Ahiara is a city in

Mbaise Mbaise is a region in Imo State in southeastern Nigeria. In the heart of Igboland, the region includes several towns and cities. It is a group of indigenous clans, connected by intermarriage. With a population density of over 1,000 people per squ ...

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

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 ...

. The city stands about 16 miles between

Owere Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, ...

and

Umuahia Umuahia () is the capital city of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to its south,and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Nig ...

. It was the location of

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011) was a Nigerian military officer, statesman and politician who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966 and the president of the se ...

Ahiara Declaration The Ahiara Declaration: The Principles of the Biafran Revolution, commonly known as the Ahiara Declaration, was a document written by the National Guidance Committee of Biafra and delivered as a speech by the Head of State of Biafra Emeka Ojukwu ...

during the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

. It is the location of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

in Mbaise. The first recorded Ahiara contact with the Europeans was around 1905 when the British Aro expedition got mixed up in inter-village war which eventually had Dr. Steward a victim, as a consequence the Ahiara people were severely punished by the British forces with an invasion which forced many citizens to flee and never return. The Ahiara Slogan is ''Decent Dexterity''.

Origin

Ahiara was founded by a man of that name. He was the son of Anunu, popularly called ''Odo ji Anunu''. His sibling Avuvu became a part of

Ikeduru Ikeduru Local Government Area (LGA) is located in the western part of Imo State, in southern Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of ...

. Etymologically, the name Ahiara is a type of plant among 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 ...

people. The leaves of this plant signify peace. The great Ezes of

used to travel with Ahiara leaves to guarantee peaceful journeys across several territories. Before Christianity, which 89 percent of the people practice, traditional religion held sway. Ahiara does not practise a centralized system of government. The ten chief priests and chief priestess were the symbol of authority and they occasionally met to deliberate and pass motions which eventually became tradition and laws. They also conferred titles to deserving citizens. Among those was Hon Nze.H.C. O Uhegbu who was conferred with the title of Nze Onugotu of Ahiara as at the time he was the first man in Ahiara to represent the clan in the state legislature.

Ahiara Ofo Iri

Ahiara city is historically called ''Ahiara Ofo Iri'', which means ''Ahiara of the Ten Scepters''. Each

scepter A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

represents each of the ten villages that make up the city. The ten villages of Ahiara are: Ahiara is divided into two sections: Ihite and Ikenga. *Ihite consists of these five villages: Obodo, Nnarambia, Oru na Nneude, Otulu, and Ogbe. *Ikenga consists of these five villages: Akabo, Amuzi, Agu na Eze, Ogwuama, and Ujichi. These ten villages are symbolically explained as the ten fingers of the human hands. This signifies an evolved dexterity and is why the Ahiara Slogan is ''Decent Dexterity''. The Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral in Ahiara is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahiara The Diocese of Ahiara ( la, Ahiaran(a)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in Ahiara in the region of Mbaise in Imo State, Nigeria. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the ...

References

Cities in Imo State {{Imo-geo-stub