Abagana
Encyclopedia
Abagana is a town in Nigeria. It is currently the Headquarters of Njikoka
Local Government Area Anambra State
and lies approximately 20 kilometers from Onitsha
along the old Enugu
-Onitsha
Trunk A Road that divides the town into two halves.
Abagana town has a landmass of approximately 9.2 square kilometers and is bounded in the north by Abba, Ukpo, and Enugu Agidi towns, in the South by Nimo and Eziowelle
towns, in the East by Enugwu Ukwu town and in the west by Umunachi and Ifitedunu towns.
Early Igbo history has it that Abagana, Nimo, Eziowelle
, and Abba were related. According to this version, one man called Owelle migrated from an uncertain part of Igbo land, accompanied by his wife, Oma, and settled at a site between Nimo and Eziowelle in the old Onitsha district. This man gave birth to four sons namely: Ezi (aka Eziowelle - as it is customary for the first son of any igbo family to inherit his father's obi i.e.home), Nimo, Abba and Abagana. The fact that these towns currently have one central place where they worship and celebrate an ancestral feast of brotherhood called "Uta Nwanne na Nwanne" seems to lend credence to this assertion of common ancestral descent.
Another version of the historical origin of Abagana had it that the father of "Abagana" whose name was given as 'Obum' came from an unknown place and settled at a place presently known as "Nkwo Abagana".
According to Late Chief Nwankwo Okakpu, a community leader and custodian of the peoples' culture, this man gave birth to nine children whose names are:- Ogidi
, Okpala, Chime, Okwui, Ene, Dejili, Akpuche, Ajilija, and Uru-Ochu.
The above account seems to agree with the popular aphorism, Abagana Ebo teghete, i.e. Abagana of nine clans, which obviously obliterated the initial postulation of" Abagana Ebo n' ese, i.e. Abagana of five clans.
Perhaps the most widely accepted account of the origin of Abagana is that a man called “Agana-Diese” founded Abagana.
None of our oral narrators was sure of the exact place where this man migrated from, but a popular opinion and belief was that this man was banished by his people for committing an abomination and for this reason he fled his own community and settled at a place known to day as "Nkwo-Abagana".
According to our sources mainly centenarian traditionalists, including Late Chief Ejiofor Amamchukwu (Chime Abagana), Chief Okoye Ogbantu, and Chief Okeke Ezechi; this man married and had six children, five males and one female, namely, Okpala, Diese, Akpuche, Uruochu, Ajilija, and Obum—the only female.
According to these sources, these five sons of Agana-Diese were the original inhabitants of the place presently called "Abagana", and this perhaps was the reason why we originally had "Abagana Ebo-n' ese, i.e. Abagana of five clans.
Still in line with this historical origin, a spiritual mound was erected at the ancestral place where Agana-Diese lived and reared his children. It is presently at Nkwo-Abagana Square and today still serves as a symbol of unity as well as repository of spiritual power for the people of Abagana. In keeping with the tradition, a day is set aside in November every year to celebrate "Uta-Anu" feast of meat, as memorial for the bond of relationship.
Our sources also had it that as time went on, "Okpala" who was then a prosperous farmer was in dire need of human assistance both for his farming activities and for physical protection of his vast and fast expanding territorial effluence. Initially, he hired a paid labourer to render the services, but as time went on, he came in contact with one great hunter called "Dunu" who used to come from Umunachi on hunting expeditions and engaged his services and later made him "Dunu", the manager of his labourers.
It was gathered that Okpala later developed enormous interest in this great hunter such that he assigned a piece of land to him to build his own house and was also allowed to freely farm at available lands around his abode for his own personal purpose.
For the above reason, as we were informed, this man called "Dunu" found good reason to settle down and later married a wife from Uru-Okpala village and gave birth to Kabi, Okpalachi, and Dilekwo. These three sons, according to our sources, now make up the three major kindred that today exist in the Umudunu village, Abagana. It is important to mention that other labourers who came together with Dunu, mainly from Awkuzu
and other neighboring communities, were also allowed to co-habit the same areas with Dunu, but sometime later dispersed and went out either in Diaspora or back to their ancestral homes, but the remnants became diffused and mixed up with Dunu kindred. It is also worthy of mention that due to difficulties encountered by the children of Dunu in sourcing wives from the neighbouring communities, Dunu solved this problem by establishing a spiritual dimension called "Iti Ofo na Ala" which made it possible for a section of his own children to intermarry among themselves, and this has continued till today.
Orofia is the second largest village in Abagana today in terms of population and land mass after Umudunu. As is the case with Umudunu, its founder was an immigrant called "Chime".
According to further account of our sources, this Chime was a great warrior, adventurer, and statesman who came from "Ohafia
" near Arochukwu
in Abia State
in search of slaves and merchandise. Our source had it that this man founded "Orofia" settlement in other towns like Nimo
, Enugu-Ukwu, Eziowelle
, Alor
, Umudioka
, Ogbunike, Ogidi
, Ukpo, Oraukwu, and others in the course of his numerous adventures and expeditions, but finally settled in Abagana with his soldiers of fortune and founded "Orofia village Abagana". He later married from Akpu Abagana.
Opinions of our sources and respondents agree that the name "Abagana" originated from an oral tradition that the founding father of Abagana was "Agana-Diese". Initially the people called themselves "Ebe-Agana" meaning Agana's palace. Later, during the pre-colonial era, her neighbors called them 'Mba-Agana' which means literally that strangers were not allowed passage from that land. This must be as a result of his war-like nature. During that period, colonial masters would set out from Onitsha
via Awkuzu
, Nando, Mgbakwu and traveled to Awka
where they settled. Traveling through Abagana could have been easier and shorter for them, but the fear of Abagana was the beginning of wisdom to them. It was indeed the Europeans, who found it difficult to pronounce "Mba-Agana" that changed the name to "Abagana" for easy pronunciation just like they did in other places like Nawfia, Nawgu, Onitsha, Awkuzu etc.
to remove Col. Murtala Mohammed
as the General Commanding Officer of the Onitsha sector.
Njikoka
Njikoka is a Local Government Area in Anambra State, south-central Nigeria. Towns that make up the local government are Abagana, Enugwu-Agidi, Enugwu-ukwu, Nawfia, Nimo, Abba, Umuriam-Nawfia.-References:* dated July 21, 2007; accessed October 4, 2007...
Local Government Area Anambra State
Anambra State
Anambra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria. Its name is an anglicized version of the original 'Oma Mbala', the native name of the Anambra River. The Capital and the Seat of Government is Awka. Onitsha and Nnewi are the biggest commercial and industrial cities, respectively. The state's theme is...
and lies approximately 20 kilometers from Onitsha
Onitsha
Onitsha is a city, a commercial, educational, and religious center and river port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria....
along the old Enugu
Enugu
Enugu is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in the southeastern area of Nigeria and is largely populated by members of the Igbo ethnic group. The city has a population of 722,664 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. The name Enugu is derived from the two Igbo words Enu Ugwu...
-Onitsha
Onitsha
Onitsha is a city, a commercial, educational, and religious center and river port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria....
Trunk A Road that divides the town into two halves.
Abagana town has a landmass of approximately 9.2 square kilometers and is bounded in the north by Abba, Ukpo, and Enugu Agidi towns, in the South by Nimo and Eziowelle
Eziowelle
Eziowelle is a town in Idemili North local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Eziowelle translates into English as 'agood place'. It is an agrarian community lying about eight kilometres east of Onitsha. The Vatican Cardinal Francis Arinze is a native of Ezoiwelle. Eziowelle is made up of...
towns, in the East by Enugwu Ukwu town and in the west by Umunachi and Ifitedunu towns.
History
There is no comprehensive documentary record of the origin of Abagana. There are basically three versions of the origin of Abagana as we could gather both from our raconteurs and few available records.Early Igbo history has it that Abagana, Nimo, Eziowelle
Eziowelle
Eziowelle is a town in Idemili North local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Eziowelle translates into English as 'agood place'. It is an agrarian community lying about eight kilometres east of Onitsha. The Vatican Cardinal Francis Arinze is a native of Ezoiwelle. Eziowelle is made up of...
, and Abba were related. According to this version, one man called Owelle migrated from an uncertain part of Igbo land, accompanied by his wife, Oma, and settled at a site between Nimo and Eziowelle in the old Onitsha district. This man gave birth to four sons namely: Ezi (aka Eziowelle - as it is customary for the first son of any igbo family to inherit his father's obi i.e.home), Nimo, Abba and Abagana. The fact that these towns currently have one central place where they worship and celebrate an ancestral feast of brotherhood called "Uta Nwanne na Nwanne" seems to lend credence to this assertion of common ancestral descent.
Another version of the historical origin of Abagana had it that the father of "Abagana" whose name was given as 'Obum' came from an unknown place and settled at a place presently known as "Nkwo Abagana".
According to Late Chief Nwankwo Okakpu, a community leader and custodian of the peoples' culture, this man gave birth to nine children whose names are:- Ogidi
Ogidi
Ogidi is an Igbo town, the headquarters of Idemili North Local Government area, Anambra State, Nigeria. It has an estimated population of 70,000 and has as its neighbours Abatete, Nkpor, Umunachi, Umuoji, Oze, Ogbunike and Umudioka. Ogidi is best known for its mid-July annual Nwafor Festival, and...
, Okpala, Chime, Okwui, Ene, Dejili, Akpuche, Ajilija, and Uru-Ochu.
The above account seems to agree with the popular aphorism, Abagana Ebo teghete, i.e. Abagana of nine clans, which obviously obliterated the initial postulation of" Abagana Ebo n' ese, i.e. Abagana of five clans.
Perhaps the most widely accepted account of the origin of Abagana is that a man called “Agana-Diese” founded Abagana.
None of our oral narrators was sure of the exact place where this man migrated from, but a popular opinion and belief was that this man was banished by his people for committing an abomination and for this reason he fled his own community and settled at a place known to day as "Nkwo-Abagana".
According to our sources mainly centenarian traditionalists, including Late Chief Ejiofor Amamchukwu (Chime Abagana), Chief Okoye Ogbantu, and Chief Okeke Ezechi; this man married and had six children, five males and one female, namely, Okpala, Diese, Akpuche, Uruochu, Ajilija, and Obum—the only female.
According to these sources, these five sons of Agana-Diese were the original inhabitants of the place presently called "Abagana", and this perhaps was the reason why we originally had "Abagana Ebo-n' ese, i.e. Abagana of five clans.
Still in line with this historical origin, a spiritual mound was erected at the ancestral place where Agana-Diese lived and reared his children. It is presently at Nkwo-Abagana Square and today still serves as a symbol of unity as well as repository of spiritual power for the people of Abagana. In keeping with the tradition, a day is set aside in November every year to celebrate "Uta-Anu" feast of meat, as memorial for the bond of relationship.
Our sources also had it that as time went on, "Okpala" who was then a prosperous farmer was in dire need of human assistance both for his farming activities and for physical protection of his vast and fast expanding territorial effluence. Initially, he hired a paid labourer to render the services, but as time went on, he came in contact with one great hunter called "Dunu" who used to come from Umunachi on hunting expeditions and engaged his services and later made him "Dunu", the manager of his labourers.
It was gathered that Okpala later developed enormous interest in this great hunter such that he assigned a piece of land to him to build his own house and was also allowed to freely farm at available lands around his abode for his own personal purpose.
For the above reason, as we were informed, this man called "Dunu" found good reason to settle down and later married a wife from Uru-Okpala village and gave birth to Kabi, Okpalachi, and Dilekwo. These three sons, according to our sources, now make up the three major kindred that today exist in the Umudunu village, Abagana. It is important to mention that other labourers who came together with Dunu, mainly from Awkuzu
Awkuzu
Awkuzu is a town in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra state of Nigeria.-Origin:The story of Origin of Awkuzu is not quite clear. A school of thought believes Awkuzu was one of the progenies of the fifth child of Eri his only daughter called Iguedo, who is also said to have born the founders of ...
and other neighboring communities, were also allowed to co-habit the same areas with Dunu, but sometime later dispersed and went out either in Diaspora or back to their ancestral homes, but the remnants became diffused and mixed up with Dunu kindred. It is also worthy of mention that due to difficulties encountered by the children of Dunu in sourcing wives from the neighbouring communities, Dunu solved this problem by establishing a spiritual dimension called "Iti Ofo na Ala" which made it possible for a section of his own children to intermarry among themselves, and this has continued till today.
Orofia is the second largest village in Abagana today in terms of population and land mass after Umudunu. As is the case with Umudunu, its founder was an immigrant called "Chime".
According to further account of our sources, this Chime was a great warrior, adventurer, and statesman who came from "Ohafia
Ohafia
Ohafia is a town and local government area in Abia State, Nigeria. It is an Igbo speaking region. The ancestral capital of Ohafia is the centrally located village of Elu. The Ohafia Local Government Area also includes the towns of Abiriba and Nkporo....
" near Arochukwu
Arochukwu
Arochukwu, sometimes referred to as Arochuku, or Aro-Okigbo, is the third largest city in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria and homeland of the Igbo subgroup, Aro people....
in Abia State
Abia State
Abia State is a state in southeastern Nigeria. The capital is Umuahia, although the major commercial city is Aba, formerly a British colonial government outpost. The state was created in 1991 from part of Imo State and its citizens are predominantly Igbo people...
in search of slaves and merchandise. Our source had it that this man founded "Orofia" settlement in other towns like Nimo
NIMO
NIMO may mean:* NiMO , a multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London* National Incident Management Organization , a seven member team of professional incident managers with complex incident management as their primary focus....
, Enugu-Ukwu, Eziowelle
Eziowelle
Eziowelle is a town in Idemili North local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Eziowelle translates into English as 'agood place'. It is an agrarian community lying about eight kilometres east of Onitsha. The Vatican Cardinal Francis Arinze is a native of Ezoiwelle. Eziowelle is made up of...
, Alor
Alor, Nigeria
Alor is a town in Idemili South LGA, Anambra State, Nigeria.Alor stretches about three miles square, population 28,000.Prominent people from Alor includes all but not limited to the following :* Late Chief P.N...
, Umudioka
Umudioka
Umudioka is a town in Dunukofia Local Government Area in Anambra State, Southeastern Nigeria. It is made up of ten villages, and shares boundaries with neighbouring towns as follows: Ogidi, Ogbunike, Umunya, Umunnachi and Ifite-Dunu....
, Ogbunike, Ogidi
Ogidi
Ogidi is an Igbo town, the headquarters of Idemili North Local Government area, Anambra State, Nigeria. It has an estimated population of 70,000 and has as its neighbours Abatete, Nkpor, Umunachi, Umuoji, Oze, Ogbunike and Umudioka. Ogidi is best known for its mid-July annual Nwafor Festival, and...
, Ukpo, Oraukwu, and others in the course of his numerous adventures and expeditions, but finally settled in Abagana with his soldiers of fortune and founded "Orofia village Abagana". He later married from Akpu Abagana.
Opinions of our sources and respondents agree that the name "Abagana" originated from an oral tradition that the founding father of Abagana was "Agana-Diese". Initially the people called themselves "Ebe-Agana" meaning Agana's palace. Later, during the pre-colonial era, her neighbors called them 'Mba-Agana' which means literally that strangers were not allowed passage from that land. This must be as a result of his war-like nature. During that period, colonial masters would set out from Onitsha
Onitsha
Onitsha is a city, a commercial, educational, and religious center and river port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria....
via Awkuzu
Awkuzu
Awkuzu is a town in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra state of Nigeria.-Origin:The story of Origin of Awkuzu is not quite clear. A school of thought believes Awkuzu was one of the progenies of the fifth child of Eri his only daughter called Iguedo, who is also said to have born the founders of ...
, Nando, Mgbakwu and traveled to Awka
Awka
Awka is the capital of Anambra State, Nigeria with an estimated population of 301,657 Nigerian census. The city is located about 600 miles east of Lagos in the centre of the densely-populated Igbo heartland in southeastern Nigeria...
where they settled. Traveling through Abagana could have been easier and shorter for them, but the fear of Abagana was the beginning of wisdom to them. It was indeed the Europeans, who found it difficult to pronounce "Mba-Agana" that changed the name to "Abagana" for easy pronunciation just like they did in other places like Nawfia, Nawgu, Onitsha, Awkuzu etc.
Abagana Ambush
On March 31, 1968: Biafran army won their biggest battle. by ambushing and destroying a 96-vehicle column of Nigerian soldiers with locally hand made bomb called [Ogbunigwe or bucket bomb]. The humiliating Abagana defeat to Nigerian soldiers prompted General Yakubu GowonYakubu Gowon
General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon was the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. He took power after one military coup d'etat and was overthrown in another...
to remove Col. Murtala Mohammed
Murtala Mohammed
General Murtala Ramat Mohammed born was a military ruler of Nigeria from 1975 until his assassination in 1976.-Role during 1960s coups:...
as the General Commanding Officer of the Onitsha sector.