History of Ukwa/Ngwa People and Aba Town: Once Upon a Time

By Eze Obinna Onwuma LL.M

The history of Ukwa/Ngwa people Volume 1 represents the ultimate in-depth data of Ukwa/Ngwa people long walk to freedom nay, to capture political power in their political space. A factual inside account of the events and circumstances which had made this journey a tortuous one and brought it to scorn and despise mostly in its citadel commercial town of Aba. This is rendered in a vivid detail by the author blazing a trail which would, sooner or later, provoke reactions conveying confirmation, disputation, clarification or expansion of information as contained herein.
In the potpourri of endless books written on Ukwa/Ngwa history, this book is no doubt unique in its most illuminating treatment of privileged information recapturing the historical genesis of the Ukwa/Ngwa origin, long trek to Aba and its attendant development which had elicited disproportionate feelings among sojourners.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665504300

Eze Obinna Onwuma LL.M

Eze Obinna Onwuma Esq. is a legal practitioner based in Aba Abia State. He holds a masters degree in international law. He hails from Ihie Obeaku Village, in Ugwunagbo Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. Eze is an accomplished author of Eight other books and a pastor at the Altar of God Deliverance Ministry.

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2021 Eze Obinna Onwuma, LL.M. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/09/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-0431-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-0429-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-0430-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020920333

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FACTS ARE THE MATERIAL

DATA OF HISTORY

UGWOAKPOROMBA

NBU

UGWO - AKPOROKEFU

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Preface

Chapter 1: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF UKWA/NGWA PEOPLE

Introduction and Geographical Location

Origin of Ukwa/Ngwa People

Origin of the Ngwa People

Origin of the Ndoki People

Origin of the Asa People

Ukwa

Ukwa/Ngwa Commonalities

Aboriginal Ukwa/Ngwa Clans and Existence of Organised Trading

The Role of Aros in Ukwa/Ngwa Land

Aro and the Okonko Society

Okonko Secret Society and the Propagation of Nsibidi Writing in Ukwa/Ngwa Land

The Period of Palm Produce Trade in Ukwa/Ngwa Axis

Chapter 2: UKWA/NGWA LAND AND BRITISH INVASION WITH TREATY

The Policy of Treaty Making

List of Ukwa/Ngwa Villages and Dates of Signing Treaty

Chapter 3: THE FORMATIVE STAGE OF NGWA VILLAGE OF ABA

The Effect of the Legitimate Trade on Aba

The Great Controversy Between Eziukwu Aba and Aba-Ukwu Village

Chapter 4: ABA AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT

Aftermath of Obegu Massacre

Warrant Chief System in Aba District

Effect of the Railway Station at Aba

Administrative Changes in Aba District 1913-1920

Acquisition of Land at Aba by British Government

The Issue of Taxation in Aba Division

The Aba Women’s Riot of 1929

Chapter 5: AFTERMATH OF 1929 ABA RIOT AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

Re-Organizations in Ndoki and Asa Clans

Aftermath of The Re-Organisation

Chapter 6: POPULATION INCREASE IN ABA DIVISION

Influx of Non-Natives

Reasons for the Population Increase

Ecological factors

Position

Hospitality

Security

Employment

Education and Religion

Effect of Christian Churches in Aba

Impact of Non-Natives in the Early Development of Aba Township

Naming of Streets in Aba

Chapter 7: EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENT IN ABA FROM 1930 -1952

Structural Development

Effect of the World War II on Aba Division

Ukwa Federated (Ndoki, Asa, Etche) 1949

Electricity and Industrial Production in Aba: 1947 – 1949

Higher Education in Ukwa/Ngwa from 1940 to 1950

1949 – 1952 Events in Aba Division

Road Transportation and the 1945 Strike in Aba

Chapter 8: PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION IN ABA DIVISION 1951 – 1966 AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Introduction of Legislative Assembly

Local Government System in Aba Division 1951 - 1956

Aba and Introduction of Local Council 1953

First Non-Indigene Political Affront to Erase the Ngwa Identity/Name from County Council

Some of the Infrastructural Services that the Aba Urban District Council Provided Were as Follows:

Some of the Men Who Benefited from Aba Township in the Early 1940’S and 60’S

Apprenticeship as a System of Migration to Aba from 1945 till Date

Local Government System in Ukwa Area (1955-56)

Minorities Commission of 1958 and The Effect of its Report

New Provincial System 1959

Fight for the Soul of Aba Division from Submergence in Umuahia Province

Infrastructural Development Attracted by Aba Division House of Assembly Members to Aba 1953 – 1966

1961 General Election in Eastern Region

Further Influx of Non – Natives In Aba 1960 – 1966

Chapter 9: BIAFRA AND THE BIRTH OF ABA PROVINCE

Quest for Aba Province

The 1966 Military Coup and Ukwa/Ngwa People of Eastern Nigeria

The Importance of Aba to Biafra Civil War

Excerpts from Late Sir M. N. Onwuma’s Biafra War Diary 1968

12 Division Biafra Commander Under Attack

The Fighting Spirit of Enyimba Boys

Umuoba Town (Biafra’s Mecca)

Some of the Biafran Men that Worked in Aba Province

Chapter 10: THE UKWA / NGWA PEOPLE AND THE TOWN OF ABA AFTER 1967 – 70

Aba in Ruins After the Civil War

The Ukpabi Asika Years 1970 – 1975

Aba Markets

Population Growth as a Result of Increase in Trade and Industries

Aba Division Under the Military Governors 1975 -1979

Colonel Anthony Ochefu 1975 -1976

Lieutenant Commander Ndubuisi Kanu 1976 – 1977

Citing of Ariaria Market and Land Ownership Controversy

The Problems Edict No. 20 of 1976 and Law No. 4 of 1981 created over Aba Division Villages

The reign of Navy Commander Adekunle Lawal

Sunday Adenihun

Chapter 11: UKWA/NGWA PEOPLE OF OLD ABA DIVISION UNDER THE SECOND REPUBLIC

First Civilian Regime 1979-1983

Traditional Institution and Conflict Among its Contestant

Ukwa/Ngwa Irredentist Claims

The 1979 State Creation and Aba State Movement

Chapter 12: MORE AGITATION FOR STATES CREATION FROM IMO STATE

Origin of States Agitation

Ukwa/Ngwa Indifference to Non-Indigenes Representation in Aba Constituency

Repeat of Tribal Hatred History 34 Years After

Charter of Equity

Chapter 13: OLD ABA ZONE AND GOVERNANCE IN THE YEARS 1983 – 2007

Military Governance

Ike Nwachukwu, 1984-1986

Amadi Ikwecheghi, 1986 – 1990

Anthony Oguguo (1990-1991)

Creation of Abia State:

Frank Ajobena: (1991-1992)

Ogbonnaya Onu (1992-1993)

Ike Nwosu: (1993-1994)

Temi Ejoor: (1994-1996)

Moses Fasanya: (1996-1998)

Anthony Obi (1998 – 1999)

Orji Uzor Kalu: (1999 – 2007)

Chronology of Abia State Governors 1991 - 2015

Federal House of Representatives

Renewed Request for Aba State

Aba State Agitations from 1990 - 2011

Aba Union and Power Shift in 2006

T. A. Orji (Ochendo Year 2007 – 2015)

Chapter 14: INSECURITY IN UKWA/NGWA LAND FROM 2009 – 2011

Origin of Kidnapping in Abia State

Abia State Government in the Eye of the Storm

2008 Insecurity Prophecy Fulfilled

Inglorious Barbaric Acts of a Section of the Kidnappers

Armed Kidnappers in Osisioma Ngwa Axis

Obingwa Axis

Aba South Axis

Medical Practitioners Kidnapped

Legal Practitioner Kidnapped

Foreigners, Journalist and Prominent Men Kidnapped

Kidnapping Inside the Church

Chapter 15: UKWA/NGWAPHOBIA, (UGWOAKPOROMBA)

Genesis of the Lost Love

Resentment Over Political Victory of the Governor Ikpeazu

Unpatriotic Comments Towards Ukwa/Ngwa People

Unparallel Disposition of Ukwa/Ngwa People

Chapter 16: DR. OKEZIE IKPEAZU THE MAN AT THE PODIUM

Victor Journey

The Landing of the Eagle on Tuesday 2nd November 2015

The Dark Thursday for Ukwa/Ngwa People on 31st December 2015

Restoration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s Victory by the Supreme Court.

Chapter 17: ONCE UPON A TIME IN ABA (LAND OF SUCCESS)

Mighty Industrial Fall in Aba

Some old school medical icons in Aba were:

The Following Multinational Chemical and Pharmaceutical Companies Once Were Operating in Aba;

Private Educational Institutions in Aba 1980 to 1990

Social Activities in Aba in the 1970’s

Transport Lines: Trucks Lorries and Luxury Buses.

Why Aba Town is Prospering People

Epilogue

Bibliography

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The socio political history of Ukwa/Ngwa lay hidden in night enclosure and God said let there be Eze Onwuma a worthy son of the soil to pen it down before its knowledge will become obfuscate. In this rare discourse of a people may I humbly acknowledge with great oblation those who had blazed the trail in placing the Ukwa/Ngwa people on the international limelight with their written works, showcasing a united nation, which once upon a time resisted the conquering Europeans. These are those that the cap fits and I believe they should wear it. First among equals is the man that was once described as Socrates of Ngwaland and his book is the historical Bible of Ngwa and Ukwa land His Royal Highness Eze (Hon.) Johnson Elewamba Nnata Nwaguru. In his work Aba and the British rule placed on permanent record this united nation called Ngwa/Ukwa, for the first time in 1973. A scholar who once studied under Nwaguru shortly before the civil war, Professor John Nwachimereze Oriji, was later to add teeth and flesh with some easiness to the study of the Ukwa/Ngwa people in his work Ngwa History a study of social and economic changes in Igbo Mini-states in time perspective. His work provided the veritable insight into this work.

Mr. Emmanuel Akwaranwa, was another Ngwa son who set the political history of Ukwa/Ngwa people between 1971 to 1985 straight by exposing vexatious contemporary issues aimed at asphyxiation of Ukwa/Ngwa nation in the hands of political lords of that time. I can’t stop appreciating your work.

Mr. Chihor Nworgu, an Ndoki son was also in the rank and file of Ukwa/Ngwa authors who x-rayed the migration of the Ndoki’s and the political gazimo they had encountered warranting the decimentation of Ndokiland and people placing them in three states of Nigeria. You are remembered.

My profound gratitude goes to the the above mentioned four scholars for rekindling the light of authoring Ukwa/Ngwa history in different semantic spectrum and analysis. Their works was immensely sources of inspiration to me and I quoted them in extenso due. On the roll of research assistance I received, mention must be made of Mr. Revys Ogumgbu Wamuo, Mr. Chima Wamuo, Barrister Nduka Ohia, Barrister Olujimi Jones, Mr. Peter Ebere, Mr. Ndubuisi Nworgu, Sir G.E.O Egbulefu they were of great help to me in sourcing data. Professor Ezenwa Ngwakwe and Professor Ikechi Mgboji had the singular privelledge of reading this work in draft, encouraged me and applauded the intellectual property and sagacity contained therein.

My professional academic colleaque who patiently waited for the publication having discussed, criticized and synthesized the content of this work such as Chidiadi Mgbeahuru, Prince Adimuko Obieze, Peace Vitalis, Barrister and Barrister Mrs.Nwachukwu(Magisterate), Okey Edede, Maurice Ucheji, Amanze Onuoha I thank you for your encouragement.

My heartfelt thanks go to my beloved cousin Engr. Enyinnaya Nwafor for his unflinching support, generosity and wise counsel. To my aunties and all members of my family I acknowledge you all. Attorney Nne Nwabeke, your untiring effort in sourcing the publisher pleases me.

I want to personally thank my workers, Chinedu Obinna, Rose Eleanya, his grace typist for their perseverance in typing the manuscript severally. There are those who provided the initial moral and spiritual encouragement in the persons of Chimezie Nwogu, Engr. Onyekachi Mark, Chinaza Odimaraonye, Apostle Emmanuel Nnah, Oluchi Onyebuchi, Ugonwanyi Nwaoha and Evangelist Ikenna Amaechi.

This book would not have been put into a digital format without the invaluable sacrifice of my inseparable senior brother Chief Ody Onwuma, thank you for your guidance, hospitality and insistence for this book to see the light.

To my Mkpuruoma "in unum luceant"

To God be the glory.

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PREFACE

When certain events happen they help to shape the history of a thing or people. It is either that these events are preserved or that they are washed away. To the Ukwa/Ngwa people of Abia South Senatorial zone, their predecessors preserved their past for their successors by virtue of oral tradition.

The act of relaying events from generation to generation has endured for the said Ukwa/Ngwa from the 17th century till the late 19th century when the British colonized the people and documented facts of history as witnessed by them. The internationally accepted verification of oral traditions and events as sources of history coupled with written intelligence reports of events preserved in the archives made this work a reliable masterpiece of the past, present and yardstick for future expectations of the Ukwa/Ngwa ethnic group.

Most events in this book up to the mid 1960’s predated the author but for the thorough historical academic research used as a forerunner to my PhD thesis, made this work a phenomenal reality.

The work of previous authors who have shown expertise on Ukwa/Ngwa history were consulted and areas of interests to the author were lifted and embellished to fill any lacuna which were inadvertently left out. While recent socio-political events were given due attention, those that evinced reactions from the Ukwa/Ngwa people was ethno-centrically corrected. I regret that those whose communal ego has been bruised will find most content of this book as a hard pill to swallow but no one from this zone can possibly deny that the author had not rendered a valuable service to his people.

The book to a large extent tried to place on record what the author may call many mundane evolutions of Ukwa/Ngwa people especially the people of Aba-Ngwa from earliest times to the present through their various stages of development.

Graphically, I recounted with emphasis the socio-political journey of the ethnic group called Nde-Ngwa and came to conclusion that they had charted a difficult course in their struggle as a nation, and had the following factors to contend with;

The historical struggle with nature to exist as a group and cross the barrier of Imo River.

The difficulty of finding a vast virgin land to settle as a nation.

Their survival instincts, internecine wars, migration, settlement and conquest.

The founding of the Ngwa metropolitan town of Aba and the overbearing posture of the non- natives to contend with.

Intermittently, I rhetorically wondered that "Nde ohuhu anyi hafuru gafe miri na uzo, mechakwara bia kute anyi na Aba" The Ohuhu people that were left behind and crossed the legendary Imo River later met Nde Ngwa in Aba.

The last being the problem of Nde Ngwa themselves and the need for them to extricate themselves from their ingrained supercilious nature.

However, this book represents an incisive, inspirational and empirical evaluation of major events which had occurred within Ukwa/Ngwa and which have provoked reactions conveying clarifications and disputations of bias, opinions as expressed. In-depth research have unveiled that strangers in Ukwa/Ngwa town of Aba were fed with milk of human kindness as against hate statements, comments, actions laced with puerile sentiments and emotive overflow shown to natives which were at their apogee between 2014 and 2015 election period.

All through the period it appeared as if Nde Ngwa had been practically swallowed by their guest as could be gleaned by one of them who derogatorily once said "that Nde Ngwa might fill a basket but yet the basket is not heavy". This comment warranted Professor Ikechi Mgboji to warn that onye akporo akpo nri ejighi elobi aka la ri meaning that an invited guest does not swallow his fingers while eating as a guest.

This was what gave a pitch to their lyric and sonnet of apostasy prior to the victory of what Nde-Ngwa represents. This work having been garbed in a robe of intellectualism exhumes the good works of those who posterity will not desecrate their applaudable deeds in Aba town.

It is axiomatic to express that, but for this book, peculiar references would not have been unearthed about the sequence of violent riots in Aba for example, in every 9th year of a decade, violent riots occured in Aba in 1919, 1929, 1939, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2019 respectively. Also, it gave a vivid narration of how Elephants were airlifted from Aba town in 1924 to Europe? How most of the roads in Aba were created from Elephant’s tracks called Okasa. How Aba’s booming industries collapsed? This book further unravelled how Aba became an alleged no – man’s land from the prism of non-natives and their attempt to use same as a decoy to scuttle 2015 governorship interest of Ukwa/Ngwa people. It went further to relay why Hausa’s and Yoruba’s protested in Aba in 1934. In the same vein how in 1954, concerted efforts were made by strangers to obliterate Ngwa identity, dampen and clamp down the shrill and definitive voices of natives in the political affairs of the land. These were captured in various chapters of this book. Also, unveiled were labours of Ukwa/Ngwa political heroes and the most fascinating of all the revealed apothegm being that Ugworakporomba mbu ugworakporokefu meaning that all phobic dispositions directed to Nde Ukwa/Ngwa is to no avail.

This book is meant to help in preserving events which formed part of the socio political history of Ukwa/Ngwa people. However, without the flagrant opprobrious display of Ukwa/Ngwa phobic disposition by non natives, this book would not have been written. It is a piece in defense of a people wrongly loathed at where once upon a time in their town of Aba, events as expressed herein happened.

EZE OBINNA ONWUMA, LL.M

26-4-2017

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CHAPTER ONE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF UKWA/NGWA PEOPLE

INTRODUCTION AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:

The Ukwa/Ngwa people particularly the area politically known as the Abia south zone, inhabits the southern part of Eastern Nigeria Igbo nation. They are further known as people of Aba union, which metamorphosized from the Asa/Ngwa Native Authority in the early 1920’s and later it became part of old Aba Division. Today the entire old Aba Division people inhabit the Abia State South Senatorial Zone and the three of its Local Government in Abia Central Senatorial zone. These three L.G.A’s are Osisioma Ngwa, Isiala Ngwa South and Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Areas. The other L.G.A’s which are in the present Abia South Senatorial Zone are Aba South, Aba North, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa West and Ukwa East Local Governments of Abia State. These are the Ukwa/Ngwa people of old Aba Division.

Ukwa/Ngwa land is bounded on the west by the Imo river, and from that river the northern section now known as Isiala-Ngwa stretches to the east until it joins the Ahi river about two miles east of the Oloko-Umuahia road. The eastern boundary runs roughly northeastwards and joins the no-man’s land which separates the Ngwa from the Anang (Ibibio). Northwards and adjacent to the Ntigha and Nsulu village groups are the Ubakala and Olokoro clans. The northeastern neighbors of the Ngwa are the Isuorgu, and westwards, the Imo River which separates them from Mbaise which also serves as a boundary between them and the Omuma-Etche clans now in Rivers State which are in the south of the zone.

The area occupied by the Ukwa/Ngwa people lies latitude 6oand 6o 30’N and longitude 8o 30’E in the political map of Nigeria. The area is of coastal plain type and good sedimentary soil texture. It has an elevation of not more than 600 feet (182 meters) above sea level. The topography shows the presence of red soil in a small quantity with rich agricultural layer of humus soil in majority of the area. The vegetation belt is the tropical rain forest type. There are insignificant numbers of forest reserves. The major river in this zone is the Imo River which watered its Northern, Western and Southern borders flowing down to the Atlantic Ocean. There is Azumini Blue River which runs down to Opobo town and joins the Atlantic Ocean. Next to Imo river is the Iyi-Aza river that transcends Aba from a not too certain underground flow at Okpu Umuobo in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State. This river played a major settlement role historically and in the industrial development of Aba town. There are other many small stream and brooks within the villages of Ukwa in Aba Division. Within the plains of these rivers are abundant growths of palm wine trees and palm oil trees which was the economic mainstay of the Ukwa/Ngwa people during the advent of Colonialism.

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In the 1960’s, crude oil mineral deposits were found in this Aba Division mainly in the villages of Owaza, Umuorie, Isimiri/Oza, Umukalu, Ohuru all in Ukwa West and East Local Government areas, while other crude oil wells are located in Obuzor Ngwa, Obeaja, Akanu Ngwa Villages of Ugwunagbo in the Ngwa areas of the Abia South¹. There are many other oil bearing communities within Ukwa and Ngwa villages whose crude oil deposits are not in substantial quantity for commercial purposes.

ORIGIN OF UKWA/NGWA PEOPLE:

The people of Ukwa/Ngwa are amiable people to live with and they inculcated civilized behaviors having first had contact and education from the British and its resultant effect of cross pollination of ideas and life style² Their origin and migration, apart from few oral tradition that had passed memory fabrication text, were well documented by British colonial officers and are now preserved in the National Archives of Nigeria in documents referred to as Aba District Reports but more particularly known as ABADIST and Intelligence Reports on Ukwa/Ngwa clans at the Enugu office of the said archives. It is instructive to note that the old Aba Division included four main group of people or clans of the Ibo nation/ethnicity;

The Ngwas

The Ndokis

The Asas

The Etches

However the Etches and a small group of Ika and Annang villages in Ndoki were in 1953 excised from Aba Division and placed under the superintendence of Ahoada and Abak Division respectively³. This book is restricted to the origin of the constituents of the old Aba zone to the Ngwa, Ndoki and Asa peoples.

A) ORIGIN OF THE NGWA PEOPLE

Authorities on the origin and migration of the Ngwa people including, HRH Eze Johnson E. N. Nwaguru, Professor John N. Oriji, Mr. Emmanuel Akwaranwa, late Prof Rex Ugorji, Chief Gordon Egbulefu and HRH Eze Williams Ukaegbu all of Ngwa extraction are in agreement to the basic versions of its pristine origin.

Forde D. and Jones, G. I. in their work concluded that the clan called Ngwa people today constituted then part of the Eastern Isuama group that lived originally in the Orlu axis of Igboland⁴. It is not known for certain when these people first occupied their present home but they are believed to be among the early Ibo settlers. The Isuama group according to Prof Oriji occupied a fertile region around the water ways of Rivers Niger and Imo⁵ which aided their Southward migration in quest of cultivable land to other parts of Igboland. It is said that some moved to Nri, Awka, Udi, Nsukka and other parts of Northern Igboland. A few moved West ward area, while the majority, including the now known Ngwas moved southward⁶.

Oriji opined that the South-ward expansion of Isuama groups like the Ngwa and others known to the Ngwa as Ohuhu, brought them into the Owerri-area where they came in contact with the Asa, Ndoki, Ikwerre-Etche and others who had migrated also from the Orlu area. The Ngwa and Ohuhu, as it were, are said to have respectively settled in nearby Owerri communities of Umunoha and Mbaise now more particularly known and called Agbaja (meaning, a dry land or poor soil)⁷

Tradition relates that because of this poor soil, a number of persons were on an adventure of finding a new good soil or lands in which to dwell. This band of land adventurers after travelling for a period of time arrived on the western banks of the Imo State River and being fatigue decided to have some rest and prepared their yam meals through roasting described in the tradition as Ndagwurugwu. It is alleged that while they were roasting their yam the Imo River began to rise steadily and amongst these migrating band of people those who had already boiled their yams, hurriedly ate them, picked up their possessions and crossed over to the other side of the Imo River. Those who could not cross over the river before it rose to a dangerous drowning level because they had adopted the more lengthy process by roasting their yams delayed their departure. By that time, however, the water had risen to such an extent that it was no longer passable. The first set of group who had crossed the river were given the name Ngwa on the account of the expeditious manner of their crossing while the stragglers on the right bank were known as Ohuhu⁸meaning those who were not quick by roasting their yams.

This etymology of the name Ohuhu is simply a mythology of the Ngwa in Igbo history. However, for the fortunate Ngwa who had crossed the Imo River, three persons said to be brothers came to prominence, not only as the leaders of the group but as ancestors of Ngwaland. These brothers were Onyeukwu, Nwoha and Avosi in order of seniority.

Onyeukwu and his two brothers, together with their numerous followers⁹ including Ntigha and Nsulu group were faced with problems of acquiring land. Nwokocha contended that, the mythology expressed by Nwaguru that it was only the three brothers that had crossed the Imo River might not afterwards be a complete statement of fact. That the complete statement of fact is probably that migrants had crossed the Imo River in larger numbers. This he said gave credence to the land scarcity problems and the subsequent battles for land expansion with the original settlers of the area which the Ngwa had to contend with including the Ibibios could not have been possible had there been only the three brothers who crossed the Imo River. Another maze is how the three borthers found their wives if not from among the migrating bands that followed in the crossover journey? However, history is replete with facts that the land which was said to be thickly forested was inhabited by the Ibibio (Annangs/Ibemes) and the Asa peoples to the south west and south east respectively. From all indications, many advancing group of Ngwa migrants had military capacity far richer than the earlier settlers including the Ibibio and the Ibemes they met who could not contain their advancement. For instance, the present settlement of Osusu people in Isiala Ngwa North was formerly occupied by the Ibibios because of warm relationship and conviviality which existed between the Ngwa group and the Ibemes, the later became assimilated into the Ngwa group through acculturization.

Be that as it may, the Ngwa migrating bands were said to have pushed further eastern bank of the Imo River and settled at Okpuala-Ngwa in the present Isiala Ngwa North LGA before migrating to other parts of the present Ngwa Land.

It will be noted that some scholars including Forde D and G.I. Jones preferred documented account on the Ngwa migration story as documented by Allen J. G. C but scholars such as Jan Vasina and prof. John Oriji believe that oral tradition can be relied on, though according to Jan Vasina oral traditions lack chronology and interdependence¹⁰. These authors believe that not all oral tradition lacks credence and sequence. Most times what was written down in the past came from oral account of traditions, events, names and myth. What the colonialists wrote down most often, were obtained from oral interviews, answers from Commission of Inquiries where natives were involved and sometimes these European adventurers made assumptions and mispronounced names that have come to stay till date. One of such assumptions were made by early British administrators including Mr. Harcourt and Mr. Koe¹¹ when they wrote that the avenue (probably track road) leading to Obegu one of the new settlement town about 1896 is found to be twenty yards wide and 1,500 yards long lined with enormous trees planted some 300 years ago. At the time of writng their treatise, the Ngwas were not known to be planting trees, it came naturally or by mechanical explosion. However, as far back as beyond the 17th century, the people of Ngwa had well marked out wide roads leading to their different communities, places of worship¸markets, were kept clean which were a mark of civilization. This assumption prompted J. E. N. Nwaguru to conclude that the time Ngwa migrations took place may be in the last quarter of the 17th century¹². However, from recent archaeological findings and oral tradition, the migration history of the Ngwa could pre-date the 17th century.

B) ORIGIN OF THE NDOKI PEOPLE

Ndoki coined from the Ibo words Anyi nadokwa-ke. Meaning what are we struggling for or contending¹³. The origin of Ndoki people is traced to two unverified sources but one of such sources which has stood the test of time and as agreed by historians is that linking Ndoki with the Benin Kingdom. About the 15th Century Benin Kingdom was said to be one of the most organized kingdoms in sub-Sahara which later imploded as a result of struggle for succession to the throne. The implosion led to the disintegration of Benin Empire and later precipitated waves of migration to easterly direction. It is said that the Ndoki people were part of the Ijaw stock that migrated from the kingdom who finally settled in the Imo River valley as they presently constituted. The exodus was massive and persisted and endured for a considerable length of time. People fled the kingdom in search of peaceful area for new settlement.

The migration route shows that the Ndoki people travelled along Engenni and Orashi Rivers Northwards to Oguta. As a result, some of the emigrants came into contact with Umunoha in Owerri Division and others are said or believed to have passed through Ndizuogu in Okigwe Division. As the migration continued further south, they got to a site in the present Obunku- Okwanku and Azuogu¹⁴. The migration continued transcending Okolomakiri in the Azumini creek to occupy Umuagbayi down further to Opobo. The migration must have extended further south over a period of 200 years to reach the present Bonny. It is believe that some of the emigrants who stayed behind in the present day communities called Obunku, Umuagbayi, Azuogu, Ayama, Okoloma (Obani or Bonny) are the co-ancestors of Ndoki people.

It is learnt however, that a quarrel ensued between Bonny and a group of people left behind, who were familiar with or then had adopted Ibo language. At this point, an Ndoki leader begat a son whom he called in Ibo Anyi – nadokwa-ke? Meaning for what are we contending? History has it that when ever these people visited Bonny, the Bonny people would say to them Anyi-na-dokwake people have come; most probably leading to the clan adopting the name Ndoki¹⁵

C) ORIGIN OF THE ASA PEOPLE

The clan known today as Asa has two prominent groups namely the Oza people and the Ipu people, who trace their origins either to Ngwaland or to Ikwerre –Etche areas.¹⁶According to J. E.N. Nwaguru, these two groups may have been originally Ibos who like the Ndokis after the breakup of the Benin Empire, migrated Eastwards, then Southwards to the Atlantic coast and later Northwards to settle in an area north of their present location. It is his further belief that the Asas had a common boundary with the Ibeme people¹⁷of Ngwa stock to the north with whom they had lived in peace before the arrival of the migrating Ngwa people. Asa is the third group of people whose villages trace their origin to Okpuala Ngwa¹⁸. They were said to be inhabiting the area before the Ngwa in their Southward migration swept through and pushed these peaceful Asa people further south where they presently settled. That is why the present Aba Township has three major roads named after these people, Asa Road, Ohanku and Obohia. But of the three, Asa people claim that they originally inhibit the area now known as Aba just as the Ibibios claimed ownership of Ogbor Hill in Aba North and part of Aba South local government respecetively before they were pushed further south by the Ngwa who thereafter settled thereat with their numerical strength and through bravery. This may explain to a certain extent why some Ngwa Villages in Aba Township have mixed Asa names as pre-fix, for example. Asa Okpuaja, Asa Okpulor, Asaeme, Asannentu etc.

According to historian Nwaguru, some of the Asa people preferred to live with the invading Ngwa’s. To substantiate his assertion, he said that Mr. J. G.C. Allen, Assistant District Officer (A.D.O.) upon his investigations on the Ngwas revealed that the Asas in their capacity as special friends had helped them in clearing the virgin bush and preparing felled trees for firewood and building. It is from this work that the Oza people of Asa received the name of Ashia Osisi (Those who wittle trees) which was later abbreviated to Asia or simply Asa¹⁹ with time these three distinct people namely, Ipu, Ozar and Asa, became known as Asa.

UKWA:

The people of Asa, Ndoki and Omuma were said to be collectively named Ukwa by Ibo travellers and traders from the interior. Ukwa means wealth and this was in recognition of the fact that these peoples with early contact with the Europeans and with consequent lucrative trade connections between them had made them comparatively more civilized and wealthier. Some unconfirmed myth said that the epithet "Ukwa was mispronounced by some Ibo adventurers when they meant that Ala Akwala" that fertile land either in riches or farming has ended or has stopped and that was how the name Ukwa, was derived. However, in the 1920’s because of administrative gains, the two groups of Oza and Ipu people decided to have a separate identity for purposes of having Native Authority and County Council. However after the 1950’s the two groups decided to accept the Ukwa as Umbrella name for the present administrative division²⁰

UKWA/NGWA COMMONALITIES

Common anthropological heritage are preserved and cemented by the fact that similar customs, commonalities and norms are found and cherished in both peoples. Both ethnic groups have their unique traditional hospitality which makes them long-time host of numerous and various classes of strangers. They have always experienced mutual fate in war, trade and politics. It is only of recent that the latter day Ukwa politicians have tried unsuccessfully to disassociate themselves from the acronym Ukwa/ Ngwa as a plank to bargain for political power. According to an Ndoki son, Dr. Chihor Martin Nwogu who had tried to piece together the lives and times of the Ndokis, said on this issue that, Ukwa/Ngwa is a political gizmo in Abia State only to the advantage of the Ngwa people. Ngwa people would evoke Ukwa/Ngwa when they are in need of something in the larger Abia State. Instead of hanging our hope on Ukwa/Ngwa for political growth, the Ndoki Development Union should be revived for the advancement of Ndoki cause²¹. The option of a union such as Ukwa/Ngwa is a better umbrella for the Ndokis for now considering the fragmentation and partition of the Ndoki people and land during the military regime of the 1970s and the Supreme Court Judgment of 1982 that separated Ndoki people into three states. When an irredentist claim would be made on behalf of the Ndoki people, it will be better achieved when an Aba state is created with the joint efforts of Ukwa/Ngwa people, since all their clans have a bond or sympathy common to all its citizens.

However, the Ukwa/Ngwa people are daily at war with indolence and inertness. They are quick, crisp and all times intriguing, giving a prompt offensive to detractors who might be tempted into underrating their capabilities as witnessed in the governorship election contest conducted in 2015.

The Ukwa/Ngwa people are very affable, hospitable and remarkably at home with nature due to their traditional peasantry life. This natural occupation made them less township-minded or to scramble for both native and crown lands as are seen today to be done by people from other locality. Thus a culture based on peaceful co-existence, truth and influence today is evinced in their philosophies "Umu nnabuike" and Onye – agha la nwanneya

ABORIGINAL UKWA/NGWA CLANS AND EXISTENCE OF ORGANISED TRADING:

The creation of political division or unions in Ukwa/Ngwa zone as witnessed for perhaps, administrative convenience did not just come without the input or least tacit consent of the people. In some instance the British colonial masters approached the leaders of various clans for a Treaty of Friendship and trade partnership. Trading by the form of trade by barter had long existed in these communities before the advent of the Europeans²². There was trading on articles like yam, cocoyam, vegetables, cassava, hunted –games, palm wine, palm oil and livestock. The exchange system was through trade by barter before the Portuguese brought Cowry and Manila currency. Trading points then were at Akwette, Ohambele, Ogwe, Obegu, Ihie, Azumini and of course, Ekeoha in Aba which later took prominence over all these market spots.

The pre-colonial socio-cultural and or political life of Ukwa /Ngwa people was fairly the same except for some variants in the Ndoki culture which was a product of their historical nexus with the coastal peoples of Opobo and Bonny. The similarity was as a result of the Ukwa/Ngwa common tribal origin. This primarily stems from age long economic and social integration among these people as shown in a commercial cum other aspects of political/cultural intercourse.

As it has earlier been mentioned, the migration of Ukwa/Ngwa people which was said to have occurred around the 14th and 17th Centuries almost coincided with the Portuguese first visit to the coastal port of Bonny in the West Coast in search of gold. The Portuguese were encouraged by the hope that they might find the land of gold. The Portuguese had always known and called this west coast area Biafra, Biafar and sometimes also Biafares, these are all Portuguese word.²³ In the African map drawn by the Portuguese in the 15th century two kingdoms existed in the west coast, kingdom of Biafra, and kingdom of Benin. It was in course of search of gold in these two kingdoms that the Portuguese named the west coast Bight of Biafra and Bight of Benin respectively. These names were to help them locate the areas in their map around 1662. This was long before the British came in alleging to be stopping slave trade with its preventive Navy and later claim the lucrative area from the Portuguese. When they did, the Portuguese left the Biafran kingdom as they were in good trading terms with the British. In one of these early expeditions before the middle of the Fifteenth century, a whole cargo of black captives was sent back to Lisbon where the captives were sold into slavery. The Portuguese soon learnt how lucrative it could be to enslave and sell Negroes (black people). It could be noted that when the Portuguese made their way to the Niger Coast, they encountered a settled population of farmers (Biafrans emphasis mine) who wore cotton garments dyed with indigo, and adorn ornaments of gold and ivory²⁴. This shows that none of the clans of Niger Coast and its hinter land people migrated through the Atlantic Ocean to their present home. It appears that all migration had a north to southwards movement which must have come from the north of Africa to south and stopped at the various coasts. The cloth that these people wore then must have come from the North of Africa who are skilled in dyeing cloths and most probably the cotton garment must have come from Europe through the Trans-Saharan slave trade.

However, Anene and Brown went further to state that the people of Niger Coast were eager to exchange gold for European products like Beads, Guns, Alcohol, Cowries, Shells, Brass pots, Machetes and knives²⁵. A form of trade started with the people of the Niger Coast to which certain prominent men had engaged on and either used canoe, boat, horse or leg to bring some of these items into the hinterland.

The establishment in the new world of European plantations for the large scale production of sugar, cotton and tobacco necessitated the search for cheap and abundant labour. The local Indians were being wiped out through subjection to arduous plantation labour and it was out of solicitude for these Indians that in the early 16th century Bishop Las Casas petitioned the Holy Roman Emperor to allow importation of Negro slaves. With this grant, Portugal dominated the West Africa slave trade which Britain and other European countries hated and attempted to compete. The importance attached to Negro slave trade by the European powers is best imagined by the manner in which a British company was organized for the trade, the Royal Niger Company.

After nearly three centuries of callous indifferences to the sufferings of Negro’s, many religious and humanitarian groups in Western Europe and in America began to preach against the iniquitous traffic. In 1807 the British Parliament declared the slave trade illegal for British subjects²⁶. Other European powers later followed to outlaw the slave trade.

It should also be remembered that many Niger Coast chieftains who had become accustomed to the ready profit of the slave trade were reluctant to abandon the trade. It is said that Chief Jaja of Opobo who hails from Amaigbo (now in Imo State) was a victim of this trade