Agenebode Weppa Wanno Etsako East | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 7°06′N6°42′E / 7.100°N 6.700°E | |
Country | Nigeria |
State | Edo |
Climate | Aw |
Agenebode is a historical water-side town located by the banks of the Niger River in Edo State, South South part of Nigeria. It is the headquarters of Etsako-East local Gornment Area, The host of the local council and the traditional capital of Weppa Wanno Clan/Kingdom. [1] [2]
Agenebode is bounded by Ivioghe, Egor, Emokweme villages, and the River Niger. Agenebode city is the ancestral home city of all Weppa and Wanno people, [3] both at home and in the diaspora. There’s a general market at the center of the city and people attend every five days to buy fresh groceries. People are friendly and content in Agenebode. [1]
Agenebode is divided into different quarters, which are called Ighaewo, Egbado, Otoukwe, Igegbode (upland). The major town are Emokweme, Egor and Ivioghe villages, Iviebua Igbagba and Agiele.
Agenebode was the regional headquarters of the Royal Niger Company, a mercantile company owned by the British Colonialists and currently the headquarters of Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State. [4] The city of Agenebode is known today to be a non-Nupe town inhabited by and belonging to the Uwanno people who speak the Etsako language. [5]
Agenebode was founded by the Nupe people, inhabited and ruled by them over a century.
Afenmai an ancien town in Edo North was an administrative area of Nupe empire. The works of scholars like Professor Alan Ryder and the journal records of the earliest Europeans like Captain Hugh Clapperton shows that today’s Edo state was part and parcel of Nupeland in former times. [6]
Educational institutions at Agenebode are the College of Agriculture and Fisheries, St. Peters Grammar School, Progress Secondary School, Providence Secondary School, Army Day Secondary School, Sacred Heart College, Catholic Junior Seminary School,Omoaze Primary school, and so many other secondary and primary schools. [7] Agenebode house a Nigerian Supply and Transport barracks of the Nigerian Army, and a Division of the Nigerian Police Force. The King of the Weppa Wanno Kingdom is called the Okumagbe which is translated as the unifier, and his palace is situated at Agenebode Upland. [8] The stool of the Okumagbe is rotated among the five kinship groups. Presently (Dr) George Oshiapi Egabor, JP, PhD, OON a chartered accountant and industrialist from the Iviokpisa kinship group, is the current Okumagbe of the Weppa Wanno; his title is OMOAZE 1. [8]
Residents of Agenebode are predominantly Christians as the first catholic mission in Mid-Western Nigeria was located at Agenebode in 1882. [9] There are also Muslims and traditional worshippers.
Interesting sites in Agenebode are the post office, built in 1930, the Colonial Court on Mission Road, [10] the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the Local Council office, the Army Barracks, [11] General Hospital, Niger Valley Farms, the River Niger banks, the Notre Dam Hospital, and the Convent.
The main means of transportation in Agenebode is by motorcycles, buses and cars. Canoes, boats and ferries transport people across the River Niger to Idah in Kogi State.
Traditional occupations of the people are farming, fishing and canoe-building. Local agriculture produces maize, nuts, groundnuts, sorghum, rice, vegetables, potatoes, Cassava, Yam, fruits etc.
The local cuisine are-Corn Soup (Omi-ukpoka), peanuts soup (omi-sagwe), melon soup (okotipio), fresh fish soup (omi-esegbomi) etc.; these soup can either be eaten with pounded yam, Eba, Fufu etc.; Agenebode people drink locally made gin (ukakai) and fresh palm wine.
The Ijaw people, also spelled Ịjọ, are an ethnic group found in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, with significant population clusters in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers. They are also in Edo, and small parts of Akwa Ibom occupying six Nigerian states. Many are found as migrant fishermen in camps and settlements in Benue, Ondo and Kogi states and as far west as Sierra Leone, Ghana and as far east as Gabon. As of 2023, Nigeria's Ijaw population is estimated at over 15 million, accounting for around 6.9% of the country's 223 million people, positioning them as the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria. The Ijaws are the most populous tribe inhabiting the Niger Delta region, and one of the world's most ancient peoples.
Lokoja is a north-central city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Bassa Nge, Yoruba (Oworo) and Nupe are indigenous to the area, other ethnic groups, including the Kupa-Nupe, Hausa, Ebira, Igala, Igbo, Bini/Edo, and Tiv have recently established themselves. Lokoja is projected to be the third fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.93% growth rate. It was listed as a second class township by the 1917 township ordinance of the colonial administration, indicating that Lokoja is an old city.
Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of the federal republic of Nigeria. As of 2022, the state was ranked as the 22nd most populous state (4,777,000) in Nigeria. The estimated state population is around 4,777,000 in 2022. Edo State is the 22nd largest state by landmass in Nigeria. The state's capital and largest city, Benin City, is the fourth largest city in Nigeria, and the centre of the country's rubber industry. Created in 1991 from the former Bendel State, it is also known as the heart beat of the nation. Edo State borders Kogi State to the north for 133 km and across the Niger River for 81 km to the northeast, Anambra State to the east for about four km across the Niger River, Delta State to the southeast and south for 350 km, and Ondo State to the west.
Esan people, or Esans, are an Edoid-speaking ethnic group who share a common culture and the Esan language. The Esan are traditionally known to be agriculturalists, trado-medical practitioners, mercenary warriors and hunters. They cultivate palm trees, Irvingia gabonensis (erhonhiele), Cherry (Otien), bell pepper (akoh) coconut, betel nut, kola nut, black pear, avocado pear, yams, cocoyam, cassava, maize, rice, beans, groundnut, bananas, oranges, plantains, sugar cane, tomato, potato, okra, pineapple, paw paw, and various vegetables.
The Ebira people are an ethnic-linguistic group of North central Nigeria. Most Ebira people are from Kogi State and Nasarawa State. Their language is usually classified as Nupoid and within the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Until the separation of Kogi State from Kwara State, Okene was seen as the administrative center of the Ebira-speaking people in Kogi state, located not far from the Niger-Benue confluence. Since the formation of the state, the Ebira Ta'o people are predominantly found in five local governments in Kogi state, namely Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi, Okene and Ogori/Magongo. They are also found in large numbers located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Nasarawa in Toto LGA. Also, the Eganyi are found in Ajaokuta LGA. And the Etuno can be found in Igarra town of Agorimagongo, Okehi and Okene each with their administrative headquarters. Ebira Koto is found in Kogi and Koton Karfe LGA, Bassa LGA, Lokoja in Kogi and Abaji LGA in the Federal Capital Territory, Akoko-Edo LGA, Edo State.
The Afemai people, also spelled Afenmai are a group of people living in the northern part of Edo State south geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
The Etsakọ people are one of the major ethnic group in the northern region of Edo State, Nigeria. They are historically linked to the ancient Benin kingdom. Administratively, they presently occupy three local government areas of Edo State. These are: Etsako East, Etsako West and Etsako Central, with Agenebode, Auchi, and Fugar as their administrative headquarters respectively.
Emokweme is a town in Weppa Wanno Kingdom of Edo state, Nigeria with a population of approximately 20,000 people.
Weppa Wanno is a Kingdom in present-day Etsako East local government area, in the South- South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is the homeland of Uwano people in the Etsako East local council administrative authority. Today, the people are traditionally ruled by two different clan kingship, the Weppa clan kingship and the Uwanno clan kingship. However, all the people of Weppa Wanno speak the same version of Etsako languages called Uwano dialect.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Auchi is a diocese located in the city of Auchi, Edo State in the ecclesiastical province of Benin City in Nigeria.
Nigerian cuisine consists of dishes or food items from the hundreds of Native African ethnic groups that comprises Nigeria. Like other West African cuisines, it uses spices and herbs with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply flavored sauces and soups.
Okpella is a clan situated along Benin-Abuja federal high way. Going by the last National Census figures, it has the population of 20,652 and is one of the three main towns that make up Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State. It is made up of two sub-clans, each with their villages; Ogute sub-clan, which is made up of Ogute-Oke, Awuyemi, Imiekuri and Imiegeli, okhu villages, and Oteku sub-clan, comprising Komunio and Iddo. The language spoken in the clan is Okpella, a dialect of Bini which has evolved. Okpella is known for its natural sedimentary rock based mineral resources, which include gold, limestone, calcium, and granite, feldspar, talc, clay, marble, and it plays host to the defunct Bendel Cement Factory, BUA Cement Factory and Dangote Cement Factory.
Esan South East Local Government Area is a local government area of Edo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ubiaja. It shares boundaries with Kogi, Anambra, and Delta states to the east, southeast and south, respectively.
Etsako Central is one of the 18 Local Government Areas of Edo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Fugar. It is represented in the Edo state house of assembly by Hon. Ahmed Waziri Oshomah of the APC
Etsako West is a Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Auchi. Etsako West is made up of six clans: Uzairue, Auchi, South Ibie, Anwain, Jagbe and Aviele.
Auchi is a city in Edo State, Nigeria.
Okpekpe is a town in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. It is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Auchi. It has a population of 3155 inhabitants. Its people belong to a homogeneous group of people, called the Afemai.
Esanland, otherwise known as Esan Nation, is a cultural region located in Edo State, Nigeria. It is composed of five Local Government Areas in Edo State. Esanland lies west of the banks of the Niger River. It is bordered by Kogi State, Delta State, Edo South Senatorial District, and Edo North Senatorial District. Esanland covers about 2,800 square kilometers and is home to over half a million people. The Esan people and culture of Esanland are generally homogenous.
Unuedegor is a community located along the banks of the Niger River in Etsako East local government area of Edo State in Nigeria. It is about eight kilometers north of Agenebode, where the Etsako East local government headquarters are located. Bordered on the east by Idah in Kogi State, with the River Niger in the middle of both communities, it is bordered on the west by Egor-Na-Ugeh along the Nigerian Railways tracks that run from Ajaokuta to Warri in Delta State, and in the north by Uzanu Community of the Uneme Kingdom.
Edo traditional food consists of dishes or food items common among the people of Edo State. The State is home to various ethnic groups including the Binis, Ishan (Esan), Afemai, Etsako, Uzebba Iuleha people [Owan] and others. The Traditional food found among these people usually involves soup and swallow. 'swallow' is a term for Nigerian meals that are taken with soup and ingested without chewing.