Abiriba is located in Ohafia LGA of Abia State.
According to the history, A rich kingdom endowed with both human and natural resources, The kingdom has been in existence for over 600 years and is ruled by a Paramount Ruler known as the Enachioken who is chosen through a linage of royal family.
Apart from the Enachioken, there are two other rulers that complete the tripod comprising of two other villages Amake and Amaogudu.
Three villages make up the Abiriba community.
Each of these villages have its own rulers the Ogbari and Efa three of them make up the Enachoken in council. The three sit in council with Enachoken presiding.
Abiriba is a unique kingdom because unlike other communities around it they are matrilineal instead of patrilineal. This means they inherit from the mother instead of the father.
The Abiriba people are industrious and known for pre-historical black smiting and sculpture artifacts but the people have transitioned to trading and industrialization. they are widely travelled and are correspondingly cosmopolitan.
They are also warriors and hunters engaging in mercenary activities way beyond their borders before the advent of colonialism.
To be able to live the way of the warrior the community is arranged in age grades beginning from the smallest uke igbanunu to the uke ime uche
The age grade system of the Abiriba kingdom is a very serious tradition that forms the bedrock of the society which guides and regulate both the male and female.
This is to say both male and female stock belong to age grade all having their functions and roles.
The uniqueness of Abiriba can be seen in various other traditional practices from masquerades to delicacies.
The culture of Abiriba is similar to that of the Portuguese because they traded with them during the early slave trade and borrowed a lot of lifestyle from which can be seen in the kind of houses built in the village.
When Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe visited the Village in the early 30s, he nicknamed the village Small London seeing the kind of European facilities that existed there at the time like story buildings and water cistern.
Till today, Abiriba is known as the Small London.
Ndị Abiriba kaa oh!
Source : Rising sun history
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