History of Ebonyi State
Ebonyi State is a South Eastern state in Nigeria majorly one of the 6 states created on the 1st of October, 1996 by the then federal military government under the leadership of late Gen. Sani Abacha. It was created from parts of Enugu State and Abia State. Before the existence of Ebonyi state, it was formerly a part of the old Ogoja Province with Abakaliki as a government station for the administration of the surrounding localities in the then Eastern Region. It got to a level of Provincial Status when Nigeria attained independence in 1960; the provincial areas had three Divisions namely: Abakaliki, Afikpo and Obubara. With the division of the former East Central State into Imo and Anambra States in 1976 by the Federal Government of Nigeria, Abakaliki Province was Balkanized *split into two with Abakaliki Division as an appendage of Anambra State while Afikpo Division was attached to Imo State.
In 1991, two states were created in the Eastern heartland, the states are: Abia State and Enugu State. By this state creation, Abakaliki Division became part of Enugu State while the former Afikpo Division became part of Abia State. It was like that until 1st of October, 1996 when Ebonyi State was finally created by Gen Sani Abacha, which led to the coming home of brothers and sisters from the old Abakaliki province who were scattered in the wilderness of circumstances of history and politics.
The people that fought for the state creation were Ezeogo, Ajaeze, Otuka Anyasi led by Martin Elechi who was their spokesman; their struggles finally yielded result after many years of agitation.
The motto of the State is "Salt of the Nation." It occupies a landmass of approximately 5,935 kilometers and has an estimated population of over 2 million people thereby ranking 34th out of the 36 states of the nation. Ebonyi State is bounded by four states of the nation; it is bounded to the East by Cross River State, to the North by Benue State, to the West by Enugu State and to the South by Abia State.
The largest city of the state is Abakaliki which happens to be the state's capital followed by Afikpo.
Ikwo is the largest Local Government Area in Ebonyi State. It is situated on the eastern part of Ebonyi State. It has a land mass of approximately 500 kilometers and shares a border with Abakaliki and Ezza Local Government Area. The people of Ikwo are believed to be the descendants of Noyo. Ikwo has a semi-tropical climate with plenty of rainfall. During the rainy season, lush vegetation, thick forests, ponds and small pools mark the landscape. Also featuring on the landscape are several rock formations, the Ikwo River and the Cross River (which marks the border with Cross River State).
The people of Ikwo are mostly farmers. Rice, yams and cassava are the most popular crops produced this area. Ikwo is regarded as the largest producer of Abakaliki rice and a top producer of palm wine. Ikwo is also endowed with abundant natural resources that are largely untapped, including lime stones at Agubia, Echara Ukwu in Eka Awoke, lead, zinc and salt in Ameri and Ohankwu, and laterite deposits in various parts of the community.
Ikwo is the home of the former Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Martin Elechi (MFR). It is also the home of the only Federal University in the state (FUNAI), the Ebonyi State College of Education at Onuebonyi Echara, the Ameri Salt Pit and several mines at Ohankwu and Ameri. Ikwo has several sites that have great tourist potential. These include the Oferekpe Beach, the Illi Noyo at Ekpelu Umuaka (the ancestral home of Ikwo Noyo clan), the Norwegian Water Reservoir at Amagu, the rocky hills formation in Amagu, Okpuitumo and Otagbara, and the Ogagbo Igbudu Beach at Ogagbo Igbudu.
Ebonyi State has a mixture of eastern prototypes vegetation which consists of Semi-savannah grassland with forests and swamps.
Ebonyi is primarily an agricultural region and the Ebonyians are mainly farmers being in an agrarian area. The state is among the leading producers of rice, yam, potatoes, maize, beans, and cassava in Nigeria. Rice and yams are predominantly cultivated in Edda, a region within the state.
In the educational sector, Ebonyi State has a university in Abakaliki (Ebonyi State University, popularly known as EBSU), a federal polytechnic (Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic in Unwana near Afikpo), one college of education in Ikwo, a college of agriculture in Ishiagu and several secondary and primary schools spread across the various towns and villages.
Ebonyi land is richly blessed with a lot of solid mineral resources spread across all parts of the state. The several solid mineral resources are lead, crude oil, and natural gas, but few large-scale commercial mining mines. The state government has, however, given several incentives to investors in the agro-allied sector to encourage production. Ebonyi state is called "the salt of the nation" because of the huge salt deposit at the Okposi and Uburu Salt Lakes.
Posted in History | Date:March 5th , 2018 | Comments: 0| Views: 8775Related Information:
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