Ohuhu people

Ohuhu
*Umuhu-na-Okaiuga*
	; An Ohuhu Ekpe masquerade.
Total population
	Nigeria 64,000 (1962)
Languages
	Ohuhu Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin
Religion
	Christianity (majority Methodist), Omenala
Related ethnic groups
	Umuokpara, Obowo, Ngwa

The Ohuhu clan of Umuahia north in Abia State Nigeria Igbo people, also referred to as Ohonhaw, form a unique community of people in Umuahia, Abia state, Nigeria, consisting of several Autonomous Communities including Umukabia, Ohiya, Isingwu, Ofeme, Afugiri, Nkwoegwu, Umuawa, Umudiawa, Akpahia, Umuagu, Amaogugu, Umule-Eke-Okwuru, Umuhu-Okigha, Amaogwugwu called Eziama/ Amaudo in Ohuhu etc. Ohuhu was formerly known as Umuhu-na-Okaiuga, or better-known as Ohu-ahia-na-otu. Until 1949, the Umuopara clan used to be part of Ohuhu before they were carved out politically.

Origin

There are several beliefs regarding the origin of Ohuhu people. One view is that the Ohuhu people did not migrate from anywhere. This view is supported by the fact that most communities in Ohuhu have their old or abandoned settlements, Okpuala, also located in Ohuhu. While this view sounds plausible, some villages in Ohuhu today can convincingly trace their old settlements to places outside Ohuhu, even though they have another Okpuala now located in Ohuhu. Umukabia, Umuawa, Umuagu, Umungasi and Umudiawa are a few examples in this category.

It has been suggested that at least sections of the Umuhu people of Ohuhu came from Isuikwuato and Awgu areas. Far more persuasive than the rest is the theory that Ohuhu people migrated from parts of the present Etiti Division. Put so tersely, this theory leaves out a number of variants. For instance, one tradition claims that the movement began from Orsu and touched Okiwudo and Akaokwa all in the Orlu area. It then came to Anara-Osu. The tradition states that there, while the Ohuhu ancestors lingered, Obowo ancestors in the horde continued their movement and settled at their present location before Ohuhu people joined them.

Another version maintained that the Ohuhu people, with their Obowo counterparts, migrated from the Nekede area in Owerri. In connection with this theory, some writers believe that traditionally, the ancestors of Ohuhu-Ngwa formed part of a migration from the Agbaja area in Owerri and moved to the Imo River. Whether the migration began in Orlu, Nekede, Agba or Ahiara, all three centers are situated on the same unbroken stretch of land.

A recurrent name in these theories is Obowo – a clan occupying the area west of the Imo River. This river, lying between the Obowo and Ohuhu clans, is to both an important landmark. Whether the Ohuhu people migrated from Orlu area or Owerri they must, of necessity, have crossed the Obowo territory before arriving at their present settlement. This area could well have been a resting point of a protracted journey to a promised land.

Possible kinship between Ohuhu and Obowo is suggested in the fact that many places and village names in either of the clans have their exact counterparts in the other. The two broad divisions of Ikenga and Ihite, for example, exist in both. Umukabi and Umuagu villages are known to have, in recent times, common festivals with their Obowo counterparts to commemorate their kinship.

Umuawa people in Ohuhu likewise are said to have migrated from Umuoparaodu and Umudibi in Obowo, where traces of their settlements could still be identified today.

What appears to be the strongest argument in favor of Ohuhu-Obowo kinship is their common possession of a peculiar deity – Ajana, which stood supreme in both clans and belonged exclusively to both.^[2]

Villages

Afugiri

The eleven villages of Afugiri are as follows:

Umuokoroala Okpuala
Umuagungolori Okpuala
muekwule Okpuala
Umuchukwu
Umunlewe
Umuoshi
Umuagungolori Obiohuru
Umuosu
Umunemeze
Umuokoroala Obiohuru
Umuakam

Umukoroala Okpuala and Umuagungolori Okpuala make up Umuegwu Okpuala community, while Muekwule Okpuala, Umuchukwu, Umunlewe, and Umuoshi make up the Umuekwule Community. Umuagungolori Obiohuru, Umuosu, and Umuokoroala Obiohuru are of Umuegwu extraction.

The villages are in three Antonomous Communities:

Egwu Ukwu Afugiri Autonomous Community, comprising Umuokoroala Okpuala, Umuagungolori Okpuala, and Umuagungolori Obiohuru
Nkwoegwu Autonomous Community, comprising Umuakam, Umuoshi, Umunlewe, Umuchukwu and Umuekwule Okpuala
Umuegwu Obiohuru Afugiri Autonomous Community, comprising Umuosu, Umunemeze and Umuokoroala Obiohuru.

OHUHU

The 27 Autonomous Communities in Ohuhu, are as follows, along with the names of their Ezes:

In the Umuhu section:

Ohiya- Eze A E Uhuegbu
Oriendu - Eze Philip Ajomiwe
Ekeoba - Eze Iheanyi Nwokonna
Umuhu - Late Eze Onyema iv
Umuagu - Eze John Ezeoma
Umudiawa - Eze Nnamdi Ofoegbu
Mbato Ofeme - Eze Emeka Nwankwo
Afukwu Ofeme - Eze Eze U I Iheanacho
Ofeme - Eze E C O Udoka
Isingwu - Eze D I Ukaegbu
Okpu Isingwu - Eze Emekaobum.

In the Okaiuga section:

Nkwoegwu Afugiri - HRH Eze Sir Chijioke J Chikwekwem UGA VI
Egwu Ukwu Afugiri - Eze Onyebuchi Onuoha
Umuegwu Obiohuru Afugiri - Eze C C Ngwuli
Okaiuga Alike - Eze I A Igwe
Umukabia Okaiuga Alike - Eze Uzo Nwosu
Okaiuga Nkwoegwu - Eze Paul Uzuegbu
Umuosu Nkwoegwu - Eze J N Mbakwe
Umuohuru Nkwoegwu - Eze Bobby Aguocha
Egwu Na Eleke - Eze B U Akabuike
Umuawa Alaocha I- Eze G Asomugha
Umuawa Alaocha II - Late Eze A G U Ohaeri
Umuyota Umuawa - Late Eze N Nwakanma
Opara Na Nkaru (Umuawa) - Eze A O Ezechukwu
Nkwoachara - Late Eze Okezie.
Ikenga - Eze V A Onuoha
Akpahia - Eze C U Emezuo

References

^ Talbot, Percy Amaury; Mulhall, H. (1962). The physical anthropology of Southern Nigeria. CUP Archive. p. 6.
^ Hon.Ndudim E. Esobe to Ohuhu Union Lagos and compiled in a book titled “ Ohuhu in the 21st Century”