Statue of Chief Nyong Essien, by Ben Ekanem

after snapping this photo, my cousin told me that my grandfather--late chief paul bassey okon--was great friends with chief essien. in fact, he added, there is a street named after your grandfather not far from here. somehow i'm not surprised that i never knew this. the street is not marked with any signs, except for the one outside an apostolic church, and filled with dusty old buildings and houses. except for a solar power conversion company, which makes me feel as though things are really moving forward there.