Oyi
| Oyi | |
|---|---|
| LGA and city | |
| Coordinates: 5°15′0″N 6°13′0″E / 5.25000°N 6.21667°ECoordinates: 5°15′0″N 6°13′0″E / 5.25000°N 6.21667°E | |
| Country |
 Nigeria
|
| State | Anambra State |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 168,029 |
| Time zone | WAT (UTC+1) |
Oyi is a Local Government Area and city in Anambra State, Nigeria. It is home to the Oyi people. The towns that make up the local government are Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Awkuzu, Ogbunike, Umunya and Nteje.
Oyi/Ayamelum is a Federal Constituency represented by Hon Chinedu Eluemuno at the Federal House of Representatives, Abuja. Oyi have had many Council Chairmen including Chief Okonkwo Onuigbo (from Omor), Barr Solomon Ekwenze and Hon. Edwin Aghadiuno.
Oral history: The origin of Oyi people is the same for all the "OLU" sub group of the Eri-Awka Igbo. 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. 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" (Read Things Fall Apart (1958); No Longer At Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) all by Chinua Achebe, Heinemann African Writers Series. See also Political structures in the novel (Things Fall Apart#cite note-12). 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). 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.
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