Description of Abia State

Abia State is located in the south-east region of Nigeria and shares borders with the states of Enugu and Ebonyi to the north and east, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the southeast, and Rivers State to the south. Its name is an anagram for the first letters of the names of the four most populous regions in the state: Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato, and Arochukwu. However, Aba is the most populous city and the economic hub of the state.

With a 2016 population estimate of over 3,720,000, Abia ranks 32nd in area and 27th in population out of the 36 states. In the far south, you'll find the swamp forests of the Niger Delta, while the rest of the state is mostly dry forest and transitional Cross-Niger woodlands with patches of savanna. The Imo and Aba Rivers, which form the state's western and southern borders, respectively, are also significant geographic features.

There are many different ethnic groups that have lived in what is now known as Abia State, but the Igbo people have been there the longest. During the pre-colonial era, the area that is now Abia State was a part of the Aro Confederacy, which had its capital in Arochukwu. The Aro Confederacy was eventually defeated by British troops in the early 1900s during the Anglo-Aro War. After the war, the area was annexed by the British and became part of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, which later merged with British Nigeria. After this, Abia became a center of anti-colonial resistance, with the Women's War beginning in Oloko.

After independence in 1960, the region that is now Abia belonged to the post-independence Eastern Region until the region was split in 1967, at which point Abia became a part of the East Central State. In the three-year long Nigerian Civil War that followed, the former Eastern Region attempted secession as the state of Biafra, and Abia was a part of it. The East Central State was reformed after the war ended and Nigeria was reunited, but it wasn't until 1976 that Murtala Muhammed's regime created Imo State (which now includes what is now Abia). Fifteen years later, eastern Imo was separated from the state to become Abia State, and in 1996, a chunk of Abia's northeast was split off to become a part of the new Ebonyi State.

Abia State relies on the export of crude oil and natural gas and the cultivation of agricultural commodities like yams, maize, taro, oil palm, and cassava to sustain its economy. Particularly in and around Aba, manufacturing is a significant secondary sector economy. Abia is a rapidly developing and industrializing region, and as a result, it has the eighth highest Human Development Index in the country.

Geographical Description of Abia State

Abia State, which has a total area of about 6,320 square kilometers, is sandwiched between the states of Enugu and Ebonyi to the north and northeast. West is Imo State, to the east and south-east are Cross River and Akwa Ibom states, and to the south is Rivers State. The southern portion of the state is located in the Cross-Niger transition forests, while the rest of the state is in the Niger Delta Swamp Forests. Southern regions see an average annual rainfall of about 2,400 millimeters (94 in), with the heaviest precipitation falling from April through October. The Imo and Aba Rivers are the most significant waterways in Abia State, and they eventually empty into the Atlantic via Akwa Ibom.

Economics and infrastructure

Over 39% of the State's GDP comes from the extraction of crude oil and natural gas, making it a key industry. A total of about 50 marginal oil fields exist in the State, but it has not been easy for indigenous oil companies to attract the necessary funding and infrastructure capacity through the Marginal Fields Programme (MFP).

In fact, manufacturing contributes only 2% of GDP. Aba is the commercial hub of the state, producing a wide variety of goods including textiles, pharmaceuticals, soap, plastics, cement, footwear, and cosmetics. Additionally, the government of Abia State has recently completed construction of a 9,000-seat international conference center in Umuahia that can serve a variety of purposes. This world-class structure was commissioned by Governor T.A. Orji to promote tourism and stimulate the economy of the state by hosting major international and domestic events.

Seventy percent of Abia's labor force works in agriculture, making it the state's second largest economic sector with a contribution of 27 percent to GDP. Abia receives sufficient annual precipitation, making the region ideal for cultivating a wide variety of food crops, including but not limited to yams, corn, potatoes, rice, cashews, plantains, taro, and cassava. The most valuable commodity is oil palm.

Politics

A Governor is elected by the people to head the State Government, and he or she works closely with legislators in the State House of Representatives. Umuahia is the main administrative center. In total, there are 17 of these sub-national entities (LGAs).

Before Ogbonnaya Onu was elected governor of Abia in the Third Nigerian Republic in 1991, the newly formed state was governed by Military Administrator Frank Ajobena, who had been appointed by Ibrahim Babangida. After nearly two years in power, Onu was eventually deposed by Sani Abacha, who abolished the Third Republic and restored absolute military rule. Three more Military Administrators were appointed under the Abacha regime (Chinyere Ike Nwosu, Temi Ejoor, and Moses Fasanya) before Abacha's death and the accession of Abdulsalami Abubakar. Before he began the transition to democracy in 1998, Abubakar appointed another Military Administrator, Anthony Obi.

In 1999, after Nigeria's return to democracy, People's Democratic Party candidate Orji Uzor Kalu was elected governor. As a result, he took office on May 29, 1999, after being sworn in that day. Kalu ran again in 2003 on the PDP ticket and was reelected president (the Constitution of Nigeria limits Governors to two terms in office). After Kalu's term ended in 2007, Theodore Orji (PPA) was elected governor of Abia, defeating Onyema Ugochukwu (PDP). Theodore Orji switched parties from the PPA to the PDP in 2011 and was subsequently re-elected to a second four-year term.

As of 2015, Abia State is led by Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP), the state's ninth governor. On May 29, 2019, he was sworn in for a second term as Governor after being re-elected for a second term after defeating All Progressives Congress candidate Uche Ogah and All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate Alex Otti.