Eze Igwegbe Odum (sometimes called Chief Igwebe Odum) was an Aro Igbo politician born in the Nigerian town of Mbaukwu in present-day Awka South LGA in Anambra state. Igwegbe Odum, was not Aro by origin, but a migrant like many settlers in Arondizuogu. Along with his brothers, he fled to Arondizuogu in the late 19th century. His life story became the subject of Omenuko [1] the earliest Igbo novel written by Pita Nwana. Odum died in 1940. He was also a brother-in-law to Ojiako Ezenne of Adazi. Igwegbe Odum never made it back to his homeland of Mbaukwu. Along with his brothers, he settled in Ndi-Aniche Uno in Arondizuogu. Their lineage include the legendary K.O. Mbadiwe and his brother Green Mbadiwe.
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.
Arochukwu Local Government Area, sometimes referred to as Arochuku or Aro Oke-Igbo, is the third largest local government area in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria and homeland of the Igbo subgroup, Aro people.
Mbaise is a region in Imo State in southeastern Nigeria. In the heart of Igboland, the region includes several towns and cities. The population is composed of indigenous clans, connected by intermarriage. With a population density of over 1,000 people per square kilometer, Mbaise is West Africa's most densely-populated area; its 2006 population was 611,204.
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.
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.
The Aro-Ibibio Wars were a series of conflicts between the Aro people and the Ibibio in present-day Southeastern Nigeria in the Ibom Kingdom from 1630 to 1902. These wars led to the foundation of the Arochukwu kingdom.
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.
Omenuko by Pita Nwana is the first novel to be written in the Igbo language, and the book was very successful among the Igbo people. The book tells the life story of the politician Igwegbe Odum, an Aro Igbo who migrated to Arondizuogu.
Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe (1915–1990) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, statesman, and government minister in the Nigerian First Republic and a Biafran Roving ambassador during the civil war.
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."
Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo was a Nigerian historian known for the history and historiography of Africa, more particularly Igbo history and the history of Southeastern Nigeria. Themes emphasised include pre-colonial and colonial history, inter-group relations, the Aro and the slave trade, the art and science of history in Africa, and nation-building.
Ohafia is an Igbo town in the Ohafia local government area (LGA) in Abia State, Nigeria. It is an Igbo speaking region. The ancestral capital of Ohafia town is the centrally located village of Elu. Ohafia Local Government Area, is an administrative jurisdiction assigned by the Nigeria Government, which covers the entire Ohafia villages and other towns such as Abiriba and Nkporo, with its Administrative Headquarters at Ebem Ohafia.
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.
OgbuefiOjiako Ezenne (1857–1944) was a member of the Igbo tribe who was appointed by the Colonial government to serve as Warrant Chief (1914–1921) and then Paramount Chief (1921–1944), of Adazi-Nnukwu, now part of Anambra State in Nigeria. As the new protectorate government, did not in all cases impose a new royal family on native populations, but recognised the ancient ruling families based on Ofo seniority across villages, Ojiako Ezenne as the holder of the Ofo Ozo Okpalaekili, the oldest Ozo title in Adazi-Nnukwu, became the first African to serve as President of the Agulu Customary Court in 1914, having already served as clan chief between 1907 and 1914 of Amolu Clan, the senior clan in Adazi-Nnukwu. Ojiako Ezenne was a contemporary of Warrant Chiefs such as Muoyekwu Onyiuke of Nimo, Amobi of Ogidi and Nnama Orjiakor of Nibo. Identified by the Colonial Distinct Office, as serving with an excellent record, Ojiako Ezenne on February 1, 1915, chaired the meeting of forty-five Warrant Chiefs in South-East Nigeria that enacted laws terminating the practice of slavery in South-East Nigeria, thus pitting him in direct confrontation with the Aro slave dealers.
The Waawa clan of Northern Igboland, also referred to as Ndi Waawa, Wawa People, are a unique sub-group of the Igbo people in Enugu and Ebonyi State, Nigeria, consisting of several communities, who all speak a unique dialect of Igbo called Waawa. The most notable among these are the Agbaja and Ngwo which consist of peoples between the wooded lands of Awka to the rocky valleys of Enugu. The Agbaja are made up of communities in present-day Ngwo clan, Udi, Ezeagu, Umulokpa, Igbo-Etiti, Oji River, greater Awgu, Aninri and Enugu East Local Government Areas. Other notable parts of the Waawa clan include Nkanu, Nsukka, Abia, Nike, Agbani, Owo, and other communities in Enugu State. The Waawa are most notably associated with Chief Onyeama's people from Eke, who was the paramount ruler of Agbaja in the early 20th century.
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.
Ndoro is a town in Oboro, Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. It is about 16 km southeast from the state capital, Umuahia and is located along the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road.