I’ve been collecting information on the cultural history of my hometown, Awka, for a number of years now, and I thought perhaps I should share bits and pieces of what I have learnt.

Awka is a relatively large town (with an estimated population of over 300,000 people) located some 25 miles east of the commercial city of Onitsha. It is the political capital of Anambra State, and the seat of two universities – the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (owned by the Federal Government) and Paul University (owned by the Anglican mission). The teaching hospital – and with it the college of medicine – of the state-owned Anambra State University is also situated in the town.

But before the 20th century, when Awka gained importance as a modern centre of administration and higher learning, it was renowned among the Igbo-speaking peoples and some of their neighbours for the skill of its men in woodcarving, metalworking, the practice of medicine, and for its widely-feared oracle, the Agbala Oracle.


Fig 1: Map of South-eastern Nigeria, showing some historic towns in Igboland and some of the neighbouring ethnic groups. (‘Idoma’ is mistakingly written as ‘Igoma’.)



Fig 2: Map of the Awka State Capital Territory.



Fig 3: Entrance to the State Government House Premises, Awka.




Fig 4: The Administrative Building of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

Existing Literature on Awka:

Disappointingly little has been written on the history and culture of Awka, which is rather surprising, given the significant part it played in Igbo social evolution in pre-colonial times.

Professor Elizabeth Isichei’s anthology of oral histories, Igbo Worlds, contains some pretty informative passages about Awka. Nancy Neaher’s article, "Awka Who Travel: Itinerant Metalsmiths of Southern Nigeria" also makes interesting reading. Dr Azuka Dike’s ethnographic work The Resilience of Igbo Culture: a Case Study of Awka is probably the first full-length book dealing with the town. Academic historian, Dr Ifeanyi Anagbogu, has produced a sizeable crop of pamphlets and booklets on various aspects of Awka history. But the most important reference work for the history and culture of Awka is the two-volume work, The Awka People, written by the late legal luminary, Barrister Amanke Okafor. Without a doubt, Barister Okafor is to Awka what Chief Egharevba is to Benin – its most important amateur historian. Volume one of The Awka People is available online for download. (The online version, however, doesn’t have the very informative appendices contained in the ‘paper copy’.)

The following outline is based largely on the works of these five researchers, and on my own observations.


Fig 8: The First Full-Length Scholarly Work on Awka, written by an Awka Ethnographer.

THE EARLIEST AWKA PEOPLE – ORIGIN AND HUNTING ECONOMY:

The territory known today as Awka has been inhabited by man for several centuries, perhaps for millenia. In the 1930s, stone tools were discovered in the area which belong to the Neolithic stage of human development. It is largely because of the antiquity of man in this area that the ‘core’ Awka people do not have any memory of migration from outside the Awka area; they claim that they have been there from the beginning of time! These first Awka people lived on the banks of the Ogwugwu stream in what is now the Nkwelle ward/village in Awka. How they got there, who their migratory leaders were, whence they came, are all lost in the haze of remote history. We do know that these earliest people consisted of three kin groups – Urueri, Amaenyiana and Okpo – and were collectively called the Ifiteana. ‘Ifiteana’ roughly translates into “[people who] sprouted from the earth”.

The Ifiteana people (i.e., the Old Awka people) were a settled agricultural society. However, big-game hunting constituted a very important sector of their economy. The elephant was their most prized game; its tusk was a very valuable article of trade.

The Ifiteanas already knew the art of smelting iron ore and fashioning the implements of farming, hunting and, of course, war. Their first and chief god was an old deity called Ọkikanube (usually shortened to Ọkanube). According to the myths of these people, Ọkanube was a supernatural being who came from the sky and taught the Ifiteana people of old the arts of working iron and making medicine. His name Ọkanube means ‘He who is Pre-eminent with the Spear’. He was basically a hunting god and the myths say he showed the people how to hunt with iron spears (ube) laced with medicine, hence his name.

The elephant tusk, called okike, was the symbol of the god Ọkanube. Every Awka compound had this important ritual symbol kept in the family chapel cum reception hall (called the obu). In the fifth month of every Awka year, (that is, towards the beginning of the dry season when hunting started), the okike was venerated and the people asked their god Ọkanube for a fruitful hunting season. The okike was brought from its sacred hiding place and unwrapped. A goat or a chicken was sacrificed and buried in a hole in front of this symbol. Then the okike was re-wrapped and taken back to its sanctum. It won’t be seen again until the next hunting season; it was believed that whoever set eyes on okike before the fifth month was struck with madness.

In the hollow of the sacred elephant tusk, the people stored their hunting ‘medicine’. They smeared the ‘medicine’ on their hunting spears before they set out for the bush. This ‘medicine’ was of two types:
a) The otolo type, which caused the hunted animal (usually an elephant) to pass diarrhoeal stool, until it died of dehydration and weakness; and
b) The ada-ngene type, which aroused great thirst for water in the hunted animal. The animal would then seek for a watering-hole, but would die once it tasted water.

The Ifiteana people believed they received the recipes for both ‘medicines’ from Ọkanube himself.

Awka was once a haunt of elephants. A part of the town is still called Ama Enyi (Elephants’ Quarters), and until recently there was a pond in the town called Iyi Enyi (Elephants’ Pond) where the elephants used to gather to drink and slack their thirst. Over-hunting rendered the poor animals virtually extinct even before the coming of the British colonialists. The last elephant seen in the area was killed in 1910 by three hunters using the ada-ngene medicine.

As elephants became scarcer and scarcer, the god Ọkanube became less and less important, until people stopped worshipping him altogether. The spot where his shrine once stood is marked by a lone spear stuck in the ground. But his memory survived him worship. According to Amanke Okafor, the Ifiteanas called themselves Ụmụ Ọkanube (the children of Ọkanube) or Ụmụ Ọka; and it was from that appellation that the name of the town, Ọka (anglicized as Awka) was derived. A market was also named in Ọkanube’s honour – the Oye Ọkanube (Oye Ọka) market. The Oye Ọka market square was the centre of Awka political life, where weighty matters were deliberated on and important decisions made, until the British Government put an end to its meetings in 1928.

Ọkanube Declines, Imo-Ọka Rises:

When Ọkanube declined in popularity, another god rose to take his place as the most prominent god of the Awka people. The name of the god is Imo-Ọka. The history of Imo-Ọka is rather interesting.

According to oral history, a young Awka girl named Nomeh fell seriously ill. Her kinsmen brought doctors from the neighbouring town, Ụmụezeukwu, to treat her. Unfortunately, Nomeh died. [Ụmụezeukwu doesn’t exist today; Awka wiped the town out in a war following the death of Nomeh.] She was buried on the grounds that later became Imo-Ọka’s shrine. After a few years, the dead girl began to haunt her Awka kinsmen. Children died prematurely. Awka people believed the spirit of Nomeh was angry because her life had been cut short, and she never got to marry and beget her own children. To calm her angry spirit and ward off her wrath, her kinsmen hired a team of powerful medicine-men from ‘Idomaland’ (called ‘Akpotos’ by Awka people; it is quite possible that the medicine-men were Igala). The ‘Idoma’ medicine-men prepared a charm for Awka called Akwalị Ọmụmụ ụmụ Ọka (i.e., a charm for the procreation of Awka people). The charm was buried on Nomeh’s grave. In time, the charm grew in potency and became so powerful that the people began to revere it as a god in its own right. They called this new god Akwalị Ụmụ Ọka or simply Imo-Ọka. Till today, Awka animists still regard Imo-Ọka as the great protector of the town. The Imo-Ọka Carnival (called the Egwu Imo-Ọka) marks the beginning of the Awka native year; and is practically the only pagan celebration in Awka that has survived to the present day.

The ‘Idoma’ medicine-men who made the charm were not allowed to return to their own land, for Awka feared that they might go away and make a similar charm for a rival community. So Awka showed them land to settle on; and the medicine-men started a community of their own which grew into the town of Ọkpụnọ, on the northern border of Awka. Ọkpụnọ Town is often referred to as Ọkpụnọ Ọka Chị – i.e. Ọkpụnọ under Awka’s Patronage. Until the coming of the Europeans, Ọkpuno paid a yearly rent to their Awka ‘landlords’.

In time, the three small kin groups of Urueri, Amaenyiana and Okpo multiplied and expanded away from the banks of the Ogwugwu stream. They absorbed some neighbouring groups. They drove away some others and annexed their territories, until the land and people of Awka became quite substantial. The communities driven away or destroyed and their lands claimed by Awka include:
1) Ụmụezeukwu – The Ụmụezeukwu War is the first remembered war in Awka annals.
2) Uvume – The Uvume War is still commemorated during the Imo-Ọka Carnival. Awka young men stage a mock battle (called nrọ ọta) during the festival re-enacting how the Uvume were vanquished and expelled; and how their sacred emblem, a trumpet made of a convoluted horn (Opu Eke) was captured and dedicated to the Awka deity Imooka.
3) Inyi – Inyi and Awka fell out over the violation of the latter’s hunting rights by the former. Awka fought them and drove them off. Some of them fled to Inyi, near the town of Achi and formed a community there known as Ụmụome.
4) Abo-Enugwu
5) Amantogwu – Awka and Amantogwu quarrelled over the kidnapping and selling of a young Awka lad named Ikelionwu. More shall be said about Ikelionwu in its proper place.
6) Nwolu
7) Uruana/ Nluana
8.) Norgu – Awka fought two wars with Norgu and finally drove them away to their present site.


The lands formerly occupied by these groups now form integral parts of Awka Town.



Fig 9: Akwalị Ọmụmụ - the charm that grew to become Imo-Ọka looked something like this, an earthern mound.


(PICTURES FROM THE IMO-ỌKA CARNIVALS OF 1945 AND 1950)


Fig 10: Agbogho Mmonwu (Maiden Spirit), Amikwo, Awka, 1945.




Fig 11: Masquerade (name uncertain), Awka, 1945.



Fig 12: Imo-Ọka Masquerades, Amaenyi-Awka, 1950.

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Very informative and well-written. I'm enjoying it. I'm also doing the same with my people. Also, try not to post too much, consecutively. NL bot has a tendency of marking and consequently hiding posts and topics as spam for that reason.

Yea, I noticed. The last couple of pictures I posted are hidden. So I think I'm gonna take little break now. Thanks!

Radoillo: Yea, I noticed. The last couple of pictures I posted are hidden. So I think I'm gonna take little break now. Thanks!

No. They were not hidden. The images were uploaded wrongly. Try uploading them again.

Or instead of uploading you try this method, copy the url of the picture from the website its located on. Then paste it in the body of your message, with http:// infront of the url. Add [img] and [/img] before and after the full url with http:// respectively and then submit.

For example, I just googled up the image of Awka below, visited the image directly, not the website, copied the url, pasted here, typed http:// in front, added [img] and [/img] before and after the full url and submitted. You can click on 'quote' to see the actual style of the imaging method.

What a nice informative piece on the Awka people, history and tradition.

bigfrancis21:

No. They were not hidden. The images were uploaded wrongly. Try uploading them again.

Or instead of uploading you try this method, copy the url of the picture from the website its located on. Then paste it in the body of your message, with http:// infront of the url. Add [img] and [/img] before and after the full url with http:// respectively and then submit.


For example, I just googled up the image of Awka below, visited the image directly, not the website, copied the url, pasted here, typed http:// in front, added [img] and [/img] before and after the full url and submitted. You can click on 'quote' to see the actual style of the imaging method.

Hmm...Problem is: I'm not googling the images. they are already on my laptop...I'm using NL's 'choose file' option.

Radoillo:


Hmm...Problem is: I'm not googling the images. they are already on my laptop...I'm using NL's 'choose file' option.

Ok. I was only giving you an alternative option in case the 'choose file' option problem persists. Moreover, the 'choose file' option has a maximum number of 4 pictures you can upload at a time with a maximum KB size of 200kb, while the URL option has no limit to the number of images you can put, and their KB sizes.

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(PICTURES FROM THE IMO-OKA CARNIVALS OF 1945 AND 1950)


[img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150783558591650&set=o.69508606872&type=3[/img]

Fig 11: Masquerade (name uncertain), Awka, 1945

[img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150642641541650&set=o.69508606872&type=3[/img]

Fig 12: Imo-Oka Masquerades, Amaenyi Awka, 1950

Fig 13: Flogging contest (called ‘nro ota’) during the Imo-Ọka Festival at Amudo village, Awka in the 1960s. In the olden days, the contestants used real machetes, hitting each other with the blunt sides rather than the sharp edges. The use of machetes was discontinued after one Udenabo of Amachalla village was accidentally killed during a ‘flogging’ encounter.

[img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=471946651649&set=o.69508606872&type=3[/img]

SOME PECULIARITIES OF AWKA SPEECH:


Let me take a short break and talk linguistics. 


Perhaps the first thing that other Igbo-speakers notice about Awka speech is the use of the sound, /vb/, sometimes also written as /fv/. This sound is often used in place of the /h/ in ‘Standard’ Igbo, or the /f/ in the Onitsha/Idemmili lects. [The /vb/ sound also occurs in Bini and some other Edoid languages, e.g., Egharevba, Oghenekevbe.]


Examples:


English: forest
Standard Igbo: ọhia
Onitsha/Idemmili lect: ọfia
Awka speech: ọvbia


English: thing
Standard Igbo: ịhe
Onitsha/Idemmili lect: ịfe
Awka lect: ịvbe


Such names as Ahamefula/Afamefuna, Nwafor, Ifunanya would be pronounced by an Awka man as Avbamevbune, Nwavbor and Ivbunanya.


This doesn’t mean that Awka speech does not employ the /f/ sound. They only use it differently. For example, where some other Igbos say ‘pụọ’ (‘go away’) and ‘pụta’ (‘come out’), the Awka man says ‘fụọ’ and ‘fụta’.


One peculiarity in Awka speech is the tendency to drop the vowels i and u when they occur at the end of words. For examples:


Mara or malụ (to know) – becomes ‘mal’
Ralụ (to select) – becomes ‘ral’
Ọtọchalụ (the most senior) – becomes ‘ọtọchal’
Obikwelụ/Obikweli (a name) – becomes ‘Obukwel’
Chiwetalụ (another name) – becomes ‘Chiwetel’


Awka speech also makes use of those vowels, i and u, in a very interesting manner, often putting one where other Igbos would put the other; and vice versa.


Examples:

Where Central Igbo-speakers say ‘ndị mmadụ’ (‘people’), Awka speakers say ‘ndụ mmadị’. Central speakers say ‘obi’ (heart/chest), Awka speakers say ‘obu’. Central speakers say ‘kedụ’ (‘how/what’), Awka speakers say ‘kedi’.
‘Dị’ (‘is/exists’) is pronounced by Awka speakers as ‘dụ’, as in the following phrases:-
1) Ọ dụ mma – It is well.
2) Ọ dụ n’aka Chikwu – It is in God’s hands. [Note, that in Awka, ‘Chukwu’ is pronounced ‘Chikwu’]


Some other Awka variants of common Igbo words:

English - Central Igbo - Awka
Yesterday Ụnyaahụ Nnyavbụlụ
Today Taa Taadịnị
Day Ụbochị Bọshị
Anger Iwe Iwo [I hear Abiriba people say ‘iwo’, too.]
Behaviour Omume Omefu
Big Nnukwu Nnekwu


Now, let me show a few Awka words which do not appear to be cognate with words used in Central Igbo (though they might be cognate with words used in some other local dialects in the neighbourhood of Awka).


1) Central Igbo – ugbu a (English: Now)
Awka – vba a

2) Central Igbo – mba (English: No)
Awka – wa [‘wa’ is also used in Agbaja territories in Enugu State to the immediate north of Awka]


3) Central Igbo – ebe a (English: Here)
Awka – ika a [sometimes ‘ibe e’ is also used and is clearly related to Central Igbo’s ‘ebe a’.]


4) Central Igbo – oshi (English: Theft)
Awka – ụlụ (Thus, a thief is called ‘onye ụlụ’. A Central speaker says ‘O na-ezu oshi’ i.e., ‘He steals’. Awka says, ‘Ọ na-alụ ụlụ.’ Due to urbanization, however, the younger generation of Awka people today would likely say ‘onye ori’ and ‘O na-ezu ori’, like their neighbours)


5) Central Igbo – eziokwu (English: Truth)
Awka – nne [In a sentence: ‘ Ọ vbụrọ nne’ means ‘It is not the truth’, or ‘Ọ bụghi eziokwu’ in Central Igbo. Note that ‘nne’ is pronounced exactly like the Igbo word for mother.]


6) Central Igbo – ezigbo (English: Good or genuine)
Awka – nnene [In a sentence: ‘Ọ vbụ nnene mmadi’ means ‘He/She is a good person’ or ‘Ọ bụ ezigbo mmadu’ in Central Igbo.]


7) Central Igbo – gini (English: What)
Awka – nnidi or (in some contexts) dunnu. [In sentences: (a) ‘I shi nnidi?’ Means ‘You said what?’ or ‘I si gini?’ in Central Igbo; (b) ‘Ọ dunnu na-avbiọ?’ Means ‘What’s a-buzz?’ or ‘Ọ gini na-ahiọ?’ in Central Igbo.]


8.) Central Igbo – onye (English: Who)
Awka – odee [In a sentence: ‘Odee ka I vbụ?’ Means ‘Who are you?’ or ‘Onye ka I bụ?’ in Central Igbo]


9) Central Igbo – otu (English: Way/Manner)
Awka – ele [In a sentence: ‘Ele I shi eme omefu adụrọ mma’ or ‘Ele I shi eme omefu amaagara.’ Means ‘The way you behave is not good’ or ‘Otu I si eme omume adịghị mma’ in Central Igbo]


10) Central Igbo – ebee (English: Where)
Awka – nnee [In a sentence: ‘Nnee ka I jije? Means ‘Where are you going?’ or ‘Ebee ka I na-aga’ in Central Igbo]


11) Central Igbo – ebe ahụ (English: There)
Awka – neevbu [In a sentence: ‘Kedi ivbe I na-eme neevbu?’ Means ‘What are you doing there?’ or ‘Kedu ihe in a-eme ebe ahụ’? in Central Igbo]


Due to the effects of modern urbanization and the Pan-Igbo ideology, some of these distinct expressions are disappearing and being replaced by more ‘universal’ Igbo words. Pan-Igboism is also affecting the way Awka people pronounce their names, and the names the present generation of Awka people give their children.


Names like Obiọra, Dozie, Chinyere, Ifeọma, Madụka and Emeka in correct Awka pronunciation would be Obuọra, Dezie, Chinyel, Ivbeọma, Madịka and Emeke. [My cousin Emeka gets mad when his mother calls his name the Awka way – Emeke]


Three of my nieces born in the last five years were given such trendy Igbo names as Kosisọchukwu, Kamsiyọchukwu and Chimamanda. The correct Awka renditions of these names would be: Eleoshisọchikwu, Elemshiyọchikwu and Chimayaraada.


ENOUGH LINGUISTICS.... Back to the history.

AWKA CRAFTSMEN AND NRI ITINERANT PRIESTS: A RELATIONSHIP


A common historical fallacy which is often repeated is that all Igbo-speaking clans originated from Nri. How that theory gained acceptance in academic circles is quite surprising. The traditions certainly don’t make that claim.


In Awka, we believe that we are more ancient than Nri. Our traditions say that before the eponymous ancestor of the Nri people came from the Anambra Valley to settle in Agukwu, Awka was already an established centre of iron technology and the trade in ivory. Nri traditions would appear to admit as much. According to the legends of the Nri people themselves, when Eri their purported progenitor came down from the sky to the valley of the Anambra River, he could not settle there because the land was waterlogged. Then Chukwu, the high god, sent an Awka blacksmith with his bellows, fire and charcoal to dry up the land. Eri was only able to settle there after the Awka smith had finished his assignment. Eri was so impressed with the Awka man’s work that he rewarded him with an ọvbọ (short ritual staff) which conferred on him special claims to the smithing profession.


This legend rationalizes the relationship which existed between Nri and Awka for centuries. Awka’s prowess in metal-working was invaluable to the Nri hieratic elite. Awka smiths manufactured the metal paraphernalia of the Nri man’s priestly office, including the Ọtọnsi staff with which Nri priests claimed to cleanse abominations. The creative forces behind what has come to be known as the Nri ‘civilization’ were, in fact, three distinct social castes: First, the Nri priests who performed rituals of various sorts; second, the Ụmụdiọka body-artists who cut the intricate nobility marks (called ichi marks) on the faces of the elite; and third, the Awka metalworkers who produced objects of utilty used by both the Nri priests and the Ụmụdioka body-artists. A remarkable combine of Ụmụdioka’s artistic skill and Nri’s spirituality, backed by Awka’s technological power lies at the soul of Nri cultural greatness.


In this wise, historians have postulated that the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes (the earliest known works of their kind from sub-Saharan Africa) were made by Awka smiths working under the aegis of Nri. If indeed the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes were connected with Nri rites, as is thought by some scholars, then it is most likely that their manufacturers were Awka smiths. There is no tradition that Igbo-Ukwu ever had a caste of smiths; the nearest important centre of smithing to Igbo-Ukwu was/is Awka, less than 20 miles away. The theory that Awka smiths made the bronzes is a compelling one.


In Awka, we say: ‘Etuvbe, etuvbe gbavba a gbavba, Ọka na Nri bu ovbu, ebe-ne-ebe.’ This roughly translates: ‘If you search deeply into history, you will find that Awka and Nri are one’. The activities of both peoples complemented one another.


There is another saying in Awka – ‘Nri anara awakpo Ọka ọji’, i.e., ‘An Nri man cannot break the kolanut when an Awka man is present.’ Awka did not interact with Nri from the position of subordinates, but claimed some prerogatives over Nri, being the older town and the supplier of its powerful priests’ paraphernalia of office.


From about the 16th century, Nri hegemony began to decline. Bini political influence was encroaching on its field of operation to the west; Igala was doing the same to the north; and the destructive slave trade was developing to the south.


In Awka, the people were set to enter another crucial stage of their history.




Fig 22: ‘Surgical’ knives used by Ụmụdiọka scarifiers; made by Awka smiths.




Fig 23: An Nri ritual specialist with his Awka-made Ọtọnsị staff stuck in the ground in front of him.

TWO MIGRATIONS AND A SOCIO-ECONOMIC REVOLUTION:


The first of two migrations that changed the course of Awka history occurred in about the 15th century. Our chronicler, Amanke Okafor, using genealogy as a dating tool, puts the migration in the year circa 1485. In that time, a blacksmith named Nebechi Ụzọ or Nebuzọ from Agụlụ-Ụmana in Agbaja country in what is now Enugu State migrated with his family and settled in Awka. He brought with him the Agbaja god of smithing, Akpụtakpụ. The cult of Akpụtakpụ was held in high regard among his descendants until quite recently. It is believed that Nebuzọ was looking for a place of opportunity to ply his craft – and Awka was a flourishing centre for craftspeople. Apparently, his progeny prospered there; his legendary son Agụlụ founded seven wards (or villages) in Awka!


The second migration occurred much later, and Barrister Okafor, using the same dating technique, dated it to the year circa 1615. In that year (or rather around that period), an itinerant body-artist and doctor from Ụmụdiọka in Dunukọfia came with his people and settled in Awka. His name was Ichide. Ichide and his people founded a ward (or village) in Awka called Ụmụdiọka, after their ancestral home. Like Nebuzọ before him, Ichide also came looking for business opportunities. The Nri cultural hegemony was in decline; there are traditions that suggest that such Nri-associated traits like the cutting of ichi marks were no longer as fashionable as they once were, and the Ụmụdiọka body-artists that cut such marks on people were seeing their patronage shrink. It is hardly surprising that when these Ụmụdiọka people settled in Awka, they completely abandoned the art of cutting ichi marks, and focused on doctoring and wood-carving. They also learnt metalsmithing from the aboriginal Awka people. The Ụmụdioka settlers brought with them an oracle which was to become widely influential in the old Eastern Region in the centuries before Christianization – the oracle of the goddess Agbala. The Ụmụdiọka people prospered, too; and their ward grew to become the most populous ward in Awka.


These two migrations had considerable effects on Awka and its economy. The most important effect was that it significantly increased the number of professional men (i.e., smiths, carvers and doctors) operating in the town. The consumer market in the immediate vicinity of Awka became too small for them, and new economic strategies had to be worked out. Awka had to expand its market; and it was from this period that these professional men developed the culture of itinerancy and a complex and well-organized guild system. Where before, the Awka man had been a stay-at-home craftsman, he was now compelled to travel to distant lands if he was to survive.


A Culture of Itinerancy and the Awka Guild System:


So, from about the 16th century, or a little earlier, Awka craftsmen became noted itinerants or travellers. They travelled throughout the old Eastern Region, large parts of the old Midwestern Region and parts of the present Middle Belt. Perhaps, with the possible exception of the Aro people, they were the most widely travelled Igbo-speaking group in pre-colonial times. G.T. Basden, a British missionary who came to Nigeria in 1900, observed that they travelled to such distant parts as Bonny, Calabar, Warri and Lagos, plying their craft. One could even argue that their reach extended further than that of the Aro. They rarely ever established permanent colonies, like the Aro people, however. They only erected workshops in host communities, forged metal ware, sold them at the local markets, offered ‘doctoring’ services, and returned to Awka after a period of time.


For greater efficiency, they organized themselves into a guild. The itinerant artisans of Awka must have realized that if every craftsman travelled where he wanted, there might be crowding in some places which could result in unnecessary friction and petty rivalries. They, thus, divided the world known to them into ezi ije (‘journey-routes’) or spheres of influence. Every Awka smithing/doctoring ward had its own sphere of influence, where their men operated and from which the men of the other wards were excluded, except in certain rare cases.

Below are outlined some of the wards in Awka and their spheres of influence (i.e., places where they operated).

1) Ụmụike – operated in Ikwerreland, and northeastwards into Ngwaland.
2) Ụmụanaga – operated in the creeks of the Western and Central Delta (called Ọwaalị in Awka), home of the Izon.
3) Ụmụjagwo – operated among the Ekpeye people (called Ekpafia by Awka) and neighbouring peoples.
4) Ụmụenechi – operated among the Urhobo, the Isoko, and the peoples of Ụkwụanị and Ndosumili.
5) Ụmụọrụka – operated in the Annang-Efik-Ibibio area, and beyond the Cross River in the area around Ikom (called Azụ-Anyịm in Awka, i.e., ‘back of the Cross River’)
6) Ụmụọgbụ – operated in ‘Uji Ukpali’. The location of Uji Ukpali is difficult to ascertain from the surviving accounts. One account says it is an unspecified region north of Nsukka; another account says it is somewhere in the old Midwest and the eastern reaches of the Western Region. According to one informant interviewed by Professor Elizabeth Isichei in 1975, Ụmụọgbụ smiths later went through Yoruba and beyond to the French territory (i.e., former Dahomey) [see Isichei’s Igbo Worlds, page 57]
7) Ụmụmbele – operated in the riverain area lying between Onitsha and the Niger-Benue confluence, including the floodplains north of Awka, known as Adagbe country.
8.) Ụmụkwa – operated in Enuanị, west of the Niger (they were particularly active in Issele-Uku) and among the Bini. Ụmụkwa people were impressed by the agricultural prowess of the Isseles and made a song about it, part of which goes thus: ‘Isele-e, Isele-e gboji/Ndụ ji abana akpochi ụzọ ọba/Eghu eme ta ji ọcha dụ n’im’ye!’ Rough translation: ‘Issele, yam producers/ Who build their yam barns with yams of the abana variety/ As a distraction for the goats, lest they go into the barn and eat the superior white yams.’ Ụmụkwa tradition claims that it was an Ụmụkwa smith who forged the sword used by the legendary Bini warrior, Iguala (Iguala is the Awka variation of Arhuaran, Esigie’s rival for the Bini throne.) Of course, we shouldn’t take this tradition at face value. The thrust of the gist is that Ụmụkwa smiths were present in Benin.
9) Ụmụzọcha (my home village) – our sphere of influence was Igala land. My grandfather who died in 1950 operated in Ankpa and Ejure in his youth, and married one of his four wives from Ejure.
10) Ụmụdiọka – operated in Nkanụ, the eastern part of present-day Enugu State. There are known cases where Ụmụdiọka men operated outside their sphere of influence. One example was Onyekwel Ilonwepe, a native doctor from the Ụmụdeke kindred of Ụmụdiọka, who was Jaja’s physician in Bonny, and who moved with his client when the latter migrated to found Opobo.


These men travelled on foot or by canoe. Those who travelled by canoe first went north, on foot, through Ọkpụnọ, Achalla and Nando to the Ezu River, a tributary of the Anambra. On the Ezu, they hired canoes and paddled down to the beach of Otu Ọcha (along the Anambra River). From Otu Ọcha, they went downriver to Onitsha. Those travelling to Enuanị and Benin branched off from here; the rest paddled on down to the Ijaw country.


Long-distance travelling was very hazardous business in those days. Only very few Igbo-speaking groups risked travelling far beyond their immediate neighbourhood. The ones who did were either militarily strong (like the Aboh); or had the backing of dreaded oracles (like the Ụmụnọha, the Arọ and the Awka); or practised such crafts like metal-smithing which was held in high regard and reverence (like the Nkwerre and the Awka).

When communities were at war and the roads were closed to travellers, Awka smiths passed through by having their bellows hoisted on poles over their canoes. When the combatants saw the sign, they knew that smiths were passing by, and gave them safe passage.

Besides their work as craft makers, these itinerant men also served as agents for the oracle of Agbala, the goddess that was brought to Awka by the Ụmụdiọka. They carried the name of Agbala wherever they went, and from as far south as the Eastern Delta, people journeyed into the hinterland (guided by the Awka smiths) to consult the oracle at Awka. The fame of Agbala was an additional source of immunity and safety for Awka travellers; no one would dare harm or molest the ambassadors of such a great deity. It was suggested by British Colonial Officers and missionaries that Awka used its oracle to run a slave-procuring racket, like the Ụmụnọha and the Arọ did with their own oracles. There is nothing unreasonable about that suggestion, but Awka people were never major slave dealers.


The Iche Ụnọ Policy of the Awka Guild System:

The practice of going abroad and being away from home for so long had one strong disadvantage – it left Awka Town defenceless and vulnerable to attack. A policy was devised by which only half of the men were allowed to travel at a time, while the other half stayed back to defend the town. After a stipulated time, the ones who had travelled returned and took over the role of defending the town from those who had been at home so the latter could travel, too. This rotation of duties went on in a cycle. The policy was called iche ụnọ – ‘guarding the home’. The system was organized so that the returning fell in the second month of the Awka year, during the feast of Ụkwụ, the patron god of travellers. The Agụlụ-Awka villages, however, (who were descendants of Nebuzọ) returned in the seventh month, during the feast of Akpụtakpụ, their local patron deity of smiths. Those who failed to return when their return was due were banned from entering the town until they paid a heavy fine.


The Ábá language – the Secret Language of the Awka Craftsworkers’ Guild:

Guilds and exclusive societies often had ‘trade secrets’ and confidential information which they tried to keep away from non-members. One of the ways of passing secret information back and forth was through the use of a communication medium understood only by the members of that exclusive society – a code or a secret language.

Awka developed its own secret language; they called it Ábá. Speaking Ábá was referred to as mbụ Ábá (literally, ‘chanting Ábá’). At first, Ábá was just a disguised version of the Igbo variety spoken in Awka. The syllables of a word or a sentence would be rearranged in an attempt to make them undecipherable. Let’s look at some examples:

Nwanne m (my sibling) in Ábá was nnenwa m.
Nne nwanya (elderly woman) was rendered as nnya nwene.
Ọ vbụ nnenne mmadi (he is a good person) became Ọ vbụ mmana nnedi.
Egwu na-atụ m (I’m scared) was Itu na-egwu m.

As time went on these simple distortions were vastly improved upon, and Ábá developed into an independent language of its own with its own vocabulary, its own intonation.

The following Ábá words clearly weren’t Igbo words distorted:
Aja la atukpa – sheep
Nyashika – dog
Pinyalu nvuve-e – he-goat
Ikolomi – ram
Gbeshi – goat, or yam
Bushi – woman
Vbiana – market
Ko-oshi – money

Neither is this Ábá sentence:

Lita gbeshi na anakwu na ubaladogu – ‘Buy yam and fish and palm-oil’.


The Student-Smith: Apprenticeship and Graduation:


An Awka boy would start very early to learn the art of smithing – at about the age of seven or eight. He would come under the tutelage of a master and follow him on his travels. At first he learnt how to work the bellows; then he learnt how to make chains by beating out old bits of brass into fine wire and fashioning them into links; then he learnt to make the needles called ụmụmụ, formerly used as currency before the introduction of cowries. Then he went on to learn how to make razors (ọkwa isi), native pen-knives, finger rings, etc. Then larger objects like hoes and axes.

In the final stage of his education, he learnt how to make a gun. Making guns weren’t easy because the smiths didn’t know the technique for fashioning the hollow pipes that served as barrels. Mostly, they obtained old flint-locks, and re-fashioned them into cap-guns.

Revd Basden (earlier noted) visited Awka in 1904 and left us this account of an Awka smith:

‘In another shop I saw a smith make all the essential parts of the lock of a gun. He manufactured his own taps and dies from pieces of cutlass. In this instance, the man had made every part of the gun except the barrel, the stocks and fittings being so well executed that one could scarcely distinguish the result from a European-made article. I inquired whether he could construct a gun completely, and he replied that he could as far as the forging was concerned, but he knew no method for tampering the barrel, and therefore there was no use his making that.’

Writing in 1992, Amanke Okafor added:

‘It was gun-smithing, however, that enabled Oka [Awka] to penetrate Yorubaland. While Yoruba used nails and riveted their gun parts, Oka used screws. Oka guns could be taken to pieces and re-assembled.’

So, when a student-smith was able to manufacture guns (or more accurately, re-fashion flint-locks into cap-guns), he was qualified and a ‘graduation’ ceremony was organized for him. By this time, he was usually in his late twenties, having been an apprentice for the better part of two decades! Master smiths from different places assembled and were feasted by the new graduate for a day or two. Jointly, the assembled maestros produced the basic tools of blacksmithing for the new entrant into their order. This ceremony was known as Mma Òtùtù.

The Basic Tools of the Awka Smith:

Oshishiama – ‘the hitter’ or the anvil, which basically consisted of a wooden block fixed into the ground into which was driven a rounded iron head, about one and a half inches in diameter.

Òtùtù – the hammer; an iron piece about 12 – 15 inches long, and about the same diameter as the anvil.

Anyụǹkà – the small hammer; used where more delicate hammering was required.

Mkpà – the pincers; for holding the metal in place while the smith worked on it. The big pincers were called mkpa mbvolo; the small pincers, mkpa aka.

Àkịkà oyὶghoghὶ – the iron-cutter; used in cutting iron.

Mkpàchiọkụ – the long rod for stoking the furnace.

Eko – the bellows; for supplying air to the furnace.

Ishi-ka-arụ – the screw driver; for nutting screws.

Nna – used in making the screw threads on the screws.

Fig 30: The Making of Brass Anklets Such as These Ones was the Specialty of Umubele-Awka Smiths.
I have no idea how she walked around in them!

The dearth of history and importance of Awka who journeyed and settled in almost all Igbo communities and beyond all the way to Benin has been dwarfed by Nri revisionists. I for one know that Umudioka is everywhere in Igboland as ancient craftsmen.

Abagworo: The dearth of history and importance of Awka who journeyed and settled in almost all Igbo communities and beyond all the way to Benin has been dwarfed by Nri revisionists. I for one know that Umudioka is everywhere in Igboland as ancient craftsmen.

Indeed. Nri was important, but often its importance is exaggerated.

Radoillo:

Indeed. Nri was important, but often its importance is exaggerated.

From every indication, Awka is likely the most ancient Igbo people who were encountered by most later settlers. Nri is important in the moulding of what was later called basic Igbo culture that does cover only a small area between Orlu and Awka.

NOTES ON EXTERNAL RELATIONS:

While it is true that Awka travellers did not, as a rule, settle down permanently in their places of sojourn, we do encounter among some peoples traditions that their ancestors came from Awka, or at least learnt the art of working metal from travelling Awka smiths.

Amụzụ: The town of Amụzụ in Mbaise has a tradition that their town was founded by migrant blacksmiths from Awka. Another version of the traditions states that Awka smiths did not found the town per se, but settled among the indigenous people and taught them the art of blacksmithing. Amụzụ means ‘Smiths’ Quarter’.

Illah: In the town of Illah in Delta State, the sub-village of Ụmụogwu was traditionally founded by an Awka blacksmith.

The following tradition was collected by Professor Isichei at Illah in 1974:

‘There were blacksmiths in this very village where we are, Ụmụogwu. The first man was from Awka. His trade was black-smithing. He came first of all to stay at Ajaji, Nwabikwu’s quarter....Then he came to a certain place behind Edem. There he lived.... He lived with them and started his smithing. The shrine is there. All his descendants are known as Ụmụogwu.’


Igbide: The Isoko clan of Igbide has a tradition that its founder came from Awka. The ethnographer, R. E. Bradbury mentions this in his 1957 book, The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-Speaking Peoples of South-western Nigeria. This tradition is also referred to in a number of works by foremost Isoko historian, Professor Obaro Ikime.

Isheagu: The town of Isheagu in Delta State, according to the traditional history of its people, descend from a man named Ngwu from the Ifite Quarter in Awka. He was a smith and a hunter. In the traditions, Ngwu is said to be a brother of Eze Awka (King of Awka), who along with the Eze Idu (King of Benin) and Eze Aboh (King of Aboh) was one of the greatest kings known in those parts. Here the tradition gets a little confused: Awka of old was a republican polity and had no kings. The great ‘Eze Awka’ was apparently the Eze Nri, who in distant parts could have been mistaken as the suzerain of Awka. Awka formed one of the pillars of Nri’s hegemony; the men of both towns were travellers, bore the ichi marks on their faces, practised some magico-medicine, and their towns were located not too far from each other. Not surprisingly, people in distant parts sometimes mistook one of them for the other. For example the town of Aku near Nsukka has a tradition that they descend from a prince of Nri named Ijija, and that when they died, their spirits went back to Nri. Yet the Odo masquerade in Aku, which represents the dead ancestors of Aku people, has this lamentary cry: ‘E shi m Awka ooo!’ – ‘I hail from Awka!’

Till today, the Isheagu people of Delta State salute themselves thus: ‘Ụmụ Awka na Ifite’ - ‘Offspring of the Awka people of Ifite’.


Awka-Aro Relations in the 18th and 19th Centuries:

One of the major trade routes used by the Arọ slave traders from about the middle of the 18th century – the Bende-Okigwe-Awka route – passed through Awka, to the North-western Igbo area. The presence of a powerful oracle in Awka makes it tenable that Awka might have played some part in the slave trade, probably in alliance with the Arọ. It would appear that every major oracle we know from Igboland was involved in the slave traffic. And the Awka oracle was one of the four most eminent in Igboland, next to Arọchukwu’s Ibini Ụkpabi, Ụmụnọha’s Igwe-ka-Ala, and Ozuzu’s Kamalụ.


Sometime in the mid-18th century, a young Awka boy, from the Ogonogoezi kindred of Enuifite village in Ifite-Awka was kidnapped by men from the neighbouring town of Amantogwu, and sold to a prominent Aro trader from Ibom Village. The boy’s name was Ikeliọnwụ. The Arọ trader who bought him was Ufere Mgbokwa. Ufere Mgbokwa (a childless man) raised Ikeliọnwụ as his own son, and the boy grew up to be a notable ‘Arọ’ trader in his own right. He founded a settlement known today as Ndị-Ikeliọnwụ, probably the first Arọ colony in what is now Anambra State. The ruling line in Ndị-Ikeliọnwụ traces its descent directly from Ikeliọnwụ.

Relations between Awka and the new, related colony was often difficult. Arọ-Ndịkeliọnwụ quest for slaves was creating some unrest in the region. From the beginning of the 19th century, a number of refugees fleeing from the slave raids and its attendant insecurity arrived Awka, seeking stability and protection. Awka resettled them on a stretch of land called Ama Ọbịa (Strangers’ Quarter). A buffer village called Ụmụokpu, was established by Awka between this ‘refuge settlement’ and the direction from which the Arọ-hired slave raiders were attacking. Ama Ọbia (anglicized spelling: Amawbia) is today an autonomous town, and visitors often wonder why there is an Awka village (Ụmụokpu) on the other side of Amawbia, seperated from ‘main’ Awka!


Awka-Arọ relations worsened considerably in the last three decades of the 19th century. At that time, the Arọ colony of Ndịkeliọnwụ was under the leadership of Ikeliọnwụ’s notorious grandson, the warlord Okoli Ijọma. Okoli Ijọma had subjugated the towns in Adagbe country to the north of Awka (Achalla, Isu-Anaọcha, Mgbakwu), and they used to send yearly tribute to Okoli Ijọma. Then one year, the tribute didn’t come. Okoli declared war and invaded Adagbe country with his Cross River (Ada) warriors.


The road used by the Ada warriors going to fight the Adagbes passed through the northern outskirts of Awka. It was called Ezi Agha (War Road) or Ezi Ada (Ada Road). The war was prosecuted very cruelly, and the Ada warriors cut a lot of heads in Adagbe. On their way home from the warfront, they had to pass again through Awka. But this time, Awka men mounted a block on the road and demanded to see the cut heads they carried with them before letting them through; Awka feared that some of the heads might belong to Awka men operating in Adagbe. In the altercation that followed, the Ada warriors shot dead a young Awka man called Ọmalị. This was the immediate cause of the Ada-Awka War of circa 1878.


The Ada-Awka War (also known as ‘the War Between Kinsmen’):

Awka sent a message to the Aro warlord Okoli Ijọma to come and make reparations for her son murdered by his mercenary soldiers. The message was haughtily rebuffed. Awka then closed its roads to all Arọ travellers. The Arọ warlord threatened to use arms to force the roads open. He assembled a large Ada army and marched on Awka. The army encamped in a deep wooded ravine near the Ọvbịa stream on the town’s border. The plan was to wait till it was dark, and then take the town by surprise. But there were other creatures in that ravine – black monkeys. The black monkeys were alarmed to see so many humans entering their natural abode. In their alarm many of the monkeys fled into the town, making excited noises that alerted the Awka townspeople. The attacking force of Ada warriors had lost its element of surprise!


Awka attacked them in the narrow ravine, killing so many of them. The Ada warriors, realizing the impracticability of trying to take the town from that heavily-defended narrow front, swerved to Ụmụnnoke village and burst into the town’s Nkwọ Imo-Ọka market square. This was a tactical error, for they now found themselves circled by Awka combatants and were soundly beaten and put to rout.


Awka believed it owed its victory to its protector-god Imo-Ọka, and that the black monkeys had been the agency of their salvation. Hence they declared the black monkey sacred and dedicated it to Imo-Ọka. Till today, no Awka man will kill a black monkey, let alone eat its flesh. ‘Awka na-asọ enwe’ – ‘Awka who hold the monkey sacred’ – is still a salutary phrase in the town.

This war was called ‘Agha gbal Ibenne’ – ‘The War Between Kinsmen’, because Okoli Ijọma was himself of Awka descent and technically was a ’kinsman’.


It was the last bloody clash between Awka and any of its neighbours before the coming of the Europeans.




Fig. 35: Eze Professor Chukwuemeka Ike, Ikelionwu XI of Ndikelionwu, a Direct Descendant of Ikeliọnwụ of Ifite-Awka. Noted writer of fiction. According to Amanke Okafor, ‘The blood descendants of Ikelionwu recognized that they came from Oka and whenever, any of them died, who was a male, his widow came to Oka to perform the final Ajana funeral ceremony. This was performed for them by the Head of Umuezeoshie family of Ifite-Oka.’

EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS, 1890s (Awka as Seen by the First Europeans):

The first European thought to have visited Awka was Alfred Jones, a missionary based in Yorubaland, in 1894. The people of Awka were said to have been very hostile to him, and his visit yielded no fruit.

Three years later, in 1897, Thomas John Dennis, a CMS missionary at Onitsha wrote in his diary:

‘Oka is a large town, 40 – 50 miles [sic] to the north-east of Onitsha which I hope may be occupied some day by the CMS. The people are blacksmiths and travel all over the Niger territories. In every town their little sheds can be found. They are a peaceable people as it is in their interest not to get embroiled in any quarrel. To establish a station there would be an important step towards the evangelization of Iboland. I hope that either the bishop or myself may be able to visit Oka before Christmas with a view to seeing what can be done.’

The next year, 1898, Frances Hensley and a party of CMS missionaries visited Awka. In her book, Niger Dawn, Mrs Hensley records:

‘If Oka could be opened up to the Gospel and souls brought into the blessed service of our saviour, wonderful things could happen as the heavenly seed was sown through the length and breath of the country.’

In January, 1899, another party of CMS missionaries led by the Reverend Dr S. R. Smith came to the town. Awka oral history remembers that they rode into the town on horseback, and were shown the way by an Awka man, Ezeukwu, from Umuokpu Village, a smith based in Onitsha at the time. Travelling with the party was Mrs T. J. Dennis, who has left us an important description of Awka as it was in the last decade of the 19th century.

Concerning the mannerisms of Awka people, Mrs T.J. Dennis writes:

‘Most of the men we saw in Oka wore some English article of clothing. For instance, one man would wear a sailor-hat, another man a pair of trousers, another a waist-coat. We were surprised to see some of the young men carry whips similar to those used by carters in England. A great many were armed with Snider rifles, and all carried themselves with a dignified air, or perhaps, more correctly, a sort of swagger, as though all the world belonged to them. We were saluted by one young man with a most graceful bow and an English “Good morning”, as he raised his sailor-hat. The Oka people certainly seem more civilized than their neighbours, probably because they travel about so much. From what I have said it will easily be seen that the Oka men would make excellent evangelists for the Ibo country, if only they could be converted to Christ.’

Concerning hair-dressing among the Awka maidens:

‘The women dress their hair most elaborately. Some whom we saw had fantastic ornaments on their heads, not unlike the comb of a cock in shape, and reaching about an inch from the forehead right over the head to the neck. This erection was covered with some red material, and on either side were fastened six pearl buttons.’

Concerning the town’s defence, she says:

‘Each house stood in a compound surrounded by a high mud wall. There were small loop holes in the walls at equal distances, through which a gun could be fired in the event of an enemy attacking the town. [ such walls with ‘gun holes’ in them were called ekpe] In each compound also there was generally at least one high tree with a platform in its branches, from which a good look-out could be obtained. We noticed also two large, square watch-towers, three times the height of ordinary houses.’


The European arrivals were taken to the compound of Onwurah Ukozu, a prominent personage from Umuanaga Village. Describing the hall of Onwurah, Mrs Dennis writes:

‘As he [Onwurah] was a chief of very high standing his compound was an elaborate one. The walls were beautifully smooth, and painted over with all sorts of queer designs. The door, boxes and other wooden articles were quaintly carved. Here we rested during the heat of the day, and in the afternoon went into a large open space where we preached to the large crowd who soon gathered around us.’

The next time European missionaries came to Awka was four years later, in 1903. And in that year, Awka was embroiled in a bitter war, not with its neighbours but with itself.

THE AGBERI INCIDENT, BUSINESS RIVALRY AND THE AWKA CIVIL WAR:

The immediate event that triggered the war happened far away in Ijawland, in a little town called Agberi (or Agbela, as Awka called it) near Brass. The year was 1899 or 1900. Okeke Egbe, a doctor from the Amikwo Quarter of Awka, was treating a sick Ijaw woman. Unfortunately, the sick woman died. The doctor fled Agberi and returned to Awka. Angry, the Ijaw people attacked the Awka smiths in their midst and drove them away. Most of these smiths were from Ụmụanaga and Ụmụọgbụ wards of Agụlụ Quarter in Awka. Now, there had been an intense rivalry between the doctors of Amikwo Quarter (where the doctor Okeke Egbe came from) and the smiths of Agụlụ Quarter. Agụlụ smiths asserted that the Niger Delta was their ‘field of operation’, and that the presence of Amikwo doctors in the Niger Delta was ‘spoiling their business’. They now demanded that Amikwo men must cease travelling to the Niger Delta, or anywhere where Agụlụ smiths operated. This was totally unacceptable to Amikwo – their economic well-being had come to depend on doing business in the Niger Delta. In November, 1901, war broke out between the two quarters – the Amikwo-Agụlụ Civil War.

At first, Agụlụ boasted that they would defeat Amikwo in ‘one evening’, but after they were soundly beaten by the Amikwo men at the Battle of Okokwu in 1902, Agụlụ began to search for foreign allies and mercenary soldiers.


Agụlụ formed an alliance with the warriors of Ukpor, a town near Nnewi. The men of Ukpor were brave fighters, renowned for carrying huge shields that protected them from head to foot. But they had one characteristic: they never ate cocoyam, and kept strictly away from it. The Amikwo men knew about this food taboo of the Ukpor people, and decided to use it to their advantage. On the field of battle, they fired at the Ukpor warriors with guns loaded with bullets wrapped in cocoyam skins. The Ukpor men broke rank and fled!

Next, Agụlụ sought to hire the feared Ada warriors of the Cross River area through the agency of Ndị-Ikeliọnwụ’s chief, Ike Okoli, son of Okoli Ijọma. The Amikwo forces heard of this plan, and their captain, Ezekwem, went in person to Ndị-Ikeliọnwụ and persuaded the Arọ chief to call off the mercenaries.


In 1903, Agụlụ warmly welcomed European Christian evangelizers to their quarter in the hope that the Europeans would aid them in their war against Amikwo. They were disappointed, for the preachers had no intention whatsoever in taking part in the fight. The reports written by these missionaries show clearly that the Amikwo people had the upper hand in the war by 1903. Part of Agụlụ had been burnt down and several of its men killed. Reverend George T. Basden, who joined the missionaries at Awka in early 1904, summarized events in these words:

‘.... the Agulu Quarter [was] more ready to accept us, they hoping thereby to reap some advantage over their enemies, the people of the Amikwo Quarter. At that time the two Quarters were engaged in civil war owing to the alleged infringement of blacksmithing rights by the Amikwu men. Part of Agulu was burnt down and eleven people lost their lives as the result of one assault by the Amikwus. With the thought in their minds that the presence of Europeans might, in some way, assist them the Agulus agreed to let us settle on the edge of their Quarter. Although no help whatsoever was rendered to either party, beyond doing what was possible for the wounded, yet it was very difficult to get the Amikwus (especially) to accept this fact. for several months that Quarter was subjected to a very rigorous siege, the Agulu hoping to bring them into submission by means of hunger and particularly, by preventing the people from obtaining water outside the village. The siege was raised eventually by the intervention of the Government.’

Finally, in 1904, the people of Agụlụ Quarter made one last desperate move. They sent a delegation to Asaba( headquarters of the British Protectorate of Southern Nigeria), to invite British soldiers to come intervene in the war on their behalf. Coincidentally, the British Government was at that time already making plans to send a military expedition into the region. In June, 1904, the British soldiers led by Major Moorhouse arrived and put an end to the two-and-a-half-year-old civil war. Awka did not resist.The war was over, but Awka also lost its sovereignty.