Ngwa

The Ngwa people (Natively: Nde Ṅgwà IPA: [ŋɡʷa]) are an Igbo subgroup living in southern part of Igboland. The Ngwa people are found predominantly in Abia State with a population of 314,840 in 1963. Covering 1,328 square kilometres (513 sq mi), the Ngwa people are the largest subgroup of Igbo people.

Ngwa people
Ṅgwà
Total population
314,840[1] (1963., census)
Regions with significant populations
Abia State
Languages
Religion
Related ethnic groups

It is bounded by the Imo River in the west, and the Anang-Ibibio people in the east. The Asa and Ndoki people shares boundary in the outh. Ngwaland borders Ubakala and Olokoro people in the north and Isuorgu in the northeastern part.

With an Isuama origin, the Ngwa people are said to have migrated from present day Mbaise and settled at Okpuala Ngwa and expanded their territory through peaceful migration.

Palm oil and slave trading were major exports of the Ngwa people in pre-colonial era with palm oil being the sole economy of the Ngwa people during the banning of slave trading by colonial masters.

Aba, of the commercial cities in Africa and the Aba River are found in the center of Ngwa land.

History

According to oral literature, the Ngwa people are said to have migrated from Umunoha in the Owerri area with other people. On reaching at the west bank of the Imo River, the group became tired and they decided to eat. Three brothers; Ngwaukwu, Nwoha and Avosi quickly boiled their yam and crossed over the Imo River before their companions. The Imo River grew and held their companions at the bank.[2] The Ngwa people are said to have displaced the Ibibio and Ibeme people driving them eastward.[2] The three brothers and their followers settled at Okpuala Ngwa before migrating to other areas.[2] Some Ngwa farmers settled in the northwest of the present Ngwa region before the Atlantic slave trade began but the area saw the an establishment of more villages and increase in population from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries.[3]

The Ngwa people made contacts with the British during the period when slave trading was being banned. This saw the establishment of the first consular post at Obegu in 1895.[4] Ngwaland was made a British colony during the Anglo-Aro War in 1901.[5] The garrison and district headquarter at Ndokiland was moved to Aba-Ngwa in 1902 and 1903 respectively.[6]

Geography

The Ngwa people are found in southern Igbo land and the largest subgroup of Igbo people with a landmass of 1,328 square kilometres (513 sq mi)[2] and an estimated population of 314,840 in 1963.[1] Ngwaland is bounded by the Imo River in the west, and the Anang-Ibibio people in the east. The Asa and Ndoki people shares boundary in the south. Ngwaland borders Ubakala and Olokoro people in the north and Isuorgu in the northeastern part.[7] Ngwaland are divided into four parts; northern, southern, northwestern and eastern Ngwa.[8] Ngwaland lies in a flat agricultural land with the highest elevation of 100 feet in the basin of the Aza river in the south-east with an annual rainfall of from 80 inches to 100 inches and an average annual temperature of 80 degree Fahrenheit.[9] Ngwaland has a humid tropical type of climate with the the seasons divided between wet and dry seasons, with the rainy season lasting from March to November.[10][11]

There are three main watercourse in Ngwaland; the Imo River, the Ahi River which rises in the Umuahia area and the Oji River which rises at Nsirimo in Ubakala.[12]

In the 21st century, Ngwa people are found in eight local government area of Abia State, namely: Obingwa, Osisioma Ngwa, Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South, Aba North, Aba South, Ukwa East and Ukwa West.[10]

Culture

Precolonial Ngwa land were practitioners of African religion and worship their gods as part of their culture. Yam, maize, cassava, cocoyam, vegetables, oranges, palms, fruits makes up majority of the food crops.[10] The men in Ngwaland are the only people allowed to speak at the main village meeting where the affairs of the people are discussed while married women in hold village meetings where internal their affairs were discussed and also served as a savings club.[13] Ngwa people practice polygamy.[14] The Ngwa people believe in procreation and reincarnation and believe that childbirth through marriage is the only means of reincarnation.[15] The Ekpe and Okonko secret societies served as moral enforcement societies in pre-colonial Ngwaland, as decisions reached by the lineage council was enforced by them.[16] The Ekpe and Okonko society were introduced to Ngwaland through Aros and originally from their neighbours in Cross River.[17] The Okonko Society was reserved strictly for men.[18]

Language and literature
See also: Ngwa dialect and Igbo literature

Ngwa dialect is spoken in Ngwaland.[19] It is used as means of communication in trade, folktales, community and village meeting and entertainment with the Standard Igbo being the preferred language for administrative and educational purposes.[20] The Ngwa dialect is classified it as an Igboid dialect under the New Benue Congo subfamily of the Niger Congo phylum and among the south-eastern group of dialects.[20][21]

Religion

Prior to the arrival of the British, the Ngwa people worshipped the deities that was indigenous to their village which Ukwuleke[lower-alpha 1] was and still is considered the most powerful in the pantheon of gods. Other gods include Ohanjoku and Amadioha.[22] Through healthcare and education, Christian missionaries converted most Ngwa people from their indigenous religious practice to Christianity particularly, the Seventh-day Adventist, Anglican and Catholic.[23] In the 21st century, majority of Ngwa people are Christians with very few practicing traditional Ngwa religion[24] with Okpuala Ngwa being the capital of such practices.[2]

Economy

Due to the fertile land, the economy of Ngwa people in pre-colonial era was solely based on farming.[9] Written information about the economy before 1900 is scare.[5] The Ngwa people were majorly involved in international trade. The Ngwa people started importing iron for hoes and machete around the sixteenth and nineteenth century. The nineteenth century saw the involvement of Ngwa people in the production of palm oil and from the I870s palm kernel for export.[3]

During the WWI, the prices of palm oil and kernel was beginning to recover; which gave rise to the construction of the Eastern Railway which runs through Ngwaland. From 1919 to 1920, there was an expansion of palm oil production and a labour-saving processing technique.[25] The railway created sizeable food markets for the sell of cassava; either as garri or as akpu. Palm wine were other source of income for the Ngwa people.[26]

Since the Nigerian Civil War, cassava has become a more important cash crop in the Ngwa villages.[27]

"Isusu" a form of banking institution aided in raising money for business or marriage in pre-colonial Ngwa. This form of banking system is still practiced.[9]

See also

List of Ngwa people

References

Notes
  1. Standard Igbo: Chukwu

Citations
  1. Oriji 1982, p. 524.
  2. Amankulor 1977, p. 37.
  3. Martin 1984, p. 416.
  4. Morgan 1955, p. 332.
  5. Martin 1984, p. 414.
  6. Nwosu 1998, p. 86.
  7. Oriji 1981, pp. 66–68.
  8. Oriji 1981, p. 70.
  9. Nwabughuogu 1984, p. 47.
  10. Ekpendu & Akwarandu 2019, p. 84.
  11. Martin 1984, p. 415.
  12. Oriji 1981, p. 68.
  13. Martin 1984, pp. 418–419.
  14. Ukaegbu 1976, p. 391.
  15. Ukaegbu 1976, p. 393.
  16. Kalu 1977, pp. 84–85.
  17. Kalu 1977, p. 80.
  18. Martin 1984, p. 419.
  19. Ugorji 2019, p. 107.
  20. Asuoha, Omego & Isaac, p. 127.
  21. Ugorji 2019, p. 96.
  22. Ekpendu & Akwarandu 2019, p. 85-86.
  23. Ekpendu & Akwarandu 2019, p. 86.
  24. Ekpendu & Akwarandu 2019, p. 84-86.
  25. Martin 1984, p. 412.
  26. Martin 1984, p. 424.
  27. Martin 1984, p. 425.

Bibliography
  • Martin, Susan (1984). "Gender and Innovation: Farming, Cooking and Palm Processing in the Ngwa Region, South-Eastern Nigeria, 1900-1930". The Journal of African History. Cambridge University Press. 25 (4): 411–427. JSTOR 181224.
  • Oriji, J. N. (1981). "The Ngwa-Igbo Clan of Southeastern Nigeria: An Oral History Overview". The Oral History Review. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 9: 65–84. JSTOR 3675325.
  • Oriji, J. N. (1982). "A Re-Assessment of the Organisation and Benefits of the Slave and Palm Produce Trade Amongst the Ngwa - Igbo". Canadian Journal of African Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 16 (3): 523–548. JSTOR 484558.
  • Morgan, W. B. (September 1955). "Farming Practice, Settlement Pattern and Population Density in South-Eastern Nigeria". The Geographical Journal. The Royal Geographical Society. 121 (3): 320–333. JSTOR 1790896.
  • Ekpendu, Ikechi Chidi; Akwarandu, Onyenkwere Princewill (2019). "Situating the African Ngwa Clan in Acts 17:15-34: An Efficient Missiological Method". International Journal of Philosophy and Theology. American Research Institute for Policy Development. 7 (1): 83–87. doi:10.15640/ijpt.v7n1a10. ISSN 2333-5769.
  • Amankulor, J. Ndukaku (January 1977). "The First All-Ngwa Cultural Festival". African Arts. UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center. 10 (2): 36-37+66-70. JSTOR 3335182.
  • Nwabughuogu, Anthony I. (1984). "The "Isusu": An Institution for Capital Formation among the Ngwa Igbo; Its Origin and Development to 1951". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. Cambridge University Press. 54 (4): 46–58. JSTOR 1160396.
  • Ukaegbu, Alfred O. (1976). "The Role of Traditional Marriage Habits in Population Growth: The Case of Rural Eastern Nigeria". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. Cambridge University Press. 46 (4): 390–398. JSTOR 1159301.
  • Kalu, Ogbu U. (1977). "Missionaries, Colonial Government and Secret Societies in South-Eastern Igboland, 1920-1950". Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. Historical Society of Nigeria. 9 (1): 75–90. JSTOR 41857053.
  • Nwosu, Okere Steve (1998). "The National Question: Issues and Lessons of Boundary Adjustment in Nigeria—The Ndoki Case". Journal of Third World Studies. Political, economic and social issues in the Third World. University Press of Florida. 15 (2): 79–101. JSTOR 45193765.
  • Asuoha, Jephthah C.; Omego, C. U.; Isaac, B. H. "An Analysis of Sluicing Construction in Ngwa-Igbo". Universal Academic Journal Of Education, Science and Technology. England. 4 (2).
  • Ugorji, Nneoma Fyne (2019). "Thematization in Ngwa-Igbo". International Journal of Integrative Humanism. 11 (1). ISSN 2026-6286.

Further reading
  • Onwuma, Eze Obinna. History of Ukwa/Ngwa People and Aba Town: Once Upon a Time. Author House. p. 769. ISBN 978-1-6655-0430-0.
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