Efik
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The Efik people are a branch of the Ibibio, who in the early 1600s migrated down the Cross River from Cameroon and founded numerous settlements in the Creek Town-Duke Town and surrounding areas in coastal southeastern Nigeria in present Cross River State of Nigeria. This area of Nigeria along with present-day Akwa Ibom State are usually referred to as the Calabar area (and Calabar people accordingly) after the old Calabar Kingdom. Calabar is not to be confused with Kalabari in the Rivers State, 160 kilometres to the west (see Calabar and Kalabari).
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[edit] The Efik and Their History
Although their economy was originally based on fishing, the area quickly developed into a major trading centre and remained so well into the early 1900s. Incoming European goods were traded for slaves, palm oil and other palm products. The Efik kings collected a trading tax called comey from docking ships until the British replaced it with 'comey subsidies'.[1]
The Efik were the middle men between the white traders on the coast and the inland tribes of the Cross river and Calabar district. Christian missions were at work among the Efiks beginning in the middle of the 19th century. Even by 1900, many of the native peoples were well educated in European ideologies and culture, professed Christianity and dressed in European fashion.
The Efik are related to the Oron, Eket and Ikom people by common ancestors. A powerful bond of union among the Efik, and one that gives them considerable influence over other tribes, is the secret society known as the Ekpe, the inventor of the Nsibidi, an ancient African Writing.
In 1884 the Efik kings and the chiefs of the Efik placed themselves under British protection. These treaties and attendant territorial economic rights, are documented in CAP 23 of Laws of Eastern Nigeria, captioned 'Comey subsidies law'.[1] The Efik king also known as Obong of Calabar still (as of 2006) is a political power among the Efik.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Fubara, Dagogo M.J. (5 March 2006) "Legendary legacies of Dappa-Biriye" The Tide Rivers State Newspaper Corp., Port Harcourt, Nigeria;
- ^ >Nwagbara, Friday (2 June 2006) "Efik monarch withholds blessing for South-South" The Tide Rivers State Newspaper Corp., Port Harcourt, Nigeria;
[edit] References
- Waddell (1846) Efik or Old Calabar Waddell, Old Calabar;
- This article incorporates text from the Calabar article in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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[edit] See also
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