Owerri is a city in
southeastern Nigeria
. It
is the capital of
Imo State and
is set in the heart of the
Igboland.
It currently has a population of about 231,789and is approximately
in area.It is bordered by the
Otamiri
River to the east and the
Nworie
River to the south.
The Owerri Slogan is
Heartland. It is currently referred
to as the entertainment capital of Nigeria and is home to an annual
beauty pageant called "Miss Heartland".
History
Owerri was the capital of the
Republic of
Biafra in 1969. The capital of the secessionist state was
continuously being moved as Nigerian troops captured the older
capitals.
Enugu
, Aba, and Umuahia
were the
other capitals before Owerri.
Origin
Owerri was founded by a man called
Ekwema
Arugo. He was the son of Uratta and was forced to leave because
his brother wanted him dead on the grounds that Ekwema had planned
to infringe up on his rights. Ekwema Arugo was the elder brother of
Ndumoha who was a wealthy farmer and it happened that when their
father died, Ekwema Arugo could not afford to buy a bull for the
burial as it was the custom then to give a befitting burial to a
man of affluence. His brother being a wealthy man bought the bull
and requested to take the heart which was against the custom
because it is the right of the first son. The village chiefs
convened, and after much debate declared that Ekwema Arugo had the
right to the bull's heart with the saying "O KPARA AKU LIE NNA YA O
WUHU OPARA GBURU" meaning "let the wealthy bury the father,the
first son is not the killer" and Ekwema Arugo out of joy proclaimed
that "E
WERE LAM IHE RURU M AKA" meaning that he
had taken what was due him and he asked to be called
owere meaning that he has taken hence the name
Owere. This however did not go down well with his younger brother
who began to plot on how to kill him. After hearing about the
plot,Ekwema Arugo fled to the present day site of owere and first
settled in Ugwu Ekwema where he roasted yam and eat with his
family; that is why in his remembrance,Owere people have a special
celebration called
Oru Owere. The festival
is usually conducted at Ugwu Ekwema and is associated with yam
which is very essential in the festival. Ekwema Arugo, who founded
Owere, had five children. These children constitute the five
hamlets of Owere village listed here according to seniority:
Traditional Ruler
His Royal Highness, Eze Dr. Emmanuel Emenyonu Njemanze is the
current Ozuruigbo of Owerri. The stool of the Eze Owere was founded
in the 14th century when the first Owerri traditional ruler, Eze
Eke Onunwa was installed. Other traditional rulers in the same
royal lineage are Eze Okorie Onunwa, Eze Njemanze Okorie Onunwa,
Ihemeji Njemanze Iheanacho, Eze Johnson Osuji Njemanze and Eze
Onwuegbuchlem Njemanze.
Transport and Trade
Owerri has
an airport southeast of the city, called the Imo Airport
which provides service to Abuja
, Lagos
, Port Harcourt
, and Enugu.
Right now,
it serves as an alternate for Port Harcourt, but it does not serve international
purposes. Some major roads that go through the city are;
Port Harcourt Rd., Aba Rd., Onitsha Rd., and Okigwe Rd. Roads
within the city are; Douglas Rd., Weathral Rd., Tetlow Rd., and
Works Rd. Eke Ukwu Owere market is the main market in Owerri.
Owerri sits in the
rain forest and
produces many agricultural products, such as
yams,
cassava,
taro,
corn,
rubber and
palm
products.
Education
Important educational institutions in Owerri include
Imo State University,
Federal University of
Technology Owerri, African Institute of Science and Technology
(AIST CCE Owerri), Federal College of Land Resources Oforola,
Seat of Wisdom Seminary
Owerri,
Alvan Ikoku
College of Education,
Federal Government Girls
College Owerri,
Owerri
Girls Secondary School,
Government Secondary School
Owerri,
Development Secondary School
Owerri,
Emmanuel College
Owerri,
Holy Ghost College
Owerri, Community Secondary School Oforola Owerri, Federal
Politechnic Nekede Owerri, Government Technical college Owerri,
Army Day Secondary School Obinze Owerri etc
Sports
Religion
As in most of Igboland, Christianity is the dominant religion. The
Catholics and Anglicans have the largest followings and Owerri is
home to Assumpta Cathedral, seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese
of Owerri (Latin: Archidioecesis Overriensis).
The Seat of Wisdom Seminary is in Owerri.
The archdiocese covers an area of 2,996 km². 670,986 of the
1.7 million people in the area are member of the Catholic
Church.
References
External links
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