A SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY OF IKOT ESSEN IN AKWA-IBOM STATE IN PRE-COLONIAL TIMES

CONCLUSION

            It will be safe to conclude by re-emphasizing the fact that the environment or geography of a given society goes a long way to influence the political and socio-economic institutions¹. The pre-colonial Ikot Essen village cannot be outside the context of these prerequisites of socio-economic development. This research so far has shown geographical and environmental position of active prominence in the determination of the Ikot Essen pre-colonial traditional socio-economic organization. And the socio-economic institutions of any society including the pre-colonial Ikot Essen village, provide the bedrock for both material and intellectual culture of human kind. This situation becomes very prominent in view of the fact that in the pre-colonial Ikot Essen village, there was no difference between the structures of government. For instance, religion permeated the political and socio-economic structures and functions and the village heads for instance perform these functions. Though the origin of Ikot Essen is face with obscurity because the account of it is different from writers and indigenous story tellers, but due to the language, it is obvious that the ancestors of Ikot Essen were part of the Ibibios who were of the Afemai lineage whose original home was Usak Edet in the Cameroon². From the previous chapters of this research work, it can be deduced that the pre-colonial Ikot Essen village were highly organized and coherent society that integrated all aspects of their existence successfully. They were very ritualistic in all. Their dealings, and impacted positively on all other areas of the people, be it political or socio-economical.