Obudu

Obudu
LGA and town
Coordinates: 6°40′0″N 9°10′0″E / 6.66667°N 9.16667°E / 6.66667; 9.16667Coordinates: 6°40′0″N 9°10′0″E / 6.66667°N 9.16667°E / 6.66667; 9.16667
Country  Nigeria
State Cross River State
Time zone WAT (UTC+1)

Obudu is a Local Government Area in Cross River State, Nigeria and a tourist hotspot. The area features a tourist resort, the Obudu Cattle Ranch, which also hosts an annual race in the hilly surroundings – the Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race. The town of Obudu is downstream from the Obudu Dam, which also provides recreational facilities.[1] Bebi Airport is nearby.

Geography

The Obudu cultural area is bounded on the north by Tsar of Benue State, on the east by the Akway's of the Republic of Cameroon, and on the south and west by her sister-local government areas of Boki and Bekwarra. The local government headquarters is located in Bette clan, with the Bette-Bendi occupying the central position and the Ukpe-Alege occupying the southern reach of the Geo-cultural spread, while the Obanlikwu, Utanga-Becheve and Utugwang now comprise an independent Obanlikwu Local Government Area. However, their shared historical and Geo-cultural affinity prominently cascades over modern artificial political delineation.

History

Early history

The Obudu geo-cultural area has from earliest times been homeland to six clans namely, the Bette, Obanlikwu, Bendi, Utuwang, Ukpe-Alege, and Utanga-Becheve, all of which thrived as petty-independent villages with strong cultural affinity. There is no known conclusive account of the primal origins of the Obudu people, but it is likely they had reached their present settlement by the 18th century, from a common centre of dispersal eastward of their current location. The most popular tradition of migration, the Ulanga Legend, points to Ulanga, a mountain peak in the present day village of Amandakureke, in Utanga-Becheve clan as a secondary, or perhaps, tertiary dispersal centre. There is relative consensus in traditions across clans that they were displaced at Ulanga by the invasion of a group referred to as Igenyi, a light-skinned people with soft bunching hair, clad in long-flowing gowns, armed with spears, mounted on horses, and with a large following of black servants.[2] Extant literature suggests that these could have been Fulani, the Chamba, or Portuguese slave raiders all three of whose imperialist expeditions in sub-Sahara are recorded to have peaked within the 18th and early 19th century.[3]

Another tradition hints that progenitors of Obudu arrived at a place remembered as Onikal in the Cameroon country, before proceeding to Ulanga, from where they were dispersed by the Igenyi. Traditional accounts among the Bendi clan report of a brief stay at Ukwel Unokel (translated as Mountain Unokel), before proceeding to Ulanga, the point of dispersal. It is likely that both Onikal and Ukwel Unokel allude to the same location. Other recollections suggest shared origin between them, and their Bekwarra neighbours, whom they regard as historical "brothers." This possibility is reinforced by several cultural commonalities, including mutually intelligible dialects.[4] In the light of the foregoing, if as believed, the Bekwarra had a powerful connection with the ancient Kwararaffa Empire,[5] it is probable that the displacement referred to in Obudu traditions of migration, correlate with the disintegration of Kwararaffa in the 18th century, and consequent bestrew of its population.[4]

In the overall, what smirks of a disparity in these recollections could be easily reconciled to derive palpable primary and secondary points of dispersal. At any rate, the mild variation in mutually intelligible dialects of its clans suggest splinter group movement, separate migratory experiences and marginal variance in time of arrival.[4] What however seems incontrovertible is that the Obudu clans had taken ownership of the area they currently inhabit by the 18th century, having emigrated from an easterly Bantu homeland.[6]

Modern history

With the advent of British colonialists, the six Obudu clans were formally integrated into the then Ogoja province of Eastern Nigeria. After Nigeria's independence in 1960 and the local government review commission in 1976, Obudu became an autonomous local government council. It has since remained one of the eighteen local government areas of Cross River State.

References

  1. ↑ Etiosa Uyigue (March 2006). "DAMS ARE UNRENEWABLE A Discussion Paper" (PDF). Community Research and Development Centre. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  2. ↑ AFR Stoddart, “Intelligence Report on Bette-Bendi Clan” (Obudu District, Ogo Prof CSE 1/85/4674. File No. Ed 8850A NAE) 7.
  3. ↑ Anthony Ikpe Ugbe, “Obudu Resistance to Colonial Rule – 1930” (BA thesis, University of Calabar, 1986).
  4. 1 2 3 UJ Ugi, "Warfare in Pre-Colonial Betteland" (Academic Seminar, Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna, 2017).
  5. ↑ "Bekwarra-Gakem: Nigeria Civil War First Bullet - Politics - Nigeria". www.nairaland.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  6. ↑ P.A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria: A Study of their History, Ethnology and Language with an Abstract of the 1921 Census Vol.IV, (London: Cas, 1969) 88-89.


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