A section of the school’s classroom block
The Rev. Uma Ukpai is dead and will be buried in March. This is no news. The first event to be held in his honour, as part of the burial plans, will be a medical outreach at Nkek, Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. This is also not the news. It is already in the public domain.
What is news is the choice of Nkek as venue for the medical outreach. It is significant. It was in that sleepy village that Ukpai hosted his first public evangelical crusade at the instance of Jesus The Way Evangelistic Ministries.
That was in the early 70s. Ukpai did not abandon that village after the crusade that heralded what later gave rise to a Pentecostal revolution in Ukanafun. He did not also abandon Jesus The Way. And till date, Nkek remains the headquarters of that church and Ukpai’s name is written in gold, both at Nkek village and in Jesus The Way Church.
In fact, it was initially believed that Ukpai owned Jesus The Way. Also, it was common knowledge that Ukpai loved Nkek, even though it was an interior village. At that time, you could drive to Nkek freely. The roads leading to the village were not tarred, but driving there was not a prayer point. The roads were smooth: no bumps, no valleys, no hills, no pits. But that was then.
The road to Nkek, through whichever route, is now rough, dreary, dreaded and bumpy. That is the road that thousands of people from across the globe will use to get to Nkek for the medical outreach.
Either from the Etim Ekpo axis or from Anwa Uyo in Ikot Udo Obobo, or through the snaky, bushy roads from Urua Uko or Ikot Udo Abia, when coming from Abak, the roads are deplorable. Pregnant women will be risking their lives and those of their babies if they dared drive on any of these roads to Nkek.
They could be manageable during the dry season, though. But during the rainy season, motorists would have to contend with various levels of flood waters. They may criss-cross valleys full of water and climb hills-shadows of death of some sort, while trying to access the village.
Even though the exact venue for the medical outreach has not been stated by the family, it is very likely to be the Government Primary School, Nkek. It was on that ground that Ukpai preached his first sermon in a crusade ground in Akwa Ibom.
If that would be the venue, then visitors would also behold the eye sore called classroom blocks there, apart from the bad road.
If the situation of the primary school, Nkek will shock the visitors, what they will see at Ikot Udo Abia as they drive pass from the Anwa Uyo axis(for those coming from Aba or Port Harcourt, will even be more shocking. Some of the classroom blocks have turned to homes for reptiles. The visitors will see these and more.
But it is not too late to fix things. And it is a golden opportunity for Pastor Umo Eno to show how much respect he has for Ukpai.
Yes, during the burial of Bishop Moswill Umoh, that popular evangelist and educationist, Eno had promised to construct a road to the village of that sage. The road to Ikot Uko Ide was to terminate at Ikot Edet village in Etim Ekpo Local Government. But he failed to keep his promise.
On that day in September 2023, Eno, in his usual manner, had made the loud promise that he would fix the road. But two years after, nothing has happened. The governor promised and failed.
A few weeks ago, also at Ukanafun, when he went for the commissioning of the general hospital in that local government, Eno had promised that immediately, work would begin on the road to Akeffe. That announcement was greeted so much applause. They clapped for him. The road construction was to start immediately. But nothing has been heard again from the government.
He may not have made any promise to anybody before now, that he would fix the Anwa Uyo-Nkek-Etim Ekpo Road, but an opportunity has presented itself for him to show how much he respects Ukpai, even in death.
If he fails or forgets to construct the road and the adjoining spurs that connect Nkek, visitors who would attend the medical outreach in Ukpai’s honour may have to swim or trek the bushy paths to get to the venue.
Apart from the medical outreach at Nkek, the family has also announced that on Friday, March 20, 2026, there would be a night of tributes which would be hosted by the Akwa Ibom State Government, in Uyo.
Burial activities will then move to Abia State, beginning with a medical and welfare outreach on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at Asaga, Ohafia Local Government Area, while a service of songs is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the Ohafia LGA Secretariat. The
burial service and interment will take place on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the same venue.
