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Ndoki also known as Ọkwa are a tribe of Igbo people that are located at the hinterland of Igboland and coastal region of Bonny and Opobo.

Pre-colonial Ndoki covers 450 square kilometres (170 sq mi) with rich farmland which borders Imo River on the East and Aba River in the South bounded by Ika and Obong villages. It's subgroup include Akwete, Azumini and Ohambele. Today, Ndoki people exist in Abia State, Akwa Ibom and Rivers State.

History

The Ndoki people are said to have migrated from the Imo River.Some Ndoki people migrated South to Rivers State and East to Akwa Ibom state.With their engagements with other Igbo speaking people, they developed a strong Igbo culture and formed their own dialect of Igbo language. During the Scramble for Africa, Ndoki became a British protectorate on 5 June 1887. A garrison and a district headquarter was established in 1896 but was moved to Aba in 1902 and 1903 respectively. Ndokiland was formally annexed as a part of Aba in 1946. This halted the urbanisation that was slowly settling in. During the creation of states in Nigeria, Ndoki was balkanised with parts of it residing in Abia State (Ukwa East), Akwa Ibom and Rivers State (Obigbo).

Culture

Masquerading and folklore is a part of the culture of the Ndoki people. One of the masquerades include Oku-kpum or Eru-Onwa masquerades of the Azumini areas, which exhibits jumps and summersaults and the Ari-ada which expands and contracts in size as it performs. The people of Ndoki and Ngwa were said reputed cannibals, that is to say, after war they eat the flesh of their enemies, but generally in secret.

Like the cultures in some parts of Igbo land, dead bodies are generally interred. During burials for a chief, slaves were killed, bullocks were killed and eaten, guns were fired, dancing and other amusements took place. In Ndokiland, slaves that were bought had privileges of cultivating their farmland and marriage. However, this was only with the guarantee of a freeborn.

Demographics

Pre-colonial Ndoki covers 450 square kilometres (170 sq mi) with rich farmland which borders Imo River on the East and Aba River in the South bounded by Ika and Obong villages. It's subgroup include Akwete, Azumini and Ohambele.

The population of the Ndoki people were reduced by raids conducted by the Bonny and Opobo during the end of the slave trade. From the 1953 consensus, Ndoki had a population of 35,000, and rose to 41,037 in 1963. There are Ndoki villages in Etim Ekpo local government area of Akwa Ibom State, they include Mkpukpuaja, Ogbuagu and Ohaobu. In Rivers State, there are fourteen villages in Oyibo local government area of predominantly Ndoki people. These include Umuagbai, Mgboji, Ayama, Obunku, Umosi, Obeakpu, Azuogu, Egberu, Afamnta, Afamukwu, Okoloma, Obete, Okpontu, and Marihu. In Abia State, they include Akwete, Ohanso, Ohambele, Ohanku, Obohia, Ohuru, Akirika, Akirikaobu, Abaki, Mkpukpuowha, Obozu, Umuogo, Azumini, Eti, Mkpuajakere, Ubaku, Ohandu, and Umuibe.

Economy

During the Scramble for Africa, most of Ndoki clans were major routes for slave trade and later palm oil and rubber. In the mid-1800s, Bonny Kingdom controlled the markets in Ndokiland, particularly, Akwete and Ohambele. Following the Bonny Civil War in 1869 and founding of Opobo, King Jaja controlled the markets exclusively and shared the markets with Bonny Kingdom only after the Peace Treaty in 1873. The economy of Ndoki particularly in Ohambele was solely based on slave trade and agricultural produce particularly palm oil after slave trading was abolished. Trade between the Bonny, Nembe and Kalabari—were transacted through the Imo-Bonny River. Ndoki people traded agricultural produce with Ijo people and slaves with the Aro people. Following a struggle for the control of Ndoki markets, King Jaja was extradited on 16 September 1887 by Harry Johnston. The extradition of King Jaja created a direct trade between Ndoki people and the British and also a halt of Ngwa migration into Ndoki. However, slave trading with the Aro ended after the Anglo-Aro War in 1901. Following the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by the British, Ndoki served primary as a palm oil depot. This brought metropolitan investments into Ndoki land and the establishment of palm oil mills particularly at Obohia-Ndoki and Azumini. With the trading activities in Ndoki, the Akwete cloth rose to prominence and with its Rivers neighbours patronising them in huge quantities. Jelly gas and hydrocarbon are naturally resources in Ndoki which is said to contribute more than ₦86 million to the Nigerian economy.

References

1. ^ Baikie 1856, p. 308.
2. ^ Nwosu 1998, p. 84.
3. ^ Forde & Jones 1967, p. 43.
4. Aronson 1980, p. 62.
5. Nwosu 1998, p. 85.
6. ^ Nwosu 1998, p. 86.
7. ^ Nwosu 1998, p. 94.
8. ^ Ucheoma, Otuka (7 November 2015). "Egwu-onwa Among The Ndoki Of Rivers State". The Guardian. Port Harcourt. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
9. Baikie 1856, pp. 315–316.
10. Nwokeji, G. Ugo (April 1998). "The Slave Emancipation Problematic: Igbo Society and the Colonial Equation". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 40 (2). Cambridge University Press: 318–355. doi:10.1017/S0010417598001108. JSTOR 179416.
11. ^ Morgan, W. B. (September 1955). "Farming Practice, Settlement Pattern and Population Density in South-Eastern Nigeria". The Geographical Journal. 121 (3). The Royal Geographical Society: 320–333. Bibcode:1955GeogJ.121..320M. doi:10.2307/1790896. JSTOR 1790896.
12. There are speculations that the population count was reduced due to tax levied on them. See, Nwosu. p:81
13. Nwosu 1998, p. 92.
14. ^ Chuku, Gloria (2005). Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria, 1900-1960. African Studies. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-97210-9.
15. Ulonna & Okorobia, p. 325.
16. Ulonna & Okorobia, pp. 321–322.
17. Aronson 1980, pp. 62–63.
18. Okafor, Chido; Udeajah, Gordi (29 September 2017). "NDDC moves to revoke contracts as oil-producing community demands compensation". The Guardian. Warri; Umuahia. Retrieved 14 October 2023.

Bibliography

• Forde, Cyril Daryll; Jones, G. I. (1967). The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria. Ethnographic Survey of Africa, Western Africa. Vol. 3 (1st ed.). London: International African Institute.
• Baikie, William Balfour (1856). Narrative of an exploring voyage up the rivers Kwóra and Bínue (commonly known as the Niger and Tsádda) in 1854. London: John Murray. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Nwosu, Okere Steve (1998). "The National Question: Issues and Lessons of Boundary Adjustment in Nigeria—The Ndoki Case". Journal of Third World Studies. Political, economic and social issues in the Third World. 15 (2). University Press of Florida: 79–101. JSTOR 45193765.
• Ulonna, Ihute Nkemakolam; Okorobia, A. M. "The Abolition of Trans-Atlantic of Slave Trade and the Impact on the Ndoki, 1807-1901". South-South Journal of Humanities and International Studies. 1 (2). Port Harcourt: 311–325.
• Aronson, Lisa (1980). "Patronage and Akwete Weaving". African Arts. 13 (3). UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center: 62–66+91. doi:10.2307/3335705. JSTOR 3335705.

• Igbo clans
• Igbo subgroups
• People from Abia State