Omor
Omor in Ayamelum local government area of Anambra state in Nigeria, is on the shores of the Omambala River. It is thought to be geographically the largest town in Anambra closely followed by Agulu. It also has a large population and is made up of the villages of Akanator, Aturia, Amikwe and Orenja.
There have been communal clashes between Omor and Igbakwu locals over land on the border of both towns. It has good vegetation, fertile lands for production of food crops such as rice, maize, yam, cassava and assorted fruits.
The Nigerian Federal Government started the rehabilitation of the Lower Anambra River Irrigation Rice Farm project at Omor, which has resuscitated the growing of rice in that part of the State. 40 hectares of Fadama la state Rice Farmers Co-operative Union Limited. In addition a new rice mill complex with units for parboling, milling, destoning, and bagging capacity sufficient to produce over 10,000 metric tonnes of high quality rice annually is enhancing production of the staple food for local consumption and export.
Omor is in Ayamelum local government area of Anambra state in Nigeria, Omor is made up of the villages of; Orenja, Akanator, Aturia and Amikwe. It also has 20 sub-villages altogether; Orenja is made up of Isiokwe, Ezeonyia, Umu-uzu and Umuokpanta; Akanator is made up of Amaukwu, Isukwa, Umali, Umuezeatum, Agbaja and Oyi; Aturia is made up of Ituku, Isiekenabo, Isiove, Umuanala, isiadi, Isiokpaya and Isinkakwu; Amikwe is made up of Akara, Amikwe-etiti and Umuogbu. Furthermore, it has 69 kindred altogether. Omor is on the shores of the Omambala River. It is thought to be geographically the largest town in Anambra closely followed by Agulu. It also has a large population. Omor has a total population of 7,196 in 1952/53 Nigerian Census, 17,337 in 1963, in 1990 it has an estimated population of 20,248 presently the its population has rise above many towns in Anambra state and in Nigeria. Omor is surrounded by Umumbo, Igbakwu, Anaku, Umerum and Ogbosu in Umulokpa clan as in Uzo-Uwani L.G.A. There have been communal clashes between Omor and Igbakwu locals over land on the border of both towns. It has good vegetation, fertile lands for production of food crops such as rice, maize, yam, cassava and assorted fruits. The Nigerian Federal Government built the Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority. Lower Anambra Irrigation Project (LAIP) Rice Farm project at Omor, which has resuscitated the growing of rice in that part of the State. 40 hectares of Fadama land have been cultivated with rice in Omor under the collaborative arrangement between the state government and farmers under the auspices of the state Rice Farmers Co-operative Union Limited. In addition a new rice mill complex with units for parboling, milling, destoning, and bagging capacity sufficient to produce over 10,000 metric tonnes of high quality rice annually is enhancing production of the staple food for local consumption and export. Omor is said to be the food basket of Anambra state as almost all it citizens depends on farming. Mgbechi Emma Igwebuike(2017)POSITION AND ORIGIN:
According to legend, are offsprings of Momor said to be the first child of Ayamelum, the eponymous mother of the Ayamelum people. Over the ages, Omor people have come to deify Ayamelum as Nne mulu Nne (i.e. the mother: who bore other mothers of the Ayamelum Group).
According to Colonial Reports and the legends, "Omo is a large town without signs of dual organization and with features that suggest it is a confederacy. Tradition is that the place was founded about six generations ago (as at 1932) "by a hunter with a gun" who married a woman named Ayamelum who had many daughters who founded several of the surrounding towns. These surrounding towns claim to be so founded and yet display the dual organization. The problem is why does the parent town Omo not display this feature and why do the daughters display it? The answer is to be found in the hunter with a gun. Six generations ago (as at 1932) a man with a gun was not only a rarity but a supreme force among people whose weapons were basket work shields, crash helmets and wooden fighting clubs. A man with a gun ensured victory to any side he supported. "That he settled where Omo is cannot be doubted. He would in those days be a rallying point for remnants and defeated towns who would themselves under his protection. In this way, Omo would rapidly grow develop without any signs of dual organization" (emphasis mine) /.R.T. Milne, pp. 7–8, Enugu and Kaduna Archives –the origin and life time of Ayamelum by Okonkwo Onuigbo Esq.).
What do we mean by a town having "dual organization”? The grouping of a town into two parts for no apparent reason is known as the dual organization. Omor does not display the dual organization feature, e.g. Ezi and Ifite. The fact that Omor shows no signs of dual organisation suggests that it is a confederacy rather than that it is the parent town of the Ayamelum Group. Other towns (e.g. Umumbo, Igbakwu, Umerum) have two major parts Ezi and Ifite. What is probable is that Ayamelum who was a historic person 'was the wife of an important man (Nkwobo), a war leader who had numerous daughters, and that leading men of the surrounding towns formed matrimonial alliances by taking a daughter to wed (see Tovey, p. 3). The correct conclusion on the origin of Omor (and other towns in Ayamelum) appears to be that the original founder of the eight communities (Nkwobo, son of Ejemma of Enuagu, Nando) actually lived at Omor. Because he was a warlord (the hunter with a gun), several peoples fleeing from various other places surrendered themselves under his protection. These refugees were accommodated and assimilated into the Nkwobo Ayamelum protective umbrella. Many of the daughters of the duo were taken in marriage and in course of centuries Ayamelum area grew up as a social collectivity of marriage alliances with similar customs, usages, etc. it is the belief of the author that most families emigrated into the Ayamelum area and became ‘swallowed’ up and integrated into the Nkwobo-AyameJum dynasty. By composition Omor is a Federation (or a Confederacy, if you choose). The quarters behave as if they were independent political entities. They have their internal governments and perform certain customary ceremonies on their own. The Federal/Confederation is, however, indivisible, indissoluble and perpetual in unity. Several attempts and experiences have taught it us that this is the case and shall so remain ad infinitum. The typical Omor man dearly understands the tremendous advantages, strengths, weaknesses and bargaining power that flows from bigness. No matter the internal crisis in the town, no one loses sight of this fact. That is why Omor tends to be stronger in unity of purpose even under overwhelming internal crises. The explains why the town always remains an enigma to her surrounding neighbours. Occupation: Omor soil is good for cultivation of yams, cocoyams, maize, rice, legumes and many other root crops. In the olden days, the cultivation of yams and maize was paramount, that is to say, that yam and maize were the staple food crops of the people. But as time went on, rice, which is the principal cash crop of the people, began to compete with yam and maize for a position of dominance in the list of important farm crops. Rice was introduced in Ayamelum in the late 1930s by one Charles (alias Okunkpulu), an Onitsha indigene living at Out Umerum (waterside). The crop was later nicknamed icharli after the man who introduced it. From Umerum, therefore, rice and its new name Icharli had to spread to Omor and other villages in the Ayamelum Group. in 1982, the Anambra-Imo River Basin Authority arrived ushering in a 5000-hectare Agricultural Project designed for massive production of rice. Accordingly, farmers1 attention was shifted more to rice production than the cultivation of yams, cassava and maize. At tire same time, most indigenes of the town (especially women) began to team in earnest the processing of rice; rice mills all of a sudden began to sprout in several locations in the town. As at the time of writing, there were more than ten (10) rice mills working at Omor, thus singling out the town as the most commercially or industrially active place in the Ayamelum Group. The Anambra-Imo River Basin Project attracted a major change agent in 1982 i.e. a modem tarred road running from Onitsha through Omor to Adani in the Uzo-uwani Local Government Area, Enugu State . The passage of the road caused a lot of diversification in occupational activities. Many people who had hitherto not ventured outside their localities had to travel to distant markets taking their produce to those places for higher prices and bringing 'home merchandize needed by the locals. In consequence, about 20-25 percent of the population have now abandoned farming to embrace petty trading. Moreover, the arrival of electricity about the same time has-Helped to revolutionize and diversify the economy of the town. Many trades and crafts roadside mechanics, upholstery workers, cabinet makers, hair-dressers and barbers, hoteliers, etc. can now be seen in several locations in the town.
Vehicular transportation is now a pleasure instead of the agony it used to be. The upshot of all this is that the economic mindset of the Omor man has undergone a tremendous change; he no longer places total premium on toiling on the farm as the only viable means of making money. The Omor man now clearly understands that other less irksome ways of making money exist. EDUCATION: The Roman Catholic Mission, RCM, established the first Catholic School in Omor in the year 1935. In 1945, the Church Missionary Society/ CMS, School was established at Aturia quarter of the town. For a considerable time, there were ups and clowns in the life and fate of the two schools owing to, inter alia, lack of encouragement from the indigenes. It was not until the Umuatu Age-grade came to power as the stakeholders that the two schools began to make some progress in the late 1950s. The Ituku Family (the descendants of Nkwobo, the putative husband of Ayamelum) of Orenja quarter was the first family to embrace formal education in Omor town. Later, other quarters followed suit The Roman Catholic School attained the Standard Six status in 1960; the CMS School achieved the status later. Progress in education was extremely tardy until 1962 when, under the then Omor Town Union, led by the late Chief the Hon. P.U. Obodoeze, JP, a secondary school was opened up. After the cessation of hostilities in 1970, the people of Omor appeared to have suddenly awoken from their long slumber; children streamed into schools of all levels and a rash of university graduates emerged even if at a tardy rate. As at the time of writing, there were thirteen (30) primary schools in Omor town both private and government, a community secondary school and two secondary schools each belonging to the two dominant religious denominations in the town the RCM and the CMS. There is also an Adult Education School and several Nursery schools. Amikwe Quarter has their Community Secondary School on their own.
SOCIAL LIFE: like in most other communities in the Basin, the Omor man is marked by a number of characteristics amiability of character, forthrightness, operative and accommodative spirit, an evident show of love of neighbours in the surrounding towns/villages and a high sense of solidarity within Omor and in the Ayamelum Group. The Omor man would not keep mum or remain unconcerned at the victimization or maltreatment of a fellow; Ayamelum man by outsiders or other Ayamelum people. The Omor man feels that what concerns other Ayamelum people internal peace and harmony, aggression from outside, etc. also concerns him equally. Outsiders always marvel at the openness of character, hospitality or warmness shown by the Omor man to total strangers. Stranger elements from the Igbo agbenu area always wonder at the social behaviour of our people who (till date) eat and drink using the same source! The above good qualities must be counterbalanced with the following bad characteristics of the Omor man. first the Omor man is too haughty, domineering, uppity and patronizing of other people, especially other people from Ayamelum Group. Second, the Omor man (or woman) is naturally naive or simpleminded ad nauseam: A stark stranger could accost an Omor man and demand for help as follows: Stranger (element): "Could you please guide me to the residence of Mr. Okeke Okafor of..... (family)?" Omor man: "Ah! No problem; he is my distant relation. I even saw him this morning. Come lets go!" The fact is that, the Omor man, in his natural naivety (and innocence) harbours no malice or suspicion to anybody, including total strangers. Without worrying or bothering whether the stranger could be a CID man out for an arrest; or whether the stranger is for good or ill regarding his host, the Omor man would automatically (and innocently) volunteer assistance. This. explains why the Omor man turns violent and uncompromising on discovering that he has been deceitfully outwitted or that his voluntary assistance has been taken for stupidity and lack of sophistication. Like his age-mates in other towns in Ayamelum the Omor man is in love with merriments of diverse types. He loves relating, if possible, on daily basis with his friends and relations in other towns in the Ayamelum Group. Exchange of solidarity visits between the Omor people and their neighbours is very much appreciated. There is one characteristic of the Omor people, which is hardly found in any other community in Ayamelum. This is no other than the "esprit de corps", the spirit of forgive and forget, or togetherness (even if for a while). Omor people can, among themselves, war and jaw physically, lock horns in litigious battles or in inter-family quarrels. But once faced by a common external enemy or adversary, the people spontaneously or automatically forget their differences and squabbles and unite to deal with the common foe. The Omor man does not believe or agree that one should remain at loggerheads with one's kith and kin in perpetuity. Omor belief or motto is that people should at times quarrel and settle in order to keep life going. There are no permanent enemies or friends in life, they believe. There is one pertinent observation about Omor that needs to be captured here. Most Ayamelum people regard Omor as a political hegemon who has a penchant or tendency to lord It over others. This notion or attitude no doubt, stems from the dominant population of Omor and her strategic geographical location at the center of the Group. The present writer would like to disabuse the minds of all those people who feel or think that way. There is no historical evidence that Omor harbours political or even cultural hegemonic inclinations or tendencies. The truth is that Omor appears to be by far more democratic than any other community in the Ayamelum Group. No week passes without Omor meeting at the town hall to deliberate over one issue or other; to settle disputes or to issue laws and orders regarding aspects of her internal administration. No other community meets to consult together as often as Omor does. And these meetings and consultations are nothing but pure politics, a demonstration of democratic process. Again, it should be noted that Omor does not fold her Hands or sit idly I by while an Ayamelum Community is in distress or engulfed in political crises. "Most often, she sends emissaries to the troubled community to help solve the problem(s). Some people mistake this gesture for unwarranted intrusion in the internal affairs of their community. I beg to disagree! The fact is that the Omor man is too busy to show any intrusive interest in the internal affairs of neighbouring communities. The typical Omor man/woman desires nothing short of political stability, social cohesion and economic progress in the Ayamelum Group.