The Okpokam family is an influential family from Southern Nigeria with major contributions to the formation of the Nigerian state. The Okpokams’ were major investors in trade, agriculture and medicine becoming very prominent in the early 1800s.
The family will come into the national spotlight during its venture into politics with the emergence of His Excellency, the Chief the Hon KJN Okpokam winning a seat into the Eastern House of Nigeria in the first elections in the country in 1952 winning all elections till 1964. Okpokam would also be part of the constitutional delegation that saw that the independence of Nigeria be achieved.
Okpokam would serve as the government whip of the house and in 1964 would serve as the Provincial commissioner of the Ogoja province. Putting up a good fight with the federal government to create the COR state which was done in 1967, Okpokam would become Nigeria’s first Consulate-General and Ambassador to the cameroons in 1968 playing a major role in Nigeria’s victory in the Civil War and subsequently the High Commissioner to the Gambia in 1971. His political career would come to an end indicating his withdrawal from politics 1985 after serving on the Executive Council of the COR state since 1979 (were he strongly backed Shagari despite personal visits from Azikiwe).
The Okpokams were heavily commended by the state government of Cross River State during her celebration of State’s 50th anniversary due to their contributions to development of the state, the region and the country as a whole, recognized for owning one of the first private Hospitals in the 1960s established by Dr. Simon Okpokam after his return from Europe, major stakeholders in the then Mercantile Bank, one of the biggest banks in the region, in Arts the prominent writer and former DG of the cultural centre, writer of the Hollywood film the Bushman in 1968, Dr. Paul Okpokam. the family also established one of the first Special Needs Educational facilities in the country in the early 1980s, the political contributions of former house member and prominent politician the distinguished Rt.Hon Ferdinand Okpokam who was a founding member of the popular 1999 boys (a group of young millionaires in their late 20s and early 30s who fought for the establishment of the PDP in their states, sweeping the state house, House of Representatives, senate, governorship against all odds) even the younger generation spared no rest with the works of the notable Dr. Atuora Okpokam, Nigerian environmentalist and scientist, Ekok Okpokam other notable works in Education, Engineering, Finance and Law were duly noted. Having provided numerous jobs in the region, indigenes popularly know the family as the “quiet giant”.