Ofonime Ukpanah: The shy A’Ibom girl who became heroine while fighting to save her family from a brutal dictator

Ofonime Ukpanah

By Nse Peter

10:45PM. March 12, 2014. The happy life of Ofonime Ukpanah and her family was suddenly turned into grief when armed men suspected to be agents of government shot and brutally murdered her father, Albert Ukpanah in their family house in Abak, Abak local government area, Akwa Ibom State.

Late Ukpanah, an engineer and a respectable chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, was from Ukanafun local government area. He was one of the strongest voices then against Godswill Akpabio’s senate ambition, claiming it was the turn of ‘Abak Five’ where he hailed from to produce a senator.

The then governor, Akpabio wickedly compounded the family’s grief by accusing Odudu Ukpanah, the only son of late Ukpanah, of killing the father, contrary to a police report which said the murder was ‘politically motivated’. Akpabio ordered that Mr. Odudu be arrested and detained for several months without trial.

Akpabio was a brutal dictator feared by many.

Notwithstanding his vice-like grip on Akwa Ibom State, the incarceration of Odudu who just came back from the United Kingdom where he had gone to study for his Msc. in Oil and Gas Management boomeranged against the administration; besides heightening suspicion that Akpabio masterminded the assassination of Ukpanah, it emboldened Ofonime, her eldest sister, Uduak and other family members to move against the dictator.

Soon the family was able to get the support of a young human rights activist, Inibehe Effiong and other sympathisers who took to the Internet to embark on what has been described as the most successful advocacy campaign in the history of Akwa Ibom State. They also went into the streets of Uyo with placards, calling for the release of Odudu Ukpanah.  Alas, Odudu was release from prison custody through a court order.

The #FreeOduduUkpanah campaign demystified Akpabio and has continued to serve as a rallying point against the former governor. “Thanks you DSS for saving our lives. If you had done your job better my dad Albert Ukpanah would still be alive today. Godswill Akpabio is a terrorist,” Uduak Ukpanah commented on a report that security agents discovered arms in Akwa Ibom Government House.

Ukpanah’s family through the social media has added their powerful voice to other advocacy campaigns within and outside Nigeria such as #‎FreeSimonAtebaNow - a journalist who was held captive in Cameroon on suspicion that he was working for Boko Haram.

Ofonime Ukpanah’s birthday is September 9. This time last year, her mood was aptly captured in her Facebook post: “First birthday without dad. Love you Mr. Man wherever you are.”

This year, thousands of people around the world, especially in her home state of Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, are lighting up candles, clinging glasses, sending her flowers and putting up lovely poems to celebrate this beautiful young woman who bravery stood up against tyranny in order to save her family.

Ofonime’s eldest sister, Uduak, said to her “I am really excited celebrating you today because looking back at how celebration eluded us last year because of all the tribulations we faced, I know we have every cause to be grateful.”

Cross Ukpong, like several other young people in Nigeria, took to Facebook to wish Ms Ukpanah happy birthday. But he did more than just sending a birthday wish. He took her down memory lane to her days in the University of Calabar, Cross River State, where she had studied Physics.

“I can remember my first year as a fresher in the University of Calabar. Yes, I still remember it vividly. We lived two streets apart. You didn’t know me, but I knew you. You were very famous in school, and I was curious. Back then, all I ever wanted was to be just like you, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t...Lol,” Mr. Ukpong wrote.

“Last year, the long walk to freedom and justice brought us together, and I finally understood why you were famous in school. You were born to dine with kings and queens, and you're miles ahead of your generation. The ‪#‎releaseoduduukpanah campaign bonded us, and we've become family.

“Your life, with all your family experienced in the hands of a treacherous governor, has molded you for the greater good. Your life has been exactly what it needed to be. Don't think you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the current moment. And every moment of your life, including this one right now, is a fresh start. You have everything you need to get yourself to a better place.”
One Promise Nakanda, also writing on Facebook, said of Ofonime, “A gallant fighter she is, with a heart of gold.”

Mr. Ofinime Honesty said he has learned a lot from what Ofonime Ukpanah went through. “When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high. Yes, this has shown me that determination can weaken dictatorship,” he said.

Several of Ofonime’s close friends interviewed by Think Akwa Ibom! said she used to be apolitical and shy of publicity until the day her father was murdered in cold blood. Perhaps, Akpabio wouldn’t have disrupted the joy in the Ukpanah family, if he knew that adversity would bring out the courage in Ofonime and her siblings. Perhaps, Ofonime would have fixed her body, mind and soul permanently on beauty makeovers, music and entertainment, instead of being a torn in the flesh of bad leaders and evil men.

Well, it’s already too late to try to stop Ofonime ‘Pushie’ Ukpanah. Like Inibehe Effiong put it, she is “courageous and among the brightest light of her generation”.