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               === AKPO HISTORY: ORIGINS, GEOGRAPHY, SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC POTENTIALS ===

Geography

The geography of Akpo is described in this section with focus on location, climate, and bodies of water.

Location

Akpo is a town in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, South East, Nigeria. It is made up of six (6) villages, three (3) from the two (2) major divisions in the town - EZINATO group of villages namely - Agbelu, Uhuala, and Umueze villages and OGBONATO group of villages made up of Ogbo, Amaife, and Udo villages respectively in the following order of seniority - Agbelu, Uhuala, Ogbo, Umueze, Amaife, and Udo villages respectively. Akpo people are part of the Igbo sub-cultural area.

Precisely, Akpo lies between It lies precisely between Latitude 5°57′41.39″ N of the equator and Longitude 7°06′21.28″ E from Greenwich or Prime Meridian and on an estimated elevation of about 321 meters (>400 ft) above sea level. The town which is part of the Mbala orie clan (made up of Amesi, Akpo, Achina, Umuchu, and Enugu-Umuonyia) has an estimated land area of over 20 sq. miles, a population of 16,281, and a population density of 800 people per square mile based on the 1931 census, it tapers to the northern portion in Uhuala facing Ogboji, with an estimated population of 4,000 (1963 census), over 8,000 in 1976, and about 14,000 in the 1980s and over 18,000 as at 2014.† A fast fact on the Akpo community is provided in Table 1.

Topographically, Akpo lies in the escarpment that lies between Nkpologwu to the west and Achina to the East, with deep valleys on both sides. Though it is not located in the direction of Agulu-Nanka erosion, its land is part of the Nanka sand according to Nwajide (1977). Hence, prone to gully erosion like her neighbors, Ekwulobia and Oko in the views of Ofomata (1977).

Climate

Akpo has a tropical wet and dry savanna climate. The district's average annual temperature is 30.34°C (86.61°F), which is 0.88% warmer than Nigeria's national average. Akpo generally experiences 254.69 rainy days annually, or approximately 69.78% of the total 222.23 millimeters or 8.75 inches of precipitation that falls there.

According to Isichei (1976), the climatic condition of the Akpo community is not different from that of her neighbors in the Igbo hinterland which consisted originally of dense tropical rainforest, but has since, in the opinion of Afigbo (1975), "...reduced to savannah and palm bush" due to extensive human activities like farming, economic activities, and building projects.

The town's soil is not extremely fertile in some parts, and according to archives, it is one of the characteristics of the towns in the Ugwuokpu group that later became the towns in the present Njikoka and Aguata Local Government Areas. The reasons adduced by Afigbo (1981) for this poor soil profile are based on the speculation that the Igbo heartland to which the Akpo community belongs, was among the earliest Igbo settlements that Igbos' ancestors were domiciled, the soil was over-cultivated and rendered infertile. Also, the high population density, according to Grove (1951) of this Igbo core or heartland cannot be exonerated from lending its weight to this exhaustion of the soil.

Rivers, Lakes, and Streams

Akpo is blessed with numerous water bodies such as the River Ogbomili and Otaru, the famous Agho-uma Lake, and serves also as the headstream of the following streams: Ogbei, Nwangwo, Ezeokoro, Nwa-osu, Nwayi-oma, Okwara-owelie, Ogbei, Nwaokwara, Omerenanyazi, Aghontukoba, Ezeokoro, Nwayi-oma and Nwa-oku (now dry) streams, and many others.

Table 1: Fast Facts and Figures on Akpo Town

State	Anambra
Local Government Area	Aguata
Political Status	Single Autonomous community, with six (6) villages
Order of Seniority of Villages	Agbelu, Uhuala, Ogbo, Umueze, Amaife, and Udo.
Location	Latitude 5°57′41.39″ N Longitude 7°06′21.28″ E
Date of Founding	~ A.D. 910 - A.D. 1911 (part of Nri Movement)
Progenitor	Akpo-Nnaya (son of Umenneobe Dike of Ora-eri)
Population	≥30,000 (as at 2016 NPC Census)
Land Area	≥30 Square Miles
Elevation	>321 meters (>400 ft) above sea level
Current Traditional Ruler	H.R.H Igwe (Arc.) Jonathan Obiajulu Okpalaezecha(Nnamoshimiri II of Akpo)
Date of Installation as Igwe of Akpo	... December, 2008 by Former Governor HE Peter Obi
Mode of Political Organization	Patrilineages (Umunna)
Major Traditional Festival(s)	New yam (‘Diji’) festival, Ofala festival, Ichi Ozo festival, et cetera.
Language(s) Spoken	Igbo

Unifying Artifacts

The town has some common fronts as a key bond of unity that enables them to defend the name "Akpo" to the last drop of blood of any Akpo citizen. These artifacts include Nkwor di Igbudu (the local deity claimed to be in control of the spirit of both the ancestors and the living children), a market established to honor her protection and held once in four days- Nkwor Day. Ozo title (an organization meant to cleanse and sanitize the citizens). Ekwe Nkwor (a tall, huge, wooden echo-sounding gong) played only on four occasions namely: in the evening of every Afor market day, early in the morning of Nkwor market day, during emergency occasions like war or meetings and the annual Nkwor feast. Opi ike (a trumpet made from the horn of a wild buffalo). They are used only in emergencies like war and Ugbo–Uke, and a giant metal gong, used in ancient days, to summon people for war and merriment.

Be that as it may, before the advent of the Europeans, the people of Akpo have a well-developed belief system in form of idol worship where they reposed their confidence in the verdicts and valedictions of the oracles and deities such as Ogovu, Ezenyebu, Nkwor, Udoh-Akwa, Udo, Oda, Ogwugwu, Nguma as well as territorial conquests according S.M. Ezenwata. The practice continued unabated until the coming of the European missionaries.

The period of colonial rule was another turning point in the political history of Akpo. She was administered as part of the Awka District of Onitsha Province. Much did not happen then other than the people were preoccupied with reconciling their traditional cultural practices and tendencies with the Western ones. This period marked the beginning of the payment of tax, the imprisonment of offenders, the introduction of Western education, and the proselytization of African traditional religion (idol) worshippers to Christianity.

It is not an overstatement to strongly describe the Akpo community as one bubbling with life. This is not because of the well-known aphorism that says every mother thinks that her child is a leopard in terms of strength, or the similar maxim that no child will ever say publicly that his mother's soup is not tasty. But, rather it is because of the dynamic nature of Akpo in contemporary times. With lots of well-educated citizens from different higher institutions of learning both within and outside the shores of Nigeria, across diverse academic disciplines, a league of business moguls and artisans, an ever-growing population, and modern infrastructure like schools, electricity, hospitals, water bore-hole, tarred roads, market, churches et cetera.

Map and Boundary Disputes

Akpo town is enveloped by a cluster of communities as shown in the maps. As she slopes into the Ogboji and Aguluezechukwu area in the North, Amesi shields the Southern border. From the East is Achina while Nkpologwu closes in from the West, with a major road junction at its Southern end connecting Amesi to the South, Nkpologwu to the West, and Achina through Ogbo village. Some of its kith and kin from the so-called Ihite group of villages: Ogbo, Amaife, and Udo also reside at Ivoro, which is an outpost or extension of the community settlement occasioned by limited land resources and ever-growing population. Akpo town like any other Nigerian community has its fair share of border disputes and skirmishes over the years. In the 1950s it had a boundary dispute with Achina town over ownership of the Combined Secondary School/Orie market resulting in the death of some persons on both sides leading to the government taking over control of the disputed areas. These boundary disputes are been resolved to avoid clashes among the communities.

The following maps show the landmarks, vectorized land use patterns, border communities, and topography of the Akpo community.

Map of Akpo Community Landmarks with Neighboring Communities

Map of Akpo Town Landmarks with Neighboring Towns

Source: Surv. Dr. I. C. Ezeomedo (2023). LMS of Akpo @ Jorinno Survey Services & Assoc Nig.

File:Https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akpo 1.jpg

Vectorized Map of Akpo Town Landcover with Neighboring Towns

Source: Surv. Dr. I. C. Ezeomedo (2023). LMS of Akpo @ Jorinno Survey Services & Assoc Nig.

File:Https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akpo 3.jpg

Vectorized Map of Akpo Town Showing Landmarks with Neighboring Towns

Source: Surv. Dr. I. C. Ezeomedo (2023). LMS of Akpo @ Jorinno Survey Services & Assoc Nig.

Economic Activities

Sand mining is one of the thriving businesses in the community, as many streams dot the entire landscape of the town. Such streams include - Otaru, Ogbei, and River Ogbomiri et cetera all located in Agbelu and Uhuala villages respectively. Unfortunately, the sand mining is not well organized as the excavation induces quick run¬off which in turn increases the velocity of the running water upstream thereby compounding the serious gully erosion menace in the community.

Social and Cultural Life

The people of Akpo do not in any way or sense differ from the characteristics of the Igbos of Nigeria. They are cheerful just like any Igbo people, and enterprising in their disposition. Exceptionally humorous, given to cracking jokes (Ima Njakiri), and highly religious but there is nothing they detest more than being ridiculed and humiliated without cause as stated by Afigbo (1973). They are also individualistic and aggressive to a certain extent. This is not surprising because Igbo people strongly "desire to get ahead..." It should not be egocentric as such if a bit of individualism forms part of their lifestyle and worldview, Ottenberg (1961). From the writings of Forde and Jones (1967), "...The Igbos are generally tolerant, ultra-democratic, and highly individualistic. They dislike and suspect any form of external government and authority. They have a strongly developed commercial sense and a practical unromantic approach to life." This is in line with Nigeria Governor-General Sir Frederick Lord Lugard's opinion in "The Dual Mandate On Nigerian Tribes" (1922) "...These people of predominantly Eastern Nigeria are ... industrious and religious."

Also in a work on African cultural history, Basil Davidson observed that the Igbos: " Uncommonly among Africans has been markedly success-oriented! Egalitarian but individualistic; they have thought it an essential aspect of the 'right and natural' that talent should lead to enterprise, and enterprise to promotion, and promotion to privilege. They have insistently stressed social mobility"

The people of Akpo and their close-door neighbors belong to the presumed "agbaenu" group. This may be because they produce less food in their local domains or areas due to the factor of soil exhaustion as highlighted previously. Or as some people believe, because the area is not 'watered' following the absence of rings of a stream. Therefore in natural response, the majority of the population either became itinerant traders or professionals in diverse fields of human endeavours than to hang their fate on the exhausted soil.

History of Origin

Legend and oral tradition stated that one of Nri Namoke's descendants or children known as Avo established Ora-eri, Nnokwa, Amesi, Akpo, and Ebele-Achina towns. After a disagreement during the reign of NriNamoke with Nri Ifikuanim's descendants at Agukwu, he migrated with his wife southwest and settled in present-day Ora-eri. There he had Ora-eri, Nnokwaand Umennoebe Dike. Oraeri as the first son of Avo occupied his father's obi, leaving his brothers, Nnokwa and Umennoebe Dike to search for a better settlement with their families in line with Igbo customs and tradition. Umennoebe Dike migrated southeast from Ora-eri with his wife to a place that they found to have supported the growth of numerous palm trees that provided him with palm nuts and he eventually settled there. He then named the place Akalavo, meaning “the Branch of Avo” - which time and (mis)pronunciation had changed to Akalabo, the present-day Amesi. Umenneobe Dike eventually took another wife. He had a son from his first wife called Amaechina(who is the progenitor of the Amesi people), who later married and had Amesi, who is the first son of Amaechina. His second wife gave birth to Akpoand Achinam (progenitor of Ebele). Amesibeing the first son occupied the Obi as tradition demands in most parts of Igboland, and Umennoebe Dike thereafter blessed him with the knowledge of herbs and their natural importance. Akpo, the second son, who so much took after his father in strength and knowledge, became the police of his father's empire.

He supported his father in his work, especially farming. In his father's absence, it was said that he spearheaded the inter-tribal wars against Ohafia and the Aro people. Due to his strength, his father loved him so much that he called him. ‘Akpo-nnaya’, which means the strength of his father (Akpo Nkpokoro) or the lion “The Son Who Preferred War To Food” the words of his father, according to Nnebedum (1988) was quoted till date as: “My son, you are made of my stuff, I am about to go the way of my ancestors, I allot my northern kingdom to you because my enemies come from there. You are my only son who can withstand them. Do not initiate trouble with your neighbors. But prove your valor and make yourself a man whenever you are troubled. Remember your brothers and help them when they are oppressed. Your wealth shall be made through genuine ventures. Follow my ways so that you will be successful in all you do and undertake.”

Umennoebe Dike, before his death, allotted the northern part of his kingdom, which was believed to be more volatile than any other part to Akpo. This he did considering the level of hostility that was coming from that part of his domain. The northeast corner of his domain, now called Achina, was allotted to Achinam, who is the progenitor of Ebele village in Achina. Akpo, have affiliations or relationships with ' Ora-eri, Nnokwa, and Nri people respectively. The evidence that is available to substantiate this fact is their annual invitation and attendance of Umunri meetings. At such forums, Umunri settles disputes among them and discusses issues bordering on their development. The exhortation by Umennoebe Dike to Akpo-nnaya that his wealth should be made through genuine ventures is still effective on his descendants to date, as Akpo indigenes are not known to succeed in criminal activities or shady business or deals.

The man called Akpo-Nnaya married two wives namely, Eziamaka and Ihiteama. Eziamaka had a first son called Oguerinam, while Ihiteama had a second son called Onyeanusi. Oguerinam married when he attained adulthood and had three sons, namely Okpala-Okworo, Okpalaradosi, and Ezedike. These three sons of Oguerinam constituted the present EZINATO Group of villages in the town, namely Agbelu, Uhuala, and Umueze villages, respectively. Onyeanusi on his part also had three sons namely, Nnuata, Ofekengele, and Onyeashidike. They were the fathers of the present OGBONATO Group of villages made up of Ogbo, Amaife, and Udo villages respectively. Consequently, it is the sons and daughters of these six villages that make up the present town or community called - AKPO.

Since Akpo is within the Nri-Awka-Orlu region, the so-called Igbo heartland, which is now considered by many scholars such as Ifemesia (1980) to be the first place where the Igbos as a group was found. It is reasonable to infer that the founders of Akpo descended from among the earliest set of Igbo people to have settled in this Igbo heartland as far back as A.D. 800 (Kajuba, 1974). And that one of these earliest sets of settlers was Eri and his biological children. Therefore to properly contextualize and rationalize where Akpo as an Igbo community and her people came from, one has to look at two critical issues. The Origin of Akpo as a people and as a geographical community. In the first case, it can be stated that Akpo as a people were of ERI ancestry because oral traditions of Akpo, Amesi, Achina, Oraeri, Nri, and Aguleri have shown that Akpo, Amesi, Achina, Ora-eri, and Nri were Eri descendants. In the other context, Akpo as an Igbo community was independently founded by Akpo-nnaya and his earliest children where it is located today.

Nze Ezenwata (1989?) in his historical account of the origin of Akpo is of the view that the much one can account of the origin of Akpo people is traceable to the legendary father of Amesi, Akpo, and Ebele (Achinam) called Umennoebe Dike. He opines that the first son of Umennoebe Dike was called Amaechina. He was the ancestral father of the present Amesi people. The only son of his mother, whose hometown is located in present-day Ora-eri town in Aguata local government area of Anambra state.Amaechina as the story has it inherited herbal medicine practice and skills from his father, which the people of Amesi still hold on to this day.

He further claims that Umennoebe Dike had a second wife with two sons namely: Akpo-Nnaya and Achinam. Akpo-Nnaya as the name suggests was like the father, Umennoebe Dike. He was referred to as being pugnacious, outspoken, adventurous, and always out for war. The father has a strong liking for him and gave him the name Akpo-Nnaya, a characteristic trait that people still exhibit to date.

The second child of Umennoebe Dike's second wife was called Achinam. The progenitor of the present Ebele ward in Achina town, the circumstances that led to this name - Achinam was not disclosed in the legendary narrative, but he is of the view that the much one can say about Achina people is that they are more hospitable to visitors contrary to the unfriendly tendencies of Amaechina (Amesi) and Akpo-Nnaya descendants. According to oral tradition and archive intelligence reports of the trio - Amesi, Akpo, and Ebele (Achina), reveal that their ancestral parents were known as Eshi and Amaiyi.

Nze Ezenwata S.M. characterized the progenitor of the Akpo people as innocent and war-like as depicted by the slogan: "Akpo Nkpokoro Isi N'ata Mpoto Ede", "Kpekere Ni'm Abu'm Akpo"; "Ghara-Ghara-Ghara, Ghara Nwa Nne'm, Ghara Mgbe Akpo Ga Eje Ogu, Ka'm Gbutere Gi Isi". The unifying features of the community include Nkwor Di Igbudu, Nze na Ozo title society, Ekwe Nkwor (last seen according to Nze Ezenwata with Okpalaobi of Okwute Age Grade and normally kept at Obi Okpalobi in Umudike Ward at Agbelu village), Opu Ike (last seen according to Nze Ezenwata with Okpala Aladi of Etiti Ward, Agbelu village). The first time was in 1945 when the vigilante group Okwute force clashed with their counterparts from Aguluezechukwu along the borders of Ogbe farm. The second occasion was in 1957 to summon delegates from the Ezinato group during the Councillorship Election between the late Sir. J.C.I. Okpala and late Nze P.A. Ezeiruaku at the Combined School Field.

This brief historical origins of Akpo will not be complete without mentioning at least marginally, the migratory pattern of its founder to firmly establish the authenticity and originality of the historical narrative contained in it. The movement of Umennoebe Dike begotten by Avo, son of Nri Namoke and son of Amanuke brother to Menri or Nri Ifikuanim from Agukwu-Nri and Ora-eri and his subsequent settlement at Akalabo (Amesi) paved the way for the establishment of Akpo in its present location. But the snag is what informed this migration or movement. Is it in search of greener pasture? Security or freedom?

Oral tradition of the Akpo people claims that Umennoebe Dike left his ancestral settlement at Ora-eri in line with Igbo customs and tradition, which makes it mandatory for the Okpala to inherit his father's Obi and for his other siblings to settle in the family compound elsewhere to avoid conflict of interest.

Similarly, there are sizeable permanent Ora-Eri settlements now at Mbanagu-Otolo, Nnewi, Ezioko-Oko, Ogbo-Akpo and Ebele-Achina. What this means is that Ora-eri was involved during the process of the formation and expansion of Akpo kindred.

To buttress this claim to the Nri Dynasty, Nze Ezenwata, S.M. gave an account of the exchanges between Igwe of Enugwu-Ukwu HRM Osita Agwuna II and the great Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik of Africa) during the presidential campaign trail of 1979 under the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). He recounted that Zik asked the Igwe to account for the number of autonomous communities that are of Umu-Nri origin in Anambra state. The Igwe put the number at about fifty (50). When prompted to name them by Zik, he stated: "... I cannot name them off hand. If I try to omit Amesi, Akpo, and Achina my ancestors will punish me."

Economic, Tourist, and Agricultural Potentials in Akpo

Akpo community is endowed with rich arable land and climatic conditions suitable for commercial agriculture as noted earlier. The famous Agho-uma Lake, River Ogbomili and Otaru, Ogbei, Okwara-owelie, Nwaokwara, Omerenanyazi, Nwangwo, Aghontukoba, Ezeokoro, Omere, Nwa-osu, Nwayi-oma and Nwa-oku streams that can boost the tourism potentials and agro-based industries of Anambra state dot the entire landscape of the community largely untapped. For instance, lyi Nwa-oku (now dry) has a strong basement impervious rock that could be revamped by removing the cementing silt from the Omere stream. The valley is an ideal site for fish farming if the water is trapped and well-secured via ponds. Sand mining is also one of the thriving businesses in the community as the arrays of streams in the community provide rich deposits of sand to support the economy of the community.

The importance of agriculture cannot be overemphasized. To Olaudah Equiano, it was the 'chief employment'. According to V.C. Uchendu, it was "the staff of life", and to N.E. Njaka, "the mainstay of Igbo society". So it was the "matrix in which economic activity was set" as stated by Hill (1962).

Agriculture would have been impossible in Akpo without land. The land has been variously described by scholars such as Okore (1982) as the traditional source of wealth and life's sustenance. Allocation of land in Akpo was by village and Umunna basis down to the family levels. The farmlands of the Akpo community though fertile before, have lost their vitality due to a myriad of factors such as over-cultivation, bad agricultural practices, and poor soil profile as mentioned earlier in section one. Geophysical studies and records from Archives on soil profile characterization of Akpo and neighboring towns in the Nanka area reported that "the soil is sandy and poor in the inhabited areas and almost barren in the comparatively small fields between towns". However, it should be noted that the farmlands of this Nri-Awka-Orlu region were originally fertile. According to Afigbo (1984), it was later that fertility declined, and it compelled people trapped there to turn their attention from agriculture to commerce, crafts, and other vocational skills Afigbo (1984).

Farmlands were cleared by burning before the commencement of farming activities. Owners of large portions of land located in the remote part of the community (Ikpa) such as Ikpaanunu, Nweke et cetera had to hire extra hands to help them with their farming activities. Some of these laborers are sourced from the community or outside, relying on Abakaliki itinerant laborers known in local parlance as - ndiogu-ukwu. Farmlands after clearing are cultivated and seeds sown using the rotational fallow system. This method introduced courtesy of Agricultural Extension workers, involves a piece of land that has been used for some years, then left uncultivated for a year or more to get replenished.

Families with small farm holdings, usually around their compounds, could not afford to leave them fallow. Instead adopt or practice crop rotation method, whereby different kinds of crops were planted on a piece of land at different seasons. Or the available farmlands would be divided into two or more portions with mud ridges so that a rotational fallow system would be applied. In this system, a portion would be cultivated this season, and the following season, another portion would be cultivated leaving the previously cultivated portion to fallow. In pre-colonial and post-colonial Akpo the farming season commences around March-April and harvesting starts around October and November. During this farming and planting season, locally-made farm implements were extensively used by the people. Hoes (ogu), knives and machetes (mma), stacking sticks (agba), and rakes (ngacha) were among the common farm implements used. Yam (ji), cocoyam (ede), and cassava (ji akpu) were the staple food crops mostly cultivated by the people of Akpo, and indeed a greater majority of Igbo people as stated byKajuba et al (1974). Yam was and is still the most devotedly cultivated crop by the Igbos Coursey & Coursey (1976).

The people of Akpo in pre-colonial times and recent history were selective vegetarians in their diet regimes. These may probably explain their longevity and good health. The use of vegetable leaves and crops in our daily meals began from our progenitors or ancestors; hence household vegetable crops of varying types were cultivated. Normally, this is the duty of women and their grown-up daughters to plant and nurture these crops until they are grown to be used for preparing meals. The vegetables that are cultivated in Akpo include the following as listed in Table 2.

Table 2: Types of vegetable crops grown in Akpo with their Scientific/Botanical names

S/No	Igbo Name	English Name	Scientific/Botanical Name
1	Inine	African Spinach/Green	Amaranthus hybridis
2	Ugu	Fluted Pumpkin	Telferis occidentalis
3	Akidi	Cowpea	Vigna unguiculate
4	Onugbu	Bitter Leaf	Vernonia amygdalina
5	Enini	Water Melon	Colocynthis vulgaris
6	Oka	Maize	Zea mays
7	Ose	Pepper	Capsicum frutescens
8	Okwuru	Okra	Hibiscus esculentus
9	Ora or Abubo	African Padauk or African Coralwood	Pterocarpus soyauxii
10	Ahihiaa	Jute Vegetable	Corchorus olitorus
11	Utazi/Otazi	False Cubed Leaves	Gongronema latifolium
12	Uziza	False Cubed Leaves	Piper guineense

Source: Okigbo, B.N. (1980) Plants and Food in Igbo Culture, Ahiajoku Lecture, (Owerri, Govt Printer).

In the same vein, economic trees or what Marius Ogwo called osisi na-ami ego (cash crops/trees) are a common sight to behold in virtually every compound or family in the Akpo community. Some of them as shown in Table 3 include:

Table 3: Types of Economic trees common in Akpo Town

S/No	Igbo Name	English Name	Scientific/Botanical Name
1	Ube	Pear	Darcyode sedulis
2	Nkwu	Oil Palm	Elaeis guineensis
3	Ngwo	Raphia Palm	Raphiata edigera
4	Ukwa	Bread Fruit	Treculia africana
5	Udara/Udala	Cherry fruit/African star apple	Chrysophyllum africanum
6	Ukpaka	Oil bean tree	Pentacle thramacrophyllum
7	Oji	Kola Nut	Cola acuminate
8	Mangoro	Mango	Mangifera indica
9	Uda	African Pepper	Xylopia aethiopicum
10	Ose oji	Melegueta pepper	Afromomium melegueta
11	Udara/Udara nwaenwe	Monkey apple	Pachystel abreviceps
12	Oroma/Oloma	Orange	Citrus aurantium
13	Une/Unere	Plantain	Musa sapientum
14	Aku oyibo	Coconut	Cocus nucifera

Source: Okigbo, B.N. (1980) Plants and Food in Igbo Culture, Ahiajoku Lecture, (Owerri, Govt Printer).

Oil palm, in its own right, was a respected economic tree in the entire Southeast geopolitical zone, and as a fact, when Nd’Igbo was serious with it; Nigeria was ranked the highest palm producer in the world. This generated revenue in millions of pounds for the then-Eastern Region. As Nigeria was practicing fiscal federalism then, which entails that each region utilizes its resources for its development, but is required to only pay their statutory royalty and fees for maintaining the central government.

The revenue from this important cash crop was used by the Eastern Region government of Nigeria led by Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Nnamdi Azikiwe of blessed memory to build the first indigenous university in Nigeria, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the first indigenous cement manufacturing plant at Nkalagu, Ebonyi State. The first indigenous steel rolling mill at Enugu and the Oji River coal power plant, also at Enugu, which was the first of its kind in the entire West African sub-region, just to mention a few.

The reason for the respect accorded oil palm trees, as Akpo town's oral tradition has it, is informed by its status of being the only economic tree in which all its parts are used as raw materials for producing one item or the other without any being wasted. For instance, its leaves served as fodder for domestic animals like goats and sheep et cetera; the mid-rib served as ogugu; the mid-rib of a leaflet served as aziza (broomstick), the leave-stock (igbogiri) served as firewood, the tendril (omu) has traditional symbolism, the palm fruit (akwu) produces oil (mmanu) for cooking our dishes, the kernel (aki) is consumed and boiled at high temperature to extract kernel oil for soap production, the stony endocarp (ichere aki), the chaffs from a palm head (isiakwu) are all burnt and kept as potash (ngu) for spicing ukwa (breadfruit), a local delicacy. Its tap root liquid content 'blood' of the palm tree serves as palm wine - a rich source of natural vitamin A and ethanol, while the trunk or stem of the tree can be used as firewood for cooking or sawed to size for making rafts in our buildings during roofing. It is because of the various uses to which its parts can be used made Prof. B.N. Okigbo indicates that the oil palm is the most important single plant in Igboland its origin may have been from time immemorial.

In addition to farming (which was the basis of livelihood) was animal husbandry. The people of Akpo used the domestication of animals to supplement farming. In Akpo, there is no compound or household where animals like goats, sheep, fowls, and in some cases, cows (local breed) are not kept. These animals, except fowls, were in some compounds tethered to short stakes inside their ndu (pen). The fowls usually had their place of abode called ncho okuko. The owners of these domesticated animals would not have their much cherished serene quietude or sleep if they were not fed with fodder to their feel, especially in the evenings. As their incessant bleating would continue to disrupt or punctuate their rest. In Akpo, the main nriewu (fodder) consisted of ogbu (fig tree leaves), okwe (African wood-nut oil tree leaves) i.e. Ricinodendronheudelotti, Igu (palm leaves), ahaba (Acio abarteri) and elephant grasses. It must be noted that these domestic animals, apart from being kept as pets also serve as a rich source of protein, by being slaughtered for cooking. In addition, and very salient for that matter, these animals are routinely sold to intending buyers (mostly meat sellers and festival organizers) at the various market days like Nkwo, Eke, Orie, and Afor, hence generating income for their owners, apart from other numerous benefits they serve as mentioned earlier.

References

Nwajide, C.S. (1977). Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Nanka Sand, (M.Phil Thesis, Dept of Geology, UNN), pp. 1-2.

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