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Calabar
(also referred to as 'Canaan City') is a city in Cross River State,
coastal southeastern Nigeria. The original name for Calabar was Akwa Akpa,
from the Efik language The city is watered by the Calabar and Great Kwa
Rivers and creeks of the Cross River (from its inland delta).
Calabar is the capital of Cross River State. For the purpose of administration, the city is divided into Calabar Municipal and Calabar South LGAs. It has an area of 406 km² and a population of 371,022 at the 2006 census.History
The original town was known as Akwa Akpa from the Efik words Akwa and Akpa.The spelling Calabar remained till the British came and pronounced Calabar as Calabah. The neighboring town of Ataba took over the name and its Efik /Qua/Efut/Biase/Akampkpa indigenes became known as Calabar pronounced Calabah till this day.
Calabar is a large metropolis today with several towns like Akim, Ikot
Ansa, Ikot Ishie, Kasuk, Duke Town, Henshaw Town, Ikot Omin, Obutong,
Bakassi, Biase, Akamkpa, etc.
Seaport city
As far back as the 16th century, Calabar had been a recognized international sea port, shipping out goods such as palm oil. During the era of the Atlantic slave trade
It subsequently became a major port in the transportation of African
slaves. Most slave ships that transported slaves from Calabar were English, at around 85% of these ships being from Bristol and Liverpool merchants. Old Calabar (Duke Town) and Creek Town, 10 miles northeast, were crucial towns in the trade of slaves in that era.[1] The first British warship to sail as far as Duke Town, where she captured seven Spanish and Portuguese slavers, may have been HMS Comus in 1815.
The main ethnic group taken out of Calabar as slaves were the Igbo, from the neighboring Igbo land. African-American writer and slave John Jea was from the area. There was also a small Mulatto
community of merchants with links to missionary and other merchant
colonies in Igboland and Lagos, and across the Atlantic. Some
discussions continue to swirl around that the royal descendants from
Duke town, the modern day Lennox" and Lenox flew to Egypt, Britain colonies and America when the dispute for the royal seat resulted in the death of several of their family members.
The Lennox and Lenox
families have remained very quiet about their ancestors' tragedies and
decision to flee, although some would return to visit, they never really
made it home again. One of the great-grand children in America, once
commented that some secrets are meant to rest with the dead.
Tourist Center in Calabar
Cross River National Park, Cross River State
Cross River National Park is one of top Nigeria’s eco-tourism
destinations where tropical rain forest rare animals and birds can be
observed in their natural habitat.
Tinapa Business & Leisure Resort
Tinapa is a business and leisure resort conceptualised to be an
integrated business resort and it’s located by the Calabar River. It is
the first integrated business and leisure resort in Nigeria.
Obudu Mountain Resort, Cross River State
Obudu Mountain Resort is located in the highlands of Cross
River State, only 45 miles from the border with Cameroon. It possesses a
temperate climate due to its high altitude.
Agbokim Waterfalls, Cross River State
Located some 17 kilometers from Ikom and about 315 kilometers
from Calabar, Agbokim Waterfalls is not far from the Nigeria-Cameroon
border. The fall consists of seven streams, each cascading over steep
cliff which provides seven-faced falls.
First Nigerian capital city
The
city once served as the seat of Government of the Niger Coast
Protectorate, Southern Protectorate and Oil River Protectorate. It is
thus effectively the first Nigerian capital city.
Landmarks
As a social centre the city boasts of the first social club in Nigeria, The Africa Club, and hosted the first competitive football, cricket and field hockey games in Nigeria. Among the city's firsts includes the first Roman Catholic Mass
(held at 19 Bocco Street, Calabar – 1903) and the oldest secondary
school (Hope Waddell Training Institution – 1895) in eastern Nigeria.
The School later produced the first President of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe.
The city boasts of an International Museum, a Botanical Garden, a Free Trade Zone/Port, an International Airport and Seaport, an integrated sports stadium complex, a cultural centre, one of the most prominent universities in the country the University of Calabar, a slave history park and several historical and cultural landmarks. It also boasts of several standard hotels, resorts and amusement parks. The former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor
lived in the old colonial palace in the city under an agreement which
led to the end of his country's civil war before fleeing extradition to
Liberia in March 2006. The Tinapa Resort, a development by the Cross River State government, lies to the north of the city beside the Calabar Free Trade Zone.
The Cross River State Annual Christmas Festival
held every year attracts thousands within and beyond Nigeria. The
Festival which includes music performance from both local and
international artists, the annual Calabar Carnival,
Boat regatta, Fashion shows, Christmas Village, traditional dances and
the annual Ekpe Festival is a yearly event that brings in thousands of
tourists at the time of the year.
Climate
Under Köppen's climate classification Calabar features a tropical monsoon climate with a lengthy wet season spanning ten months and a short dry season covering the remaining two months. The harmattan, which generally significantly influences weather in West Africa,
is noticeably less pronounced in the city.
Temperatures are relatively
constant throughout the course of the year, with average high
temperatures usually ranging from 25 to 28 degrees Celsius. There is
also little variance between daytime and nighttime temperatures as
temperatures at night are generally only a few degrees lower than the
high temperature, which is typically attained during the daytime.
Calabar averages just under 3,000 mm of precipitation annually.
| Climate data for Calabar | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 28 (83) |
29 (85) |
29 (85) |
28 (83) |
28 (82) |
27 (80) |
26 (78) |
25 (77) |
26 (78) |
26 (79) |
27 (81) |
28 (83) |
27.3 (81.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 27 (80) |
28 (83) |
28 (83) |
27 (81) |
27 (80) |
26 (78) |
25 (77) |
24 (76) |
25 (77) |
26 (78) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
26.3 (79.3) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 41 (1.6) |
69 (2.7) |
157 (6.2) |
216 (8.5) |
292 (11.5) |
394 (15.5) |
445 (17.5) |
394 (15.5) |
409 (16.1) |
310 (12.2) |
175 (6.9) |
50 (2) |
2,952 (116.2) |
| Source: Weatherbase[11] | |||||||||||||
Political authority
Calabar has three principal landlord kingdoms, namely The Qua Kingdom of Ejagham (Ekoi)/bantu
origin, The Efut and the Efik Kingdoms. The Qua Kingdom has the Ndidem
of the Qua nation as the Grand Patriarch, the Efut have the Muri munene
as the Grand Patriarch while the Efik Kingdom patriarch is known as the
Obong. The Efik political authority as it concerns the Obong is hinged on a political tripod, Creek Town, made up of Ambo, Cobham and Eyo; Old Town made up of Obutong; and, Duke Town or Atakpa made up of Duke/Archibong, Eyamba, Ntiero, Henshaw
and Cobham.
Each leg of this tripod at one time or the other was ruled
by a separate Obong. Within the last 100 years, a gentleman’s agreement
to merge these three zones into one, with a single titular head as the
Obong, and the distribution or opening up of the title to all Efik
wards, was arrived at. It is the attempt to do away or dishonor this
‘contract of understanding’ that is at the root of the Obong of Calabar
crises.
Each of the aspirants to the throne is eminently qualified, none
no more so, than the other. The title of the Obong of Calabar had been
held by Nsa Effiom and Ekpo Nsa in the 17th century, these two gentlemen
were from the Henshaw[disambiguation needed]
ward. Attempts by the Henshaw to have an Obong resulted in a war in
1870. The Henshaws did not attain this title again until the last 50
years when David Henshaw became Obong. Cobham Town where Bassey Ekpo Bassey hails from had their first and only Obong recently. All these were made possible because of ‘the contract’.
Calabari Kingdom
Before the colonial period, Calabar, originally known as Akwa Akpa, was a Kingdom with the City of Calabar as the site of government, the Obong of Calabar as the ruler and the Ekpe Secrete Society, Ekpe,
as the stool on which the Obong of Calabar sat. The other kingdoms in
Calabar are that of the Qua Nation with the Ndidem of the Quas and
paramount ruler of calabar municipality and the Muri munene of efut and
paramount ruler of calabar south
Calabar people
Calabar people are mainly people from the Greater Calabar district -
Calabar South, Calabar Municipality, Akpabuyo, Bakassi, Biase, Odukpani
and Akamkpa, but as commonly used in Nigeria, the term "Calabar people"
could also refer to both the indigenes of Greater Calabar as well as the
people of the original South Eastern State of Nigeria which is at present the people of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State.
Calabar is also the Headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command.
The City has a new model school, Nigerian Navy Secondary School,
situated in a serene part of Akpabuyo, about 10 minutes drive from the
Airport. This new school complements favourably the existing Nigerian
Navy Primary School and Naval Officers Wives Association Primary School
both situated at Ikot Ansa Calabar to provide quality education.
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