Coordinates: 5°31′40.2″N7°16′23.9″E / 5.527833°N 7.273306°E
Ahiara is a city in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria. The city stands about 16 miles between Owere and Umuahia. It was the location of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration during the Nigerian Civil War. It is the location of the Catholic diocese in Mbaise. The first recorded Ahiara contact with the Europeans was around 1905 when the British Aro expedition got mixed up in inter-village war which eventually had Dr. Steward a victim, as a consequence the Ahiara people were severely punished by the British forces with an invasion which forced many citizens to flee and never return.
The Ahiara Slogan is Decent Dexterity.
Ahiara was founded by a man of that name. He was the son of Anunu, popularly called Odo ji Anunu. His sibling Avuvu became a part of Ikeduru. Etymologically, the name Ahiara is a type of plant among the Igbo people. The leaves of this plant signify peace. The great Ezes of Igbo used to travel with Ahiara leaves to guarantee peaceful journeys across several territories. Before Christianity, which 89 percent of the people practice, traditional religion held sway. Ahiara does not practise a centralized system of government. The ten chief priests and chief priestess were the symbol of authority and they occasionally met to deliberate and pass motions which eventually became tradition and laws. They also conferred titles to deserving citizens. Among those was Hon Nze.H.C. O Uhegbu who was conferred with the title of Nze Onugotu of Ahiara as at the time he was the first man in Ahiara to represent the clan in the state legislature.
Ahiara city is historically called Ahiara Ofo Iri, which means Ahiara of the Ten Scepters. Each scepter represents each of the ten villages that make up the city. The ten villages of Ahiara are:
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Ahiara is divided into two sections: Ihite and Ikenga.
These ten villages are symbolically explained as the ten fingers of the human hands. This signifies an evolved dexterity and is why the Ahiara Slogan is Decent Dexterity.
The Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral in Ahiara is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahiara.
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Igbo-Ukwu is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra in the south-central part of the country. The town comprises three quarters namely Obiuno, Ngo, and Ihite with several villages within each quarter and thirty-six(36) administrative wards.It is also bordered by Ora-eri, Ichida, Azigbo, Ezinifite, Amichi, Isuofia, Ikenga and some other towns. Others include Ekwulummi, Ụmụọna, etc
Onicha Nwe-Nkwo is an autonomous community in Ezinihitte Local Government Area, Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria.
Emekuku, is a town in Owerri North Local Government of Imo state in South-Eastern Nigeria.
The Diocese of Ahiara is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in Ahiara in the region of Mbaise in Imo State, Nigeria. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Owerri.
Ejemekwuru is an Igbo-speaking community that sits in the North-Western part of Imo State in the southeastern region of Nigeria.
Umunze is the headquarters of Orumba south local government area in Anambra state of Nigeria. Its geographic coordinates are 5° 58′ 0″ north, 7° 13′ 0″ east.
The Kingdom of Nri was a medieval polity located in what is now Nigeria. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called an Eze Nri. The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, a subgroup of the Igbo-speaking people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters.
Nnarambia is a town in Ahiara, Imo state, Nigeria. It is made up of five hamlets: Ama-obu, Amakpaka, Umuezereugwu, Umunnachi, and Ofor na Obia.
Oru na Nneude is a village in Ahiara, Imo State, Nigeria. It is divided into two sections, Oru and Nneude, the division between which was apparent as early as the late 1950s. The population of Oru is over 5,200, and Lude over 4,700.
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Okpofe is an autonomous community located in Ezinihitte Mbaise local government area (LGA), in Imo State, Nigeria with common boundaries with Itu, Ezeagbogu, Ihitte, Amumara and Oboama autonomous communities. Okpofe is the centre of the Ezinihitte Mbaise clan, and it is the only town in Ezinihitte Mbaise that does not share a boundary with another local government area in Imo State. It is quite a unique town in Ezinihitte. It is also on record that the Roman Catholic Church was first established in Okpofe town in the year 1918 when the first crop of missionaries brought to the town held the first Catholic mass at the shrine of Inyama Oguegbe Ajero, who himself was the Second Paramount King of the ancient town after Chief Mbagwu. Ezinihitte Mbaise The Anglican Juniorate in Mbaise is located in Okpofe too.
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Ichi was facial ritual scarification worn by mainly men of the Igbo people of Nigeria. The scarification indicated that the wearer had passed through initial initiation into the aristocratic Nze na Ozo society, thus marking the wearer as nobility. Echoes of this tradition are found in the contemporary derivative word Ichie, which denotes a member of a class of titled chieftains amongst the Igbo.
Umueri, also known and pronounced as Umuleri, is an ancient town in the Anambra State of Southeastern Nigeria. The people of Umueri belong to the Igbo ethnic group, and the town has an estimated population of 1,500,000. It is located within the Anambra Valley, bordered by the Anambra River and Anam communities in the north, Nteje to the south, Aguleri and Nando in the east and Nsugbe in the western flank. The forebears are widely acknowledged as the first settler in Omambala valley. Umueri has three main quarters: Ezi Umueri, Ifite Umueri, and Ikenga Umueri.
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The Nze na Ozo society, is the highest and most important spiritual religious and social grouping in the Igbo society of Southeast Nigeria. Initiation into the aristocratic Nze na Ozo society marks the person as nobility. To become Ozo implies that the title holder is now an ‘Nze’ implying living spirit and an ancestor. One then becomes the moral conscience of the community and is seen to be a fair adjudicator in cases of disputes within the community. In times of crisis, most Igbo communities will rely on Ozo members for leadership. Generally, in most Igbo communities, only holders of Ichi title may become candidates for Ozo title. Anthropologists have seen cases of women with Ichi scarification, although only men are amongst the Ozo, a title which accords the individual extreme prestige, power, and influence in the community.
Nawfia is a town in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Nawfia is surrounded by neighbouring towns namely Enugwu Ukwu, Awka (Umuokpu), Nise, Amawbia and Enugwu Agidi. It is predominantly occupied by the Igbo ethnic group and is believed to be one of the towns that make up the ancestral home of Igbo people. Most of its inhabitants are Traditionalists and Christians. Igbo, English and Pigeon-English are the predominant languages spoken in Nawfia.