Abi, Nigeria

Abi, Nigeria
—  LGA and town  —
Country	Nigeria
State	Cross River State
Time zone	WAT (UTC+1)

Abi is a Local Government Area in Cross River State, Nigeria. It contains several Igbo villages and is home to an annual cultural festival.

History and Background

People from Abi include State Governor Liyel Imoke, a member of the Agbo subgroup of Igboland. One of the largest tribes within Abi Local Government is Bahumono, which includes seven villages: Ediba, Anong, Usumutong, Afafanyi, Igonigoni, Ebom, and Ebiriba. There are linguistic differences among the Bahumono people with the major variant being the Ohumono language. They are all historically known to have migrated from a place within the hills of Ruhura (ekpon a ruhura) called Hotumusa (old town) which lies in a region between the present day Ediba and Usumutong villages. The Ediba people at Hotumusa had hunters who found a riverine location where Ediba situates presently. The hunters related the news to her people and Ogbudene led the people in a siege against the locals of the river dwelling and drove them across the river. Four of Five of the Ediba families (Henugwehuma, Henusokwe, Enihom and Henuowom) quickly left and colonised the river area. The Ezono clan (made up of Bazorang, Batonene and Fonahini), the last family, decided to stay back at Hotumusa, where they had always been the head land owners and leading family among the other five. This small clan has had its own dynastic legacy, festivals, deities and new yam celebrations to this day.

Major Settlements

Abi Local Government Area is home to an important town called Anong. There are also several villages including Ano-Ubakakari, Ano-Ugwekuma,Akbema, Akpan,Ano-Ikpoto, Ano-Iku and Abema in the area.

The Bhuhumono clan is not complete without the mentioning of Abe-ugo,which comprises of three villages namely; Abe-Inah-Igwe,Abe-Eromi & Abe-Ekpe....

Please,more research need to be carried out to ascertain the authenticity of the story of Bhuhumono in Abi LGA. The bhuhumonos comprises of the following villages,namely;

 Alphabetical:  1.Abe-ugo
                        2.Abijakara
                        3.Afafanyi
                        4.Anong 
                        5.Ebom 
                        6.Ediba 
                        7.Igonigoni
                        8.Usumotong

Abi Cultural Festival

Further more, there is a cultural festival popularly known as Aji Festival, which is held annually between 20–25 June. Over the years, there have been several Chiefs of the festival. The current Ovai (Chief) of the festival is Ovai Igiri Igwe Igri and a Lady cultural dancer is Cecelia Okpokpo. One of the eminent men in the community is traditional Chief Ekpe Ojoh Okoro the (Ekpe), meaning "tiger", who is also known as Itiat (stone).