ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN AMALLA AND OWUKPA: 1967-2020

Abstract

This paper explores the economic relations between the Amalla people of Udenu Local Government Area in Enugu State, and the Owukpa people of Ogbadigbo Local Government Area of Benue State, both of which are the border communities in the northernmost part of Igboland and the southernmost part of Idomaland respectively, from 1967 when the Nigerian Civil War broke out to the year 2020. Just like economic relations between groups especially those who are neighbors is an inevitable Part of human history, the economic relations between the Amalla and Owukpa people in Enugu and Benue states respectively is not in doubt. What however, is in doubt is if these relations together with its trends and pattern have received adequate documentation from scholars of both Amalla and Owukpa decent. This paper therefore, aims to x-ray the relations in the economic parlance that have existed between the Amalla and the Owukpa people from 1967 up to the year 2020. To achieve this, the paper relies mainly on oral sources owing to the paucity of secondary and tertiary sources on the subject matter, and deploys the descriptive and narrative methods of historical research. This paper concludes that Amalla and Owukpa communities share strong economic ties in the areas of agriculture, trades and employment, and this reality has aided the peaceful coexistence of the two communities from 1967-2020.