Obubra

Obubra Local Government Area is in the central Senatorial District of Cross River State. It has a population of about 200,000 people and has its headquarter at Obubra town.

Geography

Obubra LGA is bounded in the north by Yala and Ikom Local government areas, in the south by Yakurr local government area and in the west by Ebonyi state. Obubra as a geo-political entity covers an area of 1115 km2

History
The word Obubra is derived from ‘Ubibira, Ubira or Obira’, the name of Obubra main village at the bank of the Cross river. Obubra was established as a British colonial district in 1902 and has since undergone several metamorphoses in terms of geography and administrative nomenclature to the extent that from 1976 to date, it became known as “Obubra Local Government Area” following the local government reforms of 1976 in Nigeria.

Today, Obubra is one of the oldest local government areas in Nigeria. It covered areas bounded by Abakaliki and Ikom to the North, and Afikpo and Calabar to the South. This meant that its jurisdiction extended from parts of present-day Biase and Akamkpa local government areas through Abi, Yakurr and Etung to parts of Ikom and Ogoja local government areas.

Local Government Wards

There are eleven wards in the local government area. The wards are:

VILLAGES
Obubra has 98 villages some of which include; Apiapum, Iyamoyong, Ohana, Ochon, Isabang, Ovunom, Ofodua, Ofat, Ababene, Oderegha, Okorogbana, Onyedama, Ebo, and Iko, Ogurude, Ofonmana, Ogurokpon, Okimbongha, Ofonatam, Appiapumtet, Idoro and Ogamina.

PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE

Obubra consists of a mono-cultural group of people of Mbembe descent. The major units of this member speaking people include Aduni Ofumbongha, Okum and Osopong. Other splinter groups of large nationalities that also co-exist with their Mbembe neighbours include Yala (Nkum Okpambe), Ekuri, Isobo and Izzi speaking people. Analytically, speaking, Obubra, somehow, shares the national characteristics of being a multi-ethnic or plural society.

CULTURE

The Local Government Area has a rich cultural heritage with each village having a unique cultural dancing troupe. The songs are composed in the local languages and constitute the predominant music in the rural communities.

Each community (village) in Obubra has a chief leader but the overall traditional head of the Adun Clan is called Kudiden and he stays in Oderegha. Okum’s overall ruler is called Ohorodo of Okum and he is resident in Apiapum.

FESTIVALS
New Yam Festival
Kingship Coronation
Religious Festivals

MAJOR MARKET DAYS

1. Obubra Urban/Ababene            Mondays
2. Onyedama                              Tuesdays
3. Ochon                                     Wednesdays
4. Iyamoyong                              Thursdays
5. Ohana                                     Fridays
6. Apiapum/Ofodua                      Saturdays

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Oyen Opon Cave
Ohana Lake
Sand beach at Obubra village, Igo, Onene, Ofunbongha, Oguruppon.
Ofonagama Island (Ekwokwo)
Ogurude Island
Cross River Confluence
Ogurude Pond at Efongha

INVESTMENT POTENTIALS
Obubra is one of the most blessed local government areas in Cross River
State in terms of natural resources/endowments. These resources among others include forest resources which are of tremendous economic importance. Such forest resources include different species of trees, like Iroko, Mahogany, Gmelina, Obeche, Opepe, Cedar etc. These species of wood used in the building and construction industry do not only serve local interest but are also supplied to neighbouring states like Benue, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Enugu and Abia states. In addition to the forest resources, the local government is endowed with mineral resources like lead ore (found at Eja and Ogurude), salt deposit (found at Ibine-Ababene, near former campus of School of Agriculture, Iyamitet), sand and gravel (sand bank stretch from Ogurude end of Cross River through Apiapum, Ofatura, Ovonum up to Adun beach; gravel is found along Apiapum-Obubra road and other places in Obubra). The list is endless. However, some of these mineral deposits are yet to be fully exploited.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Having an early advantage of contact with the Europeans, a number of educational institutions at all levels have been established in Obubra. For example, the first primary school, PCN Primary School Apiapum, was established in 1920 while the first secondary school, St. Brendan Secondary School Iyamoyong was established in 1961. Obubra also boasts of tertiary institutions like Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Faculty of Agriculture located at Ovonum and other privately owned tertiary institutions like Elder Oyama Memorial College of Education Ofat. Today, Obubra can boast of over 73 primary schools and over 20 secondary schools turning out a reasonable number of school leavers and graduates yearly.

PAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHAIRMEN