Ezeagu, the origin 2. Because of the poor quality of soil in owa, Ezeagu took his first wife Mgboli to farm at the outskirts of his land called Azuiyi in view of its rich arable land. There she bore her second son named Oghe meaning O ghe e lu m (contentually meaning, I have at last found a rich soil). That was how the town Oghe took her name. They founded a market at Oghe which was initially called olie Oghe but which later metamorphosed into Awho Oghe and Awho Ezeagu respectively due to political manipulations. Until 1981 , the olo and Awha groups were part of the Agbaja and Ngwo county council with headquarters at 9th mile corner Ngwo. All bonafide descendants of Ezeagu were later joined by non Ezeagu autochthons comprising Awha, Olo and Okpogho. The application of the term Igbudu to Ezeagu is a recent development, after the Nigerian-Biafran war. It is a metaphoric expression denoting the strength of will of Ezeagulanders. Igbudu literary means a heavy trap for trapping animals. Curiously and largely for the administrative convenience of the colonial masters of our historical past, Oghu community, made up of the direct descendants of Oghu, Ezeagus third son by Mgboli, is segregated into Udi Local government enclave. This was largely due to its distant situation from its Ezeagu kin and also to its geographical contiguity with the Udi local government communities like Affa, Egede and Ebe. One sees in Oghu a fate closely analogous to that of Olo and Awha communities in Ezeagu. The history of Ezeagu cannot be complete without a statement on its administrative history. Until its emergence in 1975 , as a fully independent local government division, Ezeagu was administered as part of Udi division with which it shared political and cultural affinities from the inception of the colonial administration of these parts. The journey for Ezeagus political independence from Udi began in 1952 when it earned the status of Ezeagu native administration, a political extraction with headquarters in Aguobu Owa. It gradually metamorphosed, first into a distict council and then as a full local government council during the Ukpabi Asika administration of the then east central state of Nigeria. As a result of the local government reforms of 1976 , the name Ezeagu division was changed to Ezeagu local government area. The very first administrative head of Ezeagu was late Chief Clement Emehelu of Akama Oghe who, in 1952 , was elected the chairman of Ezeagu county council, then being administered as part of udi division as Ezeagu native administration. Late Chief Joseph Amalu of Imezi Owa succeeded him in 1953. ........to be continued. ...... Source, The Owa clan by Prof. Richard Okafor.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 08:22:21 +0000
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