BIBLIOGRAFÍA GENERAL 1 MARTINEZ SÁNCHEZ, Francisco

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to what was obtainable in pre-colonial Ibibio society. Writing on this, J. Ezekafor, (personal communication, August 15, 2018) said: our people before the coming of Christianity were barbaric, damaging the fruit of the womb in the name of culture. Who knows how many children and mothers that have been dumped in the forest to die and rot away? When twins were delivered, in Ekwulobia, the family concerned performed all the necessary sacrifices to cleanse the earth and the family of any misfortune the birth may have brought. The possible interpretation for this is that, a normal human being is not supposed to give to more than one child at a particular birth and that is only animals like dogs, goats, pigs that do so. For a normal human being to do so meant that she has defiled herself.

Another important religious practice of the people is the burying of important chiefs with slave (s). This practice is otherwise known as slave immolation. This is not limited to Ekwulobia people. Rather it was a common practice in most pre-colonial Igbo societies. Concerning this practice, E. Raphael, (personal communication, August 16, 2018) said: I watched with dismay as my people buried alive a young slave with a dead chief. This will go a long way to throwing more light on the religious beliefs of the people on life after death, since the dead is not only buried with slaves, but with other personal effects like walking stick, valuable clothes, jewelleries and a host of others.

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covers the western flank of the Anambra Basin. According to Offodile (1975), the dominant geological formation is the Nanka sands, which lies conformably on the Imo Shale of Paleocene age and overlain by the Ogwashi-Asaba formation. The Basin delineates the southern border (or section) of the Benue Trough which was formed (along with the Afikpo syncline and Abakaliki Ridge) during the santonian tectonism.

According to Nigerian Meteorological Agency (2007), the study area lies within the humid tropical rainforest belt of Nigeria with an average annual rainfall of 1800mm.

There are two marked seasons of the year, the dry season and rainy season. The vegetation of the area consists of luxuriant evergreen type. The soil is very fertile and is drained by a number of brooks and streams. The result of this is that the majority of the population practice farming as their major occupation. These farmers are able to produce enough subsistence crops like yams, cassava, coco-yams, maize, melon, okro, breadfruit, plantain, palm oil, oranges and other fruits, vegetables and the rest of them. The people of Ekwulobia are successful farmers. Their barns are something else. It is a place of attraction and sightseeing, with exhibition of varieties of yams. Ekwulobia is part of the Igbo geographical area. According to Ekwunife (1989),

Modern scholars call a geographical area a culture area. By culture area is meant a geographical area occupied by people whose culture exhibits a significant degree of similarity with each other as well as significant degree of dissimilarity with culture of others. (p.3).

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Physical Location Map of Ekwulobia (www.maphil.com)

Culturally, Ekwulobia describes a people who share similar pattern of life and dialect of the Igbo people. There are some basic traits for identifying them as one. These include the linguistic, the social, the political, the economic, the ritual, and cultural traits.

The totality of these traits is the same. Ekwulobia is the fourth urban city in Anambra State, after Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi^. It is the headquarters of the present Aguata local government and the headquarters of the old Aguata Local Government that comprised the present Aguata local government and Orumba North and South local government.

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Ekwulobia area is made up of nine villages notably divided into two traditional division; Ezi and Ifite. The names of the villages are Umuchiana, Agba, Umuchi, Ula, Okpo, Eziagulu, Nkono, Abogwume and Ihuokpala. The villages under Ezi are Umuchiana, Umuchi, Okpo, Nkono, Abogwume and Ihuokpala and the villages under Ifite are Agba, Ula and Eziagulu. The traditional ruler or Igwe is Chief Sir. Emmanuel Chukwukadibia Onyeneke. There are many evidences of oneness and corporate existence of Ekwulobia people, which can be seen in their everyday life activities ranging from social, religious, economic and political spheres of life. They are largely of the same stock, speaking a common language and have the same name for it. Ageless kingship and cultural relations existing among villages, village groups, clans and other agglomerations are celebrated in common traditions and legends in myths and songs, in maxims and adages. All these provide further universality of interest and of outlook on the life of the people of Ekwulobia of Anambra state.

The town houses the Anglican Cathedral called the Cathedral church of St. John Ekwulobia and a proposed Roman Catholic Cathedral Called the St. Joseph`s pro-cathedral Ekwulobia. The town also houses a Central park, a large daily market, various primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, hotels and resorts, a prison, several hospitals and clinics notable among which include the General Hospital Ekwulobia and so on.

Ekwulobia is also known for its special masquerades called the "Achukwu" which displays especially and during Christmas and Easter celebration, special town events like new yam "iwa-ji" festival at the burial of elderly/titled men.

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Ekwulobia, the largest town in Aguata, is expanding rapidly to a population of about one-hundred thousand people. It is the major commercial town in the area. Most Nigerian Commercial banks maintain their branches there. It also boasts of a stadium, a Federal Prison (part of which falls into Ezinifite) and a major market, Eke Market.

Several new agricultural factories established around Ekwulobia town have also attracted workers into the town. Ekwulobia is also a major transit hub from where travelers can connect to other far flung cities in Nigeria. There are public transport vehicles that run from Ekwulobia daily, to Onitsha, Awka, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Abakaliki and so on.

Ekwulobia is indeed a Beehive of activities especially during the festive period, it always attracts thousands of visitors during this periods. Ezenachi (personal communication, 15^th October, 2018) stated that the famous and legendry 'Achukwu' masquerade which the nine villages that make up Ekwulobia have is a beauty to behold.

In the area of hospitality business, the town has few hotels such as Orthon Palace Hotels and in recent times Chicago Hotel, Vonic hotel and resort and logart hills hotel. All these and many other features have made Ekwulobia a must visit for many visitors as well as other neighboring towns in the area. Ekwulobia Development Union is the mother union of all branches of Ekwulobia Development Union both home and abroad even in the diaspora, with Lagos branch which is the strongest of all the unions.

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