Gabu is a local government area located in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, with Igede as the official language. Gabu is situated in the Yala Local Government Area of

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

, Nigeria. Its geographical coordinates are 6° 51' 0" North, 8° 46' 0" East. It is bounded to the north by

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

, to the south by Ijegu – Yala, to the east by Aliforkpa, and to the west by the

Igede The Igede people are a Nigerian ethnic group in Benue State of Nigeria. They are native to the Oju and Obi local government areas of Benue State, Nigeria, where 2006 population figures stand at an estimated 267,198 people. However, many Igede pe ...

-speaking part of Benue State. The only

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

spoken by the Gabu people is

, though English and

Pidgin English Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from English. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creoles. English-based pidgins that became stable contact languages, and which have ...

are occasionally spoken for official purposes. Gabu possesses good climatic soil and vegetation conditions that provide agricultural and agro-allied industrial potentials. A large part of the Gabu region consists of grassland or savanna and rainforest in places such as Ega, Ajumole and Adikpe. This variety of soils and vegetation makes possible the cultivation of a wide variety of agricultural produce, ranging from food to cash crops. The food crops grown include yams,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

cocoyam Cocoyam is a common name for more than one tropical root crop and vegetable crop belonging to the Arum family (also known as Aroids and by the family name ''Araceae'') and may refer to: * Taro (''Colocasia esculenta'') – old cocoyam * Mala ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, millet, and other market and garden crops. Some of the cash crops that thrive well in the region also include palm-oil, bananas and plantains. The community is dependent seasonally on a major river called Okpogwu River and its tributaries. This river is a fishing ground for the community, and the banks of the river provide good soil for agricultural activities because of the alluvial deposits from the river currents. Other rivers that flow through Gabu include Ogrokpo and Orba. The community's abundant salt deposits actively sustain small to medium scale salt industries in the area. The salt deposits represent a deep history to the people of Gabu and are mined locally. The community also offers a wide range of investment opportunities in agriculture-based industries as well as solid mineral industries. Other mineral resources found in Gabu in economic deposits include

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

, and sharp sand.

Barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

is currently being mined by different companies in Gabu. Efforts are also ongoing by the community to prospect for

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and other mineral resources. These resources are suspected to be in great abundance in Gabu owing to the depositional nature of Gabu terrain. The

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

has a number of social amenities and infrastructures such as a health center, customary court,

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s, roads and

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s services for effective communication. There are traditional institutions ( Chiefs) which govern and administer justice to the people of Gabu at the local level. The community can be accessed through Okuku – Ijegu Road, Aliforkpa – Gabu Road, and through Konshisha Road from Benue State.

References

{{coord missing, Nigeria Populated places in Cross River State