Gokana kingdom are among the six kingdoms of the

Ogoni people The Ogonis are a people in the Rivers South East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. They number just over 2 million and live in a homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common ...

in Ogoni (also

Ogoniland The Ogonis are a people in the Rivers South East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. They number just over 2 million and live in a homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common ...

) in the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

region of

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 ...

. "Gokana kingdom" has

geographic Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

, historic and

ethno-linguistic Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics) is an area of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship between a language and the nonlinguistic cultural behavior of the people who speak that language. __NOTOC__ Examples ...

elements with some 130,000 Gokana language speakers located in the Gokana Local Government Area in

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa ...

. Gokana contains a tremendous number of villages, including Lewe, B. Dere, K. Dere, Kpor, Mogho, Bomu, Bodo, Gio-koo, Nwe-ol, Alli D. Bera, Biara, Deeyor, Boghor, Barako and Yeghe. Gokana is a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

area that is located in Rivers state, in the

South South The South South (often hyphenated to the South-South) is the one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria representing both a geographic and political region of the country's eastern coast. It comprises six states – Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross R ...

geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The headquarters of the LGA is found in the town of Kpor while the Gokana area comprises several towns and villages which include Nwenbiara, Yeghe, Gbe, Goi, Barako, Kibangba, Bomu, Deken, and Bera. The estimated population of Gokana LGA is 194,713 inhabitants with the vast majority of the people that inhabit the area being members of the Ogoni ethnic sub-division. The Gokana kingdom speaks the dialect of the Ogoni language as it is predominantly spoken in the area. Christianity is the religion that is mostly practiced although they still have traditionalist in the area. The Gbere Mene of Gokana LGA is the traditional administrator of the LGA while important festivals held in the area include the Naa Bira Dae festival.

Geography

Gokana LGA sits on a total area measuring 126 square kilometres km² and a population of 228,828 at the 2006 census. And has several rivers and

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

flowing through its territory. The average temperature of the LGA is 26°C while the average humidity level of the area is 87 percent.

Economy

Gokana people are mainly farmers as farming is a key economic activity in Gokana LGA with a number of crops such as

plantain Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

, oil palm,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', 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 cultivated ...

, okro and banana are being grown in the area. They are also fishermen as fishing is another important occupation engaged by the people of Gokana as the area has many rivers and tributaries being rich in seafood. Other important economic enterprises of the people of Gokana include trades, the making of fishing nets, and the construction of canoes.

Geography

Economy

References

Further reading