Aro In Circulating Media Of Exchange
Prof. Chris Aniche Okorafor
There is a general acceptance in the history of the
South Eastern Nigeria that the Aro revolutionalized
the practice of commerce by standardizing monetary
currencies within the region. The Aro were no less
economists as other renowned ones such as John Law
(1671 - 1729) the Scottish Financier who in his book
‘Money and Trade Considered’ wrote that “National
Power and Wealth consists in numbers of People, and
Magazines of Home and Foreign Goods. These depend on
Trade, and Trade depends on Money.” It is no big
surprise therefore; that at least two nations have Aro
related themes on their currencies. The Central Bank
of Nigeria N10 note is one and carries the picture of
Dr. Azinna Alvan Ikoku (1900 -1971). The degree of his
excellence in worthy human activity cannot be
overemphasized. Pages 18 and 19 of the Dedication
Brochure of St. Thomas Catholic Church Parish, Amuvi,
present a peep-hole into the spiritual and material
works of Mary Slessor in the planting of the Gospel in
Arochukwu and its neighborhood. She is there also
quoted to have said that the Gospel should have been
the first to enter Aro territory, but that since the
sword and gun preceded the Good News of God’s
relationship to humankind, she definitely had to
promptly move into the area. These her thoughts, based
on her biography which I owe to the library of Mazi
Godwin Udoh, were sequel to her abandoning the
expansion of her Mission Stations in 1900 very “much
against her will. She was ordered back to Creek Town,
as the Government was obliged to send out troops
against the Aros, who refused to submit to
Government.” Her saintly life has been commemorated
in a new Scottish ₤10 note which again spotlights Aro.
The illustration on this currency note depicts the
steamer Ethiopia in which she set sail on Monday Eke,
5th August, 1876, at the age of twenty-eight, as a
United Presbyterian Church Missionary teacher for
Calabar. Also included are two of her portraits. In one
she is shown meditatively studying the Scriptures,
while in the other she is shown nurturing twins she had
saved from elimination under the prevailing custom
that regarded them as heinous abnormalities. The
mothers of twins or widows who merited expulsion from
society, sale into slavery or outright death are shown
standing by the thatched house in the background.
Central to the layout is a map shrouded in an honors
wreath with Stars and St. Andrew’s Crosses. This map
illustrates what the article in the Brochure refers to
as “given her hardy nature and spiritual drive, she
flanked off the Cross River and spread the good news
along the territories flanking the Enyong Creek.” The
map depicts her point of entry in Calabar Estuary and
traces her missionary journeys to her key Mission
Stations in Arochukwu, Ibibio and Ekoi territories
within neighborhood of the confluence of the Enyong
and Cross Rivers. Two key locations specifically
indicated are AROCHUKWU and Amasu, its river port.
These her riverine missionary journeys were saddled
with not only the risks and hardship of endemic
diseases of malaria, gastroenteritis etc., but also
included occasional near-miss encounter with
hippopotamuses. According to her biographer, “at
Arochukwu … when she was embarking for home she was
pressed on all hands to come back soon. She lay back in
her canoe, thanking God for prospering her
undertakings, and admiring the loveliness of the
landscape around her. Enyong Creek, the scene of most
fearful wickedness and anguish, the hotbed of slave-
trade and superstition, was beautiful. Tropical trees
lined the banks, their branches often interlacing — the
fallen trunks having their hollows full of lovely
orchids and ferns; the surface of the water bearing
pretty water lilies; blue kingfishers and yellow palm
birds flitting through the foliage overhead as the
canoe slips softly along the waterway. Miss Slessor
knew all about the Aros and the Long Juju with its wily
slave-trade system. Whilst in Okoyong she had had
visitors from Arochukwu, with their tales of cruelty
and wrong, and had already won a place in the hearts of
many of their chiefs. And now she had received a
welcome from the men who themselves were responsible
for the wicked slave traffic carried on by the
superstition of the Long Juju, and had stood on the
very spot itself where the iniquitous practice was
carried on.”
Most of us do not have any ‘skin pain’ in the choice of
words by Miss Slessor’s biographer. We know that all
nations have histories laden with “the good, the bad and
the ugly.” For Aro and the Aro, Mary Slessor “who
knew all about the Aros and the Long Juju”, Luke: 7:47
was very pertinent in that it is written that “for this
reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must
have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown
such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little
who shows little love.” There appears to be some kind
of a paradox in that the foreign concept that designed
and issued this ₤10 note was not and is not as much a
beneficiary as the one that changed the little street in
Calabar previously known as Mary Slessor Street to
some ex-senator’s name. Such are the ways of mankind.
God bless Nigeria. In closing, I extend good wishes of
the Easter to our Brother Jonathan Okereke (Aloma)
who mailed in the pound note from Britain.
Aro Queen Beauty Pageant Show Miss Nkechinyere
Okereke Emerges Most Pretty Girl!!
By Nwamazi Emeka Aniche
Never in the history of beauty pageants in Arochukwu
Kingdom has such a high level of planning and
organization been witnessed nor such a large number of
audience been recorded, as in the just concluded Aro
Queen Beauty Pageant. This novelty of sort became a
reality in the aforementioned maiden edition of the Aro
Queen Beauty Pageant, which took place at Amuvi,
Arochukwu on Saturday, 27 December 2003. Getting
into the venue of the show certainly gave a hint that
the pageant was going to be a memorable show. There
was a traffic jam caused by cars and human traffic
trying to get into the venue of the show. The Policemen
manning the entrance gate had a herculean task trying
to control the crowd. The venue was outdoor. The stage
was breathtakingly beautiful. The show as usual, by
‘African time’ started late. The delay notwithstanding,
a huge crowd waited patiently and defied the very cold
harmattan weather outdoor to witness the crowning of
the new queen. The audience was a mixture of people of
all ages. It was a family affair, as parents came with
their children. The event, which had 12 finalists
jostling for the coveted “throne”, had as judges, Mr.
Afam Kanu, Treasury Manager, IEA Limited; Mrs. F.
Okafor, representing Ayman Enterprises Limited; and
Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Christy Nwokoro. Mr. Uche Ogbuagu, a.
k.a. Talkinson International and Sacremento who
compered the show made the audience to roll on the
floor with laughter, with their jokes. United Mega
Stars Band and other artistes were there to keep the
show alive as they thrilled the guests with their music.
The contestants first made an opening non-scoring
appearance on stage, in which they appeared on T-
Shirts and jeans trousers. This was quickly followed by
appearance in traditional attires, which added color to
the occasion. The evening gown segment followed. Uche
Ogbuagu interviewed the finalists on-stage. After all
the rituals that usually attend beauty pageants of that
nature have been concluded, Sacramento was given the
responsibility to announce the results which saw Miss
Nkechinyere Okereke, a 21-year old student of
University of Uyo, emerging as winner. Chinyere
Okoroafor was the 1st runners-up; Ifeyinwa Iphie –
2nd runners-up; Queen Orji – 3rd runners-up; while
Agodi Elekwa was the 4th runners-up. The new beauty
queen got a N20, 000.00 cash, a color television set
(donated by Ayman Enterprises Limited), Certificate of
Achievement from Arochukwu Network, beauty care
products, and one year free beauty soaps and laundry
soaps supply from International Equitable Association
Limited, Aba, Nigeria. The 1st runners-up got a N15,
000.00 cash, a VCD set (donated by Ayman Enterprises
Limited), Beauty care products, a Certificate of
Achievement., The 2nd runners-up was not left out in
the largesse as she got N15,000.00 cash and beauty
care products. Prizes were also awarded for the best
Evening Gown and Traditional Attire, which was won by
Miss Ifeyinwa Iphie and Miss Chinyere Okoroafor
respectively. The beauty pageant is historic in the
sense that the organizers of the Pageant did not allow
contestants to go home empty handed. Other side
attractions during the show included the Amigos Hair
Products Parade, in which beautiful damsels wearing
various Amigos Hair Style products entertained the
audience with their catwalks on stage. Jennifer
Nnaekpe from University of Uyo and Chioma Nwokoro
mimed a song by Deborah Cox. There was scintillating
fireworks display. The audience, the contestants and
the artistes had lots of fun. The money raised from the
gate takings of the show will be channeled towards the
building of the only community secondary school in
Arochukwu: The Comprehensive Secondary School,
Amuvi. Aros can not help longing for a repeat of the
classy event this year.
Arochukwu On The Scottish Pound Note
The Scottish government recently issued a new ten
pound note with a map of Mary Slessor’s route into
Arochukwu and other settlements of old South Eastern
Nigeria. This is the first time the name of any town in
Nigeria would appear on the currency of any other
country, especially in Europe. It is indeed an epoch
making event and an achievement worth celebrating.
While we celebrate the life and the time of Mary
Slessor, we also recognize the great contributions of
Aro’s ingenious forebears in diplomacy, conflict
resolution, culture, tradition, trade and enterprise. We
salute the singular courage, vision and sacrifice of
Mary Slessor and other missionaries who brought
knowledge and development through their activities in
Africa. No honor is too great in recognition of the
enormous sacrifices they made for the benefit of
humanity.
Prof. Chris Aniche Okorafor
There is a general acceptance in the history of the
South Eastern Nigeria that the Aro revolutionalized
the practice of commerce by standardizing monetary
currencies within the region. The Aro were no less
economists as other renowned ones such as John Law
(1671 - 1729) the Scottish Financier who in his book
‘Money and Trade Considered’ wrote that “National
Power and Wealth consists in numbers of People, and
Magazines of Home and Foreign Goods. These depend on
Trade, and Trade depends on Money.” It is no big
surprise therefore; that at least two nations have Aro
related themes on their currencies. The Central Bank
of Nigeria N10 note is one and carries the picture of
Dr. Azinna Alvan Ikoku (1900 -1971). The degree of his
excellence in worthy human activity cannot be
overemphasized. Pages 18 and 19 of the Dedication
Brochure of St. Thomas Catholic Church Parish, Amuvi,
present a peep-hole into the spiritual and material
works of Mary Slessor in the planting of the Gospel in
Arochukwu and its neighborhood. She is there also
quoted to have said that the Gospel should have been
the first to enter Aro territory, but that since the
sword and gun preceded the Good News of God’s
relationship to humankind, she definitely had to
promptly move into the area. These her thoughts, based
on her biography which I owe to the library of Mazi
Godwin Udoh, were sequel to her abandoning the
expansion of her Mission Stations in 1900 very “much
against her will. She was ordered back to Creek Town,
as the Government was obliged to send out troops
against the Aros, who refused to submit to
Government.” Her saintly life has been commemorated
in a new Scottish ₤10 note which again spotlights Aro.
The illustration on this currency note depicts the
steamer Ethiopia in which she set sail on Monday Eke,
5th August, 1876, at the age of twenty-eight, as a
United Presbyterian Church Missionary teacher for
Calabar. Also included are two of her portraits. In one
she is shown meditatively studying the Scriptures,
while in the other she is shown nurturing twins she had
saved from elimination under the prevailing custom
that regarded them as heinous abnormalities. The
mothers of twins or widows who merited expulsion from
society, sale into slavery or outright death are shown
standing by the thatched house in the background.
Central to the layout is a map shrouded in an honors
wreath with Stars and St. Andrew’s Crosses. This map
illustrates what the article in the Brochure refers to
as “given her hardy nature and spiritual drive, she
flanked off the Cross River and spread the good news
along the territories flanking the Enyong Creek.” The
map depicts her point of entry in Calabar Estuary and
traces her missionary journeys to her key Mission
Stations in Arochukwu, Ibibio and Ekoi territories
within neighborhood of the confluence of the Enyong
and Cross Rivers. Two key locations specifically
indicated are AROCHUKWU and Amasu, its river port.
These her riverine missionary journeys were saddled
with not only the risks and hardship of endemic
diseases of malaria, gastroenteritis etc., but also
included occasional near-miss encounter with
hippopotamuses. According to her biographer, “at
Arochukwu … when she was embarking for home she was
pressed on all hands to come back soon. She lay back in
her canoe, thanking God for prospering her
undertakings, and admiring the loveliness of the
landscape around her. Enyong Creek, the scene of most
fearful wickedness and anguish, the hotbed of slave-
trade and superstition, was beautiful. Tropical trees
lined the banks, their branches often interlacing — the
fallen trunks having their hollows full of lovely
orchids and ferns; the surface of the water bearing
pretty water lilies; blue kingfishers and yellow palm
birds flitting through the foliage overhead as the
canoe slips softly along the waterway. Miss Slessor
knew all about the Aros and the Long Juju with its wily
slave-trade system. Whilst in Okoyong she had had
visitors from Arochukwu, with their tales of cruelty
and wrong, and had already won a place in the hearts of
many of their chiefs. And now she had received a
welcome from the men who themselves were responsible
for the wicked slave traffic carried on by the
superstition of the Long Juju, and had stood on the
very spot itself where the iniquitous practice was
carried on.”
Most of us do not have any ‘skin pain’ in the choice of
words by Miss Slessor’s biographer. We know that all
nations have histories laden with “the good, the bad and
the ugly.” For Aro and the Aro, Mary Slessor “who
knew all about the Aros and the Long Juju”, Luke: 7:47
was very pertinent in that it is written that “for this
reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must
have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown
such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little
who shows little love.” There appears to be some kind
of a paradox in that the foreign concept that designed
and issued this ₤10 note was not and is not as much a
beneficiary as the one that changed the little street in
Calabar previously known as Mary Slessor Street to
some ex-senator’s name. Such are the ways of mankind.
God bless Nigeria. In closing, I extend good wishes of
the Easter to our Brother Jonathan Okereke (Aloma)
who mailed in the pound note from Britain.
Aro Queen Beauty Pageant Show Miss Nkechinyere
Okereke Emerges Most Pretty Girl!!
By Nwamazi Emeka Aniche
Never in the history of beauty pageants in Arochukwu
Kingdom has such a high level of planning and
organization been witnessed nor such a large number of
audience been recorded, as in the just concluded Aro
Queen Beauty Pageant. This novelty of sort became a
reality in the aforementioned maiden edition of the Aro
Queen Beauty Pageant, which took place at Amuvi,
Arochukwu on Saturday, 27 December 2003. Getting
into the venue of the show certainly gave a hint that
the pageant was going to be a memorable show. There
was a traffic jam caused by cars and human traffic
trying to get into the venue of the show. The Policemen
manning the entrance gate had a herculean task trying
to control the crowd. The venue was outdoor. The stage
was breathtakingly beautiful. The show as usual, by
‘African time’ started late. The delay notwithstanding,
a huge crowd waited patiently and defied the very cold
harmattan weather outdoor to witness the crowning of
the new queen. The audience was a mixture of people of
all ages. It was a family affair, as parents came with
their children. The event, which had 12 finalists
jostling for the coveted “throne”, had as judges, Mr.
Afam Kanu, Treasury Manager, IEA Limited; Mrs. F.
Okafor, representing Ayman Enterprises Limited; and
Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Christy Nwokoro. Mr. Uche Ogbuagu, a.
k.a. Talkinson International and Sacremento who
compered the show made the audience to roll on the
floor with laughter, with their jokes. United Mega
Stars Band and other artistes were there to keep the
show alive as they thrilled the guests with their music.
The contestants first made an opening non-scoring
appearance on stage, in which they appeared on T-
Shirts and jeans trousers. This was quickly followed by
appearance in traditional attires, which added color to
the occasion. The evening gown segment followed. Uche
Ogbuagu interviewed the finalists on-stage. After all
the rituals that usually attend beauty pageants of that
nature have been concluded, Sacramento was given the
responsibility to announce the results which saw Miss
Nkechinyere Okereke, a 21-year old student of
University of Uyo, emerging as winner. Chinyere
Okoroafor was the 1st runners-up; Ifeyinwa Iphie –
2nd runners-up; Queen Orji – 3rd runners-up; while
Agodi Elekwa was the 4th runners-up. The new beauty
queen got a N20, 000.00 cash, a color television set
(donated by Ayman Enterprises Limited), Certificate of
Achievement from Arochukwu Network, beauty care
products, and one year free beauty soaps and laundry
soaps supply from International Equitable Association
Limited, Aba, Nigeria. The 1st runners-up got a N15,
000.00 cash, a VCD set (donated by Ayman Enterprises
Limited), Beauty care products, a Certificate of
Achievement., The 2nd runners-up was not left out in
the largesse as she got N15,000.00 cash and beauty
care products. Prizes were also awarded for the best
Evening Gown and Traditional Attire, which was won by
Miss Ifeyinwa Iphie and Miss Chinyere Okoroafor
respectively. The beauty pageant is historic in the
sense that the organizers of the Pageant did not allow
contestants to go home empty handed. Other side
attractions during the show included the Amigos Hair
Products Parade, in which beautiful damsels wearing
various Amigos Hair Style products entertained the
audience with their catwalks on stage. Jennifer
Nnaekpe from University of Uyo and Chioma Nwokoro
mimed a song by Deborah Cox. There was scintillating
fireworks display. The audience, the contestants and
the artistes had lots of fun. The money raised from the
gate takings of the show will be channeled towards the
building of the only community secondary school in
Arochukwu: The Comprehensive Secondary School,
Amuvi. Aros can not help longing for a repeat of the
classy event this year.
Arochukwu On The Scottish Pound Note
The Scottish government recently issued a new ten
pound note with a map of Mary Slessor’s route into
Arochukwu and other settlements of old South Eastern
Nigeria. This is the first time the name of any town in
Nigeria would appear on the currency of any other
country, especially in Europe. It is indeed an epoch
making event and an achievement worth celebrating.
While we celebrate the life and the time of Mary
Slessor, we also recognize the great contributions of
Aro’s ingenious forebears in diplomacy, conflict
resolution, culture, tradition, trade and enterprise. We
salute the singular courage, vision and sacrifice of
Mary Slessor and other missionaries who brought
knowledge and development through their activities in
Africa. No honor is too great in recognition of the
enormous sacrifices they made for the benefit of
humanity.
Copyright © 2009 www.aronewsonline.com
Designed by AOY CONSULT
Designed by AOY CONSULT
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| NEWS |
Copyright © 2009 www.aronewsonline.com
Designed by AOY Consult
Designed by AOY Consult
|