Opobo

Opobo(Opubo)
City state

Ijaw States, including Opobo
Coordinates: 4°30′41″N 7°32′24″E / 4.51139°N 7.54000°E / 4.51139; 7.54000Coordinates: 4°30′41″N 7°32′24″E / 4.51139°N 7.54000°E / 4.51139; 7.54000
Country  Nigeria
State Rivers State
Government
 • Amanyanabo Daneson Douglas Jaja V
Time zone UTC+1 (WAT)

Opobo is a city-state in the southern region of Nigeria. The state was founded in 1870. A greater part of the city state is still referred to as Opobo in Rivers State. Opobo is made up of several Islands and communities, mainly Opobo Town, Queenstown, Kalasunju, Oloma, Ayaminimah, Iloma, Minimah, Okpukpo, Iwoma, Ekereborokiri, Kalaibiama, and Epellema while a part of the city state is now in Akwa Ibom State, made up of Ikot Abasi, Kampa.[1][2]

History

King Jaja of Opobo Memorial

Opobo was to the east of the Kingdom of Bonny. Both Bonny and Opobo are of the same origin. An Igbo man (turned Ibani) called Jubo Jubogha (known as "Ja-Ja" to Europeans) led the Anna Pepple house (Wari) of Bonny. In 1870, Jaja arrived in Opobo from Bonny, moving due to a dispute with chief Oko Jumbo, the leader of the rival Manilla Pepple family (Wari).[3] Jaja was accommodated by the Nkoro leader, King Kpokpo[4] and formed what he called "Kingdom of Opobo" which he named after Amanyanabo Opubo "Pepple" Perekule the Great, a Pepple King in Bonny that reigned from 1792 to 1830.

Jubo Jubogha became involved in palm oil trading with Europeans. He started a trading post at Opobo Town, close to Ikot Abasi 4 miles southwest of the Opobo River. The European traders called him King Jaja. Jubo Jubogha was never on good terms with Ngwa people to the north, Annang and the Ibibio to the east, as Jaja declared himself as the middle-man in palm Oil trading, thus asking them to stop trading directly with the European. This resulted in a war (Ikot Udo Obong War) between Jaja and the Annang and Ibuno people as recorded by Nair.[5] In 1887, he was deceived when he was told to go and negotiate with the Queen of England by the British and sent on exile to Saint Vincent in the West Indies.

King Jaja of Opobo's Palace

Rulers

The rulers of Opobo were:[6]

StartEndRuler
25 December 1870September 1887Jubo Jubogha "Jaja I" (b. 1821 - d. 1891)
September 18871891Perekule (chairman Council of Chiefs)
18911893"Cookey Gam" (political agent)
189312 October 1915Obiesigha Jaja II (Frederick Sunday)
19161936Dipiri (Arthur Mac Pepple)
19361942Sodienye Jaja III (1st time) (Douglas Mac Pepple) (d. 1980)
19421946Stephen Ubogu Jaja IV (acting)
195231 July 1980Sodienye Jaja III (2nd time) (Douglas Mac Pepple)
19802002Vacant
1 October 2004Dandeson Douglas Jaja V (b. 1947)

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Ikot Abasi". Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "About Opobo". Opoboregatta.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. ↑ G. I. Jones (2001). The trading states of the oil rivers: a study of political development in Eastern Nigeria. James Currey Publishers. p. 15ff. ISBN 0-85255-918-6.
  4. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/doc/36981645/The-Izon-of-the-Niger-Delta-Chapter-22
  5. ↑ Cf. Nair, 1972, page 183
  6. ↑ "Traditional States of Nigeria". World Statesmen. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  • "Pictures of Ikot Abasi". Picsearch. Retrieved 2010-10-17.

Further reading

  • Burns, Alan. History of Nigeria, George Allen & Unwin, 1929.
  • Dike, Kenneth O. Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830-1885, Oxford University Press, 1956.
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