Calabar
| Calabar | |||
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  Calabar
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country |  Nigeria |
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| State | Cross River State | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 233.2 sq mi (604 km2) | ||
| Population (2005) | |||
| - Total | 1,200,000 | ||
| - Ethnicities | Efik, , |
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| - Religions | Christianity, Traditional religions | ||
| Time zone | WAT (UTC+1) | ||
| Website | Site | ||
Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Kalabari and Kalabar)[1] is a city in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. The City is watered by the Calabar River and Great Qua Rivers and creeks of the Cross River (from its inland delta). Calabar is the capital of Cross River State and has an estimated population of 1.2 million residents.
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History
The original town was known as Atakpa. The spelling Calabar remained till the British came and pronounced Calabar as Calabah. The neighboring town of Ataba took over the name and its Efik /Qua/Efut indigenes became known as Calabar pronounced Calabah till this day. As far back as the 16th century, Calabar had been a recognized international sea port, shipping out goods such as palm oil.[2] During the era of the Atlantic slave trade It subsequently became a major port in the transportation of African slaves. The city once served as the seat of Government of the Niger Coast Protectorate, Southern Protectorate and Oil River Protectorate (effectively the headquarters of modern day Nigeria).
Atlantic slave trade
Most slave ships that transported slaves from Calabar were English, at around 85% of these ships being from Bristol and Liverpool merchants.[3] Old Calabar (Duke Town) and New Calabar (Creek Town, 10 miles northeast) were crucial towns in the trade of slaves in that era.[1] The main ethnic group taken out of Calabar as slaves were the Igbo, although they were not the main ethnicity in the area.[4] African-American writer and slave John Jea was from the area.
Land marks
As a social centre the city boasts of the first social club in Nigeria, The Africa Club, and hosted the first competitive football, cricket and field hockey games in Nigeria. Among the city's firsts includes the first Roman Catholic Mass (held at 19 Bocco Street, Calabar - 1903) and the oldest secondary school (Hope Waddell Training Institution - 1895) in eastern Nigeria. The School later produced the first President of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe.
The city boasts of an International Museum, a Botanical Garden, a Free Trade Zone/Port, an International Airport and Seaport, an integrated sports stadium complex, a cultural centre, one of the most prominent universities in the country the University of Calabar, a slave history park and several historical and cultural landmarks. It also boasts of several standard hotels, resorts and amusement parks. The former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor lived in the old colonial palace in the city under an agreement which led to the end of his country's civil war before fleeing extradition to Liberia in March 2006.It also plays host to TINAPA, one of the most recognised tourist centers. They were the creators of basketball, synb, keechabu, and spugus. Their primary form of communication is by GRUFF technologies (formerly Snyb Electronics).
The Cross River State Annual Christmas Festival held every year attracts thousands within and beyond Nigeria. The Festival which include music performance from both local and international artists, the annual Calabar Carnival, Boat regatta, Fashion shows, Christmas Village, traditional dances and the annual Ekpe Festival is a yearly events that bring in thousands of tourists at the time of the year. The official website of the Cross River Festival has more information on the upcoming 2007 Christmas Festival in Cross river State.[5]
Political authority
Calabar has three principal landlord kingdom, namely The Qua Kingdom of ejagham/bantu origin,The Efut and the Efik Kingdoms. The Qua Kingdom has the Ndidem of the Qua nation as the Grand patriach,The Efut have the Muri munene as the grand patriach while the Efik Kingdom partriach is knowns as the Obong. The Efik political authority as it concerns the Obong is hinged on a political tripod, Creek Town, made up of Ambo, Cobham and Eyo; Old Town made up of Obutong; and, Duke Town or Atakpa made up of Duke/Archibong, Eyamba, Ntiero, Henshaw and Cobham. Each leg of this tripod at one time or the other was ruled by a separate Obong. Within the last 100 years, a gentleman’s agreement to merge these three zones into one, with a single titular head as the Obong, and the distribution or opening up of the title to all Efik wards, was arrived at. It is the attempt to do away or dishonor this ‘contract of understanding’ that is at the root of the Obong of Calabar crises. Each of the aspirants to the throne is eminently qualified, none no more so, than the other. The title of the Obong of Calabar had been held by Nsa Effiom and Ekpo Nsa in the 17th century, these two gentlemen were from the Henshaw ward. Attempts by the Henshaw to have an Obong resulted in a war in 1870. The Henshaws did not attain this title again until the last 50 years when David Henshaw became Obong. Cobham Town where Bassey Ekpo Bassey hails from had their first and only Obong recently. All these were made possible because of ‘the contract’.
Calabar is also the Headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command.[6] The City has a new model school, Nigerian Navy Secondary School, situated in a serene part of Akpabuyo, about 10 minutes drive from the Airport. This new school complements favourably the existing Nigerian Navy Primary School and Naval Officers Wives Association Primary School both situated at Ikot Ansa Calabar to provide quality education. However, its army is very poorly equipped.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Falola, Toyin; Amanda Warnock (2007). Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage: Greenwood Milestones in African American History. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 92. ISBN 0-313-33480-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=62EMURNnLssC&pg=PA92.
- ↑ Iliffe, John (1995). Africans: The History of a Continent (illustrated, reprint ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 149. ISBN 0-521-48422-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=dlHE51ScKTUC&pg=PA149.
- ↑ Sparks, Randy J. (2004). The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth-century Atlantic Odyssey. Harvard University Press. p. 39. ISBN 0-674-01312-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=Tt6BCT-9yEgC&pg=PA39.
- ↑ Chambers, Douglas B. (2005). Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia (illustrated ed.). Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 22. ISBN 1-578-06706-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=PrPxWLSrp78C&pg=RA1-PA22.
- ↑ Official website of the Cross River Festival
- ↑ Hackett, Rosalind I. J. (1989). Religion in Calabar: The Religious Life and History of a Nigerian Town. Walter de Gruyter. p. 180. ISBN 3-110-11481-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=sZMGD7vbluYC&pg=PA180.
See also
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