N. T. A Efo
Veteran journalist, public affairs expert, diplomat, administrator, policy adviser and politician, Mr. Moses Frank Ekpo, MFR, has distinguished himself through more than six decades of professional and public service.
His remarkable journey from the newsroom to the highest levels of national administration and, ultimately, the office of Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State makes his story one of resilience, versatility, service and uncommon professional accomplishment.
Born on December 22, 1941, in present day Abak Local Government Area, Ekpo received his early education at Government School, Abak, before proceeding to Holy Family College, Oku Abak.
He studied at the London Polytechnic in the United Kingdom and the Institute for Mass Communications in Berlin, Germany, and was also educated at the University of Wisconsin in the United States. His professional education was further strengthened by studies in intellectual property, including at the World Intellectual Property Academy in Geneva and the United States Patent Academy in Virginia.
But journalism was where the young Ekpo first found his professional voice.
He began his working life in the newspaper industry, serving as a proof reader and reporter with the Daily Express and Sunday Express. He subsequently worked with the Daily Times, Morning Post and West African Pilot, while also gaining broadcasting experience with the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service and Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service.
His journalism career soon expanded beyond reporting. He became News Editor of the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service and later served as Editor of the Nigerian Chronicle, the newspaper established by the then Cross River State Government. His stewardship of the Chronicle became particularly significant because he helped nurture a generation of journalists who would later become prominent figures in Nigerian journalism.
Among those who benefited from his mentorship was Ray Ekpu, the celebrated journalist and co-founder of Newswatch magazine. Ekpu has publicly acknowledged that he cut his journalism teeth under Ekpo’s tutelage at the Nigerian Chronicle in Calabar, a testimony to the veteran journalist’s influence on succeeding generations of journalists in Nigeria.
Ekpo’s career was never confined to the newsroom.
Following the creation of states, he became part of the public service structure of the newly created South Eastern State, which later became Cross River State. He subsequently rose through the information and administrative hierarchy, serving as Chief Information Officer and later Chief Public Relations Officer of the Cross River State Government. He also served as Sole Administrator and General Manager of the Cross River State Newspaper Corporation.
In 1982, he transferred to the Federal Civil Service, where his career assumed a distinctly national and international character. He served as Acting Federal Director of Information and subsequently as Director of the Nigerian Information Service Centre in Washington, D.C., and later in London. In these roles, he represented Nigeria’s information interests abroad and gained extensive experience in international communication and diplomacy.
He also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Government’s War Against Indiscipline, WAI, programme during the 1980s, an assignment that placed him at the centre of one of the most prominent national mobilisation programmes of that period.
With the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987, Ekpo returned to serve the new state. He became the pioneer Commissioner for Information, Social Development, Youths, Sports and Culture, a position that placed him among the early architects of the state’s public information and communication structure.
His contribution to the state’s information architecture was particularly notable. He was instrumental to the establishment and development of the Pioneer newspaper, which became one of the institutional channels through which the young state communicated its programmes, aspirations and emerging identity.
From state administration, Ekpo moved into the increasingly important field of intellectual property and copyright administration.
He served as Director of the Nigerian Copyright Council and subsequently became the first Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission. In that capacity, he played a pioneering role in the development of Nigeria’s copyright administration and the country’s engagement with international intellectual property institutions, and was Nigerian representative in intellectual copyright proceedings at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
His international reputation in the field was further demonstrated by his election as President of the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, a significant distinction that reflected Nigeria’s confidence in his diplomatic and professional competence. He was the first black person to occupy that position.
He later served as a Federal Commissioner of the National Population Commission and on the Governing Council of Akwa Ibom State University. Over the years, his assignments brought him into contact with some of the most important questions of public administration, communication, national development, population management and intellectual property.
For his distinguished professional and national service, he was honoured by the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR). He has also received numerous professional recognitions and fellowships, including recognition from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, the British Institute of Management, the World Intellectual Property Academy and other professional bodies.
His achievements in journalism have equally remained a defining part of his identity. Even after rising to the highest levels of public administration and political office, Ekpo has continued to identify strongly with journalism and the values of professional communication.
That commitment was recognised when the Nigerian Guild of Editors admitted him as a Fellow. He also received The Sun newspaper’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, among other honours.
In 2015, after decades of service across journalism, diplomacy, administration and national public service, Ekpo entered a new chapter of his career when he was elected Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State on the ticket of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The choice of Ekpo brought into the state’s executive leadership a wealth of experience accumulated across several decades and multiple levels of government. As Deputy Governor, he served two consecutive terms from 2015 to 2023, working alongside Governor Udom Emmanuel.
His life story also contains a deeply human dimension.
Ekpo endured the turbulence of the Nigerian Civil War, including a 30-month separation from his wife, Martha, whom he had married shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. That experience of adversity, followed by decades of professional accomplishment, forms part of the resilience that has characterised his journey.
His marriage to the late Mrs. Martha Ekpo also produced a partnership remembered for family, service and philanthropy. In 2019, the Mrs. Martha and Moses Ekpo Jnr. Foundation was unveiled alongside the launch of his biography, Trials and Triumphs. At the occasion, Governor Udom Emmanuel commended Ekpo for his support, counsel and contribution to the administration.
Perhaps one of the most enduring aspects of Mr. Ekpo’s legacy is the number of lives and careers he has influenced.
As a journalist, he mentored young reporters. As an editor, he helped build a newspaper institution. As an information officer, he shaped public communication. As a diplomat, he represented Nigeria abroad. As a copyright administrator, he helped establish institutional structures around intellectual property. As a public servant, he served at state and federal levels. And as Deputy Governor, he brought decades of experience into the governance of Akwa Ibom State.
His story is, therefore, the story of a professional life built across generations and institutions.
As Akwa Ibom celebrates 39 years of Statehood, Mr. Moses Frank Ekpo, MFR, stands among the State’s distinguished leading lights, a veteran journalist, diplomat, administrator, statesman and former Deputy Governor whose remarkable journey remains an enduring source of inspiration.
He is, indeed, an Akwa Ibom PRIDE.
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