Hello everyone,
welcome to the travels and adventures program. on this episode, we're going to talk about the Awka people (ndi oka).
Who are the Awka people:
the Awka people are the seven Igbo groups sharing common blood lineage, divided into the following two sections: the ifite section and the ezinator section. The ifite section comprises of four groups: Ayom-na-okpala, Nkwelle, Amachalla and Ifite-Oka. The ezinator section comprises of three groups: Amikwo, Ezi-oka and Agulu.
what are they known for:
many centuries ago, the Awka man was known and identified as the blacksmiths with notable metal works. Until today the Awka blacksmiths still enjoys the reputation of being able to forge a wide range of implements and instruments, including rifles and pistols, in addition to traditional farming and musical instruments.
In pre-colonial times, the smiths of Awka plied their trade far beyond the boundaries of Igboland rendering services to the Benin, Urhobo and Itsekiri people to the west, the Igala to the north and the Efik and the Ejegam people to the east.
Notable people of Awka:
Kenneth Dike, a historian known for his study of pre-colonial Nigerian history, the first Nigerian Vice-Chancellor of the oldest Nigerian University University of Ibadan and the person who set up Nigeria's National Archives. During the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970) Prof Dike was a roving ambassador for the Biafra cause. He went into exile at the end of the Civil war becoming the first Mellon Professor of African History at Harvard University. He returned to Nigeria to become the founding vice-chancellor of what is today the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy MBE, a London-based visual artist. The first black artist to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II when commissioned to paint the official Golden Jubilee portrait.  She was chosen as one of the UK Women of the Year in 2002 and 2003, represented the UK at the Council of Europe and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of East Anglia. During 2006 her work was represented on the national postage stamps of six countries. In 2008 she addressed the Cambridge Union, Chukwuogo-Roy was a regular contributor to the BBC and other current affairs programmes. In 2009 she was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Lieutenant-General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor, appointed in 2008 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as Military Advisor on UN Peacekeeping Operations. Previously served as commander of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) Artillery Brigade in Liberia in 1996 and 1997, and as ECOMOG chief coordinator of the Liberian elections in July 1997.
Chinyelu Onwurah, a British Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central, becoming the first female British MP of African origin.