nollywood stars. (READ HERE STORY 1, STORY 2, STORY 3, STORY4, STORY5)
- Umana Okon Umana’s ouster from office: The immediate
past Secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government, Obong Umana Okon Umana was
ousted from office in a degrading (some chose to call it commando-style)
fashion. Prior to this ‘unforeseen’ act, he was Akpabio’s right hand man,
the governor’s nose, eyes and ears at Hiltop Mansion. His dismissal was
discussed virtually everywhere across the state and given more than cameo
mentions at the national level.
- Captain Iniobong Ekong vs Ifreke Nseowo:
The
last quarter of this year witnessed the birth of one of the most discussed news items,
the Captain Iniobong Ekong vs Ifreke Nseowo N500m court case. Ifreke
Nseowo, Nigeria’s Youngest Editor (currently the record holder) was
dragged to court by the Personal Assistant to Gov. Akpabio on Security,
Captain Iniobong Ekong (Rtd) for mentioning in the controversial Prince
Akpabio club brawl story that he (Ekong) is said to be the owner of the
club (Play Terrace) where the mess took place. The court sat and the case
was adjourned to early next year. (READ HERE)
- Mbo Crises: Mbo was
constantly in the news for various reasons, ranging from attack by
militants, oil-spillage, death of former chairman, and SURE-P funds. No
local government had more negative stories in the media other than Mbo.
- Miss Akwa Ibom controversy: The Miss Akwa Ibom stool/crown has been in a very deep controversy. The current Miss Akwa Ibom, Andino Attah was crowned on 22nd September, 2012 and few weeks after, there were plans to dethrone her for various reasons. Her official car was later seized from her but recently, she opened up on why she was on the verge of being dethroned and her car seized (read HERE), an allegation the management said are all lies. Though largely unpopular and embattled, you can’t take the fact away from Andino who is a niece of former Gov. Victor Attah that she remains one of the longest serving Miss Akwa Ibom queens. (READ HERE STORY1, STORY2, STORY3, STORY4)
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