Anwain or Anwain Clan is a geographic area in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and also the

people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

who live in it. Anwain Clan is one of the thirteen clans in Etsakọ land. The geographic area of Anwain is situated in the southern part of Etsakọ West, a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

. It is ward eight among the twelve wards of the Etsakọ local government area. Within Etsakọ West, Anwain is bounded by Ayuele, South Uneme, South Ibie, Ekperi, and Jagbe Clans. It also has boundaries with the clans Uzea and Afuda in the local government areas of Esan-North-East and Esan North Central respectively.

Culture

Predominant religions are

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, traditional religions, and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. The Anwain people speak Esan (Ishan) language, with a dialect influenced by the Etsakọ language. The Anwain people perform several traditional dances. They are among the clan that within Esan that performs the Egbabonalimhiin dance. Egbabonalimhiin was devised by hunters in about 1400 CE; it is performed only by initiated males. Other traditional dances include: Ilegheze, performed by AKHOBA title holders of Eware during the Ukpe festival; IKOIGO, performed by women during special ceremonies such as burial of women title holders or marriages; Abayion (Asono); and Agbe.

Economy

Most Anwain people are

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s who practice

shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...

. Common crops include yam, cassava, rice, corn, groundnut, cashew, beans, pepper, tomatoes, and plantains.

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

marketed under the trade name ''Ekpoma'' is produced in the Anwain region.

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

grows wild in this region and is sometimes harvested for commercial sale. There are some small businesses that sell household

goods In economics, goods are anything that is good, usually in the sense that it provides welfare or utility to someone. Alan V. Deardorff, 2006. ''Terms Of Trade: Glossary of International Economics'', World Scientific. Online version: Deardorffs ...

to the local people. Both agricultural and commercial trade is severely restricted by the poor condition of local roads.

Infrastructure

Idegun is the premier village of Anwain. Its other villages are Idegun, Amah, Ibhioba, Uzokin, Ovughu, Otteh, and Eware. All these villages are in close proximity of an average of four kilometers. The villages are linked by seasonal motorable (untarred) roads which are under the supervision of the local government council. The nearest accessible trunk "A" (Benin-Agbede-Auchi-Abuja road) is eighteen kilometers away. The clan has only one

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. The community is virtually running the school with the engagement of auxiliary teachers, and provision of teaching aids from textbooks to chalks. Each of the villages has a maximum of four teachers. There is only one

health clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care need ...

with a midwife and an assistant in the clan. The only

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

in the clan is streams and a few private wells. The Olen river transverses most of the villages; because of this, it is referred to as a "river of unity". The Anwain clan is ruled by a traditional ruler known as the Clan Head, other villages also have a traditional ruler. The Clan Head is rotational from one community ruler to another after the demise of the present clan head. This rotation has been in practice for years which started from Aware community.

Footnotes

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Nigeria Edo State