Awo Omamma

Awo-omamma (also Awo Omamma) is a town in Nigeria's Imo State. It covers approximately 89.2 square kilometres on the bank of Njaba River,[1]:13 in the Northeast province of Niger Delta.

Location

Situated in Oru-East, Awo-omamma is approximately 20 kilometers from Owerri in Imo.[1]:13 The town is bounded in the North by Amiri in Oru-East, and Mgbidi and Otulu both in Oru-West, in the East by Okwudor in Njaba LGA, in the West by Akabo, Awa, and Ngbele communities in Oguta, and in the South by Eziama Obiato and Njaba River.[1]:13 The then Orie Bridge market on the bank of the river provided the community and its environs opportunity to trade with neighbouring communities as far as Abonema in Rivers State via Oguta.[1]:59

History

In 1958, a health and community development project under Dr. Ben Nzeribe was established in Awo-omamma,[2] his native home.[3] Before the Biafran war, Dr Nzeribe and the UUSC helped the community build themselves a seventy-five-bed hospital, two new schools, an unpolluted water system, six well baby clinics, and a post office.[4] They also assisted in introducing modern agricultural methods.[4] It was reported that on December 9, 1968, the community hospital then under the control of International Committe of the Red Cross (ICRC) was attacked from the air.[5] In "Biafra: A People Betrayed", experience at the Community Hospital was mentioned.[6] As highlighted in African Studies review at Cambridge, Biafran refugees and patients were also abandoned at Santana, Awo-omamma.[7]

Economy

Consolidated Breweries Plc which became a subsidiary of Heineken in 2005,[8] has one of its breweries in Awo-omamma.[8]

In "Addax Petroleum Corporation Analysis Across the Oil and Gas Value Chain Report", it was mentioned the company found oil in Awo-omamma.[9] The new discovery in the company's OML124 license area[9] on the Northeast edge of the Niger Delta contains the undeveloped Njaba field[10] which was discovered in December 2008.[11] The then Senate Committee Chairman on Gas Resources, Senator Osita Izunaso said by the time Addax starts oil activity in their latest Njaba field, the company could be producing about 15,000 to 20,000 barrels per day.[12] The oil discovery is set to boost further development of the town and Imo in general in line with statement of the President and Chief Executive Officer of Addax Petroleum, Jean Claude Gandur, that the onshore discovery was a further example of the company's commitment to development in Nigeria.[13]

Traditionally, the occupation of the community is agriculture including fishing on Njaba River.[1]:15 And there is sand and gravel mining along the river banks.[1]:16

In the pre-colonial era Awo Omamma was part of the trade route from Ogbuide lake to the coast which was used by Aro traders for the slave trade and to transport European goods from the coast to the hinterland.[14]

Demographics

Awo-omamma people are Oru (river side dwellers) of Western Igbo.[15]

The inhabitants of Awo-omamma revere the water goddess of Oguta Lake, Ogbuide and Njaba River, known in Awo-omamma as Uhammiri.[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "AWO-OMAMMA-AMIRI RELATIONS SINCE 1970: UBAKU, KELECHI CHIKA". naulibrary.org. September 2012.
  2. ↑ "Highlights of UUSC History". uusc.org.
  3. ↑ "In the war zone: Grad Works Amidst Biafra Peril". The Cornell Daily Sun 85 (116). 10 April 1969. p. 7.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Biafra’s war no one wants". Cornell Alumni News. October 1969. p. 24.
  5. ↑ "Help to War Victims in Nigeria". The International Review of the Red Cross. NINTH YEAR-No.94. ICRC. January 1969. p. 6.
  6. ↑ "Biafra: A People Betrayed". journeytoforever.org.
  7. ↑ "Jorre, John De St (1972). The Brothers' War: Biafra and Nigeria, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. August 1972. 6 maps, 60 ill., 437 pp. $10.". journals.cambridge.org.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "SCHEME OF MERGER Between Nigerian Breweries PLC and Consolidated Breweries PLC, October 09, 2014; p10". nbplc.com.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Addax Petroleum Corporation Analysis Across the Oil and Gas Value Chain Report, p6". researchandmarkets.com.
  10. ↑ "Addax Petroleum, License Areas; License". addaxpetroleum.com.
  11. ↑ "Addax Petroleum Management's Discussion and Analysis (for the year ended December 31, 2008): 2008 Operational Update, p5". londonstockexchange.com.
  12. ↑ "Owerri to get oil, gas lab". Vanguard News.
  13. ↑ "RIGZONE - Addax Strikes Oil at Njaba 2 Well Onshore Nigeria". rigzone.com.
  14. ↑ Okonkwo, Uche Uwaezuoke (2011). "The Aro, Host Communities And Continuties In Intergroup Suspicion In The Oguta Area Since Pre-colonial Times". Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences 2 (2.4): 7. ISSN 2229-5313.
  15. ↑ Oriji, John N. (January 2011). Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age: The history of the Igbo People. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 22. ISBN 9780230621930.
  16. ↑ "Divine Waters of the Oru-Igbo (Southeastern Nigeria)". oxfordindex.oup.com.

Coordinates: 5°39′23″N 6°56′4″E / 5.65639°N 6.93444°E