Nibo

Nibo is a town in Awka South, Anambra State, Nigeria.

There are four major villages that make up the town, they are in order of seniority; Ezeawulu, Umuanum, Ifite and Ezeoye. Nibo is a community of cooperative men and women that work jointly for the development of the town.

Traditional institutions

Nibo operates rotational governance. The traditional stool which is held for life, rotates among the four villages though this was not always the case. There has been some dispute over who was the first traditional ruler (referred to as 'Ezeike') of Nibo between Umuanum and Ezeawulu villages. The ruler of Ezeawulu village was Oke Ezekwe/Ezekwem from Umuka while that of Umuanum was Nnama Orjiakor-Ele from Umuenechi.

Nnama Orjiakor Eleh was the ruler of Nibo before the coming of the British and was granted a Royal Warrant in 1896 by Queen Victoria of Britain together with other southern Paramount rulers such as Onyeama of Eke, Ojiako Ezenne of Adazi, Kodilinye of Obosi, Onwurah of Awka, Obi of Onitsha, Agwuna of NRI and Ukpo. NNAMA was appointed the President of Awka Customary Court of Appeal (1898–1945), He also served as a Judge in the Provincial Court of Appeal for Onitsha Colonial Residency covering the Niger Provinces (what is now known as Anambra and Enugu States). NNAMA was deputy judge in the Omenuko Court presided by the legendary Okoli Ijoma ruling over the old Awka province involving over 100 towns. He was from Umuanum village, which was at war with Ezeawulu and Ezekwe over who was the ruler of Nibo. After decades of war, peace finally prevailed when Nnama and Ezekwe decided that Nnama's eldest son Orji Joshua Nnama and Ezekwe's eldest daughter Mgbafor Selina Ezekwe should marry, this appeared to be the best resolution that united both villages at which point Nnama Orjiakor remained as ruler of Nibo till his death in 1945.

Upon death, his son Prince Joshua Nnama chose to pass over the throne to pursue his Christian work as a missionary in SE Nigeria, at which point his own son GCD Nnama was given the throne, unfortunately proper ceremonial rights were not done for many years, and Nibo was officially without a ruler till the town decided to vote and pass the rule that in order to make it fair, they should rotate it among villages. Prior to that Nibo never had rotational governance. Onwuegbune from Umuanum Village the next in seniority was crowned in the 1970s, and upon his death Micheal C. Ngene from Ifite village ascended the throne and is currently the Ezeike of Nibo. Upon his death, the traditional stool will move next to Ezeoye village in that order.

There is a Nibo Town Union and a secretariat; manned by a secretary-general. The town union is the engine room of the town administration. They handle revenue collection, enforcement of rules and infrastructural development. Usually, town unions are organised where ever Nibo people are all over the world and linked to Nibo. The Nibo USA group has a website and is a very active group with their annual Nibo convention held every third weekend in July in a preselected US city. For the first time since its inception, Ezike will be attending the 19th annual convention which was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from July 22 through July 24, 2016.

Nnemulu – Obodo women group

This is the women wing of town administration. This is a very strong organ of women that also enforce discipline among the indigenes. The Nnemulu – Obodo Society of Nibo” comprising all women of Nibo was founded in mid-1950s by Selina Mgbafor Nnama (née Ezekwe) signifying the emancipation of Nibo women as they gathered together to build the Nibo Maternity and Health Centre. In the early 1950s, Nibo had no maternity home and there were none in the neighboring towns of Mbaukwu, Nise, Umuawulu and Isiagu. The nearest maternity home was in St Faiths Church Awka about 10 miles away, the next was in Catholic Hospital Adazi about 12 miles and lastly Iyienu Hospital, Ogidi about 20 miles from Nibo. The implication was that most women delivered their babies at home using the expertise of traditional midwives. Those who could afford to deliver their babies in the maternity experienced unbearable transport difficulties as they were mostly carried on head or bicycles due to scarcity of motor vehicles in those days. In the early fifties, there was nothing like motorcycle service or "Okada" as it is commonly known today. A good number of women with breach, facial presentations and other labour complications were not so lucky to make it to these distant maternity homes and hospitals.

Endowed with her indefatigable virtue, Mgbafor was in no way deterred. In an unprecedented rally at Eke Nibo, thousands of women gave her a standing ovation and endorsed her plans that a maternity should be built and that Nibo women will also unilaterally enforce the control of cows and bulls which wander around the town and feeding on agricultural farms, by literally "holding the bulls by the horns" and fining the owners 3 British pounds, an amount which at 1954 prices could buy three modern bicycles and was enough to pay three months' salary of a grade two teacher. Nibo women elected notable ladies of blessed memories such as the late Nwangbafor Agubalu, a renowned traditional midwife from Ezeawulu, the late Mrs. Okeke from Umuanum, the late Mrs. Pricillia Okafor, a renowned bread baker from Ifite and the late Mrs. Chine from Ezeoye to assist Chief Mrs. Selina Nnama in co-coordinating the activities and programs of Nnemuluobodo Society. The Nibo USA group is currently undergoing a project that involves expanding the Maternity Centre and donations are being accepted.

Festivals

Nibo has various traditional festivals which include Onwa Asa (New Yam festival), Onwa Asato and Nibo Day. Nibo Day is usually presided over by Ezeike-in-council. It is a very important day usually held on 26 December every year. It is usually a day for recognition of prominent sons and friends of the town who contribute to the development of the town.

Northcote Thomas, the British colonial archaeologist and the Re-Entanglements Project

Photographs of Nibo's ruler, and Warrant Chief in 1911 Nnama, his kinsmen in Umuanum and Nibo (Afo Ngene Shrine, Obunagu and others) from 1911, taken by the British colonial archaeologist have surfaced. The photographs taken by the British colonial anthropologist Northcote Thomas during the second tour of his anthropological survey of Southern Nigeria (1910–11). The remarkable archives of these anthropological surveys are the subject of a three-year project that Professor Paul Basu (University of London) is running.
The negatives of the photographs are held by the Royal Anthropological Institute and prints are indeed in the collections of the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
These photographs numbering almost 300, help show Nibo in a never been seen manner, and show of its importance in the British colonial days.

References

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Populated places in Anambra State