Uvwie (/hu-we-ɛ/), is a principal Urban

Local Government Area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in Delta State. It lies along the Warri River and it is one of the twenty-four Urhobo Kingdoms. The entirety of the LGA is conurbated with the city of

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

, making it a greater part of

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

The term Uvwie primarily refers to the indigenous people of the

geographic region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Uvwie Uvwie (/hu-we-ɛ/), is a principal Urban Local Government Area in Delta State. It lies along the Warri River and it is one of the twenty-four Urhobo Kingdoms. The entirety of the LGA is conurbated with the city of Warri, making it a greater p ...

also doubles as the name of the

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

and the Kingdom of Uvwie. More recently,

Effurun Effurun is a town and the headquarters of Uvwie Local Government Area in Delta State, Nigeria. It is an Urban center, densely populated with different infrastructural development. it borders it's twin city Warri, also serves as an entra ...

which is the

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of Uvwie Kingdom/

is now used to refer to the city herself which is a twin city to the city of

The

is known nation wide for it's unique form of Pidgin, the

Warri Pidgin The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

History

The introduction of

British colonialism The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

in the late

nineteenth century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

made Uvwie to become part of modern-day

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 ...

which was created by the amalgamation of the Protectorates of Northern and Southern

in 1914. Since then foreign cultural pins like changes in the system of governance, dress codes, diets, Uvwie traditional architecture, economic activities and language have been inserted in the traditional culture. In response, the Uvwie traditional culture has strived to be assertive, on the one hand, and accepted to be an undercurrent, on the other hand. Uvwie was a clan until 1954 when it became a Kingdom with the introduction of monarchy and Johnson Ejuvwiekoko Edjekohwo Eruohwo was crowned as Eruphwo II, the Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom on 1st December 1954. Political reforms have also made Uvwie 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-loc ...

in the Delta State of

. Uvwie is being governed by the government of Delta State, the Uvwie

, and the Uvwie

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic ( constitutional monar ...

which is responsible for the traditional governance of the Uvwie Kingdom subject to the

constitution of Nigeria The Constitution of Nigeria is the written supreme law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria has had many constitutions. Its current form was enacted on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated the Fourth Nigerian Republic. History Nigeria's str ...

and other

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

Geography

Uvwie is bounded by Okpe to the North, Udu to the South,

Warri South Warri South is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the city of Warri. It has an important sea port in the country and is the commercial nerve centre of the state, With Dr. Tidi Michael as the current loca ...

to the West, Ughelli North to the East and

Ughelli South Ughelli South is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. It is made up of six Urhobo kingdoms namely: Ughievwen, Arhavwarien, Effurun Otor, Eghwu, Okparabe and Olomu. Otu Jeremi Otu-Jeremi is a town in Ughelli South LGA of Delta St ...

to the South Eastern axis. Until the 60s and 70s Uvwie and

was separated by arces of bushes and virgin lands there was an obvious

boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment * ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film * ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip film *Boundary (cricket), the edge of the pla ...

between both areas, during the exploration of Oil in the creeks, the former administrative capital and closest hinterland, Warri, attained a city status, due to the citing of various oil companies and firms the 30Km² town became congested. The western axis of Warri (

Warri South West Warri South West is a Local Government Area in Delta State, Nigeria. It was created in 1996 and has its headquarters in Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw community. Warri South-West Local Government Warri South West has an estimated land area of and a po ...

Warri North Warri North is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Koko. It has an area of 1,841 km and a population of 137,300 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 332. Warri North LGA has ...

and other parts of

) had a swampy terrain so the expansion of the then booming city drifted towards the it's closest neighboring uplands, Uvwie, reason Uvwie plays host to the Warri Refinery and Petro Chemicals at Ekpan-Effurun and the former Warri Airport at Ugborikoko-Effurun and other Major institutes in the

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

Residential areas

Some of Uvwie's more popular and well-known Neighborhoods are Effurun GRA (Government Reserved Area), Bendel Estate, Niger cat, Enerhen Junction, Uti Road, Ebrumede community, Okoribi, Ugbolokposo community, Okuatata/Ugbomro community, Iterigbi community, Alegbo Quarter, Alaka Quarter, Erovie Quarter, Jakpa Quarter, Aka Avenue, Enerhen community, NNPC housing complex, PTI, Ugboroke community, Ugborikoko community, FUPRE road, Refinery road, Effurun-Sapele road, Afieki Quarters, Udumuovwori Quarters. The main industrial area is located in Ekpan and the central town of Effurun.

Demography

People

Uvwie people (a

subgroup In group theory, a branch of mathematics, given a group ''G'' under a binary operation ∗, a subset ''H'' of ''G'' is called a subgroup of ''G'' if ''H'' also forms a group under the operation ∗. More precisely, ''H'' is a subgroup ...

of Urhobo) are the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

inhabitants Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...

of Uvwie, however due to her cosmopolitan status she has experienced a large influx of non-natives most especially the

Ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people The Izon people or Izon Otu, otherwise known as the Ijaw people due to the historic mispronunciation of the name ''Izon'', are an ethnic group majorly found in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, with significant populatio ...

, Isoko,

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 ...

and Itsekiri people amongst others

Religion

The city is predominantly Christian of Orthodox and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

denominations, however there's a sizeable populace that practices the Igbé religion with a few noticable

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

(''from Northern Nigeria especially'')

Language

Due to the

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

and multiethnic background of the recent inhabitants of the city, the Warri dialect of the Nigerian Pidgin is commonly used as a means of communication, reason why the Uvwie language is gradually going extinct as it is not commonly spoken, even amongst natives

Climate

Uvwie has an average temperature of 25 degrees centigrade and has a number of rivers and streams flowing within its territory. The city witnesses two distinct seasons which are the dry and the rainy seasons with the total precipitation in the city put at an estimated 3170 mm of rainfall per annum Temperature throughout the year in the City is relatively constant, showing little variation throughout the course of the year. Average temperature are typically between 25°C - 28°C in the City

Economics and infrastructure

Uvwie is the economic nerve center of Warri metropolitan area and Delta State at large. Uvwie plays hosts to major revenue generating centers such as Gbagi Mall, Effurun. Delta Mall (ShopRite), Effurun. Warri Refinery and Petro Chemicals, Ekpan. Nigeria Gas Company, Ekpan. Water Resources, Ugborikoko. etc Uvwie houses most of the roads network linking the main town of Warri to other parts of the metropolis such as

Osubi Osubi is a town in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta state, southern Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a coun ...

, Okuokoko in Okpe, Ovwian, Mofor in Udu, Otokutu etc. Enerhen junction, Uvwie, Delta State, Nigeria

Enerhen Junction in Enerhen, Uvwie serves as a linkage between Uvwie,

and Udu

DSC roundabout is the gateway to the Delta Steel Company (DSC), Ovwian-Aladja at Udu, it also connects Okuokoko in Okpe, Uvwie and Otokutu near Udu

Effurun Roundabout in

, Uvwie is the central spot in Uvwie and also a strategic location from other parts of

to the rest of the South-South, It's one of the routes that links Benin City via Benin-Sapele-Effurun to Port-Harcourt City via Effurun-Ughelli-Port Harcourt. It's the gateway into the main town of

in Warri South LGA, gateway to Warri Port, Ugbangwe-Warri via NPA express, gateway to Warri Refinery, Ekpan-Effurun (Uvwie).

References

External links

A Brief History of Uvwie
Local Government Areas in Delta State {{deltaNG-geo-stub