Our History
Okija is the largest amongst ten towns that made up Ihiala local government area of Anambra state. A town of many streams that adjoins the great Ulasi river..
OKIJA:
Okija is located on 5.49 latitude and 6.50 longitude of the Greenwich meridian and is situated at elevation 13 meters above sea level. Okija lies within the tropical rain forest area.
Okija is the largest amongst ten towns that made up Ihiala local government area of Anambra state. A town of many streams that adjoins the great Ulasi river, Okija is made up of 30 major villages otherwise known as Okija Ohu ebem n’iri of which Umuzu is one of them.
In a unique communal structure, Okija is set up in collections of closely related villages otherwise known as clans namely which include; Uhuobo na Uhuowele, Ubahu-abu-ubahu and Ihite-abu-Ihite. Okija shares common boundaries with Ihiala, Ozubulu, Ihembosi, Ogbaru, and Ukpor. For more, read history of Okija.
UMUZU:
Umuzu is one of the four closely related villages making up Uhuowele clan. Uhuowele clan is also known as Umuikeasomba; Ikeasomba being the father of Umuzu, Oghalegbu, Umuogu and Umuigwe.
Umuzu has 4 kindreds, namely; Idi n’Ezengwu, Umuokpara-ulasi, Umuasianya and Umuoboh. For more, read the history Umuzu Okija.
Exodus to the Island:
According to recorded history, an event occurred hundreds of years ago in Okija leading to an exodus of Umuzu people from the original village location existing today as Okpuno Umuzu (Umuzu ancestral home) to the present day Umuzu island (ana-oru) where larger population of Umuzu people are still settled.
A fallout of a supremacy tussle between two wealthy friends; one, a farmer from Umuzu and the other his visitor from another village led to communal clashes. The two friends had earlier agreed a tour of merriment between them in other to socialize and foster friendship ties.
Argument started when the visitor who was on a reciprocating visit forced on himself a pricey souvenir against the will of his host. A castrated he-goat of envious size which grazes his compound as evidence of his prosperity and to the admiration of his contemporaries was a gift he was unwilling to give to anyone.
Against the rules of play, the visitor insisted he part with this unlikely souvenir leading to a dangerous argument that degenerated into a fight and the visitor lost his life in the process. In the eschewing crisis, Umuzu people of Uhuowele Okija; predominantly farmers, fishermen and hunters moved across Ose-egbenu, Ogu-ahia and Ulasi rivers in search of safety due to fear of reprisal attack from the other village who were better combatants at the time.
In search of safety, they also found a land so fertile for cultivation, with rivers full of fishes and bushes populated by wild games. This land is the present day Umuzu village which politically is as an autonomous community under the administration of Ogbaru LGA of Anambra state. Click here to learn more about Umuzu autonomous community in Ogbaru LGA.
The ancestral homeland of Umuzu Okija or Okpuno Umuzu is a vast savannah lying in-between Oghalegbu, Ohukabia and Ubahudara villages while sloping into beautiful aquatic overview of Ose-egbenu, Oguahia with adjoining mangrove forests.
Lately, there have been attempts of illegal encroachment on Okpuno Umuzu; the Umuzu ancestral homeland of which litigation is ongoing in appropriate courts of law. Learn more about Umuzu vs Amananta land dispute and other related matters here.
Repatriation to the mainland:
Many years after the exodus, precisely around late 1950s and early 1960s, some young men of Umuzu who realized the challenges associated with living in ana-oru (island) with little or no public infrastructural support, coupled with dwindling effect of distance on the relationship with the rest of Okija, began a silent repatriation to the mainland.
Between 1960 and late 1980s, newly settled household on the mainland comprised few families from Ezeokwuosa, Okwuosa, Ubakanonu, Anujulu, Obi and Mmaduakonam compounds.
Through the efforts of Late Chiefs Francis Okwuosa, Denis Ezeokwuosa and a few other community leaders who built their homes on the mainland, secured government recognition of Umuzu mainland community Okija with the approval of an exclusive polling unit and ward (ward 36 Uhuowele Okija) for the community.
Today, Umuzu people are free to live whichever side they choose; either on the island or the mainland communities without losing their sense of brotherhood and solidarity to the oneness of Umuzu village. Many families living in the island community settling on the mainland and many settlers on the mainland are remodeling or building new build homes on the island where many of our ancestors laid to rest.