Anthropology PhD candidate Ugochukwu Okoye has co-authored two new books, A Tale of Two Neighbours: A Socio-political History of the Ukwa and Ngwa Nation, and The Ukwa-Ngwa Icon: A Compendium of Excellence. The books were featured in an article in This Day Live and will be unveiled at a public presentation on April 18, 2022.
A brief blurb of each book is included below:
A Tale of Two Neighbours: A Socio-political History of the Ukwa and Ngwa Nation offers the most comprehensive history and up-to-date history of the Ukwa and Ngwa people of present-day Abia State in Southeastern Nigeria. The Ukwas and Ngwas are indigenous to the famous city of Aba, regarded as the birthplace of Nigeria’s anti-colonial movement following the Aba women’s riot of 1929. Drawing from extensive interviews and archival research this book offers a distinct account of the origin, cultural history and how the common socio-political aspiration towards Aba State creation has transformed both nations into a unified identity within the Nigerian State. For centuries, the Ukwas and Ngwas have lived as neighbours until the colonial reforms of the late 19th century merged both countries into a single administrative unit. Though this merger may be considered insignificant in describing Ukwa and Ngwa’s cultural history, it has come to define the socioeconomic and political significance of Ukwa-Ngwa in Igboland and Nigeria. Presently, with a combined population of 2.1 million people, the Ukwa-Ngwa nation emerges as one of the largest cultural and political groups in West Africa when considered as a single constituent.
The Ukwa-Ngwa Icon: A Compendium of Excellence contains the biography of 100 Ukwa-Ngwa indigenes from all walks of life who have distinguished themselves in their respective spheres of endeavours. Among those whose life and times are documented in the book include Chief Jaja Wachuku, Nigeria’s first Speaker of House Representatives and first Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations; Capt Chinyere Kalu, Nigeria’s first female pilot and Dr. Adolphus Wabara, former Senate President of Nigeria (2003 to 2005). The book adds to the rich cultural history of the Ukwa-Ngwa people.