Ngwa

Ngwa People
Total population
1.8 million (1979 est.)
Regions with significant populations
 Nigeria
Languages
Native/Vernacular: Ngwa
Predominantly: English, Nigerian Pidgin, Igbo

The Ngwa (Ṅgwà IPA: [ŋɡʷa]), an Igbo group, constitute the largest and most populous sub-ethnicity, or clan, in southeastern Nigeria.[1] They occupy an area of about 1,328 square kilometres (513 sq mi),[2] although some accounts read at least 2,300 km2 (900 square miles).[3] In 1979, their population was held at an estimate of approximately 1.5 million people.[4] Their ethnonym Ngwa is used to describe the people, their indigenous territory, and their native tongue. King Josaiah Ndubuisi Wachuku, who died on Friday 2 June 1950, was Eze, paramount chief and servant leader head of the Ngwa people during British colonial times.[5]

The Ngwa People

In the absence of a documented account of the origin of the word ‘Ngwa’ in the pre-colonial era, one source of information appears to be booklet written a few years ago by a prominent historian and archivist, His Royal Highness: Eze J.E.N. Nwaguru.[6] His proximity to the National Archives in Enugu made his work an acceptable source of information.

Geographical Setting

The area covering the old Aba division Ngwa, is situated in the tropical rain forest of southern Igbo plain in the present Abia State of Nigeria. It has a population of about one million people and an area of little over nine hundred square miles (2,300 km2). The area is bounded on the north by the present Umuahia zone, on the west by Owerri and Mbaise, on the east by Ikot-Ekpene and Abak and on the south by ukwa. The important waterways are the Imo River to the south and west, the Aba or Aza River that rises at Abayi, and flows south through Aba Township into the Imo River at a point near Okpontu. Around Nsulu to the northeast, there are two minor rivers, the Otamiri and the Ohi.

References

  1. ↑ Oriji J.N. (1994) Traditions of Igbo Origin
  2. ↑ Amankulor (1997) Vol 10, p.37-70.
  3. ↑ Nwaguru Jason, E.N. (1973) Aba and British Rule
  4. ↑ Oluikpe Benson, O.A. (1979) Igbo Transformational Syntax: An Ngwa Dialect Example
  5. ↑ Lanre Alayande. Our Rainmaker. iUniverse. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Johnson Elewhemba Nnata Nwaguru (1973) Aba and British rule: the evolution and administrative developments of the old Aba division of Igboland, 1896-1960, with an epilogue on the emergence of a short-lived Aba province and the present scene
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