Nike Community

• NIKE COMMUNITY IN ENUGU STATE NIGERIA

Nike is one of the oldest kingdom in Enugu state of Nigeria and is estimated to be above 1000 years of age. Nike is located on the eastern part of Enugu state and enjoys the rich arable land of the rain forest which dominates her geography. Nike has a natural table land although a neighbour to udi a dominantly hilly town which could be reason some trace of the hills are noticeable in parts of Nike like in Ako, Ugwuomu, Agbogazi Nike etc.

Nike is the only community occupying the plain level of Udi hill and Benue lower basins. Nike empire was the only empire that existed in the northern Igbo region.

Nike is a unique tribe considering her rich cultural heritage like the Omanmbala masquerade or ekpe from Iji Nike, Egwugwu from Ugwuomu Nike, omaba from Nchatancha Nike, ikelegwu from Ibegwa, nkwuocha from Akpuoga and mmanya ngwor from Ugwuomu Nike. Also its important to consider her cuisines such as ofe uchakulu, ofe ewa, ofe utulukpe, ofe ukpukpa, ofe anyala, ofe ukpocha and so on. Also is Ji, ede`, oza aku-, adu, akuji, oka which form her daily staples. Nike is also endowed with natural resources like lakes (the popular Nike lake and about 12 other lakes in Ugwuomu- Iyinam, ube, omijakpa,abala, ogbaiji,miwelele, mionwunwu, agbogo otono, iyinjiani,iyinjimba,iyiegbebelu) rivers ( like Iyioku, Iyiukwu, Idodo) and has hug deposit of natural gas.

Nike is republican in nature with due consideration to her democratic structure. Nike government takes root from the family extending into the lineages, the villages and then the general assembly. In the general assembly the council of elders occupies top of the hierarchy in the community leadership and is followed by the youth wing, which is the military wing responsible for the implementation and enforcement of community laws. The town union is the administrative arm of the community leadership. The age grade is the social arm where peer competitions advance to future leadership.

Nike has its own calendar ( orie,afor,nkwo and eke) and festivals ( like aju, umolo, onwa esa, omebe, odo , iri ji , okike, ufiajioku and so on).

 The days (uboshi) translate into weeks(izu) and weeks to months(onwa) and months to a year(aho).

Like the name implies Nike - meaning by-force or difficult . A Nike man is not a push over not minding their hospitable nature. Nike by nature are territorial warriors and dedicated farmers. Nike has infact a farming induced migration history. The large expanse of land being occupied by Nike people today is as a result of their huge appetite for farming which generate the need for more territorial conquest in order to expand their farm land. Nike people takes the Ozo ji title seriously because farming is their biggest pastime and apart from farming Nike people are wonderful hunters and palm wine tappers.

Nike as a people have common ancestry so long as the Igbo nation is concerned. Just like many scholars in Nike believe that Nike is the highest concentration of Igbo migration. Hence the occupant of Nike are all migrants. There are two major ancestry that has dominated the history of Nike and that's the Igala and Aro ancestry.

The truth remains that Igbo tribe have one common ancestry which dates back to the bible days as recorded in the book of Genesis 29:32-35 and 30:1-43. Gad is one of the sons of Jacob. And Gad had seven sons of which Eri, Arodi and Areli was part . During the famine about 1000 BC. After the death of the Egyptian King who was familiar with the Isrealites. A king that knew no Joseph came and persecuted the Isrealite (Exodus 1:8-22). Eri the fifth son of Gad escape from Egypt with his brothers Arodi and Areli. They move through Ethiopia, Sudan and down to west Africa through river Nile and landed at the present day Aguleri through the Omambala river around 1305 BC.

Eri established and lived close to the Omambala rive. His brother Arodi moved to Arochukwu while Areli moved to Imo area.

Eri gave birth to Agulu, Atta (Igala kingdom), Oba, Hebrew/Ibo (Igbo etiti- Igbo Adagbe- Igbo eze ) and Menri/ Agukwu nri.

Nike has 25 communities namely: 1. Amoji 2. Ibegwa 3. Edem 4. Iji 5.Alulu 6.Amokpo 7.onyoghu 8. Ezziama 9. Amaowele 10.Ogbeke 11. Ako 12. Agbogazi 13. Ugwogo 14. Neke uno 15. Neke odenigbo 16. Ugwuomu 17. Nkwubor 18. Emene 19. Obinagu 20. Nchatancha 21. Akpuoga 22 .Onuogba 23. Ogui, and 24. Nneokpa 25. Amakpaka (new)

These 25 communities are divided into four political regions:

1. Nike Uno 2. Mbuluoweghe (new) 3. Mbulujodo, and 4. Mbuluiyiukwu

These four political regions has given birth to 12 political wards namely:

1. Amoji ward 2. Umuchigbo ward 3. Umuenwene ward 4. Abakpa ward1 5. Abakpa ward 2 6. Transekulu ward 7. Ugwogo Ward 8. Mbano word 9. Mbuluoweghe ward 10. Ibegwa/edem ward 11. Mbulujodo West ward 12 . Mbulujodo east ward

Before now Nike under Nkanu division of 1976 had just one kingship stool, three political divisions (Nike uno, Mbulujodo and Mbuluiyiukwu) and 3 political wards( ward 23 comprising Nike uno and Mbuluiyiukwu. Ward 19 comprising Mbulujodo and ward 17 comprising Abakpa i.e Nike urban).

Nike has continued to expand and this population explosion has given rise to 14 new kingship stools which has reshaped the structure of Nike kingship system. The autonomous Communities includes:

1.Iji 2. Ugwogo 3. Ogbeke 4. Mbano 5. lbegwa 6. Emene 7. Mbulujodo 8. Mbuluanwuri 9.Amoji 10.Ogui 11. Umunevo 12.Mbuluoweghe 13.Amakpaka, and 14.Amokpo.

The fact above is the evidence that Nike has made tremendous progress. Nike is the only community with two local government area with one entirely dominated by her. But as the population and face are changing the structure also need to change to accommodate the complexity of the emerging society for developmental advancement and more political advantage.

Written by:Ugwu Cyril Uchenna.