Ekwulumili

Ekwulumili is a town in the Nnewi South Local Government Area of the Nnewi county of Anambra State, Nigeria. It has a population of over 50,000 and is 22 miles (35 kilometers) south east of the metropolitan commercial city of Onitsha. It shares boundaries in the north with the town of Igbo-Ukwu, in the south with the towns of Osumenyi and Akwa-Ihedi, in the east with the towns of Unubi and Ezinifite and in the west with the town of Amichi.^[1]

The geographical coordinates for Ekwulumili are 5.97N latitude, 7.02E longitude and 459 feet (140 meters) above sea level.^[2] Although it is located within the rainforest belt, the town has marked dry and wet seasons typical of the West African region.

Among schools, festivals^[3] and other cultural institutions, Ekwulumili is the future home to a National Craft Centre.^[4]

As an autonomous community, the town is administered statutorily, traditionally and civically. It is a constitutionally recognized town as a component of Nnewi South Local Government Area. Administration at the local government level consists of executive arm with a chair and a cabinet who are individuals with specific portfolios, from Health, Public Works, education etc. There is also a Legislative body composed of local government councilors elected from the various towns that make up the local government area. Ekwulumili has always sent a representative to the local government council and does have other appointed officials amongst different administrations of the local government. The component villages of Ekwulumili take turns sending councilors to the local government council.

Such federal institutions as the police, post office, electricity brokering agency are part and parcel of services within the town while the state through the ministry of education runs the public primary and secondary education institutions in the town and vigorously enforce tax collection through its revenue agents.There is no mechanized water delivering infrastructure as in pipe born water yet in Ekwulumili, except for private bore-holes, wells and sanitized communal springs.

Traditional and cultural administration of the town is the purview of the traditional ruler who is known by the title, ‘Obi of Ekwulumili’. The Obi oversees the traditional and cultural life of the town and helps maintain the cultural institutions and ancestral values of the community. The Obi administers the town with a cabinet council that is made up of representatives chosen from all the wards in the villages that constitute Ekwulumili. The current Obi of Ekwulumili is Chief G.O. Umeanadu, Ezeonyeoruru II. He hails from the village of Owelechukwu, which is considered the first progeny of Ekwulu. While Obi of Ekwulumili administers the entire town, the component villages also have local Obi whose dominion is only within their specific village.

Men do not have a monopoly in the cultural life and traditional mores of Ekwulumili. Another traditionally revered and powerful protectors and guardians of the cultural traditions of the land are a group of senior daughters of the town called Ada-Ekwulu. They comprise wise older women from all the wards in the town. They are usually post childbearing age, deeply respected, wise, and fearless and wield their clout without fear or favor. Though they hold regularly scheduled deliberative sessions, they quickly convene emergency sessions when necessary especially when an abominable act or potential desecration of the land occurs.

Another defenders of the traditions and guardians of cultural and traditional mores similar to the Ada Ekwulu is the all male Nze na Ozo society. Members of the society appropriately referred to as Nze or ndi Nze are also revered, titled, upright male members of the society who underwent rigorous rites to be admitted to this honorable society. Their honor is unparalleled and their sense of justice is paramount. They are authoritative arbiters on disputes that touch on cultural and traditional life within the town.

Ekwulumili Development Union is a civic development oriented assembly of Ekwulumili citizens, both in Ekwulumili and elsewhere. Major cities in Nigeria have active branches of the Union whose focal point is the infrastructural development of the town spanning such concerns as schools, health centers, electricity generation, potable water access, roads, erosion control as well as creating an enabling environment for improving the standard of living of the citizens of Ekwulumili. A president and a slate of executive officers run EDU. Every branch of the Union in other cities also has its own branch president and executive.

The downtown area of the town, centrally located at the meeting point of all the villages has the town hall, post office, maternity hospital, secondary school, the largest market (Orie Ekwulu) and two sacred shrines, Ana-Ekwulu and Isi-ogwugwu close.

References

External links

• Town of Ekwulumili