A Visit To Afaha Ikot Ossom, Ibesikpo Asutan, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria For Tourism

Afaha Ikot Ossom is a village in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, in Akwa Ibom State Nigeria. The native dialect of the inhabitants of the village is ibibio which happens to be my dialect, though I am not from the village. The village is a remote area with beautiful nature, fresh air free of carbon (IV) oxide, and serene.

The majority of the inhabitants of the Afaha Ikot Ossom village are dark in complexion, but they possess beautiful qualities, they are welcoming. My sister-in-law stays in this village, so I visited her and the family. But I decided to explore the community. The following subheadings contain the things I noticed during my exploration of the village;

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THE CANAL OF THE AFAHA IKOT OSSOM

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I visited the canal with my husband, daughter, nieces, and nephews. It was a beautiful place to be. There is a beautiful Valley in the place, the water, and the trees, it is a very beautiful place to be, and we enjoyed our visit to the place.

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There was dredging going on in the canal, and the majority of people from akwa Ibom state, in Nigeria bought sand for the construction of their houses from this canal. We saw those who dug tirelessly so they could make a living. So what I learned here from them is to be hardworking.

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THE ROAD OF AFAHA IKOT OSSOM VILLAGE

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The major road that leads to the village is very bad, it is not even motorable, and the road is flooded. I was told that what led to the destruction of the road was the dredging of sand from the lake in the village, which prompted tippers(heavy duty trucks) to move on the road.

To access the village, we had to take a diversion, or should I say a bush track, it was fun though. We missed our way, so we had to ask the villagers for directions.

The Government of the state had made efforts to reconstruct the road as we were informed, but to no avail, as the contractors mismanaged the funds. So the inhabitants of the village are suffering, and businesses are not flourishing in the village because of the lack of access to the community. To my surprise, the government does not hold the contractors who used the funds meant for the road accountable. May God help the inhabitants of Afaha Ikot Ossom.

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The major road of afaha ikot ossom

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THE FOREST OF AFAHA IKOT OSSOM

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Afaha Ikot Ossom has a beautiful forest, I was happy to visit the forest, I wanted to see the beauty of nature. But I could not enter the forest because I was told that the village carries out its spiritistic practices there, I was scared because of the spiritism aspects.

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The forest view

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OCCUPATION OF THE INHABITANTS OF AFAHA IKOT OSSOM

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The major occupation of the people of the Afaha Ikot Ossom village is farming and some of the men indulge in dredging and transportation. But I am focusing on farming.

The villagers indulge in subsistence farming, which is just what can sustain them and their household, and just a little for sale.

The plant cassava, cassava is one of the major foods in the village, and this cassava will be used in processing garri(cassava granules), and fofo( fermented cassava).

They also plant maize, which they use to process pap and prepare maize porridge. They even cook it and eat it that way with pear.

They also plant water leaves, the water their water leaves plantation with water from the canal.

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The farmlands

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SCHOOL IN AFAHA IKOT OSSOM

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Afaha Ikot Ossom village has a primary school and private primary schools. But sadly they don't have a secondary school(high school). Students would have to travel a long distance to attend secondary school. I am told that the government is interested in building a high school for the village, I was privileged to visit the proposed site of the school.

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Proposed site for secondary school

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CONCLUSION

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Conclusively, I enjoyed my visit to Afaha Ikot Ossom village, the people of Afaha Ikot Ossom are good and welcoming, they embrace farming, dredging, and transportation as their major occupations. The Village does not have an access road due to bad governance, but it is beautified with a forest and canal. Being here draws one to nature.