Okpofe
Okpofe is an autonomous community located in Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, Imo State, Nigeria with common boundaries with Itu, Ezeagbogu, Ihitte and Amumara autonomous communities. Okpofe is the very centre of Ezinihitte Mbaise Clan, and it is the only town in Ezinihitte Mbaise that does not share a boundary with another local government area in Imo State. It is quite a unique town in Ezinihitte. Most of the general activities of Ezinihitte that are held in Okpofe are held there due to its central position. It is also on record that the Roman Catholic Church first established in Okpofe town in the whole of Ezinihitte Mbaise (by 2018, the town will be marking the centenary celebration of the existence of the Roman Catholic Church in Okpofe.) The Anglican Juniorate in Mbaise is located in Okpofe.
Okpofe is a community in Ezinihitte Mbaise. Its first traditional ruler was the late Eze Ewulonu Modestus C. Anyankah, who ascended the throne at the age of 42, born by an Umuimee daughter to an Okwu man. Today, the traditional affairs of the town are under the care of His Royal Highness Eze Sir Reginald Jesse Chukwuma Aguwamba, who has been described as "the man of the people", and whose uncle was the last warrant chief that also crowned the Late Eze Anyankah in the late 70's. Eze Reginald Aguwamba was born by an Umuimee man. (Take note of the importance of this village Umuimee in the history of Ezeship in Okpofe). A surveyor by profession, Eze Aguwamba retired voluntarily from the Owerri Capital Development Authority to serve his fatherland as the Eze Oha II. He has, so far, led the community to an enviable position in the Oji Ezinihitte Festival that no other community in the clan has attained during the 2013 Oji Festival at Okpofe and the recently concluded one at Ezeagbogu. Within his first few months in office, some other developmental projects from the Imo State Government came into Okpofe. This is the sign of a good choice of traditional ruler!
The story of Okpofe cannot be complete any day without mention to Late Sydney Ngozi Njoku. He almost single-handedly financed the building of Okpofe Secondary School, Okpofe Town Hall, The Okpofe Post Office. He undertook and concluded several human and structural developmental projects in Okpofe, Ezinihitte and Imo State at large. "Singoz", as he was popularly called, died in 1983 at the age of 42 years.
Villages
Okpofe, which is broadly divided into two sections- Umuerim and Imoko, is made up of 12 villages namely:
- Chukwuoma
- Umuafoeze
- Umuocha
- Umumgbadi
- Okwu
- Okpuala
- Umuoma
- Umuimee
- Umuotirikpo
- Dimukwu
- Umuke
- Okwuaba
Note that this list is not in order of seniority. The first six villages belong to Imoko while the last six villages belong to Umuerim.
Market
Okpofe has a central market called Afo-Ekiri Market, which is located at the centre of the entire community. It is also called Ahia Afor because it is held on Afor days. The second market, which is at Umuke village, is called Nkwo-onyeokamma. It is held on Nkwo days.[1]
Churches
The two largest churches in Okpofe are; Christ the King Catholic Church, and St. Marks Anglican Church. There are also the Apostolic, Assemblies of God, Christ Chosen, Christ Faith, SDA,Cherubim and Seraphim,Christ Solution Ministry, and more.[2]
Schools
Okpofe Community has a secondary school (Okpofe Secondary School), and an Anglican Juniorate (Mary Sumner Juniorate), three primary schools (Central School aka CKS, Community School, and Group School Okpofe), and a private Secondary School (Bro Fab).
Other facilities
- Micro-finance,
- bank,
- Okpofe town hall,
- health center,
- post office,and more.
Okpofe Improvement Union
There is an Okpofe Improvement Union (OIU) in the community with branches in: Port Harcourt, Owerri, Aba, Enugu, Lagos, Onitsha, Warri, Calabar, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ibadan, Abuja, Kano, New York City and ODA USA. The OIU Home and Abroad has contributed to the development and improvement of the community. It is currently headed by Dr. Ohuakanwa
The following are the Age Grades in Okpofe:
- Chikwadoro.
- Ugochukwu.
- Igwebuike.
- Ndiekwoaba.
- Ezinwanne.
- Ogueri.
- Udo-Abia.
- Ahaoma.
- Akurulo.
- Udokamma.