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Arondizuogu (Aro-ndizuogu) is a town inhabited by the Aro people, an Igbo subgroup in Imo State of Nigeria. The Arondizuogu community is believed to have migrated from Arochukwu in the present Abia State to their current settlements in Imo State, which include the Okigwe, Ideato North and Onuimo local governments.
Arondizuogu is believed to have been founded in the mid-14th century through the forceful occupation and open massacre of the people of Umualaoma by Mazi Izuogu Mgbokpo and his brothers. Izuogu Mgbokpo, a slave merchant from Arochukwu, and who came to Awka in search of slaves, was harbored by a friend from Umualaoma. Izuogu Mgbokpo had three children and three brothers. The children were Uche, Awa and Amazu, while the brothers were Imoko, Njoku and Akame. Iheme was his chief servant and came from Isi-Akpu Nise, in Awka. Izuogu captured more slaves, whom he sold to European slave merchants. Arondizuogu people refer to themselves as "Izuogu na Iheme". Arondizuogu itself signifies "Aro of the people of Izuogu," in Igbo. Some of the people he enslaved kept his name even after they were freed from captivity.
Most of the wars over Arondizuogo were brought to an end by the patriarch of the host community, Ezerioha Udensi of Obiokwara, Obinihu, Umualaoma (i.e. Isuokpu). He organised the peaceful allocation or donation of lands to Arondizuogu, after concluding that the Arondizuogu people could no longer return to Aro Chukwu.
In the 19th century, Mazi Okoli Idozuka migrated from Isi-Akpu Nise to Arondizuogu. As a warrior, he expanded Arondizuogu's boundaries. He later changed his name to Okoro Idozuka, an Aro equivalent of his former name. He was a wealthy and ruthless slave trader but was also a great leader. Nwankwo Okoro was the first son of Okoro Idozuka, who at the age of 21 joined his father in the slave trade. [1] When the British came, they made him a warrant chief. To this day, Arondizuogu is the biggest former Aro colony and a land of mainly immigrants.
Places of interest in Arondizuogu include Mazi Mbonu Ojike Cottage (village home of Nigeria's late "Boycott King"); Uno Ogologo (a safe house built in 1887 for hiding children during the slave trade era); the Stone Palace (a storehouse erected by late Chief Green Mbadiwe, West Africa's first millionaire, for his father, Umualaoma Nkwo Ochie); Mbadiwe Odum; Ngeze stream; Ogbuti Ezumezu (visitor's chamber of Ikeji musician Pericoma Okoye); LN Motel Plaza, Home Diamond Hotel; National High School, Arondizuogu (pioneer model school built by Mazi Nwosu Elele Igwiloh and commissioned in 1951); Iheme Memorial Secondary School (a second model school commissioned in 1951); Palace of The People (country home of Nigerian politician K. O. Mbadiwe, commissioned by Nigeria's prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in 1965); Upiti rice fields; Obi Omenuko, homestead of Igwegbe Odum; and Ngene Okwe, a natural spring.
Ndi Izuogu live in many local government areas in Imo State. Although they have almost the same dialect as the group of Igbos in Anambra State, apart from Ndi Uche (descendants of Izuogu's first son) they still retain a slightly different dialect. Arondizuogu, which is made up of 20 villages, is the only community that inhabits three Local Government Areas apart, from Mbaise. The local governments they inhabit include Okigwe, Ideato North, and Onuimo.
Arondizuogu is a group of sprawling communities with the largest area being Umualaoma town (formerly Isiokpu).
Instituted in 1948, ‘Arondizuogu Day’ is an annual end-of-year convention of people of Arondizuogu descent at home and abroad. It is a day set aside to celebrate achievements, review challenges, and generally foster patriotism in the community. For the culture–loving people of Arondizuogu, the day is a unique annual homecoming that they celebrate with much aplomb comparable only to their popular Ikeji Festival, which is touted to be “the greatest carnival of masks and masquerades in Africa”.[ citation needed ]
The Ikeji cultural festival of Arondizuogu is a popular festival that brings the Igbo-speaking community around the world together. Its origin dates back to over five centuries and it is acclaimed as the biggest pan-Igbo cultural community festival with a strong heritage and international recognition. It is witnessed by thousands of people every year.
It is arguably the biggest cultural festival in Igboland. In contemporary times, each year has witnessed an increase in grandeur, display, dance, sophistication, and all-inclusive participation of all Arondizuogu people and friends. The festival is marked with colourful displays of different masquerades, such as Ogionu, Mgbadike, Nwaaburuja, and Ozoebune, prestigiously parading across the market square to the public's admiration. The essence of the festival, which ranks among the best surviving traditional ceremonies of the Arondizuogu people, is to celebrate the harvest of the first yams. It serves to unify and foster ties among Aro people who are spread across the entire Igbo-speaking states and part of Cross River State. It appeals to the entire Igbo-speaking peoples, both at home and abroad.
Ikeji is a four-day festival of propitiation, thanksgiving, and feasting held annually in March or April. Reckoned with the Igbo calendar, these four days correspond to one Igbo week of four market days (Eke, Oye/Orie, Afo, and Nkwo). Each of these days has a special significance and represents one of the several dimensions of Ikeji – a festival renowned for sumptuous feasting, fascinating masquerades, pulsating rhythms, and colourful performances. Traditional musical instruments used to accompany the masquerades are ekwe (wooden slit drum) of various sizes, ogene (metal gong), bells, maracas and oja (wooden flutes). The flutist is a very important element in the festival. He deftly communicates with the masquerades – weaving soulful melodies and blending esoteric messages into the intoxicating rhythm of the drums. Another interesting aspect of Ikeji is the raconteur known as ima mbem – an imaginative tale delivered with a musical cadence that only the initiated can sometimes understand or comprehend. The importance of the flutist during Ikeji festival is very vital, for he communicates things hidden from the ordinary eyes to the masquerades, combined with soulful melodies, steps, and gestures, blending esoteric messages into the intoxicating rhythm of the drums to the admiration of the crowd.
On the last day of the festival, a ram is usually tied to a pole at a popular market square with a single thread. Somebody with the strongest protection from any juju of whatever type is expected to leisurely walk to the ram amid heavy attempts with juju from other people to knock him down, maim him, or kill him. Only the brave can participate, while the not-so-brave will either abstain from or remain with the crowd as spectators. Only the brave can stand forward from the crowd, one after another, and approach the tree to untie the ram. However, each contender will be attacked by forces to stop him from reaching the ram. If overwhelmed, he will beat a retreat back to his starting point. Eventually, the bravest among the masquerades participating in the competition for that year's festival, after overcoming all odds, will reach the ram, untie it and take it to the thunderous applause of the spectators. This would be followed by visits to his house by fellow kinsmen with food and wine to elevate the status of his village. Each year, this is used to commemorate the person in Arondizuogu and neighbouring towns with the strongest juju or voodoo power— Pericoma Okoye won several of these contests. [2] [3]
The Arondizuogu Patriotic Union (APU) is the umbrella organisation of all Arondizuogu communities in Nigeria and the Diaspora. Established in 1932 in Aba, APU was one of the earliest and most enduring organs of community development set up by an Igbo clan in colonial Nigeria. The young men of Arondizuogu who laid the foundation for APU left their homes for the first time in the 1920s and early 1930s to seek a better life in the emerging urban centres of colonial Nigeria. They found themselves in social, economic, and political environments different from the life they knew at home. In order to combat intimidation and alienation, they held on to a deep love for the community in which they grew up. They assembled at Aba on October 8, 1932, to aggregate ideas on how best to convey the modern development with which they were surrounded in the city (such as wide roads, schools, hospitals, post offices, potable water, electricity, courtrooms, etc.) to their village community.
The Igbo people are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. Ethnic Igbo populations are found in Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, as migrants as well as outside Africa. There has been much speculation about the origins of the Igbo people, which are largely unknown. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
Owerri is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West, it has an estimated population of 1,401,873 as of 2016 and is approximately 100 square kilometres (40 sq mi) in area. Owerri is bordered by the Otamiri River to the east and the Nworie River to the south. The Owerri Slogan is Heartland. It is also called the Las Vegas of Africa, due to the night life of the city and the numerous hotels, casino and leisure parks all over the city.
Oguta is a town on the east bank of Oguta Lake in Imo State of southeastern Nigeria.
The Aro Confederacy (1640–1902) was a political union orchestrated by the Aro people, an Igbo subgroup, centered in Arochukwu in present-day southeastern Nigeria. The Aro Confederacy kingdom was founded after the beginning of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Their influence and presence was all over Eastern Nigeria, lower Middle Belt, and parts of present-day Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Arochukwu Kingdom was an economic, political, and an oracular center as it was home of the Ibini Ukpabi oracle, High Priests, the Aro King Eze Aro, and central council (Okpankpo). The Aro Confederacy was a powerful and influential political and economic alliance of various Igbo-speaking communities in southeastern Nigeria. It emerged during the 17th century and played a significant role in the region until the late 19th century.
Chief Izuogu Mgbokpo of Amankwu, Arochukwu was an 18th-century warrior in the Aro Confederacy. He was a slave trader and commander who fought his most famous battle on Ikpa Ora. Chief Izuogu and his ally, Chief Iheme, were the founders of the kingdom of Arondizuogu, of which Chief Izuogu is believed to be the first king. It is said he founded the town by war and settled in a place very close to Ikpa Ora. He remains a hero to the Aro people.
The Aro people or Aros are an Igbo subgroup that originated from the Arochukwu kingdom in present-day Abia state, Nigeria. The Aros can also be found in about 250 other settlements mostly in the Southeastern Nigeria and adjacent areas. The Aros today are classified as Eastern or Cross River Igbos because of their location, mixed origins, culture, and dialect. Their god, Chukwu Abiama, was a key factor in establishing the Aro Confederacy as a regional power in the Niger Delta and Southeastern Nigeria during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Okoro Idozuka, born Mazi Okoli Idozuka, was a 19th-century leader and warrior in the Arondizuogu area of what is now Nigeria. He was a senior advisor to the founder of Ndiakunwanta Uno Arondizuogu village and also a leader in his own right, expanding Arondizuogu's boundaries. He was a wealthy slave trader like Izuogu Mgbokpo.
Aro History starts from Ibibio migration to the present Arochukwu area.
Imo State is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo River which flows along the state's eastern border. The state capital is Owerri and the State's slogan is the "Eastern Heartland."
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.
Arondizuogu Patriotic Union (APU) is the umbrella organisation of all Arondizuogu communities in Nigeria and the Diaspora. Established in 1932 in Aba, APU is one of the earliest and most enduring organs of community development set up by an Igbo clan in colonial Nigeria. The youngmen of Arondizuogu who laid the foundation for APU left their homes for the first time in the 1920s and early 1930s to seek a better life in the emerging urban centres of colonial Nigeria. They found themselves in social, economic and political environments different from the life they knew at home. Refusing to be intimated or alienated, they held on to that deep feeling of love for the community with which they grew up. They assembled at Aba on October 8, 1932, to aggregate ideas on how best to convey the concomitants of modern development with which they were surrounded in the city to their village community.
Amauju is an autonomous community of Imo State in southeastern Nigeria. The town is part of Imo State's Isu Local Government Area, zoned to Orlu Senatorial Zone.
Anaku is one of the administrative divisions of Anambra State, South-Eastern Nigeria. The town lies 6°15' North of the Equator and 6°44' East of the Greenwich Meridian. It is bordered by "Omabala," the native name of the Anambra River, which is a tributary of the River Niger (North), Aguleri, Ezu River (South), Omor and Umuerum communities (East).
Amawom is a town in Oboro, Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. The name is derived from two words; Ama meaning location and Awom meaning farm. Amawom is believed to have been discovered in the 18th century. Awom Oboro and Ibeuzo Ukwu are the autonomous communities of Amawom. English and Igbo are the languages spoken in the town.
Afiaolu is a traditional festival held annually in Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria around August. The Afiaolu festival commences on “Eke” day with what is traditionally described as “Iwaji” and Ikpa Nku, this heralds the availability of new yam as well as thanksgiving to God. The festival includes a variety of entertainments including performance of ceremonial rites by the Igwe (king), cultural dance by girls and masquerade dance.
Osina is a town in Ideato North Local Government of Imo State, Nigeria and is under Orlu senatorial zone. Osina has four villages: Eluama, Uhualla, Ofeke, Umuduru/Umuogbu (Durunogbu). The Nnewi – Okigwe road passes through Osina. The Awka – Umuahia road also passes through Osina.
Pericomo Damian Azubike Nwankwo Okoye, known as Pericoma, was a Nigerian singer, songwriter and traditionist. In addition to his music, he was known as a practitioner of Odinala, the traditional religion of the Igbo people.
The Ikeji festival is an annual four-day festival held by the Igbo people of Arondizuogu, in Imo state, Nigeria, between the months of March and April to celebrate the harvest of new yams and the Igbo culture. It is arguably the largest masquerade parade in West Africa. The inception of the Ikeji festival dates back five centuries and is an Igbo festival which unites all Igbo race across the globe as they return to the south-eastern regions of Nigeria to witness and partake in the festival. The festival is marked with the display of numerous masquerades dancing around the villages, music, and practice of the Igbo traditional religion.
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