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== Ekwerazu Town ==

EKWERAZU TOWN.

Ekwerazu Town is one of the autonomous communities in Ahiazu local Government Area of Imo state. The community is made up of six villages: Ariam, Umuokwu, Dimara, Lolo, Amaehi and Ndi-Owere. Ogbo,Ibeme and Umueche communities left Ekwerazu Town due to inter clan/Community wars.The community enjoys a fertile land which in the past made her self sufficient in agriculture. Ekwerazu Town has a distinct Political Organization with a traditional ruler at the head (Eze Oguru Igwe Aso Oku 1& 2). The community is also endowed with a rich cultural heritage of which the famous "Ogbongelege" dance was well attended and celebrated.

The history of Ekwerazu Town is subject to two interpretations: One school of thought, based on oral information from the elders of the land, believes that the founders of Ekwerazu town descended mysteriously from two eggs of a fish. They are believed to have come from a fish at the bank of the “Oramirikwa” stream known as “Iyi-Afor”. The eggs hatched into “Obina-miri. Obina-miri married and had a son called Opara -Iyi-Afor and later named Opara-Ekweghiariri.

Later, “wa-ogbaku”, the deity with which the clan is identified, reincarnated and was named “Ezeala-Nna-N’emere” meaning king of the land. Obina-miri reincarnated as a son to oparaekweghiariri who later explained to his sons his mysterious ancestry, hence the name "Ekwerazu " meaning "because of fish."

Another school of thought, which had the support of young men in the area, along with the traditional ruler, Eze Oguru Igwe Aso Oku 1, holds that the founders of Ekwerazu Town were fishermen. They were supposed to have travelled down to the area along the river. They decided to settle at the bank of the river as a result of the fertile land and a favourable climate of the area, which they named Ekwerazu.

The two schools of thought are reconcilable. They hold that the river was the first port of call of the founders of Ekwerazu Town and this explains why the area is named Ekwerazu.

Following the origin of the people, the principal ancestors of the area could be identified. They are Opara-Ekweghiariri, Obina-miri and Ezeala. These ancestors are believed to be very powerful and continuing sources of protection for the people of the area. There are native priests who act as links between the ancestors and the people. Other towns in the neighbourhood come to the area to consult the oracle of opera-Ekweghiariri. In most cases they try to find out the wishes of their local deities, so as to appease them and ask for favours during festivals

WHY EKWERAZU TOWN?

One of the many questions you the reader might want to ask is why this community should take up the name Ekwerazu Town in Ekwerazu Clan. Many reasons were given for this action. The name Ekwerazu as a clan embracing the present Ekwerazu Town, Umuokirika, Mpam, Obohia, Oparanadim and Ihette-Afoukwu was adopted in 1944, while the then Ekwerazu (now Ekwerazu Town) got her Ekwerazu primary school (St. Mary) in 1919.In fact, the late Nze Sylvester Uzogara Agwulonu, the first indigenous teacher of the school in 1940, documented events which led to Ekwerazu Clan. These show that Ekwerazu had been in existence before 1944.

There are other reasons to suggest that the present Ekwerazu Town is the originator of the name:The then customary court was located in Uzaku, part of present day Ekwerazu town. The town’s representatives in the court, the magistrates, unlike those of the other communities were not rotated. Other communities do still consult woagbaku, the diety which Ekwerazu Town is identified with for spiritual explanations and solutions.

Ekwerazu Town had most of the instruments used then as parameters for measuring development, namely: primary school in 1934, customary court, church building, district officer’s quarters and general lion’s share of authority in the whole clan.

Despite these, Ekwerazu Town is relatively the smallest in population. Ekwerazu Town was seen then by the other communities as the biblical Joseph. They naturally did not like the situation. They wanted a way of preventing this minority domination. One of the ways was by taking over their name as general one for the whole clan so that with time future generations would find it difficult to identify who the original owner of the name was. If this was not the reasons, why were other names such as Mpam or Umuokirika not taken as the new clan’s name? Our name was converted into clan name while a derogatory one “Ezuhu Obohia” was suggested for us by the other communities. This brought a lot of confusion and misunderstanding within the communities to the extent that the district officer then had to intervene. He was the one who, in trying to solve the problem amicably suggested that the then Ekwerazu should retain some originality name with some slight modification. He therefore suggested the name “Ekwerazu town”.

NAMES OF EKWERAZU TOWN PEOPLE WHO MADE SOME REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS:

🔹Late Mr. Okoronkwo (Amaehi): the first to buy a bicycle in 1926

🔹Late A.S.P Gabriel Anyanwu (Ndi-Owere ): The first to buy a car in 1967.

🔹Late Eze Jerome Anyanwu Ndi-Owerri) :the firstPProf build a zinc house in 1934.

🔹Late Mr. Peter Anagara (Arian): the first to pass standard six in 1940.

🔹Late A.S.P Gabriel Anyanwu (Ndi-Owere): the first to pass Cambridge (WSSCE) in 1955

🔹Prof Eugene O. Uzogara (Ndi-Owere): the first medical doctor 1973

🔹Rev. Sister (mother) Theresa Ogu (Arian): the first Rev. Sister in 1961

🔹Late Rev. Fr. Paschal Nwachukwu (Dimara): the first Rev. Fr. In 1989

🔹Major A than. Anyaelegbulem (Umuokwu): the first to retire at the rank of a major in Nigerian Arny.

The enviable healthy competition in Ekwerazu Town is that every family strives to have University graduates in diverse disciplines.The IMO and Federal governments are yet to tap from the abundant human and material resources in Ekwerazu Town

Access to Ekwerazu Town.

Access into Ekwerazu Town can be achieved through Obodo-Ahiara, Ihenweorie/Akabo, Obohia or Ugiri-Ikeduru via Uzaku River.

References:

🔑Uzodimma, Nwala (Ed), MBAISE in contemporary Nigeria, New York: Gold and Maestro, 1978.

🔑Udo,R.K. The Migrant Tenant Farmers of Eastern Nigeria in Africa. 1964.

🔑 Eke, Ignatius; The Geography of Ekwerazu Town. An Unpublished article presented on the Coronation day of Eze Jerome Anyanwu on April 10th. 1982.

🔑 Paulinus Olu Uzogara: Educational Underdevelopment of Ekwerazu Town, A research project submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 1987. [[User:Paulinus Uzogara|Paulinus Uzogara]] ([[User talk:Paulinus Uzogara|talk]]) 00:35, 24 August 2017 (UTC)