Ngwo
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| Ngwo Ngwo |
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|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation: | /N_wo/ | |
| Spoken in: | Cameroon | |
| Total speakers: | 50,547 (2000 WCD). | |
| Language family: | Niger-Congo Atlantic-Congo Benue-Congo Bantoid Southern Wide grassfields Narrow grassfields Momo Ngwo |
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| Writing system: | Latin alphabet | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | ngn | |
| ISO 639-3: | ngn | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
It's been inferred that Ngwo is a Bantu language spoken by about 50,000 people in Cameroon. But, Ngwo as a town identified by its peculiar language/dialect, orchestrates features distinctively unconnected with the former.
Ngwo town is located in the south-eastern state of Enugu, Nigeria, with a population of about 50,000 people. As a substantial part of Igbo (Ibo) tribe, Ngwo, even in its dialect, bespeaks of originality, authenticity, and unalloyed uniqueness. Industry is critical to Ngwo people, and is exponential to their unassuming progressiveness. They believe that "umunna bu ike" (extended family or kindred is strength or power), and so, assert their intra/inter-dependence both for individual and collective progress. Credited to Ngwo people is such local aphorism as "mebe kwa oyi" (that is, always do good); by this, they show to what extent good mannerism is valued in the community. By the use of such proverb as: "O me nma, na-emere onwe ya; o me njo, na-emere onwe ya" (anyone doing good, is doing good for him or herself; anyone doing evil, is doing evil for him or herself), Ngwo people show their distate for evil deeds, and their appreciation for goodness! So, via a wider variety of proverbs, Ngwo people like other Igbos (Ibos), project "natural" and peculiar wisdom meant for ordered concord, peace, and development in the community.
Ngwo people descended from the man called Ngwo who lived at a place now called "Isi Okpoto" located around St. Mary Catholic Church, Ngwo. Ngwo gave it the name "Okpoto" because the fruits and trees that grew there were of very large sizes and shapes. That is, for him, they were "okpotokpo" (very large/huge). Living there with his wife, they begot their ten (10) male children who eventually metamorphosed into the ten villages of Ngwo, namely: Uboji, Amankwo, Ameke, Enugu, Etiti, Amachala, Ukaka, Amaebo, Okwojo, and Umuase. While the first three (3) got settled at a place now called Ngwo-uno, the last seven (7) settled at a place also now called Ngwo-asaa. That accounts for the two (2) big shades/components of Ngwo, namely: Ngwo-ato (Ngwo-ulo) and Ngwo-asaa (Ngwo-agu). While Ngwo-uno is made up of three main villages, namely: Amankwo, Amaeke, and Uboji, Ngwo-asaa is composed of seven villages, viz: Enugu, Etiti, Amachala, Ukaka, Amaebo, Okwojo, and Umuase.
Every Ngwo man or woman is proud of his or her citizenship. Generally, they maintain their unique language/dialect wherever and whatever they are, while also maintaining necessary ties/links with the world outside of their immediate milieu.
Patriotism, hospitality, good neighborliness, and belief in God are, equally, central to the enviable success of Ngwo people. As a struggling people, generally, they think big!
Ngwo is the only town in Nigeria that is in two Local Government Areas. Those Local Government Areas include: Udi and Enugu Local Government Areas. This has been so, either for political reasons or for Ngwo being critical, as a major landlord, to the commercial nerve centres of those Local Government Areas, namely: Ninth Mile Corner and Enugu township.
Geographically, Ngwo is bounded to the north by Abor, to the south by Nsude, to the west by Eke, and to the east by Nike. History of Enugu State will, not only remain incomplete, but also, incredibly erroneous except with concertedly integral reference to and inclusion of Ngwo which, not by chance or human design, but God's, constitutes a major landlord of Enugu metropolis.
Development is fast enveloping Ngwo town considering the high spate of commercial activities both at Enugu township and Ninth mile Corner, Ngwo.
The first "Okpoto" (High chief) of Ngwo was Chief Donald Orji.
Ameke Ngwo is one of the ten formative villages of Ngwo, which, in 2001, was upgraded to the status of an Autonomous Community by the Enugu State Government which gave rise to the establishment of the position of the traditional ruler, called the Igwe.
His Royal Highness, Igwe Jerome Charles Okolo, ‘Ogwugwuebenebe I’, of Ameke Ngwo, became the first holder of this position having been unanimously elected by the entire community in October 2003. His coronation was one of those huge community-wide festivals, for which the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria are renowned. The ever impressive Ijele Masquerade – the king of Igbo masquerades, a multi-storey towering ensemble of carvings, masks and fabrics - made one of its very rare outings to grace the occasion, which was held on the football grounds of the local community primary school.
Following his coronation, His Royal Highness, Igwe Jerome Okolo conferred a traditional Igbo chieftaincy title on Mr. Anthony Ruys, President of Heineken International NV, and a majority shareholder in Nigerian Breweries Plc., which had just commenced operations at its massive $300mln brewery sited on former communal farm land in Ameke Ngwo.
Such a huge industrial development in what used to be a sleepy, quiet village heralds new opportunities and dangers for the tiny community. Already, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported in its “THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS” dated Monday, 12 September 2005, that the communities had complained to the Nigerian Breweries Plc over the negative environmental impacts on their farmlands, the pollution of drinking water and erosion caused by improper disposal of effluents from the brewery. During the reported demonstration, hundreds of men and women from Ameke/Ngwo, Ibute Uwani and other communities bordering the two councils staged a demonstration against alleged "negative environmental impacts" borne by the siting of such an industrial giant in an agricultural community. Even the State Government was reported as having said that though the government of Enugu State celebrated the investment, "there is no gainsaying the fact that its citizens, especially those whose location borders this brewery, had always lodged bitter complaints about the debilitating effects of its operations in their daily existence and livelihood."
Nigerian Breweries has built a water tank and a bungalow for the village meetings, and also regularly donates a few cases of beer for community functions.
The traditional ruler remains unimpressed and expects the Nigerian Breweries to commit to real and sustainable development assistance to mitigate the negative social effects of under-age drinking, prostitution and an emerging crime wave, while taking urgent and credible measures to pay a fair compensation for hundreds of hectares of community land, forcibly seized by the State Government, ostensibly for social housing, but which was then handed over to Nigerian Breweries in a murky deal between the company and the former Governor – Chimaraoke Nnamani – now under investigation for corruption and theft of hundreds of millions of Dollars of public funds. The traditional ruler also expects the company’s support with education, health and the employment of suitably qualified locals in management positions within the company.
