Mgbidi

Mgbidi is the headquarters of Oru West, a Local Government Area of Imo State located in the southeastern region of Nigeria. It is located within Latitude 5.37 N and Longitude 6.57 E. It was the headquarters of the then Oru Local Government Area before its division into two Local Government Areas: Oru West and Oru East in 1996 under the Presidency of General Sani Abacha.

Mgbidi is one of the oldest towns in Imo State. It is bounded on the north by Ibi-Asoegbe and Aji towns, on the east by Amiri and Otulu towns, on the west by Ozara town, and on the south by Oguta town. Mgbidi is located at the northern extremes of Imo State, which is why it is bounded by Amorka in Anambra State.

Mgbidi is made of eleven communities, which are merged to form the six Autonomous Communities found in Mgbidi. The eleven communities are; Imeoha, Eziali, Umuekwe, Okwudor, Umuorji, Umuokpara, Umuehi, Umuabiahu, Uzinaumu, Ihitte and Ugbele.

Mgbidi is known by its culture called Ikwesi. This is performed by young girls when they are about to become an adolescent. Every girl is bound to do this traditional right, before they can become a mother. During the advent of Christianity, this caused a serious problem, because it was believed by the Christians to be fetish. Nowadays, there is a Christian type of Ikwesi.

A forum for social-economic and cultural development of Mgbidi is the Mgbidi Peoples Forum (http://www.mgbidipeoplesforum.org), formed in 2009.