Onitsha is a
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
, commercial centre and river port on the eastern bank of the
Niger riverThe Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
in
Anambra StateAnambra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria. Its state theme is "Light Of The Nation" Its boundaries are formed by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State to the north. The origin of the name is derived from the "Omambala River" which is easily called...
, southeast
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
. As of 2005 Onitsha had an estimated population of 561,106. The indigenous people of Onitsha are primarily of
IgboIgbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern and south Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
ethnicity, although there are other ethnicities, such as the
HausaThe Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. There are also significant numbers found in regions of Sudan, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Chad and smaller communities scattered throughout West Africa and on the...
and
YorubaYoruba people are one of the largest ethno-linguistic or ethnic groups in west Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
, who have migrated to Onitsha.
Immigrants from Anioma (Western Igboland) closest to the Kingdom of Benin are believed to have settled in Onitsha in the 16th century, which was originally called Ado N'Idu.
Onitsha is a
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
, commercial centre and river port on the eastern bank of the
Niger riverThe Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
in
Anambra StateAnambra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria. Its state theme is "Light Of The Nation" Its boundaries are formed by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State to the north. The origin of the name is derived from the "Omambala River" which is easily called...
, southeast
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
. As of 2005 Onitsha had an estimated population of 561,106. The indigenous people of Onitsha are primarily of
IgboIgbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern and south Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
ethnicity, although there are other ethnicities, such as the
HausaThe Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. There are also significant numbers found in regions of Sudan, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Chad and smaller communities scattered throughout West Africa and on the...
and
YorubaYoruba people are one of the largest ethno-linguistic or ethnic groups in west Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
, who have migrated to Onitsha.
History
Immigrants from Anioma (Western Igboland) closest to the Kingdom of Benin are believed to have settled in Onitsha in the 16th century, which was originally called Ado N'Idu. It soon became capital of an
Igbo KingdomIgbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern and south Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
. In 1857
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
traders in
palm oilPalm oil is an edible plant oil derived from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis.Palm oil is naturally reddish because it contains a high amount of beta-carotene . Palm oil is one of the few vegetable oils relatively high in saturated fats...
established a permanent station in the city, and
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
missionaries soon followed headed by Bishop
Samuel Ajayi CrowtherBishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther was a linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria. Born in Osogun, Yorubaland , Rev. Dr...
(a
YorubaYoruba people are one of the largest ethno-linguistic or ethnic groups in west Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
) and Reverend John Taylor (an Igbo). In 1884 Onitsha became part of a British
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
. The British colonial government and Christian missionaries penetrated most of Igboland to set up their administration, schools and churches through the river port at Onitsha.
Historically, the former Eastern Nigeria did not experience a prolonged period of indigenous urbanization like Ibadan in the southwest or Kano and Zaria in the north. Onitsha became an important trading port for the Royal Niger company in the mid 1850's. Following the abolition of slavery, trade in palm kernels and other cash crops boomed around this river port. Immigrants from the hinterland were drawn to the emerging boom town as did the British traders who settled there and coordinated the palm oil and cash crops trade. In 1965, a bridge was built across the Niger River to replace the ferry crossing, and plans are in place to add a second bridge as well.
Trade soared between the east and west of Nigeria. This made Onitsha the strategic gateway for trade between the former eastern and western regions. The Biafran war years brought widespread devastation to Onitsha. The subsequent oil boom years brought a huge influx of immigrants into the city. The war-damaged facilities, still under repair, could not cope with the pace of the rural-urban exodus into the city.
SlumA slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
s consequently began to emerge from the hasty haphazard building construction to accommodate the huge influx. It lies at a major east-west crossing point of the
Niger RiverThe Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
, and occupies the northernmost point of the river regularly navigable by large vessels. These factors have historically made Onitsha a major centre for trade between the coastal regions and the north, as well as between eastern and western Nigeria. Onitsha possesses one of the very few road bridge crossings of the mile-wide Niger river.
Today, Onitsha is a textbook example of the perils of urbanization without planning or public services.
The history of Onitsha began with the migration of its people from the Benin Empire towards the end of early part of the Sixteenth Century AD. The migration was as a result of a wave of unrest, war and displacement unleashed by the Islamic movement from North Africa.
It was during their passage through the outskirts of Ile-Ife that they acquired the name Onitsha - a corruption of the Yoruba word Orisha and Udo, the famous shrine worshipped by the people. As time went on, the combination of the two words, Onitsha for Orisha and Ado for Udo culminated in the present name , Onitsha Ado.
The people of Onitsha left the out skirts of Ile-Ife and resettled in the Benin Kingdom and soon established themselves as one of the clans in the Benin Kingdom exercising all the rights and privileges attached thereon.
As a result of a long process of acculturation in Benin, the Onitsha people jealously guarded their acquired rights particularly with regard to their revered Shrine Udo.
It was suggested that the reason why the Onitsha people quarreled with Oba Esigie, (1404-1550), of Benin was because of the slight, the Oba gave their shrine-Udo. It was customary for newly installed Oba to pay homage to all important Shrines in the Benin Kingdom by slaughtering a cow in the shrines enclave. Oba Esigie failed to do this at the Onitsha people's Udo-Shrine, hence the quarrel.
It took the Onitsha people several years before they got to Obior and Ilah and finally crossed the River Niger and established Onitsha Ado. They stopped at several places in the then Mid-West now called Delta State, places like Agbor, Issele-Uku, etc. This explains the affinity with the inhabitants of Delta State like Ilah, Issele-Uku, Obbaamkpa, Onitsha-Olona, Onitsha Ugbo, Agbo, Obior, Onitsha Ukwu and so on.
Religion and politics
The
Cathedral Basilica of the Most Holy TrinityThe Cathedral Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity is a Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica dedicated to the trinity located in Onitsha, Nigeria. The basilica is seat of the Archdiocese of Onitsha...
is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of OnitshaThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Onitsha in Nigeria.-History:* 1889.07.25: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Lower Niger from the Apostolic Vicariate of Benin Coast...
. The
AnglicanThe Church of Nigeria is the Anglican Church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership, after the Church of England. It gives as current membership "over 18 million", out of a total Nigerian population of 140 million.Since 2002 the...
church also has a
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in the city. It is the residence of the traditional ruler of Onitsha, the
Obi of OnitshaThe Obi of Onitsha is the traditional tribal leader of Onitsha, Anambra State, southeast Nigeria. The post of the Obi is recognised by the state and federal governments of Nigeria, and the Obi himself is seen as a representative of the people of Onitsha to the state and federal levels of government...
. There is also a teacher training
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
for women and a famous leper colony. Despite being one of the biggest commercial cities of west Africa, Onitsha remains congested from the over-concentration of all her huge markets within the old city center and minimal expansion of the colonial roads infrastructure.
In February 2006, armed militants killed at least 24 ethnic Hausa Fulani (Muslims) and burned a few Muslim sites including two mosques. The riots were in response to riots by Muslims in the city of
MaiduguriMaiduguri or Yerwa is the capital of Borno State in Nigeria and sits along the Ngadda River. It was founded in 1907 as a military outpost by the British.-History:...
days earlier, where at least 18 Christians were killed, sparked by the
cartoon controversyThe Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
in Denmark.
See also
- Onitsha Market Literature
Onitsha Market Literature refers to a number of pamphlets, books and other publications sold at the Onitsha Market in Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s. Much of it was writted in pidgin and creole varieties of English...
- literature sold at the main market in the 1950s and 60s.
- Onitsha
Onitsha is a novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It was originally published in French in 1991 and an English translation was released in 1997.-Plot summary:...
is the title of a novel by French author J. M. G. Le Clézio
- Ryszard Kapuscinski
Ryszard Kapuściński was a Polish journalist whose dispatches in book form brought him a global reputation. Also a photographer and poet, he was born in Pińsknow in Belarusin the Kresy Wschodnie, or eastern borderlands of the second Polish Republic...
writes of "The Hole of Onitsha" in his book The Shadow of the Sun.