Exploring Awgu: Things to know About Awgu Local Government Area

Awgu is a Local Government Area (LGA) in Enugu State, south eastern Nigeria, with its Headquarter in the Town of  Awgu.  Awgu local government area derived its name from Awgu town, one of the communities which also serves as the headquarters. Awgu LGA is located in the southern part of Enugu State and is bounded in the north by Udi and Nkanu West LGAs, in the west by Oji River LGA, in the East by Nkanu East, Aninri LGA and Ebonyi State and share border with Isochi L.G.A of Abia State in the south. Awgu serves as the Permanent Orientation camp for the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members posted to Enugu state for their one year nations youth service.  Awgu local government area is made up of 20 communities. To See All The Towns in Awgu, Click Here

History

The present Awgu LGA was created out of the greater Awgu Local government area which included Aninri and Oji River local government areas. It has a population of 390,681, according to the 2006 census. Out this, 95, 421 are males while 102, 713 are females. The distribution of population is uneven; a few areas are densely populated while many others areas are virtually uninhabitable. Majority of the population settle at the foot of the hills because of the difficulty posed by the rugged terrain and because the lowland have richer soil which support better crop yield. A study by Mozie, Arinze T. at the Department of Geography, University of Nigeria found that the settlement pattern on the hills is clustered with a nearest neighbour index of 0.82 while settlement pattern on the lowland area is dispersed with a nearest neighbour index of 1.72

Geography

Awgu is marked by extensive hills especially in the western flank and lowland in the eastern side. These hills have steep slopes and could attain an altitude of about 350–400 meters above sea level with mean slope angle of 15^o and a modal class of 11^o. The area is marked by shales, sandstones and escarpment. Awgu formation is composed of bluish and gray, well-bedded shales which are occasionally intercalated with calcareous sandstones and shelly limestone. Also, fine to coarse grained, massive sandstone, locally cross-bedded with some pebble beds and subordinate bands of siltstone and carbonaceous shale are present.

Awgu is drained mainly by seasonal finger-like springs and streams. They dry up during the dry season (November- March) and yield more water in the wet season (April to October). Most of the streams obtain their source from top of the hills and flow downhill. In the rainy season runoffs are collected by the streams thereby increasing their volume and velocity. Due to the muddy nature of the streams channels, the water is usually colored after heavy downpour. The streams carry a lot of debris as they flow from their source (hill top) to the settlement areas down hill (lower course). The stream load (debris) makes the water dirty therefore not suitable for domestic use. Many people that reside at the very lower course of the streams are affected and they have to trek up to the middle course (foot of the hills) to collect water. The area lies within the guinea Savannah vegetation zone. Vegetation in the study area varies with topography. Natural vegetation is denser at the valley and sparse at the top of the hills

Economy/Occupation

The major economic activity for majority of the population is subsistence farming and crops such as cassava, yam, cocoyam, vegetables, maize, etc. Livestock rearing is also common among some of the people. Palm wine extraction and stone quarrying are other economic activities undertaken in Awgu.

Also Read: Top 10 Most Lively Towns in Awgu LGA During Christmas season

Food

Awgu offers a wide variety of healthy food like, Okpa, Jigbo (Abacha) Ukwa, Igba, Achicha, Asaja, and others.  Aside from Okpa, Igba and fried Ukwa which can easily be bought in the market or at the road side market especially at the popular Aki na Ukwa Junction in mgbowo, along the Enugu port harcourt road.  Foods like Jigbo is served to guests as an appetizing whether at home or in a gathering before the main meal is presented to them. While food like Asaja, although not peculiar to all the communities in Awgu is mainly cooked on a specially occasions like a child’s naming ceremony or for a special guest(s) as the food takes between 5 to 7 days to cook.

Festivals

As an Igbo settlement, the most common festival celebrated across length and breadth in Awgu Local Government Area is the yearly New Yam festival.  Aside from the new yam festival, the most famous and popular festival in Awgu local Government Area is the Aju Festival (Iwa Akwa) In Ugbo, a festival that celebrates the coming of age of young boys. the festival is celebrated once in three years in ugbo, while in its sister community Obeagu, Iwa Akwa is celebrate once in six years. Another major festival is the mmanwu(Masquerade) festival celebrated in Ituku.

Tourist Sites/Attractions

Awgu is blessed with lots of Tourist attractions, the major being Awgu range of hill, and Isu Awaa Cave; Other attractions in Awgu include: Omuo Spring in mmaku, Ugbo Dam in Ugbo,  Mgbowo Dam in Mgbowo, Ogba Agulu in Ugbo, Nwekpu in Mmaku, Owelli rock formation in Owelli Court, Mgboko-ogba natural stone features, one can also visit the wildlife environment in Ugbo and obeag­u to watch the monkeys of that environment especially Utobo. unlike other monkeys of those wild, Utobo is very mischievous.

Shopping/Market

Aside from the local markets, Most of the shopping centers in Awgu are roadside markets and stores. The major market in Awgu LGA is the Orio Awgu, Oye Agbogugu, Nkwo Ugbo, Aho Mmaku, Nkwo Owelli. Various farm products are traded in the market on wholesale and retail basis every four days. Many of the people take their farm produce to sell in the market in exchange for other commodities they cannot produce. People from Nkanu, Owerri, Umuahia, Oji river and Enugu urban also patronize the traders in these market especially for cassava, Cocoyam, palm oil and vegetables.