Onicha-Ugbo
Onicha-Ugbo (also spelled Onitsha-Ugbo) is a town in Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State, Nigeria. The town's traditional ruler is the Obi of Onicha-Ugbo; as of 2002, the obi is Agbogidi Chukwumeliaze.
It lies on the Benin-Asaba Express way connecting the west to the East of Nigeria. The main economic activity in the area is agriculture. Onicha-ugbo is a growing town of about 16 square kilometres in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Nigeria's Delta State. It is located about 40 kilometres from Asaba on the Asaba-Benin highway and has a population of about 10,000 inhabitants. It is bordered to the east by Issele-Uku and Idumuje-Unor; to the West, by Igbodo (in Ika Local Government Area)and Obior; to the north, by Idumuje-Ugboko and Ewohinmi (in Edo State) and to the south, by Ubulu-Uku. As a junction town, Onicha-Ugbo is easily accessible from all the bordering communities through a network of roads.
Onicha-Ugbo is situated on a highland at the western boundary of Aniocha North Local Government Area, and is covered with clayey brick-red sand. There is no solid rock near the surface. The Oha-Bioseh is a spring and source of clean water situated by its boundary with Idumuje-ugboko to the north. The Mkipitime Lake is a mysterious pool covering a large expanse of land near the Igbodo border. The lake is believed to be full of water during the dry season and to go almost completely dry in the rainy season.
There is no flowing river in the town. The nearest river was the Iyi Ugo in Aniofu and until recently people walked the six odd kilometers to the river, or to the nearby "tom-tom" spring and the Oha-Bioseh in idumuje-Ugboko (four kilometers away) and Mkpitime to fetch clean water in the dry season. In the rainy season, the people depended on family ponds (the deep omi and shallow ogodo) and water collected during the rains as it cascades down the roofs of houses (mili-ochichi). In recent times, concrete underground wells were dug and rainwater is directed into them through gutters made round the base of corrugated iron sheet roofs. These wells serve the homes as water reservoirs particularly against the dry season.
When ponds were the vogue, they served not only as water reservoirs but also as drains during the rainy season. Consequently, the streets became dry as all the water flowed into the ponds through channels made for that purpose. Fruit trees like the cherry (udala enwe, udala omumu), mango, pepper fruit (mmimi) berry (anene) ugili, agbono, plantain (ogede ji-oko), banana (ogede ntiti) and bread fruit (ukwa) were usually planted around the homes and provided nutritious fruit, shades and necessary checks against erosion.
Onicha-ugbo is a road junction and offers the main approach to Idumuje-Ugboko and Idumuje-Unor. It is a market center and boasts of the first telecommunication relay station in ANiocha North Local Government Area, built in 1955. The old Lagos-Asaba Trunk 'A' road, which was completed in 1916 particularly, opened it up to the world. The road ran through the town proper. It is made up of four villages (ogbe) i.e. ogbe-obi, Ogbekenu, Isiekpe and Umuolo. Agba, until recently, was not treated as an ogbe in Onicha-Ugbo. It existed for a brief period as a semi-autonomous until its own ceremonial monarch (Eze Agba) who in turn had an Iyase as his sole Onotu (Traditional Chief). Agba never developed into a town. Instead, it became a part of Onicha-Ugbo, subject to the overall administration of the obi of Onicha-Ugbo in spite of the continued coronation of its ceremonial Obi or Eze Agba. The fact that until recently, Agba was not regarded as an ogbe in Onicha-Ugbo was emphasized by the ancient popular expression: ONICHA AKA OGBE ANO (Onicha-Ugbo of four villages). It is however, now treated as an ogbe for administrative purposes.
The major avenues in Onicha-Ugbo which run from Ogbe-Obi through Abu-ano to Ogbekenu, leading to Idumuje_Unor; from Umuolo, through Abu-ano to Ishiekpe and from ishiekpe to Ogbekenu leading to Idumuje-Ugboko are master pieces in town planning. They bear testimony to the ingenuity of the founding fathers of the town, if these were not tributaries of ancient rivers that have changed courses and have hence dried up. They are wide and remarkably straight. The roads make the Abu-ano (town's square) look like an observatory point for the four cardinal points of the town - symbolized by the four villages.
Religion
Christianity is the primary religion of the Onicha-Ugbo Community. [1] Onicha-Ugbo, as it stands today, is a conglomerate of immigrants from various parts of Southern Nigeria. At different times, various groups migrated as a result of war, local disputes, love of adventure or trade and settled in the various quarters (idumu)that today make up Onicha-Ugbo. The harmonious interrelationship among these migrants who, today, see themselves only as Onicha-Ugbo indigenes is worthy of study and emulation by diverse communities interested in fashioning out homogeneity out of their present heterogeneity.
Notable people from Onicha-Ugbo
•Prof Richard Osemeka Patrick is a Pastor in Christ Embassy, the CEO of CROP Global Organization, and the HOD of the Department of Business Management at the Federal University Dutsinma.
•Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, is the current Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) and immediate past Vice-Chairman and General Counsel for ExxonMobil in Africa. He is an Alumnus of the prestigious Havard Law School. A brilliant man himself, he has facilitated the education of many indigenes of Onicha-Ugbo and Delta State in Nigeria by offering over 900 scholarships to students. He is also a philanthropist and has contributed greatly to the development of Onicha-Ugbo by taking on projects like tarring the roads leading to the Lagos-Asaba Expressway, building churches and schools among many other accomplishments. He is currently the Odogwu of Onicha Ugbo.
•Jude Monye, Olympic athlete who competed in Atlanta 1996 and won a silver medal at Sydney 2000. The United States team won the gold, but later one of the US runners in the 4 x 400 relay admitted to use performance enhancing drugs. The US gold was removed and in 2012 the International Olympic Committee awarded the gold medal to Nigeria.
•Ikenwa Nnabuogor, renowned sports journalist currently working for National Mirror newspapers, Lagos. His rich journalistic background spanning 12 years began with Complete Football magazine. He had earlier worked with KICKOFF, GOAL! FourFourTwo soccer magazine, Compass and Scorer Soccer magazine.
. Prince Austyn Onyeama Ogannah, founder and Publisher of THEWILL Newspaper with headquarters in San Francisco, California. He is also an advocate of good governance and crusader of social justice. An alumnus of the University of Benin, Nigeria, Prince Ogannah has over 20 years of media experience. He presently lives in California.
References
- ↑ Andrews, Jaiyeola (2002-05-08). "2003: Ibori on State Wide Tour Ahead Guber Battle". Thisday Online (Leaders & Company). Retrieved 2007-12-24.
Joseph Ogbechie: Washington, DC. 20052
Chudi Okwechime, Ph.D - Onicha-Ugbo through the centuries including the authentic origin of Umu-Eze-Chime (2012)