Lejja is a community comprising 33 villages in Enugu State of South-Eastern Nigeria. It is populated by the Igbo people and located about at 14 Kilometers from Nsukka. It is the location of a prehistoric archaeological site which contains iron smelting furnaces and slag that dates back to 2000 BC. [1] The village square at Otobo ugwu [2] is likely the first village square in Lejja contains over 800 blocks of slag weighs between 34 and 57 kg. Geophysical investigations have located buried iron slag in several other locations in the community. [3]
There are two main religions in Lejja, which include Christianity and African tradition worshippers.
Lejja is predominantly a community of farmers. Some of the local farm produce grown in the community are yam, cassava, coco yam, Nsukka yellow pepper and many vegetables. The produce is grown on a small to medium scale and thus farmers use mostly human labour for their farming activities.
Another common occupation among the Lejja community is trading. Traders sell some of the local produce or they buy other farm produce from neighouring communities.
The town has many festivals and traditional events that are celebrated annually. One of such is the new yam festival, which is celebrated every year, following the farm harvest season. Another local cultural event is the masquerade event, which includes the Omaba and Odo only worn by men.
Many primary and secondary schools are located in Lejja. The schools serve both the local community and other neighbouring communities. The Federal Government Girls' Collage Lejja was founded in 1995 and only admits girls both for junior and senior secondary schools in boarding school. The school is owned by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education. Another secondary school located in the community is the state-owned Community Secondary School, Lejja. For primary education, the Community Primary School Lejja serves the primary education needs of the community.
The Igbo people are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A sizable Igbo population is also found in Delta and Rivers 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. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two unequal sections by the Niger River—an eastern and a western section. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi, Ede-Oballa, and Obimo.
A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom. The mix of slag and iron in the bloom, termed sponge iron, is usually consolidated and further forged into wrought iron. Blast furnaces, which produce pig iron, have largely superseded bloomeries.
Enugu State is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the south, and Anambra State to the west. The state takes its name from its capital and largest city, Enugu. The city acquired township status in 1917 and was called Enugwu-Ngwo. Due to the rapid expansion towards areas owned by other indigenous communities, it was renamed Enugu in 1928.
Igboland, also known as Southeastern Nigeria, is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided into two sections by the lower Niger River: an eastern and a western one. Its population is characterised by the diverse Igbo culture and the speakers of equally diverse Igbo languages.
The history of Nigeria before 1500 has been divided into its prehistory, Iron Age, and flourishing of its kingdoms and states. Acheulean tool-using archaic humans may have dwelled throughout West Africa since at least between 780,000 BP and 126,000 BP. Middle Stone Age West Africans likely dwelled continuously in West Africa between MIS 4 and MIS 2, and Iwo Eleru people persisted at Iwo Eleru as late as 13,000 BP. West African hunter-gatherers occupied western Central Africa earlier than 32,000 BP, dwelled throughout coastal West Africa by 12,000 BP, and migrated northward between 12,000 BP and 8000 BP as far as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. The Dufuna canoe, a dugout canoe found in northern Nigeria has been dated to around 6556-6388 BCE and 6164-6005 BCE, making it the oldest known boat in Africa and the second oldest worldwide.
Iron metallurgy in Africa developed within Africa; though initially assumed to be of external origin, this assumption has been rendered untenable; archaeological evidence has increasingly supported an indigenous origin. Some recent studies date the inception of iron metallurgy in Africa between 3000 BCE and 2500 BCE. Archaeometallurgical scientific knowledge and technological development originated in numerous centers of Africa; the centers of origin were located in West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa; consequently, as these origin centers are located within inner Africa, these archaeometallurgical developments are thus native African technologies.
Igbo Eze South is a Local Government Area of Enugu State in South East, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ibagwa-Aka. The present local government Chairman is Comrade Peter Andy.
Ibagwa-Aka is an Igbo community located North of the great University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It is the headquarters of Igbo Eze South Local Government of Enugu State, Nigeria. It is bordered to the north by Itchi and Nkalagu Obukpa; to the North-east by Ibagwa Ani; to the east by Ibagwa Ani and Obukpa; to the South by Obukpa; and to the West by Ovoko and Iheakpu Awka.
Obimo is a town in the Nsukka local government area of Enugu state in Nigeria. Its full name is Obimo Asebere. It is made up of five communities:
Opi is a community in Enugu State of southeastern Nigeria. It is populated by the Igbo people and located in Nsukka region. It is the location of a prehistoric archaeological site which contains iron smelting furnaces and slag dated to 750 BC. Iron ore was smelted in natural draft furnaces and molten slag was drained through shallow conduits to collecting pits forming huge slag blocks weighing up to 47 kg. The operating temperatures are estimated to have varied between 1,155 and 1,450 °C.
The archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu is the study of an archaeological site located in a town of the same name: Igbo-Ukwu, an Igbo town in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. As a result of these findings, three excavation areas at Igbo-Ukwu were opened in 1959 and 1964 by Charles Thurstan Shaw: Igbo Richard, Igbo Isaiah, and Igbo Jonah. Excavations revealed more than 700 high quality artifacts of copper, bronze and iron, as well as about 165,000 glass, carnelian and stone beads, pottery, textiles and ivory beads, cups, and horns. The bronzes include numerous ritual vessels, pendants, crowns, breastplates, staff ornaments, swords, and fly-whisk handles.
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, Odume, Ndiagbor, Nenwe, Mpu, Okpanku 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.
Nru Nsukka is a suburb located in Nsukka town. Nru Nsukka is one of the former old three autonomous communities: Mkpunanor, Nru and Ihe n'Owerre that made up the Nsukka urban area. Nru Nsukka having been upgraded to a suburban area was split into three newer autonomous communities with newly installed traditional rulers. Since 2018, the suburb is now made up of Iheagu Nru autonomous community with its traditional ruler as Sylvanus Arumah, Ezema ne Edem autonomous community with its traditional ruler as Linus.O. Atugwu and the youngest being Umuoyo Nru autonomous community with Paul Atanike as its traditional ruler elect.
Umulokpa is a town in Enugu State, Nigeria. It serves as the headquarters of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area (L.G.A) in Enugu State, and has a population of over 150,000.
Neke is a town located in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State in South Eastern Nigeria. Bordered by towns such as Nike, Ikem, Mbu, Eha Amufu, Obollo and UmuAlor, Neke is a small town with a strong backbone. In the pre-colonial era, the people of Neke were known as fearsome warriors who had an economic stronghold on neighboring areas. In the present day, there are 5 main districts located in Neke namely; Ishienu, Akpani, ObeguAba, Umugwu and Umuegwu. These districts represent villages made up of clans and kindred prominent to the town's social structure.
Patrick Asadu is a Nigerian politician and a medical practitioner who hails from Ovoko in Igbo-eze South local government area of Enugu State who is serving as a representative of Nsukka/Igbo-eze south constituency at the Federal House of Representatives. He was appointed an Honourable Commissioner of Enugu State after joining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Nsukka is a region located in Enugu State of Southeastern Nigeria that has drawn particular archaeological interest. This area has yielded several examples of iron, metal, clay, and stone production that have contributed to the country’s development over the years. In the territory referred to as Igboland, in which Nsukka resides, Alumona is recognized as a focal point for metal working, whilst Opi, Obimo, Lejja, Orba, Nrobo, Onyohor, Ekwegbe, and Umundu are related back to iron smelting.
The archaeology of Lejja, Nigeria refers to a suite of archaeological discoveries made in and around the ancient town of Lejja, located in Enugu State, southeastern Nigeria. The Lejja archaeological suite is an important site for the study of the Nsukka-Awka-Orlu-Umuleri cultural complex, which flourished in the region from about 2000 BCE to 200 CE. Excavations at the site have revealed evidence of early agricultural practices, iron smelting, and a complex social structure.