Oyi Local Government Area is located in Anambra State in Nigeria's South-East Geopolitical Zone. Its administrative center is located in the town of Nteje. Numerous towns and villages, including Ogbunike, Umuneba, Umunya, Nteje, Nkwelle, and Awkuzu, are part of the LGA. Oyi LGA is now expected to have 249,448 residents, with Igbo people making up the majority of the local population. In the LGA, the Igbo language is widely spoken, and Christianity is a very popular religion there. Oyi LGA has a number of vibrant festivals, such as the Ofala and Isigwu festivals, and the area is home to the well-known Ogbunike Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[4]

The Modern Aluminium market in Ogbunike is one of the several markets in the Oyi LGA, which serves as a major trading center. With products including rice, yams, cassava, and breadfruit cultivated nearby, agriculture plays a significant economic role in Oyi LGA. The LGA is also well-known for its commercial fishing, farming, and hunting operations.^[5]

Oral history

The origin of Oyi people is the same for all the "OLU" sub group of the Eri-Awka Igbo.^{[citation needed]} The Olus are the distinct river-side Igbo people of the lower Anambra plain (Anambra River Basin), encompassing the entire old Anambra Division of the 1920s to the 80s, parts of today's Awka North LGA of Anambra State and the excision of the former Uzo-Uwani LGA of now Enugu State. A number of Olu people also speak Igala language.^[6] In fact, Igala kingdom is considered to have been founded by an Olu 'refugee' prince. Olu trace their origin to Eri (Eru, Nri, Nru). Onitsha and Ogbaru areas by character and dialect, are sometimes considered as Olu (though with specific associations). It is said that the more ancient forms of Igbo Tradition and Cultural practices like music, marriage ceremony and religious worships are those still practiced by the Olu.

Lifestyle

Oyi people, like other Olu people, are usually tall, care-free and socially progressive people (Read the 'burial of Oramalidike' and discourse of the Head of the Nze-Na-Ozo with Ozo initiates (Ndi-Nze) in 'Ozo Title: An Ancestral Club In The Igbo Culture by C.N.C Igboegbuna, published by Snaap Press, Enugu 1984). Olu life used to be nature-centered (agrarian of 'water' and land) until the white man upset all that with his "civilisation".^[7] Olu or riverine Igbo have very elaborate ceremonies, festivities and roles. They are quite egalitarian in belief and republican in their political pursuits. Oyi practice a Jewish-like Kabbalah (Cabbala) system of self-actualisation which is embedded in the apical Nze-na-Ozo tradition of "Onye chizue; o bulu Mmoo, bulukwa Mmadu". Translated, this simply says that the Ozo initiation is a threshold vista of self-distinction that transforms the initiates into both man and spirit or "spirit-man". This ancient Ozo system called Ozo-Atulukpa-Okala was instituted in Umunya as far back as the late 16th century by a war chieftain named Igboegbunammadu Onenulu (Ozo-Odezulu-Igbo l).^{[citation needed]} He equally bequeathed the title to his friends within the Olu sub-clans, from Ogbunike to Awkuzu and it is severally called and known as 'Ozo-Ndi-Ichie,' 'Nnekwu Ozo,' etc.

Council history

Oyi is a Local Government Area of Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria. The towns that make up the local government are Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Awkuzu, Ogbunike, Umunya and Nteje. Oyi is in the epicenter of the present Anambra State and was first created by the Civilian Administration of Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo in the 1980s with Umunya as its Headquarters, with Ogbefi Jasper Nwobi as its first chairman. It took its name from the pacific and famous Oyi River that flows northwards into Omambala (Anambra River).

When the military sacked the civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari under which Chief Jim Nwobodo was governor in 1983, Oyi and its constituent towns were drawn back into the old Anambra Local Government Area with Otuocha as headquarters.^{[citation needed]} Later, under the administration of Col Robert Nnameka Akonobi as Governor under Gen Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Enugu became a State and the former Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area towns of Omor, Omasi, Umueje, Umelum, Igbakwu, Umumbo, Anaku and Ifite Ogwari were merged with their more "Olu" brothers in Oyi.^{[citation needed]} Nteje became the headquarters and has remained so even after the excision of the towns into now Ayamelum Local Government Area.

Ogbunike Caves

The most popular place to visit in Oyi is the Ogbunike Caves[1], listed by UNESCO as a world Heritage Site. The cave is situated in the Ogba hills, across the Ugwu-Aga Escarpment, Umunya by the Enugu/Onitsha Expressway. It lies in the coordinates of N06 11 11 and E06 54 21.

Umunya Aparition Site

Umunya Aparition Site during the "Messages" in the 90s, is considered the highest human traffic to the Eastern Nigeria, since the visits of Pope John Paul II to Onitsha. The Site is esconced within the Mmili Nwaonye Artificial Spring of Iyi-Ogwe Farm by the Onitsha/Enugu Expressway, Umunya. It hosts a moderate Catholic Chapel, used by tourists to conduct prayers and adoration.

Urunda Crescendo

This scenic depression is a wonderful expression of a 'natural stadium'. It lies depressed to the Ugwu-Aga table, close to the Ogba. It has a cool spring and a youth center. There are meandering brooks and streams across the area and one of them enters a hole to 'the unknown'.

• Rt. Hon. Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, former Senate president and vice presidential candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)
• Cyprian Ekwensi, MFR, writer and poet ^[8]
• Pete Edochie, MON, art commentator and actor
• Ngozi Ezeonu, Nollywood actress

Schools in Oyi Local Government Area:

The climate in Oyi is tropical monsoon. Throughout the year the temperatures are high and have a lot of rainfall.^[9]

• Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart 1959. London: Penguin, 2006
• Achebe, Chinua. No Longer At Ease, Heinemann African Writers Series, London 1960.
• Achebe, Chinua. Arrow of God, Heinemenn African Writers Series, London 1964.
• Floyd, B. N. and Menakaya (ed) Macmillan Junior Atlas For Nigeria, Macmillan Press. London, 1965
• Okee Igboegbunam Onenulu-Ozo: Okpuru and Urunda - Echoes of The Dead Forgotten (unpublished), 2004
• Igboegbuna, C.N.C. Ozo Title: An Ancestral Club In The Igbo Culture, Snaap Press Ltd. Enugu, 1994
• Igboegbunam, Okechukwu Lawrence: Sustainable Tourism Development For Anambra State Nigeria (Application of Leadership Concept in setting up an Eco-tourism Potential, "Plateau Rivulet Trail"), Institute Optopreneur, Malaysia. 2009
• Obidigbo, Chike and Igboegbuna C.N.C (eds), Umunya: A Typical Igbo Community Charting A New Order, Hardis & Dromedas Ltd, Enugu, 2009.
• LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN ANAMBRA STATE^{[permanent dead link]} dated July 21, 2007; accessed October 4, 2007