Gokana is a

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

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, ...

. Its headquarters is in the town(community) of Kpor but the traditional headquarters is Giokoo.It happens to be a part of the Ogoni tribe. It has an area of 126 km and a population of 228,828 at the 2006 census. The local language is the

Gokana language Gokana (Gòkánà) is an Ogoni language spoken by some 130,000 people in Rivers State, Nigeria. Phonology Gokana has been argued to lack syllables, a radical claim because syllables are traditionally considered to be universal. According to Hym ...

. Gokana is also divided into two major divisions which are ''Dee-nwee Gokana'' also known as ''pa numuu'' and ''Dee-si Gokana'' also known as ''pa bookpo.'' The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

of the area is 504. Gokana is divided into seventeen towns (Communities), namely: Degen, Deeyor, Yeghe, Biara, Nwebiara, Barako, Nweol, Giokoo, Bera, Lewe, Bomu, Mogho, Kpor, Baranyonwa Dere, Kegbara Dere, Goi and Bodo. Each town is headed by a king. The seventeen towns are further subdivided into villages. All seventeen towns have one common ancestry. The native Gokana week is made up of five days namely: Maa, Bon, Zua, SJon, Koo(pronounced cur). Koo is the official sabbath or rest day when our indigenes were to stay at home and not go to the farm. However, it is worthy to note that the days of rest now differs as different communities now have their own days. The Gokana people have a rich cultural heritage. The main religions are Christianity and African traditional religions; although most of its customs, traditions and festivals have become extinct due to urbanization and rural-urban migration, some have survived. Amongst these is the "Naa Bira Dae" festival, celebrated around late March to early April in honour of the goddess of the night. It lasts for 15 days or three local weeks and during this period, no woman, child or uninitiated adult male is allowed to go out, except emergency services such as the police. The Gokana language, of the Ogonoid group of the Cross-River branch of the large Niger-Congo language family, is the main spoken language. Weddings, burials (of people who died in old age) and the naming of a child are important ceremonies among the people of Gokana and they are celebrated in style. Gokana kingdom is headed by a king called the "Gbere Mene" of Gokana Kingdom whose stool is situated at the traditional headquarters of Gokana (Giokoo). Gokana shares boundaries with Tai to the north, Ogu/Bolo to the west, Khana to the east, and Bonny to the south.

Climate/Geography

Gokana experiences year-round heat and

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

due to its tropical location. At 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit), the average temperature is 27 degrees, and the average humidity is 80%. The Gokana Local Government Area encompasses 126 square kilometers and is traversed by multiple rivers and

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' 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 into which the ...

. The average temperature and humidity in the LGA are 26 degrees Celsius and 87 percent, respectively.

References

Local Government Areas in Rivers State 1991 establishments in Nigeria 1990s establishments in Rivers State {{RiversNG-geo-stub