In Memory of my father, Obong (Major General) Philip Efiong, Akangkang Ibiono Ibom (November 18, 1925 - November 6, 2003)

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Obong (Major General) Philip Efiong, Akankang Ibiono Ibom, in Ikot Ekpene, 2002

General & Mrs. Efiong, Umuahia, 1968/69

Obong Philip Asuquo Efiong of Ikot Akpan Obong in Utit Obio Clan of Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was born on 18 November 1925 in Aba, present Abia State. His father, the late Ete John Efiong Essien, was a joins man by trade while his mother, the late Elizabeth Ekandem Efiong Essien, was a trader and farmer. (The Efiong Essien family ended up in Ikot Ekpene after Ete John Efiong Essien moved his household from Aba to Ikot Ekpene in 1929. This was in a bid to avoid victimization against his wife who had participated in the legendary Aba Women’s Riot of that same year.) The young Philip began his education at Saint Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Ifuho in Ikot Ekpene, from where he obtained his Standard Six Certificate, which, at the time, qualified him to be a pupil teacher. He was posted to Nto Otong Midim, Abak after which he relocated to Saint Thomas’ Teacher Training College, Ogoja and later the Seminary at Saint Patrick’s College, Ikot Ansa, Calabar. He left the Seminary in 1944 and moved on to Saint Augustine’s, Urua Inyang to study for his Higher Elementary Certificate. In 1945, the young Philip left teaching entirely and joined the Army (the West African Frontier Force), enlisting as a private in Enugu. At the end of the Second World War, he was converted to a regular soldier in the renamed Royal West African Frontier Force. Private Philip Efiong was among the first batch of educated recruits posted to Zaria, which was then the training depot for young enlisted soldiers. Part of his training involved clerical instruction at the Clerical Training School in Teshi, Ghana. On his return to Nigeria, he was posted to the Lagos Garrison Office and promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in 1947. He was subsequently promoted Corporal in 1948 and Sergeant in 1949. Also in 1949, Sergeant Philip Efiong was posted to Zaria to help set up the African Non-Commissioned Officers School (ANCO) under the supervision of a British Warrant Officer II. While in Zaria, he studied on his own, sat for and passed the Cambridge Overseas Schools Certificate in 1953. He was then posted to the Orderly Room as the recruiting Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). It was also around 1953 that the Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.) test was introduced into the Army and Sergeant Philip Efiong’s result of the test was used as a base for evaluating the new recruits. In 1954 he was promoted Sergeant Major and in 1955 was again sent to Teshi, this time to the Regular Officers Special Training School. On his return, he was recommended for training in Britain and subsequently trained at the Home Countries Brigade, Canterbury, and Eaton Hall Officers Cadet Training School in Chester and Trawnysfyld in Wales. At the passing out parade in Chester in 1956, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant and later that year was promoted Lieutenant. In 1958 Lieutenant Philip Efiong went on to do his post commissioning training in various parts of Britain, the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in Düsseldorf in Germany, and the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in West Germany. That same year he was promoted to Captain. He served in various capacities. In 1959 Captain Philip Efiong served in the Cameroons with the peacekeeping force. As a Major in 1960, he also served in peacekeeping operations under the United Nations as a Company Commander in the Republic of Congo. He was later recalled from the Congo in 1961 and transferred to the Nigerian Army Ordnance Corps. As follow-up to this transfer, he proceeded to Britain to attend an ordnance course at the Royal Army Ordnance Corps School in Blackdown near Aldershot in England. This course led to his being awarded Associate Member of the British Institute of Management (AMBIM). On completion of his ordnance training, he became the first Nigerian Commander of the Ordnance Depot in Yaba, Lagos in 1962, and the first Nigerian Director of Ordnance Services of the Nigerian Army in 1963, the year he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. This was the post and rank he held when the first coup d'état took place on January 15 1966. After the coup d'état of January 1966, he was posted to Supreme Headquarters as Principal Staff Officer to the late Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi. He was Acting Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters in May 1966 and in July 1966 was posted to Kaduna as Deputy Brigade Commander under the late Lieutenant Colonel Wellington Bassey. Following the counter coup of the same year, he managed to escape from Kaduna to Lagos. In compliance with orders for all officers to return to their regions of origin, he returned to the East where, in 1967, the war broke out. For Obong Philip Efiong, this marked the beginning of the end of 22 years of meritorious service in the Nigerian Army. Serving under the Biafran Government from 1967 to 1970, Obong Philip Efiong served as Chief of Logistics, Chief of Staff, Commandant of the Militia, and Chief of General Staff. In January 1970, Major General Philip Efiong called for an end to the hostilities and voluntarily led a delegation of surrender to General Gowon in Lagos.

Right, Lagos, 15 January 1970, General Efiong shakes hand with General Gowon after surrender

1969, Major General Philip Efiong returning from a visit to a refugee camp in Nto Edino in present Akwa Ibom State

January 1970, preparing for meeting in Lagos at the end of the Civil War; second from left is General Efiong, third is Colonel O. Obasanjo

1969, at parade to celebrate the Second Independence Anniversary of Biafra; General Efiong is fourth from left; General Ojukwu, Head of State, is fifth from left

End of the War; In the true spirit of African reconciliation, kola nut is shared; General Efiong, extreme right, takes a piece

1970, initial meeting between both sides at the end of the War; from left to right: General Efiong, Prof. Eni Njoku, Colonel Obasanjo

May the soul of a great dad and exceptional statesman rest in perfect peace!