Preamble
The news of being chosen to be the paper presenter in this august occasion greeted me with mixed feelings. The reason or reasons for this mixed feelings is not far -fetched. One, Ekpeye is blessed with a handful full of seasoned academics who are my seniors in the academia that would expectedly do justice to this presentation far better than I would so why settle for me? I therefore feel humbled and privileged to stand on this podium and address Ekpeye people. On the other hand, I feel afraid that I may be losing some of my friends in Ekpeye who are either politicians or traditional rulers after this presentation because I shall be brutally frank in this presentation. My frankness may be misconstrued for stepping on the toes of the “Sacred cows” in Ekpeye so may I ask for your forgiveness in advance. Soku soku sabheteni meni.
The issue under presentation is a critical issue for the survival of the Ekpeye ethnic nation so may I appeal to all Ekpeye sons and daughters here present to receive this presentation with some level of objectivity. Truth, they say is bitter, but must be told. The Holy Book (Bible) also admonishes us to know the truth so that the truth can set us free. My focus in this presentation is to justify why the Ekpeye ethnic nation is in dire need of conscious advocacies. In other words, this paper shall bring to the fore the role of advocacies in community development using the Ekpeye ethnic nation as paradigm.