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Benue–Congo is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to the north by Benue State, to the west by Ebonyi State and Abia State, and to the southwest by Akwa Ibom State while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon. It was originally known as the South-Eastern State before being renamed in 1976; The state was formed in 1976 when the former North-Eastern State was broken up. Cross River State originally included the area that is now Akwa Ibom State, which became a distinct state in 1987.
The Aro Confederacy (1690–1902) was a political union orchestrated by the Aro people, Igbo subgroup, centered in Arochukwu in present-day southeastern Nigeria. 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).
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language of Nigeria is English, the language of former colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin were spoken as a second language by 100 million people in Nigeria. Communication in the English language is much more popular in the country's urban communities than it is in the rural areas, due to globalization.
Nsibidi is a system of symbols or proto-writing developed in what is now the far South of Nigeria. They are classified as pictograms, though there have been suggestions that some are logograms or syllabograms.
The Cross River or Delta–Cross languages are a branch of the Benue–Congo language family spoken in south-easternmost Nigeria, with some speakers in south-westernmost Cameroon. The branch was first formulated by Joseph Greenberg; it is one of the few of his branches of Niger–Congo that has withstood the test of time.
Igede is a language spoken in Lower Benue State and Cross River State, Nigeria, by 250,000 people.
Odual is a poorly studied Central Delta language spoken by the Odual community in the Abua–Odual Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria.
The Lower Cross River languages form a branch of the Cross River languages of Cross River State, Nigeria. They consist of the divergent Obolo language, and the core of the branch, which includes the 4 million speakers of the Efik-Ibibio cluster.
The Upper Cross River languages form a branch of the Cross River languages of Cross River State, Nigeria. The most populous languages are Loko and Mbembe, with 100,000 speakers.
The Bendi languages are a small group of languages spoken in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria, with one (Bokyi) having some speakers in Cameroon. Once counted among the Cross River languages, Blench (2011) suggests that they may actually be a branch of Southern Bantoid, and observes similarities especially with the Ekoid languages.
Cross River is the main river in southeastern Nigeria and gives its name to Cross River State. It originates in Cameroon, where it takes the name of the Manyu River. Although not long by African standards its catchment has high rainfall and it becomes very wide. Over its last 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the sea its flows through swampy rainforest with numerous creeks and forms an inland delta near its confluence with the Calabar River, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) wide and 50 kilometres (31 mi) long between the cities of Oron on the west bank and Calabar, on the east bank, more than 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the open sea. The delta empties into a broad estuary which it shares with a few smaller rivers. At its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean, the estuary is 24 kilometres (15 mi) wide. The eastern side of the estuary is in the neighbouring country of Cameroon.
Mbe is a language spoken by the Mbube people of the Ogoja, Cross River State region of Nigeria, numbering about 14,300 people in 1973. As the closest relative of the Ekoid family of the Southern Bantoid languages, Mbe is fairly close to the Bantu languages. It is tonal and has a typical Niger–Congo noun-class system.
Mbembe is a Cross River language of Nigeria. Odut, a divergent variety spoken in a village far South of the rest of Mbembe, had 20 speakers in 1980 and may be extinct.
Ubaghara is an Upper Cross River language of Nigeria. 80% of speakers speak the principal dialect, Biakpan.
Enwang (Enwan) and Uda are a Lower Cross River language of Nigeria. The two varieties are quite distinct.
Kiong, or Kayon, is a nearly extinct Upper Cross River language of Nigeria. Okoyong speakers of the Kiong language are geographically located in the Odukpani and Akamkpa region of Cross River State.
The Akunakuna are an ethnic group of Nigeria and Cameroon, closely related to the Efik, Bahumono and Ibibio people, mostly inhabiting the area around the Cross River. Recent figures have indicated there are over three hundred fifty thousand Akunakuna people.
Abi is a Local Government Area in Cross River State, Nigeria. It contains several Igbo and Bahumono villages and is home to an annual cultural festival.
Ebijakara is a commune in Abi local government area of Cross River State, Nigeria.
References
- ↑ Humono at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.