Obubra is 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 ...

(LGA) of

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

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, ...

. Its headquarters are in the town of Obubra, which is home to the Ibrahim Babangida College of Agriculture. The

National Youth Service Corps The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a mandatory, post-tertiary scheme set up by the Nigerian government during the military regime of Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, to "reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian ...

Orientation Camp is situated in Obubra town. The word Obubra is derived from 'Ubibira or Ubira', the name of Obubra main village at the bank of the Cross river. Obubra however, was used to represent an

administrative unit Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

under the British colonial empire in the late 19th century. The exact history of the signed treaties of Community heads and the representatives of the

British empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

are in antiquity. It covered areas bounded by

Abakaliki Abakaliki is the capital city of Ebonyi State in southeastern Nigeria, located southeast of Enugu. The inhabitants are primarily members of the Igbo nation. It was the headquarters of the Ogoja province before the creation of the Southeast ...

and

Ikom Ikom is a Local Government Area of Cross River State in South-South, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ikom in the east of the area on the Cross River and the A4 highway at . It has an area of and had a population of 162,383 accord ...

to the North, and

Afikpo Ehugbo often referred to as Afikpo, is the second largest urban area in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Afikpo North Local Government Area. It is situated in the southern part of Ebonyi State and is bordered to the north by ...

and

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

to the South. This meant that its jurisdiction extended from parts of present-day Biase and Akamkpa local government areas through Abi,

Yakurr Yakurr is a Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Its capital is the town of Ugep. The local government area (LGA) was carved out of Obubra local government in 1987. Yakurr has an area of 670 km and a population of 196,4 ...

and Etung to parts of Ikom and Ogoja local government areas. Presently Obubra Local Government Area has eleven Council wards of Ababene, Ofat, Ofodua, Ovonum, Apiapum, Iyamoyong, Ochon, Obubra Urban, Ofumbongha/Yala, Osopong I and Osopong II. Most of the communities emerged as settlements of intercommunal wars. The lines of friction which had existed from ancestral origin are heated up and the people divided by their political elites who disagree to agree on a common political leadership or a channel for socioeconomic development of Obubra Urban, wherein lies the headquarters, and then spread to all communities. Obubra has 98 villages some of which include; Obubra Village, Ogada, Owakande, Imabana Itamtet, Apiapum, Yala, Iyamoyong, Ohana, Ochon, Isabang, Ovunom, Ofodua, Ofat, Ababene, Oderegha, Okorogbana, Onyedama, Ebo, and Iko, Ogurude, Ofonmana, Ogurokpon, Okimbongha, Ofonagama, Omene, Ofonamma, Ofonekom, Appiapumtet, Idoru 1 and 2, Ijutum, Eja, Ijagha Orangha, Aragharagha, Ogamina, the list continuous. It has an area of 1,115 km and a population of 172,444 at the 2006 census. St. Francis Xavier Parish, which today has given birth to five(5) other parishes, was originally founded in 1965. However, the first Holy Mass was celebrated in 1961, as missionaries visited to source for land for a Secondary school (St Brendan's) later located at Iyamoyong, about 15 kilometers away. The Chiefs and opinion leaders involved in the location of St Francis Xavier were: Chief Ibingha Ogbosohu, Chief Okpa Irek Okpa, and Chief Ewona Okpa all of Obubra Village, and Chief Egbara (Kwididen Kwosopong) Clan Head. A History of the Catholic Church in Ogoja region (1921-2021) Evolution of Parishes, Institutions, Clergy, Religious, and Lay Personnel by Catholic Diocese of Ogoja. Obubra Village celebrated the Abu Festival 2024. This festival comes up once in seven years. It was a showcase of all-male dancing from the oldest age-grade to the youngest. Mr Ekong Okpa wrote about the Abu festival called Ort'bha in the Osopong dialect, in the News-feature of the Weekend Chronicle where he is the Editor. The article published on Friday June 21, 2024 was titled (Ort'bha festival:A heritage of the Osopong Kingdom....Survey for sustainability). Mr Ekong likened the festival to the popular Argungu fishing festival of Kebbi, Agoye festival of ancient Benin Kingdom, and the colourful festival of the Ashante Henes of ancient Ashante Kingdom. he noted that Obubra Village started Ort'bha festival in the 1800s, and traced the origin of the festival to Agwagwune in present day Biase Local Government area, whose people shade trade relationship along the banks of the Cross river with Obubra Village. He noted that in 1902 the British colonial masters established the administrative headquarters of Obubra on Obubra hill, while the Village was at the bank of the Cross river. He mentioned Major Crawford Cockboun who wrote 'a documentary on Obubra entry book' in 1903. He stated that Ort'bha festival was to promote the cultural heritage of the people with activities such as wrestling challenges, exchange of gifts, traditional dress patterns and display of physical fitness. He noted that in 1969, the Military officers and soldiers took part in the Ort'bha festival, and they danced to the tones in synchrony to rhythms of the wooden drums. He presumed that the endurance trek introduced by the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) may have been reminiscent of the long distance trek associated with Ort'bha festival. The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

of the area is 551.

References

Peter Obele Abue. A History of the evolution of the Catholic Church in Ogoja Region (1921-2021), Catholic Diocese of Ogoja 2021, Volume II page 30 Ekong Okpa. Ort'bha festival: A heritage of the Osopong Kingdom.... a survey for sustainability. Weekend Chronicle, Friday, June 21, 2024 Local Government Areas in Cross River State {{CrossRiverNG-geo-stub