Ebonyi State

 Ebonyi State is a mainland south-eastern state of Nigeria, inhabited and populated primarily by Igbo of south eastern Nigeria.^[2] Its capital and largest city is Abakaliki. Afikpo is the second largest city. Other major towns are EDDA, Mgbo, Onueke, Izziangbo, Nkalagu, Uburu, Onicha, Ishiagu (location of the Federal College of Agriculture), Amasiri and Okposi. It is one of the six new states in Nigeria created in 1996; Ebonyi was created from the of old Abakaliki division of Enugu State and old Afikpo division of Abia State.

The state is governed by Chief Martin Elechi, who was elected State Governor in 2007. The current Deputy Governor is Prof. Chigozie N. Ogbu. The state also has large deposits of crude oil and natural gas untapped.

Ebonyi is primarily an agricultural producing region. It is a leading producer of rice, yams, potatoes, maize, beans, and cassava. Rice and Yams are predominantly cultivated in EDDA. Ebonyi also has several solid mineral resources, but little large-scale commercial mining. The state government has however given several incentives to investors in the agro-allied sector. Ebonyi is called "the salt of the nation" for its huge salt deposit at the Okposi and Uburu Salt Lakes.

There are nine major first languages (Igbo Languages) spoken in Ebonyi State: Afikpo, Mgbo, Izzi, Ezaa, Ikwo, Kukele, Legbo, Mbembe, and Oring. These languages are all subgroups of the "Igbo language" like Ikwere, Abakaliki, Etche etc spoken by all Igbo people of south eastern nigeria.

Afikpo is located in of Nigeria, in the southwestern area.  The group known as Afikpo is made up of twenty-two villages joined by age groups and leadership as well matrilineal lineage. The old Afikpo Province once covered areas in Unwana, Edda, Amaseri, and Akpoha.  Today, however, the area has receded.

The town Afikpo is located in the Ebonyi State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  It lies in the southeastern region and 350 feet above sea level.  Predominantly our fore fathers were farmers and fishermen cultivating Cassava, yams, cocoyams, rice, palm oil, palm kernels and vegetables.

           
            
                    CUSTOM & TRADITIONS




We generally live in clusters, circles or derivatives of circles.  Legend has it that the reason for such closely built huts/houses were to control the intrusion of warriors who were often on the prowl for heads. By having the houses built so closely, there usually is a small entrance into the compound that will usually allow one person to get through at a time. However, this has changed in recent times, with the arrival of motorcars, bicycles and motorcycles. The need to have streets and modern infrastructure also helped reform that design.