Ohafia refers to the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

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 same name located in present-day Abia State,

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, ...

. It is an Igbo-speaking town. The ancestral capital of Ohafia town is the centrally located village of Elu. The Ohafia Local Government Area is an administrative jurisdiction assigned by the Nigeria Government, which covers the entire villages of Ohafia town and other neighbouring

s such as Abiriba, Nkporo, Amavo, and Aro-Ngwa with its Administrative

Headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

at Ebem Ohafia. The ancestors of the Ohafia people were renowned as mighty warriors. This aspect of the Ohafia peoples' history remains fundamental to the Ohafia people's sense of identity. The knitted warrior's cap or "leopard cap" () is well known and is an associated product of Ohafia. The Ohafia warrior tradition is embodied in the performance of '' iri agha''. Ohafia is home to the third largest military base in Nigeria, named

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...

Barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

after Nigeria's former President -

. It houses the headquarters of the newly established 14

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

and 145

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

office complex of the Nigerian Army. Ohafia encompasses twenty-six villages with population strength ranging between 300,000 and 400,000 as of 2022. And it is at a distance of 50.1 km away from the Capital city Umuahia in Abia State. The villages in Ohafia are: Elu, Ibina (Ihenta), Nde Okala, Nde Anyaorie, Amuma, Amaekpu, Ebem, Nde Amogu, Okagwe, Nde Uduma Ukwu, Oboro, Nde Nku, Nkwebi, Amuke, Asaga, Ndi Uduma Awoke, Amankwu, Nde Ibe, Nde Orieke, Okon-aku, Amangwu, Ufiele, Eziafor, Abia, Akanu and Isiugwu.

Geography/Climate

The typical

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

in Ohafia Local Government Area is 27 degrees Celsius. With an average

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

of 59 percent, the region experiences two different seasons: the dry season and the

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

y season. Ohafia Local Government Area is located in a region with a tropical

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

. Situated at an

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

of 103.0

meters The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

(337.93 feet) above sea level, Ohafia experiences a Tropical

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

(Designation: Am). The area's annual temperature averages at 30.82 °C (87.48 °F), which is slightly 1.36% higher than the national averages in Nigeria. Ohafia usually receives approximately 294.96 millimeters (11.61 inches) of

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

with 284.21 rainy days, accounting for 77.87% of the year.

Economy

In Ohafia Local Government Area, trade is a significant

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

activity. The region is home to various marketplaces, including the Amavo central market, where a wide variety of goods are bought and sold. The Local Government Area's residents work primarily in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, growing products including yam,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

, and

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s there in significant amounts. The residents of Ohafia Local Government Area also work in the fields of food processing, blacksmithing, and wood carving.

Localities

Villages and Towns. * Nkporo * Okon-Aku * Amangwu-Ohafia * Ohofor-Ohafia * Oma-Ohafia * Ebem-Ohafia * Aro Ngwa * Amasa * Oso-Akwa * Ama-Asato * Amavo * Umunneise * Isiama-Ohafia * Nbem-Ohafia * Abiriba

Notable people

* Uma Ukpai, a Christian leader, an international evangelist, and preacher from Nigeria * Ogbugo Kalu, former army officer who served in both the Nigerian Army and Biafran Army *

Eni Njoku Eni Njoku (6 November 1917 – 22 December 1974) was a Nigerian botanist and educator. He was vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos (1962–1965) and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1966–1970). He served in the Nigerian House of Represen ...

, first black vice chancellor of

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

and University of Nigeria Nsukka. The pioneer professor of botany in Nigeria. * Ruggedman, Afro-rap artiste * Ezinne Kalu, Female Basketball player * J. Martins, Afro-pop artiste * Ike Nwachukwu, military officer, former governor of old Imo state, diplomat and former senator * Ebitu Ukiwe, military officer, former military governor of

Lagos state Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

and

Niger State Niger State is a state in the North Central (Nigeria), North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, ...

, former chief of general staff (de facto vice president) to General Babangida's military government * Kalu Idika Kalu is a former finance minister of Nigeria, minister of national planning and transportation minister. He served twice as the minister of finance. He was a presidential aspirant in the 2003 Nigeria general elections, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, under the platform of The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). * Chief Ojo Maduekwe, a former minister of culture and tourism (1999), minister of transportation (2000–2003), minister of foreign affairs (2007–2010 and national secretary to the People Democratic Party. * Chief Umeh Kalu, He served as the Attorney General of Abia State and Commissioner for Justice of Abia State. Office: Attorney General of Abia State (Since 2007), Previous office: Attorney General of Abia State (2009 - 2019), Education: Nigerian Law School · Imo State University. * Ude Oko Chukwu, former deputy Governor Abia State (2015 - 2023), former speaker 5th Abia state house of Assembly.

References

{{Igbo topics Towns in Abia State Local Government Areas in Abia State