Lifestyle of the Ogba People in River State
According to 2006 census data, Rivers State is considered the sixth largest geographical area in Nigeria. The state has a diverse indigenous population with significant riverine and mountain differences. In addition, at least fifteen indigenous ethnic groups live within the borders of Rivers State. These ethnic groups include the Ogba. The Ogba (also called Ogbah) people live in the extreme southwest of Igboland in what is now Rivers State in Nigeria.They are essentially Igbo-speaking indigenous people. The Ogba people consist of fourteen extended families divided into clans and inhabit an area of around 600 km² in the Niger floodplain. Oral traditions and folklore say that this large group of people migrated from the then Benin Empire via the Niger River to the area now called Ali-Ogba around the 16th century. Although they are an indigenous people who speak the Igbo language, they literally speak a unique Igbo dialect called the Ogba language. This particular dialect of the…
