The Great Kwa River (also called ''Kwa Ibo River'' or ''Kwa River'') flows through

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

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 ...

, draining the east side of the city of

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and cre ...

. The river ecology is under threat from human activity.

Location

The river originates in the

Oban Hills The Oban Hills are a range of hills in Cross River State, Nigeria. They lie within the Oban Hills Division of the Cross River National Park. Geography The hills are rugged, rising from in the river valleys to over in the mountains. The soils a ...

, in the

Cross River National Park The Cross River National Park is a national park of Nigeria, located in Cross River State, Nigeria. There are two separate sections, Okwangwo (established 1991) and Oban (established 1988). The park has a total area of about 4,000 km2, most ...

, and flows southwards to the Cross River estuary. Its lower reaches are tidal, with broad mud flats. and drain the eastern coast of the city of

Human activity

Human activity in the Great Kwa basin has traditionally been limited to small scale farming, aquaculture and artisanal fisheries, mainly for shrimp. However, Calabar is growing, due in part to the

Calabar Free Trade Zone The Calabar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) is an area just north of the port of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria that is occupied by companies engaged in manufacturing, trading, provision of services and oil and gas related activities. These companies b ...

, causing growing numbers of houses and factories to be built in the freshwater and mangrove swamps of the Great Kwa. The

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. Th ...

covers a site between the Great Kwa River and the

Calabar River The Calabar River in Cross River State, Nigeria flows from the north past the city of Calabar, joining the larger Cross River about to the south. The river at Calabar forms a natural harbor deep enough for vessels with a draft of . The Calabar ...

. The university has acquired more land on both banks of the Great Kwa for future development.

Pollution

Calabar Municipality has no waste treatment facilities, and heavy rains wash human and industrial wastes into the river. A 2008 study of

Vibrio ''Vibrio'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, possessing a curved-rod (comma) shape, several species of which can cause foodborne infection, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood. Being highly salt tolerant and unable to survive ...

bacteria in shellfish in the Great Kwa River estuary showed that the water was constantly faecally polluted, and the shellfish had high levels of infection. This posed a health risk for consumer, including a risk of cholera epidemics.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.ecoservepublishers.org/article_11.htm , title=Baseline ecological studies of the Great Kwa River, Nigeria I: Physico-chemical studies , author1=E. R. Akpan , author2=J. O. Offem , author3=A. E. Nya , work=EcoServ , accessdate=2011-09-09 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402084001/http://www.ecoservepublishers.org/article_11.htm , archivedate=2012-04-02 Rivers of Nigeria Cross River State