Before the 1966 pogrom against the Igbo and indigenes of former Eastern Nigeria, Nnewi in Anambra State was under the shadow of Onitsha. The markets in Nnewi were like the typical Igbo markets that were in session every four days, depending on which name each market bore. The Nkwo Market, which was situated at the center of the town, was in full session every Nkwo day, even though some isolated traders could sell some petty things, especially food items, on other days. Anybody who wanted to buy anything of substance went to Onitsha, some 20 kilometers away.

On religious matters, the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church (the two big churches in Nnewi) had their diocesan headquarters in Onitsha. So, the bishops resided in Onitsha and were seen occasionally in Nnewi. To travel to any part of Nigeria from Nnewi, one had to get to Onitsha first. If the trip was to the North or West, one had to cross over by boat to Asaba (before the construction of the Niger Bridge in 1965). But after the bridge was constructed, Onitsha became the connecting city to other parts of Nigeria for most towns and villages in the current Anambra State.

On any map of Nigeria designed before the mid-1970s, Nnewi was usually omitted, because it led to nowhere and was not known for anything of note. The only thing of note that attracted people to Nnewi before the Nigerian Civil War was Okongwu Memorial Grammar School, Nnewi, which was founded in 1947 and had boys from distant towns and villages as students. The only other thing of note about Nnewi was that it produced some prominent individuals like Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, the richest man in Nigeria; Dr Nwafor Orizu, Senate President and acting President of Nigeria; Lt Col Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Governor of Eastern Nigeria and later Head of State of the short-lived Republic of Biafra; Chief Z.C. Obi, President of Igbo State Union, Rt Rev. L.M. Uzodike, the first Igbo bishop of the Diocese on the Niger, Onitsha (Anglican Communion). Interestingly, none of these personalities operated from Nnewi, because there was nothing of note – politically, commercially or religiously – that attracted people to Nnewi.

However, all that changed with the pogrom of 1966. When Nnewi sons and daughters fled home from different parts of Nigeria in 1966 and did not have a big market to continue with their trade, Lt Col Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, as the Governor of Eastern Nigeria, asked the Igwe of Nnewi, Igwe K.O.N. Orizu (Orizu lll) to carve out a portion of the vast Edo forest for development. (Edo’s shrine is situated close to the center of the town.) It was the strangest of requests.

Edo’s land covered about a kilometer radius. The land was so sacred and feared that while walking past the shrine of Edo if your money fell from your pocket, you would fearfully leave the money there and run along. You dared not even remove a leaf from any tree or shrub that belonged to Edo.

But Igwe Orizu consulted human beings and deities and they all gave the go-ahead. A portion of the land of Edo was cleared and turned into Nkwo Nnewi Market. That was how the transformation of Nnewi started, for even after the Nigeria-Biafra War, many Nnewi indigenes refused to go back to those parts of Nigeria where they lost all their investments and even their relatives. They decided that Nnewi was good enough and viable enough for them to engage in that motor and motorcycle spare parts trade that they were doing in different parts of the country. That decision eventually turned Nnewi into a place that attracted people from across Africa and other parts of the world for business transactions.

After the Civil War, Nnewi owners of transport companies, led by Chief Augustine Ilodibe, founder of Ekene Dili Chukwu Nigeria Limited, decided to have direct trips to and from Nnewi. That further helped to make access to Nnewi easier. By the 1980s, some of the big importers of auto spare parts decided to go into manufacturing. They also decided to site their companies in Nnewi despite the poor infrastructure like electricity, telecommunications, and roads.

When he was elected Chairman of Nnewi LGA in December 1987, Dr. D.B.A. Ofomata (with Maazi E.C. Egwudo as the arrowhead) decided to expand the Nnewi market. So they went again to Edo’s land and carved out a large portion that was turned into the new market named Agbo-Edo Market. (Agbo Edo means the forest of Edo). That made the Nnewi markets to have sections: Motor Spare Parts section, Motorcycle Spare Parts section, Articles section, Building Materials section, Electrical, and Electronics section, Banking section, Fresh Fruits and Foods section, and a garage within the market. The banks rushed in. All these combined to boost the development of Nnewi as a commercial-cum-industrial city of note in Nigeria.
Read More on http://anaedoonline.com/2018/11/21/civil-war-gave-boost-nnewi/

igbo amaka



if every leader who have rule this country ...stop be jealous, igbo would have be the next china

Discover

interesting. the Japan of Africa

God bless Nnewi, the town that produced Senate President Orizu, Biafran Warlord Ojukwu, Chief Ilodibe(Ekene dili Chukwu), Chief Innocent Chukwuma(Innoson), Dr Ifeanyi Uba(Capital Oil)

Alaigbo dinma.Ndi Nnewi kwenu!

good

Youngbbt:
igbo amaka



if every leader who have rule this country ...stop be jealous, igbo would have be the next china

most times I feel like renouncing my Yoruba ancestry to Igbo . we are lucky to be in same country with the igbos

wait wait....so nnewi was carved out of edo...??

are we talkin about the same edo....??

bantudra:
wait wait....so nnewi was carved out of edo...??

are we talkin about the same edo....??

Yoruba muslim afonja. Spotted...

Ejanla07:


Yoruba muslim afonja. Spotted...

what does this has to do with Yoruba muslim afonja now....??

am just askin a simple question....

and dont call me that....you,you....

really Nnewi is a land of gold most of the though men i know are from there
Innoson, coscharis, capital oil, ibeto, denka family, Louise cater, Izundu (World Man), IBK
the first woman governor from their (Virgi Etiaba), longest serving Mornacry in Africa their Igwe and many more
I respect Nnewi People

Nnewi is Biafra land.

bantudra:

what does this has to do with Yoruba muslim afonja now....??
am just askin a simple question....
and dont call me that....you,you....

Yoruba muslim afonja

chiagozien:
Nnewi is Biafra land.

go and carry am na into biafra...ewu akpu...

Nnewi Is very industrialised, even when I went to Innoson for my IT, I was so wow!!

So many industries and technology in that town.


Nnewi, God bless you!!

Nnewi Amaka


Anambra Amaka

Igbo Amaka

bantudra:


go and carry am na into biafra...ewu akpu...

Sharap there.
See you, see jealousy.

ewu iberibes....kiiikikikiki...comman ipobians,lets have some fun....am bored....

highqueen:

Sharap there.
See you, see jealousy.

anuofia ewu....kiiikikiikikiki....

maybe i can learn some more words....kiiikikikiki....

nsalla roadkills....

uhhhhh,they ran away again....

highqueen:

Sharap there.
See you, see jealousy.

why should i be jealous....??....na south south too....

bantudra:
ewu iberibes....kiiikikikiki...comman ipobians,lets have some fun....am bored....

Why wont u be bored wen all u do is smoke weed and drink jedi... Beg money and hate Igbos.

bantudra:
wait wait....so nnewi was carved out of edo...??

are we talkin about the same edo....??

You need to learn more about Igbo Omenala.

immhotep:

You need to learn more about Igbo Omenala.

am on it...i know ewu,nsalla,efulefu,iberibe.anuofia....

bantudra:


am on it...i know ewu,nsalla,efulefu,iberibe.anuofia....

Your Igbo wife will help you for sure.

Cc lzaa jumpandpas eternaltruths velocity25 roger3d

immhotep:

Your Igbo wife will help you for sure.

Cc lzaa jumpandpas eternaltruths velocity25 roger3d

she taught me mmarama e....i dont know how to write it though....

but she is gone....we divorced....

bantudra:


she taught me mmarama e....i dont know how to write it though....

but she is gone....we divorced....

Ewwww
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[quote author=LZAA post=73205985][/quote] Take an industrial slap