Abakaliki is the capital city of

Ebonyi State Ebonyi State ( ig, Ȯra Ebonyi) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia State to the southwes ...

in southeastern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, located southeast of Enugu. The inhabitants are primarily members of the

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

nation. It was the headquarters of the

Ogoja Ogoja is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area in Cross River State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is Ogoja town in the northeast of the area near the A4 highway (Nigeria), A4 highway at. It has an area of 972 km² and a pop ...

province before the creation of the Southeastern State in 1967.

Etymology

The name Abakaliki originally means 'Aba Nkaleke' and is the name of a community in Izzi land (Nkaleke).

History

Abakaliki was an important center for the slave trade in the 17th century. The slave trade continued in the area with

Aro ARO (short for Auto Romania) was a Romanian off-road vehicle manufacturer located in Câmpulung. The first ARO vehicles were produced in 1957, and the last in 2003. For a short while, Daihatsu-powered AROs were sold in Spain and produced in Portu ...

raids into Abakaliki and surrounding areas through the 18th century. The Odozi Obodo Society was a secret cult that operated between 1954 and 1958 in Abakaliki. Old Abakaliki

Economy

Abakaliki, as in the past, is a center of agricultural trade including such products as yams,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, and both

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

and

palm kernel The palm kernel is the edible seed of the oil palm fruit. The fruit yields two distinct oils: palm oil derived from the outer parts of the fruit, and palm kernel oil derived from the kernel. The pulp left after oil is rendered from the kernel is ...

s,. It is also known for its local

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

mining or quarrying. They host a golf course and many hotels. There are also isolated

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

and

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

production farms across the state.

Population

The last known population of Abakaliki was 915,438(year 2019). This was 0.253% of total Nigerian population. If population growth rate would be same as in period 2006–2015 (+15.31%/year), it is estimated that the population of Abakaliki as at 2021 is about 1,179,280.

Demographics

Abakaliki is generally populated by the Igbo people. Abakaliki is predominantly populated by the Northeastern Igbo of the Afikpo-Abakaliki axis. Abakaliki is also use to refer to people of old Abakaliki political block comprising Ohaukwu-Ishielu-Izzi-Ezza-Ikwo.

Infrastructure

Abakaliki lies at the intersection of the Enugu, Afikpo and

Roads. Abakaliki also hosts a Federal

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, which has largely contributed to the affordability of public healthcare delivery in the city and the state. There has been massive infrastructural developments ongoing in the urban center; these include road construction, shopping malls and market places, trans-Sahara fly-over bridges at presco and spera-in-deo junctions amongst others.

Education

Ebonyi State University Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki was founded in 1999 in Abakaliki, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country ...

main campus is located on the outskirts of the city.

Religion

Abakaliki people like other southeastern Nigerians are predominantly Christians. Other religious faith like Traditionalist, Islam, etc. are practiced by handful of the natives as well as non-natives from other parts of the country. Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and other Pentecostal missions are the dominant Christian faiths. On March 1, 1973, the city was made the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki The Diocese of Abakaliki is a Roman Catholic diocese with its headquarters in Abakaliki, Nigeria. It was erected on 1 March 1973 from the territory of the Diocese of Ogoja with the Right Reverend Thomas McGettrick SPS as its first bishop. T ...

Footnotes

References

* * * {{wikivoyage State capitals in Nigeria Cities in Ebonyi State Local Government Areas in Ebonyi State Local Government Areas in Igboland