Moses Ekpo: The Journey of a Media Icon

By Inemesit Ina

Moses Frank Ekpo can be justifiably described as the consummate journalist. He has seen it all in journalism, climbing the rungs from the bottom to the very top and keeping a keen eye on the profession long after his retirement and subsequent involvement in politics. He has since become a reference point in journalism.

Little wonder Ekpo is widely seen as a media icon.

But he has not always had it smooth. Indeed, his has been a chequered career, replete with joy and sorrow, triumph and setback, freedom and imprisonment and more.

Today, at 83, Ekpo ranks as the oldest journalist in Akwa Ibom.

He joined the noble profession over 60 years ago. In the 1950s, he was already practising in Uyo, now the capital of Akwa Ibom State. This writer got to know that during a dinner at his Abak residence in early 2001. The veteran journalist had invited this writer and his (Ekpo’s) old friend and long-standing photo-journalist, late Godwin George (Nkrumah), to discuss his Senate ambition. In the course of discussion in which his late wife participated, Ekpo revealed that he was an active journalist in Uyo in the 1950s. That was probably about the time journalism practice began in what is now Akwa Ibom State. Perplexed, this writer asked, “Were there newspapers in Uyo then?” Ekpo replied: “Of course, there were.”

At a point, one felt as a fish out of water, listening with awe as the two friends recalled their journalism exploits in Enugu, the Eastern Regional capital, in the 1960s. Amazingly, from their discussion, it emerged that they both had cars then, a rarity for journalists of that era.

Ekpo was there at the beginning of Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960. He actually witnessed the birth of the new nation at Race Course in Lagos.

That became known to the cream of Akwa Ibom society 50 years later when he was invited by the then  Chief of Protocol to the Governor, Aniekpeno Mkpanang, to propose a toast to Nigeria during a Golden Jubilee dinner  at Le Meridien Hotel, Uyo. It was hosted by then Governor Godswill Akpabio to mark 50 years of Nigeria’s independence.

Holding the microphone, the eloquent journalist reminisced: “I remember how the Union Jack was lowered and the new Nigerian flag hoisted. I remember the speech of the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa…,” going further to enumerate other notable features of that independence celebration before concluding: “I remember much more,” to the thunderous applause of the audience including the Governor.

This writer was to further tap from his wealth of knowledge in December, last year. In the course of research for a book project, one had accompanied a friend to visit Ekpo, again at his Abak residence, about six months after he had finished an eight year- tenure as the Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State. The vintage Ekpo did not disappoint. He gave much more than what was wanted, going down memory lane to give vivid accounts of some interesting historical occurrences in the country. One of such occurrences was his detention by the Biafran secessionist regime almost throughout the three-year Nigerian civil war. One of his prison mates was the iconic mathematician and radical politician, late Prof. Chike Obi. “This war will end,” Obi kept saying to other prisoners, perhaps as a morale booster, according to Ekpo.

The war ended in 1970 and the rest is history.

But who exactly is this media icon?

Moses Frank Ekpo was born on December 22, 1941, in Ikot Obiodo village in Abak Local Government Area.  He attended the Government Primary School, Abak, now the Government Technical College, and the Holy Family College, Oku Abak.
 
For his post-secondary education, he attended the London Polytechnic, London; The Institute of Mass Communications, Berlin, Germany; and the University of Wisconsin, United States of America.
 
Ekpo started his working career in the private sector when he joined the Amalgamated Press of Nigeria, publishers of the _Daily Express_ and _Sunday Express_ newspapers.  He worked with the _Daily Times_, _The Morning Post_, The _West African Pilot_ newspapers, the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service and the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service.
 
He later joined the Eastern Nigeria Civil Service and, after the creation of states in Nigeria, he was absorbed into the government of the newly-created South Eastern State, which was later named Cross River State, from where he moved to Akwa Ibom State on creation in 1987.  Earlier in 1982, he had transferred his services from the erstwhile Cross River State to the Federal Civil Service from where he retired in 2000.
 
In the course of his career, Ekpo held several offices and positions: Acting Federal Director of Information; Chairman, World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva; Chief Executive Officer of the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) programme of the Federal Government; Director, Nigerian Copyright Council; Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission; Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission etc.

Ekpo was Director, Nigeria Information Services in Europe at the Nigerian High Commission, London; Director, Nigeria Information Services in the Americas at the Nigerian Embassy, Washington DC.  He served as the Commissioner for Information, Social Development, Youths, Sports and Culture in the former Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. He was a member of the Governing Board of  Akwa Ibom State University.
 
Prior to these, he was Chief Public Relations Officer to the Government of Cross River State; Chief Information Officer, Cross River State; Sole Administrator, Cross River State Newspaper Corporation; Editor, Nigerian Chronicle; Country Correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America; Senior Reporter, Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation; News Editor, Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service; Chief Reporter, _The West African Pilot_; Senior Reporter, _Daily Times_ and Proof Reader/Reporter, _Daily Express_ and _Sunday Express_ newspapers.
 
Ekpo got several national and international awards, including the award of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR), 1994, MAN-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD by the American Biographic Publishing Company and on October 16, 2021, _The Sun_ newspaper Lifetime Achievement Award. 

He is a member of several professional bodies among them: Fellow, Nigerian Guild of Editors; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations; Fellow, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria; Fellow, British Institute of Management; Fellow, World Intellectual Property Institute; Fellow, Institute of Managers and Administrators of Nigeria; Member, Nigeria Union of Journalists; Member, British Institute of Public Relations; Member, British Institute of Journalists and Associate Member, Guild of American Newspaper Editors.