Male Daughters, Female Husbands: A Tribute To Nnobi by Rudolf Okonkwo

In an African Studies Quarterly paper titled "Domestic, Regional and International Protection of Women Against Discrimination: Constraints and Possibilities," Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome made references to Ifi Amadiume's book, "Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in African Society." In the book, Amadiume talked about the culture in Nnobi where childless women acquire 'wives' who bear children for them. These women are referred to as female husbands. By bearing children through this form of arrangement, the women gain power and status within the society - power and status childlessness would have denied them.

There are also those referred to as male daughters. These are women designated not to marry but to stay at their parents' home and have kids. This usually happens when a couple has no male child. The daughter in effect becomes the male daughter. She sacrifices the chance to go out and marry. She stays at her parents' home to have babies with the hope of giving birth to a male child who would inherit the parents' property and continue to uphold the family name and maintain the lineage.

In his book, "The Liberty of Man and Other Essays" His Royal Highness, Igwe Edmond Ezeokoli II of Nnobi, wrote about the propitiation and abolition of Osu caste system in Nnobi. He narrated his personal effort that led to the severance of the Osu from the deities that once held them sway and the integration of the former victims into the mainstream Nnobi society. The ceremony performed on December 30, 1971, was led by the Chief Priest of Idemili Nnobi and was witnessed by traditional rulers of neighboring towns and the 3000 year-old ancient OFO IDEMILI. After Nnobi, neighboring towns like Umuoji, Awka-Etiti, and Oba followed the Nnobi example.

This was the progressive and liberal Nnobi that I was born in, but more importantly, the Nnobi that was born in me. For the first fifteen years of my life, I had no sense of allegiance to any other constituted authority than that of my hometown. During the 70s, my family spent seven years living in Ogbunike, specifically at the staff quarters of Women's Training College (WTC) Ogbunike where my Dad was teaching. One summer in the early 80s, I spent my vacation in Makurdi where my aunt lived. In all those travels, never did the center of my worldview shift away from Nnobi. Until I began to fill forms for West African School Certificate (WASC) and Joint Admission and Examination Board (JAMB), nothing made me think I could leave Nnobi.

Nnobi was more than a physical home for me. It was my spiritual home. It was a place where my ancestors lived. More importantly, it was a place where my grandfather made his mark. I came back to Nnobi in the late 70s and I was eager to absorb my heritage. I finished my primary school at the famous Nnobi Central School and went on to the irreplaceable Nnobi High School. It was during the fun-filled 80s and there was really nothing like home. The richness of Nnobi became my riches, the politics became my politics and the flavor also became mine. I was a consummate Nnobian before I left Nnobi.

When I left Nnobi for the Federal University of Technology, Akure, where I beheld Nigeria, I found that Nnobi had prepared me for what I saw. In more ways than one, Nnobi is a mini - Nigeria. Nnobi is divided into three main villages - Ngo, Awuda and Ebenesi. One group could easily take the place of the Igbo, the other the Hausa-Fulani and the third the Yoruba. Within these villages are politics and issues that closely resemble the Nigerian experience. In recent years, Awuda had been threatening to secede from Nnobi. And one of its prominent sons has been fighting to become the Igwe many years before the ruling Igwe Edmond Ezeokoli II joined his ancestors.

I come from Ndam. It is one of the three clans in Ngo village. The others are Umuegbu, and Umuagu. Ndam has no school, no post office and no road. Ndam has one kindergarten where kids spend their day singing "aka-beke-gbue…" Ndam is at the boarder with Alor. Most of its landscape is being swallowed by gullies. Buildings are falling in and families are being displaced. The official masquerade of Ndam is called Nkwasi Nkwa. When translated, it means something that pushes down obstacles. The obstacles facing Nnobi are seemingly beyond what Nkwasi Nkwa can push away.

Nnobi has three major institutions - the Catholic Church as represented by Madonna Catholic Church, the Anglican Church as represented by St. Simon's Church, and Chief Zebrudaya Okolo Igwe Nwogbo, alias 4: 30. The Catholic and Anglican Churches are our own Muslim and Christian divide. The Catholic Church would excommunicate a member who allowed his or her daughter to marry an Anglican. Mere walking into an Anglican church would bar a catholic from receiving communion until he or she undergoes "opipia". The Catholics run the Boys Scout while the Anglicans run the Boys Brigade. Catholic mothers join the Mambo dance while the Anglican mothers join the Awelenma dance.

Surrounding Nnobi and sharing the same Idemili tropical rain forest are towns like Nnokwa, Alor, Uke, Awka Etiti and Nnewi. Just like South Africa is when compared to Nigeria in the continent of Africa, Nnewi towers above Nnobi in our side of Anambra. But like any one would tell you, it is in Nnobi that the potentials are. But why is Nnobi the town that is struggling the most? Why is Nnobi with lots of educated citizens the one that is still battling with issues of fundamental development? Why are the roads to Nnobi one of the worst in Idemili Local Government Area? Why are Nnobi intellectuals like Dr. Edwin Madunagu uninterested in the fate of Nnobi? Why are Nnobi businessmen and women agonizing at the bottom of their class? How shall we return Nnobi to its glorious days when it brought Christianity, Western education and modernization to its neighbors?

These are the questions Nnobi people all over the globe are beginning to ask. Those at home recently resorted to the burning of all the shrines of their forefathers with the hope of chasing away evil spirits which they blamed for Nnobi failures. Nnobians in the USA will try to answer these same questions when they meet at the first Nnobi-USA General Meeting slated for July 4th weekend in Minnesota. There participants will try to reawaken in themselves the meaning of the Abalukwu Nnobi symbol - a man carrying an elephant on his head and crushing a lion with his feet.

It is in the star of Nnobi for each generation to confront the challenges of their time and triumph. Usually, it begins with a gathering like the one planned for Independence Day weekend in Minnesota. Though Nigeria may not want its National Conference yet, but Nnobi, my Nnobi, is well on its way.
Written by by Rudolf Okonkwo.

Some History About Nnobi - The Holy Land By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo

Nnobi: The Making of a Holy Land By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo.

In the dead of night, when the crickets were chirping the loudest and the rays of midnight stars were struggling to penetrate the canopy made by leaves of cashew and palm trees, he marched along the dusty road connecting Nnobi to Alor.

The weight of his feet hitting the red soil rattled wild rabbits in their holes. In the vast Nnobi-Alor forest, encroaching both sides of the road were valleys made by gully erosion.  He chanted songs of soldiers on cross country race, pausing to hear the echoes of his voice married in a remix with the chattering of forest monkeys. Smell of decaying leaves mixed with the latest deposits by flood water along the gullies crawled through his nose.  Old women who knew him when he was just a student at Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Onitsha, cracked open their family compound hardwood doors to peep out. One woman who was bold enough to walk outside at that time of the night asked him, “Nna a, don’t you fear the night?” His answer was as crisp as the creases of his shirt. “There’s no fear.”

That was before he joined the then Lt. Col. T. J. Aguiyi-Ironsi’s 5 Queens Nigeria Regiment (5QNR) to Congo on the 1960 United Nations’ peace mission.

I became aware of him when I got admitted into Nnobi High School. I discovered that one of the school hostels was named after him. Others were named after people like former Governor General of Nigeria, Patterson and former Premier of Eastern region, M.I. Okpara. So, I felt he must have done something to deserve that honor. But I hardly asked. And we didn’t read about him in history books. The second time him name came up was when my brother applied for admission into the Nigerian Defense Academy. The trepidation that followed his interest in joining the army was attributed to the fate that befell Lt. Ezeugbana.

On Saturday February 4, 1961, Lt. Ezeugbana died in a gun battle with soldiers loyal to Patrice Lumumba in the Kivu province in Eastern Congo. His platoon was defending the UN barrack in the city. The circumstance of his death was not disclosed, at least not to his folks. His body was not brought back home. The young ones who remembered his funeral always noted that a stem of banana plant was laid inside a coffin in place of his body. The consensus was that if he had not died in the Congo, he would have died in the crises surrounding the 1966 coup and the war that followed. He was that kind of a soldier, they said, the Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu type.

The one who did not go to the Congo or die in the 1966 crisis is Major Humphrey Chukwuka, one of the famous Five Majors that planned the infamous January 14, 1966 coup. I don’t remember when I first found out that he was from Nnobi. But the first reporting assignment I went to as a new reporter for May Ellen Ezekiel’s Classique magazine was to visit the Sandhurst-trained soldier in Enugu for an interview. For a while, the time I spent with him at his home in Enugu was the biggest thrill of my life. I was not just in the midst of a historical individual, this one was a son of Nnobi. Lt. Col. Humphrey Chukwuka, as he insisted I must address him, didn’t discuss on record anything about the 1966 coup with me. Despite all my efforts, he insisted that he had moved on beyond that. But he spoke for hours on Nigeria.

As a student at Nnobi, I watched in amazement as thousands of pilgrims descend on my home town to mark Passover. Marching barefooted along the major streets of Nnobi, these pilgrims from across the world feted Rev. Michael Amakeze, popularly known as Prophet Musa. He was the General Overseer of the Holy Sabbath Christ the King Mission, now called Community of Yahweh Worldwide.  Long before anyone heard about Prophet T. B. Joshua, he saw tomorrow, for those who believed. His followers referred to Nnobi as a holy land. Since a prophet is not recognized in his home town, most of us paid no mind to Musa. Then at Chinua Achebe’s 70th birthday at Bard College in upstate New York, I was introduced as a son of Nnobi to a professor who came to the celebration from Germany. Immediately, the professor, a follower of Rev. Amakeze prostrated. “You are from a holy land,” the professor said.

At the very least, everybody’s hometown should be a holy land.

After years of keeping a date with Dr. Eddie Madunagu’s column on Thursdays at the Guardian newspaper, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the mathematician, scholar, polemist, Marxist theorist and the last socialist in Nigeria is from Nnobi. Those days that I spent at the Guardian with Eddie (as he is popularly known), I learned something about how the environment surrounding one’s formative years influences the dialectics of his souls.

Even during the pre-colonial era, Nnobi played a role in the advancement of the Igbo cosmology, including the science of the dibia Igbo and the culture surrounding the Igbo worldview. Professor Ifi Amadiume, celebrated anthropologist, essayist and a daughter of Nnobi captured an aspect of that in her seminal work, "Male Daughter, Female Husband: Gender and Sex in an African Society." 

In show business, Chika Okpala, Chief Zebrudaya Okoroigwe Nwogbo, alias 4: 30, of the famed New Masquerade, comedian extraordinaire leads a roll call that includes Gospel Musician, Gozie Okeke, of the Akanchawa fame.

At one point in the 1990s, there were three Nnobi-born Vice Chancellors/Deputy Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities. Leading the pack was Prof. O.G. Oba, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (1992-1999). In religious arena, Most Reverend Owen Nwokolo, is the Bishop on the Niger, the Anglican Bishop of Onitsha Diocese. Ret. Rev. Samuel C. Chukwuka was the recent retired Anglican Bishop of Isuikwuato/Umunnochi Diocese.

In medicine, Dr. Ferdinand Ofodile is a world renowned plastic surgeon and inventor with patents right to some of the most innovative fixtures for plastic surgery, the most popular of which is the nasal implant for rhinoplasty named Ofodile Implant. He is also a retired professor of Medicine at Columbia University

The first time I saw myself as a conscious being was at Ogbunike where my father was a teacher. We were strangers in Ogbunike but whenever we visited Nnobi, my siblings and I were expatriate children. We were pampered and adored but it was the lure of Nnobi that engrossed me. Before I knew a thing about Nigeria, Nnobi was the place that earned my allegiance. For a while it was the only government I knew. Its values became my values and its politics and heroes mine.

Nnobi in so many ways is like Nigeria- a mini-Nigeria. It’s essentially divided into three villages, Ngo, Awuda and Ebenesi. During the colonial era and the few years after, Nnobi was rising and thriving under the guardianship of the Great Igwe Ezeokoli, a traditional surgeon, educationist, celebrated King and the man who brought Christianity to Idemili. In those years of yonder, Nnobi was like Singapore or Malaysia, projecting confidence and inspiring the neighbors. In the last few years, it has dealt with tussle over kingship, an attempted breakaway village, denominational divisions and charges of marginalization of one section or another in developmental projects.  In the cause of the crises, it has seen its neighbors leave it in the dust. While Innoson Motors is producing cars in Nnewi and Ojoto is the headquarters of Idemili South, Nnobi is still searching for its place.

Across the globe there are moves to reawaken the true meaning of the Abalukwu Nnobi symbol - a man carrying an elephant on his head and crushing a lion with his feet. This generation of Nnobi people, like other great generations before it, is poised to confront the challenges of their time and triumph. Usually, it begins with a gathering.

On June 20, the people of Nnobi in North America will gather in Atlanta to again begin to contribute their quota in the ongoing renaissance at Nnobi, a rebirth that will restore Nnobi’s status as a holy land.
Written by; Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo.

All About Nkpor History

Nkpor is a town in Idemili North local government area of Anambra state, southeastern Nigeria. The town of Nkpor had an estimated population of 109,377 in 2007.[1] It is attached to the much larger city of Onitsha to the west, Oze to the north west, Ogidi to the north, Umuoji to the north east and Obosi to the south. The name 'Nkpor' is derived from the adulteration of the Igbo word 'nkpogha' meaning 'repositioning'.

The indigenes of Nkpor are descendants of a hunter from Arochukwu (in present-day Abia state also in south eastern Nigeria) called Okoli Oti. Okoli Oti had three sons Omaliko, Oji and Dimudeke. Omaliko who was the eldest is the ancestor of the people of Abatete, the descendants of Oji are the people of Umuoji, while Nkpor indigenes are descended from Dimudeke. The people of Nkpor were originally called 'Umudim' and dwelt in the area where the town of Oraukwu is located now. However, due to incessant wars and strifes with their neighbours, their elder brothers (Abatete and Umuoji) forcefully relocated them to their present site which was then uninhabited. This event lead to the derivation of the name 'Nkpor' (ndi akpoghalu akpogha—nkpogha—nkpogho—Nkpor {this is the supposed sequence of transformation and adulteration of the name}).

Nkpor is made up of five villages named after the children of Dimudeke: Isiome(Umusiome village), Ngwu(Isingwu village), Ububa(Ububa village), Nwafor(Amafor village) and Mgbachu. The igwe (king) traditionally comes from umusiome village(because they are the 'eldest'). Umusiome village consists of nine kindreds, each named after a single principal ancestor. Three of these kindreds are descendants of the sons of the first king of Nkpor. The descendants of Ezeonwu the first son, hold the 'ofor nwa di okpala' and therefore cannot be kings, but they crown the sons of Arinze, the middle son, who are the kings. The descendants of Ezekwem, the youngest son, sit near the king as trustworthy assistants and advisors. For this reason only the descendants of Arinze can be kings in Nkpor. It is noteworthy that these kindreds who are descendants of the first king cannot inter-marry. Akuzo is one of the sons of Umusiome. The people of Nkpor though known in ancient times as fierce warriors, from which they derived the envious name 'obodo dike' (the land of the brave), are peace-loving people.

All About Oraukwu History

There are two stories pertaining to the origin of Oraukwu people. The rust version says that the land Oraukwu was originally known as Ohokwu. The name actually belongs to an individual called Ohokwu, a hunter and an adventurist, who migrated from the great Nri kingdom to the present site of Oraukwu around the year 1583 AD.

This great man, together with his household, initially settled at a place called Edeomu at Uruamada village. After a little while, he left Edeomu and came up to Otta. He built his Obi at Otta. An Iroko tree stands on the spot where he built his house and that Iroko tree still exist to this day. Ohokwu originally has eight sons according to some sources. The eldest son was Otta. The names of his children according to the order of seniority are:- * Otta * Nkwelle * Ezennaja * Irukwelekor * Amaeze * Dim-Ubana * Urua-Amada * Ibenabo
The first wife of Ohokwu gave birth to Otta and Amaeze. It is necessary to state that the original name of Amaeze was Eze. Ohokwu built a house for Eze at the present site of Amaeze village. The route leading to the house was being called Ama Nwa Eze. Overtime, due to the need for ease of pronunciation, the "nwa' became silent and the name was called Amaeze. The meaning hasn't changed. The palpable togetherness that exist between Amaeze and Otta villages especially during the crises that engulfed Oraukwu after the civil war can be explained on the fact that they were born of the same mother. The same scenario is applicable to Ezennaja and UruaAmada. In fact, there were formerly called Amada Akanabo meaning "the two hands of Amada". It also seems that Nkwelle and Dim-Ubana also sucked the same breast and they behave like brothers too. Ibenabo and Irukwelekor are born of the same woman and they used to bear the name Ebenesi. The possibility of Ohokwu having a female child has not been established. In Otta village, the eldest of the kindreds is the Ottaeke. Ottaeke is the first son of Otta who is the son of Ohokwu. Together with other sons of Otta, they make up Otta village. This kindred maintains the Obi of Ohokwu. Genealogically, the family of Peter Udoezeani is the Isiani of Oraukwu. His family is the Okpala (the first son ofOhokwu) He is the head of the Ezeani society, a society whose duty it is to crown the Igwe. They are the kingmakers. And in matters of tradition, they are consulted. Infact, they, not the Igwe in Council have the final say in such matters. His father crowned Igwe Samuel Abor, and on his father's death, he crowned Igwe Onyeka and Igwe Emeka Ogbunude. The credibility of this historical account is hinged on the fact that he is the source. In law, he can testify as an expert witness. The second version says that there is no person called Ohokwu. The proponent of this version says that It was a young hunter called Eke who migrated from Agukwu Nri and settled at the present Otta village together with his family. His first son was named Otta. According to this source, that was how Ottaeke kindred derived its name-Otta being the name of the first son and Eke his surname. This version also states that Ohokwu was originally called Ohaukwu which reflects the destiny of the early settlers. The two versions agree on the fact that Otta village is the eldest of the villages and that Ottaeke kindred holds the Ofor of Oraukwu. They also agree that most of the villages are direct descendants of the first settler. The account concerning the seniority of the villages is debatable. Some sources say that the seniority order of the villages may not actually be based on who was born first. Otta, the eldest village, is situated in Enuoha. The second village according to the order of seniority which is Nkwelle, is located in Uruani. The third village Ezennaja is in Enuoha while Irukwelekor is in Uruani. The same goes for other remaining villages. There is a lot of wisdom in this political arrangement. It reduces rancour and bad blood to the barest minimum especially when it comes to sharing of political positions.

The Nigerian nation will do well to learn from this ancient wisdom in her bid for a more perfect and just union. Be that as it may, it is never in doubt that Otta remains the eldest of the villages. This is a generally accepted position without fear of contradiction. However, in any society, there are people who migrate and settle in another community for several factors. Oraukwu is not an exception. Some group of people migrated to Oraukwu and eventually mixed up with the original owners of the land. Such families can be found in every village. In Ezennaja, there is a kindred that bear the name of Umuohinta. Umuohi happens to be the name of a small community that have a shared boundary with Oraukwu. A boundary dispute later ensued and they teamed up with Neni to fight Oraukwu. The case, is still a subject of litigation even now. The Umuohinta kindred must have joined Oraukwu hundreds of years ago. Today, they have formed an integral part ofOraukwu community. Another kindred bear the name of Umuakpaka. According to the oldest man in this kindred Chief Martin Nnolim (Okwulora),the family migrated from Abacha. Their great grandfather Akpaka Onyilenyi who was a powerful medicine man, was hired by the people of Oraukwu to prepare a war medicine for them. After a successful execution of the war, he settled at the present Nkwo square and established his family there. Overtime, they became an integral part of the town. His art as a renowned medicine man also enhanced his status and he rendered a lot of services to Oraukwu in those days.   In Ibenabo Village, there is a kindred with the name Umuagulu. Oral tradition also pointed to the fact that some other families came from Ohaofia. Today in Ibenabo village, there is a god called habba. Its forest is still as it were in Ibenabo village. The origin ofhabba is Agulu. It can be deduced that they came with the god and established it here in Oraukwu among them. In Amaeze village, some of the families came from Ozu except the Umuatu who are the kola breakers whenever all Amaeze people gather together. Some families in Dim-Ubama have another ancestral origin.Tn the days of yore, they used to celebrate the Diji Ohi ceremony, a feast that is peculiar to that village. During the festival, nobody from any other village can visit Dim Ubana village. This village recorded a great loss of lives in an ancient war with the people of Alor because Alor warriors invaded the village on the day they were celebrating the Diji Ohi festival. No other village could help them. That explains their small number.   Within Oraukwu today, there are areas of land called the following names. Ozu, Owa, Igbolo, Ovolo, Ohofia, Mgbawa-Okili. Each of them was a small indepdent town. During the reign of terror made possible by Abam/Ohaofia worries, when slave trade was at its peak, some of them had their people captured and sold into slavery, their houses vandalized and their communities scattered. Ohaofia people lived where Oraukwu Girls Secondary School is now sited. There were mainly slave dealers who migrated from place to place. Some of them eventually joined the Oraukwu community and were warmly accepted. Some others left the place when enormous pressure was mounted on them due to their inhuman activities. Oraukwu and Ozu lived peacefully and had everything in common without exception. After the death of their grandparents, this tradition of communal sharing was maintained by their successors. They had common market places, feasts, ceremonies, and other observances. They were really living in brotherly peace and harmony. Like I had already stated, a land tussle that reared its ugly head in recent times made the community to team up with Neni against Oraukwu. Friends became enemies. Till this day, the matter is still a subject of litigation. Oraukwu's peace was also disturbed by the deadly attacks of her neighboring towns mainly from Owa and Ohofia towns. The Owa people were those who dug up dead bodies for consumption. Thus when a person died, his people had to keep watch over the grave for eight consecutive days to allow the corpse to decompse. A proverb had been developed which portrayed Owa people's singular quest for dead bodies warning that “Anaghi egosi Owa ini Ozu". (Nobody show the Owa people a grave) The Owa people were later driven out by Abam warriors. They also suffered persecution from Abatete, Neni and even Oraukwu people due to their strange life style. Some of them who escaped such "military" onslaught took refuge in Amada and Amaeze villages. Some families who settled in Oraukwu in the olden days were osu (outcast). The term is used for people who dedicated themselves to the deities for protection. Some were driven away from their original communities and they came to Oraukwu and took solace in some deities like Nwocha and Idemobi. Because of the hospitality of the Oraukwu people, they were allowed to establish themselves and even own lands. Today, they are part and parcel of the community. It can be said without fear of contradiction that the town of Oraukwu is an amalgam of settlers and indigenous people. THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE NAME OHOKWU TO ORAUKWU When the white men "invaded" the Igboland with their brand of government and religion, Oraukwu was one of such towns that were heavily influenced by the "strange practices" of the white men. Such influences came by way of western education and western civilization. The people of Oraukwu embraced it both with hands. A lot of them sent their children to school. Some others took to trading and migrated to the then Otu Nkwo Onitsha for Abada trade. Many of them became highly successful. Some others travelled to Enugu and became coal miners. Others joined rice farmers in Abakaliki and established rice fields. The increase in the number of the educated people in the town led to the formation of Oraukwu Progressive Union OPU. The large presence of the newly educated young men and women who joined this group culminated into an intellectual gymnastics and brainstorming on how to fashion out a better name for the town. Examples were made of some neighbouring towns who had their names changed by their people as a way of projecting a better reflection of who they are. Such towns include Awka-Etiti formerly known as Awka Nkakwu, Igboukwu formerly known as Igbo, Ekwulumrnili formerly known as Ekwuluatulu, and Mbaukwu formerly known as N namkpu. The group, after a careful consideration of some select names, finally settled for ORAUKWU, THE TOWN OF THE GREAT. This was under the effective leadership of Raphael Udechukwu as the OPU President. Before the change and even after it, the people of the town have lived up to this name. IGBO CALENDAR WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ORAUKWU For so long, the Blackman has been painted by the Western Press as someone without an organized way of doing, as a savage and barbarian plucking fruits from trees like Monkeys before the coming of the 'MESSIANIC WHITE MEN'. But the truth is that the African traditional society had a very organized system of life. Oraukwu, like every other Igbo traditional society, had her own calendar. We had our own system of counting time before the advent of colonization and western civilization. The Cock's crow announces the dawn of a new day. Again, another way of determining the time of the day is by gauging the shadow. When the shadow is below the feet, it shows that half of the day has passed. The coming of darkness in the night following the setting of the sun indicates the end of the day. Four market days make up a week. Those four days are given the names of Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. Seven weeks which is equivalent to twenty eight days make up a month. This is called "IZUU ASAA". Thirteen months make a year. A close look at the Gregorian calendar shows some striking similarities with the Igbo traditional Calendar. Gregorian calendar: 7 days x 4 weeks = 28 days = 1 month. Igbo calendar: 4 days x 7 weeks =28 days = 1 month. Gregorian calendar: 52 weeks of7 days = 364 days = 1 year. Igbo calendar: 91 weeks of 4 days = 364 days = 1 year. The four day and seven-day weeks show amazing coincidence. A close look at the Gregorian calendar in its natural stage, coinciding with the natural order, shows that it operates within the frame work of the numbers four and seven as is the case in the Igbo four day week. The names of the days have their roots in the mythology of the kingdom ofNri. Eri; the sky descended founder of the Nri kingdom, had gone on to break the mystery of time and on his journey he had saluted and counted the four days by the names of the spirits that governed them, hence the names of the spirits Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo became those of the days of the week.

All About Ojoto History

The name Ojoto is derived from Ojo and Oto – Ojoto two brothers. One (Ojo) is now a village while the other Oto is a family in Ire, Ojoto. The founder of Ojoto, OGBUA DIJI (renowned farmer) is believed to have migrated from NRI with his two brothers, ALOJUM and ADIKE. ALOJUM the eldest founded ALOR while ADIKE the youngest founded OBOSI. This must have been about five centuries.

Ogbus Diji’s first son IFITE later called EZIEKE, settled in his father’s domain – EZIEKE, while the other sons of his wives moved away from Ezieke to found the six villages of Ojoto. One of the villages EZEMA is believed to have migrated from UKE. Umueke in Ibusa,Igbouzo (Delta state) and Umudim in Nnewi are said to be founded by one of the sons of Ojoto. Ojoto now the headquarters of Idemili South Local Government is divided into two halves by the Idemili River which runs from Oraukwu to the estuary, the River Niger, passing through Alor, Uke, Nnobi, Ojoto, Umuoji, and Obosi.

Ojoto Uno and Obofia each has four villages. The villages comprising Ojoto Uno are Ezieke, Ojo, Ire, and Umuchem. The Obofia villages are Enugo, Ndiabo, Umuezema and Ezema.

The Order of seniority is as follows:
1. Ezieke 2. Ojor 3. Enugo 4. Ire 5. Ndiabor 6. Umuchem 7. Umuezema 8. Ezema
Symbol: The Oji Ojoto which lived in Ezieke best symbolized Ojoto. It had two main branches, each with four sub – branches. Oji Ogbuadiji fell down in 1948 and was given a funeral by the eight villages of Ojoto. Ogbaudiji is one of the Cardinal deities in Ojoto. The shrine is at Ezieke. The Chief Priest is from Uruowelle family.
The Headship of Ojoto; Ezieke village is the head of all the eight Villages of Ojoto. In Ezieke, this headship is located in Umuonyia family. Whoever is at the head of Umuonyia holds the ‘Ofo’ Ojoto. The present holder is Chief Augustine Obidiwe, also the seat of justice is located at Oye Ezieke. Serious decisions and traditional rites are performed by all eight villages on this ground. The fathers of Ojoto ordained Okwuajana as a place of justice. The one for Umuonyia is located at Oye Ezieke and is often used by all when assembled although, all villages have their shrines and Okwu-Ajana.
Geographical Location; Ojoto is bounded on the North by Umuoji, on the East by Uke, on the South by Nnobi, partly Nnewi and Ichi and on the West by Oba. The old Onitsha-Nnobi and Onitsha-Oba-Nnewi roads pass on either side of Ojoto. Ojoto has important road links with these neighboring towns for carrying out commercial, social and cultural activities. These activities have endured over the years and are even waxing stronger. Ojoto-Obofia is therefore rather on the West of Ojoto-Uno.
Ojoto – Uno Obofia
Ezieke Enugo
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Umuchem Ezema

All About Ogidi great Son, Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was a prominent Igbo writer, famous for his novels describing the effects of Western customs and values on traditional African society. Achebe's knack for satire and his keen ear for spoken language have made him one of the most highly esteemed African writers in English.

Chinua Achebe, a native of Ogidi in Anambra State Nigeria, is the son of a teacher in a missionary school. His parents, though they installed in him many of the values of their traditional Igbo culture, were devout evangelical In 1944 Achebe attended Government College in Umuahia. He later attended the University College of Ibadan, where he studied English, history and theology. At the university Achebe rejected his British name and took his indigenous name Chinua. In 1953 he graduated with a BA. Before joining the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos in 1954 he traveled in Africa and America, and worked for a short time as a teacher. In the 1960s he was the director of External Services in charge of the Voice of Nigeria.
During the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70) Achebe was in the Biafran government service, and then taught at US and Nigerian universities. Achebe's writings from this period reflect his deep personal disappointment with what Nigeria became since independence.
He subsequently taught at various universities in Nigeria and the United States. Achebe wrote his first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), partly in response to what he saw as inaccurate characterizations of Africa and Africans by British authors. The book describes the effects on Ibo society of the arrival of European colonizers and missionaries in the late 1800s.
Achebe's later novels No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987) are set in Africa and describe the struggles of the African people to free themselves from European political influences. During Nigeria's tumultuous political period of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Achebe became politically active. Most of his literary works of this time address Nigeria's internal conflict (see Nigeria, Federal Republic of: Civil War). These books include the volumes of poetry Beware, Soul Brother (1971) and Christmas in Biafra (1973), the short-story collection Girls at War (1972), and the children's book How the Leopard Got His Claws (1972).
In 1971 Achebe helped to found the influential literary magazine Okike. His other writings include the essay collections Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975), which he later expanded under the title Hopes and Impediments (1988); and The Trouble with Nigeria (1983).
In 1990 Achebe was paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a serious car accident. Despite the setback however, he remained active and has continued writing and publishing.  In 2007 Achebe won the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
Achebe died on 21 March 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

All About Ogidi History

Ogidi is an Igbo town, the headquarters of Idemili North Local Government area, Anambra State, Nigeria. It has an estimated population of 70,000 and has as its neighbours Abatete, Ṅkpọr, Ụmụnnachị, Ụmụoji, Ogbụnike and Ụmụdiọka. Ogidi is best known for its mid-July annual Nwafor Festival, an 11-day festival in July that takes place after cultivation of yams and included prayers for a good season. It usually starts on the first Friday of the month.

The town is the birthplace of Chinua Achebe. Other attractions include the famous Iyi-Enu Hospital and Aforigwe market.

Nwafor Ogidi Festival.

Nwafor Festival is a major cultural celebration in Ogidi and Ogbunike communities of Anambra State. Within the same period, other neigbouring towns such as Umunya also celebrate Isigwu, while Umudioka people celebrate Nkpukpa. Performed after the cultivation of yam to mark the beginning of a resting period, Nwafor takes a period of 11 days, starting from the first Friday (Afor) in the month of July and for the next 10 days.

It marks the end of the planting season. It is a transitional period after the planting, because by August and September, harvesting of yam starts.

Unlike other festival dates that could be altered, Nwafor has a fixed date well known to the Ogidi People.

The festival is a time of joy for the people as they came together in love and unity in honour of their forefathers and to offer prayers to God for a successful season ahead.
The Nwafor festival is believed to unite the people of Ogidi.

In preparation for the festival the people in the community sanitize their environment to enable the free flow of the event and in readiness to welcome all the indigenes of Ogidi returning home for the festival. A few days to the festival, on Thursday precisely the Orie market day, ceremonial masquerades perform the traditional dance around the community, setting the tone for the main event. There is also the induction of new initiates into the masquerade group. That is for young boys of around 10 years of age. And when he gets initiated, it's assumed that he has come of age; and so he will be present if there is a family meeting.

The highpoint is usually on Sunday when the people gather at the community halls to say prayers and thanks God for a successful cultivation period and also pray for a large harvest of the New Yam.

This festival is very important so much so that there's a popular saying in local parlance that an Ogidi man should not be outside when Nwafor is being celebrated. This clearly points to the importance of the feast to people of Ogidi.

Ogidi Landmarks: IyiEnu Hospital.

In an earlier study of Iyi-Enu Hospital (1907-1982), it was noted that the hospital had its early beginning in the Church Missionary Society's (CMC) Niger Medical Mission at Ozalla, Onitsha, where the mission carried out a ministry of healing through tending the sick, the suffering and the dying (Dike Ibemesi, 1982).

About 1890, through the efforts of Rev. Henry Dobinson and his former vicar, the Rev. F. N. Eden, money was raised and medicines collected abroad, for the starting of a formal medical work among parishioners in and around Onitsha . This was the origin of the Niger Mission Medical Services.

In fact, Rev. Dobinson and another missionary, Rev. P. A. Benneth actually began dispensary work on a small scale in a dilapidated mud building built by the first Bishop of the Niger Territories, the Right Reverend Samuel Adjai Crowther, who had lived there himself. Not long afterwards, a nurse Miss Taylor joined the mission as the only medical staff. By 1893, another nurse, Miss Maxwell arrived to beef up the medical team.

Dispensaries were held twice a week, for several hours in the morning in a small shelter without walls. A somewhat better dispensary was erected in 1897. On the two dispensary days, patients began to arrive before 6.30am . Activities started with a short divine service and treatment given until 1.00pm . These clinics recorded up to 135 patients in the morning.

In 1897 Rev. Henry Dobinson (now an Archdeacon) suddenly died of dysentery while on a pastoral visit to Asaba, and in 1898, a fund was raised to erect a small hospital as a memorial to honour him. The Onitsha Medical Mission was put on top list of recognized medical missions of the CMS. As more funds were received, the hospital services improved. For instance in 1898 when Dr. Clayton was appointed to be in charge of the medical work, the old compound was transformed into a twelve bed medical centre with two of the bungalows as hospital wards one for men and the other for women. Dr. Clayton stayed for only two years, and Miss Maxwell also resigned about the same time.

However, the medical work was carried on by Miss Mary Elms, a Nursing Sister who had had her nursing training in Shefield England in both general and Midwifery. Miss Elms arrived Onitsha in September, 1901. There was a great need to finance the medical centre which was growing in lips and bounds. That necessitated the introduction of a small fee for treatment. Miss Elms thereafter started a very elementary training of a few non-literate Igbo girls as nurses. It was with these girls and one or two male assistants that Miss Elims carried on the tedious and over-demanding work at the medical centre.

ESTABLISHMENT OF IYI-ENU HOSPITAL

By 1907, the services provided at the centre were found to be inadequate for the increasing work. Since there was no room for expansion, the centre was consequently transferred that same year to an old CMS Mission compound at Iyi-Enu, eight kilometers (five miles) east of Onitsha on the Onitsha/Enugu road (Dike Ibemesi, 1982,:3). The mission station there had been started about 1896/97 as a training college for boys-an embryo theological college, which was later moved in 1903 to the present site at St. Paul 's College, Awka.

It will be recalled that on the removal of the theological college, the mission compound had been occupied by the Onitsha Girl's Boarding School, which was then transferred out from Onitsha . But soon the girl's School, fast developing under the leadership of Miss Edith Warner, was offered still more suitable site, up on a hill in a secluded spot in Ogbunike called Ugwu—Ogba (Hill Cave), in 1906; and by now it was known as St. Monica's School.

The following year, 1907, the medical centre at Onitsha moved in to occupy the CMS Mission Compound at Iyi-Enu vacated by St. Monica's School. Necessary approval for the transfer was granted by the London Committee of the CMS and Dr. A.E. Druit who arrived the same year, was appointed on its present site, and continued its services straight away as a medical institution.