History | Location | Geography | | Education | Economy | People | Health | Government |Electricity | Food |

LOCATION.
Enugu State is an inland state in southeastern Nigeria. Its capital is Enugu where the state derives its name. Enugu state was created in 1991 from the old Anambra State. The principal cities in the state are Enugu, Nsukka, Awgu, Udi, Oji-River, Ozara, and Agbani. The state is led by an American trained medical doctor Dr. Chimaroke Ogbonnia Nnamani affectionately known as Ebeano (an Igbo word translated literally in English language as "the place to be". But an expressed meaning of "the very best"or"state of the art"). The state government is struggling to rehabilitate the entire state which had suffered serious infrastructural decay since after the Nigerian civil war and the long years of military dictatorship.

Although blessed with the largest deposits of coal in Africa, Natural gas, Limestone, Bauxite and very rich agricultural land, Most of the states Resources have remained un-taped. The current state government has however taken determined steps to reduce and ultimately eradicate abject poverty in the state using universal basic education, support for small scale enterprise and massive agricultural programs as cornerstone.

Enugu, the Enugu state capital have been referred to as the education capital of Nigeria because it hosts an array of very fine educational institutions within the rolling green hills of the well planned city. Enugu state is seeking to attract foreign investors to exploit its huge solid minerals deposit and agricultural potential. Enugu state remains one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.

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History.
The name of State derives from its capital city, Enugu. The word "Enugu" means "the top of the hill". The first European settlers arrived in the area in 1909, led by a British mining engineer, Mr. Kikson. In his quest for silver, he discovered coal in the Udi Ridge. The Colonial Governor, Lord Lugard, took keen interest in the discovery, and by 1914 the first shipment of coal was made to Britain. As mining activities increased in the area, a permanent cosmopolitan settlement emerged, supported by a railway system. Enugu acquired township status in 1917, and became strategic to British interests. Foreign businesses began to move into Enugu, the most notable of which were John Holt, Kingsway Stores, British Bank of West Africa and United Africa Company.

From Enugu, the British Administration was able to spread their influence over the Southern Province of Nigeria. The Colonial past of Enugu is today evidenced by the Georgian building types and delightful meandering narrow roads within the residential area originally reserved for the whites, an area which is today called the Government Reserved Area (GRA).

From being the capital of the Southern Provinces, Enugu became the capital of the Eastern Region (now divided into nine States), then the capital of East Central State, Anambra State, (old) Enugu State, and now the capital of the present Enugu State through a process of state creation and diffusion of administrative authority.

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Geography
Enugu State is one of the States in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. The state shares borders with Abia and Imo states to the South, Ebonyi State to the East, Benue State to the Northeast, Kogi State to the northwest and Anambra State to the West.

Though land-locked, Enugu is approximately 2-1/2 driving hours away from Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri, all coastal cities with major shipping ports. Enugu is also located within an hour’s drive from Onitsha and 2 hours’ drive from Aba, both of which are trading centres in Nigeria. The city is also located within 5 driving hours from Abuja and 7 driving hours from Lagos, the administrative and commercial headquarters of Nigeria respectively.

Lying partly within the semi-tropical rain forest belt of the south, the State spreads towards the north through a land area of approximately 8727.1 km². Its physical features change gradually from tropical rain forest to open wood-land and then to Savannah. Apart from a chain of low hills, running through Abakaliki, Ebonyi State in the east to Nsukka in the north-west, and southwards through Enugu and Agwu, the rest of the state is made up of low land separated by numerous streams and rivulets, the major ones of which are the Adada River and the Oji River.

Enugu has good soil and climate, sitting at about 223 meters above sea level, and the soil is well drained. The mean temperature in Enugu State in the hottest month of February is about 36.20C (97.16F), while the lowest temperatures occur in the month of November, reaching 20.30C (68.54F). The lowest rainfall of about 0.16cm3 is normal in February, while the highest is about 35.7cm3 in July.

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Educational Facilities.
Every community in Enugu State has at least one primary school and one secondary school, funded and run by Government. There are also large number of private nursery, primary and secondary schools in Enugu State.

Nigeria's first indigenous university, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) is located in Enugu State. The State also hosts the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Ebeano City, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Enugu State College of Education Technical, Enugu, Caritas University, Amorji-Nike, Renaissance University, Ugbawka, Our Saviour’s Institute of Science and Technology, Enugu, and the Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu. There are also a host of private computer schools and training centres concentrated in Enugu and Nsukka.

The result of this massive investment in education is a well-educated and affordable labour force. The new government in Enugu State is also planning to consciously encourage vocational and technical education at the intermediate level between secondary and tertiary levels of education. There is also deliberated policy for the promotion of computer education at the early stages of formal education.

With a population of about 2.5 million people, Enugu State has a population density two and half times the national average. Enugu, the capital city, is home to the Igbo speaking people of South Eastern Nigeria, widely known for their hospitality, industry, enterpreneurship and resourcefulness.

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People & Economy
the State is predominantly rural and agrarian, with a substantial proportion of its working population engaged in farming, although trading (40%) and services (25%) are also important. In the urban areas trading is the dominant occupation, followed by services, mostly public services though the private sector is presently receiving tremendous impetus. A small proportion of the population is also engaged in manufacturing activities, with the most pronounced among them located in Enugu, Oji, Ohebedim and Nsukka.

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Medical Facilities.
The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), one of the foremost teaching hospitals in Nigeria, is located in Enugu. So also is the state-of-the-art Enugu State University Teaching Hospital and College of Medicine at Parklane, GRA, Enugu. In addition to numerous private hospitals and clinics in the State, there are seven (7) District Hospitals at Enugu Urban, Udi, Agbani, Awgu, Ikem, Enugu-Ezike, and Nsukka and at least one health center or cottage hospital in every one of the seventeen (17) Local Government Areas and thirty nine (39) Development Centres in the State.

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Government.
In Enugu State occurs at two levels: the State Government and the Local Governments. Overall authority is exercised by the Executive Governor, elected by popular mandate. Political authority is exercised under a presidential system of government. There is also a popularly elected legislature, the Enugu State House of Assembly.

Political affairs in Enugu State are conducted in an atmosphere of political freedom and respect for human rights. A nation-wide multi-party system with State Chapters governs party politics in the State, as well as in the other 36 States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The current Governor of Enugu state is, Governor Sullivan Chime, from the peoples democratic party (PDP).

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Energy.
Electricity supply is relatively stable in Enugu. The Oji River Power Station (which used to supply electricity to all of Eastern Nigeria) is located in Enugu State. With the deregulation of electricity generation in Nigeria, and the proposed privatization of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), the State Government would assist private investors to negotiate the take over and reactivation of the Oji Power Station. This is more so with the proximity of the Enugu coal mines to the power station, a driving distance of about 20 minutes.

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Food.
There are many local chop houses and street food around in Enugu. There is also a considerate number of western (Golden Toast) and Chinese restaurants (Raya and Genesis) in the town, as well as fast-food places (Bubbles and Mr. Biggs) with pizza’s, hamburgers and fries served. Nightclubs, such as Grand Ales & Cave , do only serve light snacks.

Nigerian chophouses typically list a number of soups with meat or fish ingredients, served with either pounded yam, eba (steamed garri), semovita or jollof rice. Pounding yam is an effort on its own, and after observing its pounding, you probably value your food a lot more. The soups are mostly palm oil based and the most popular ones in Igboland are:

bitterleaf soup, with bitterleaf not very distant from spinach;

ora and ogri soup, a vegetable-based soup, most commonly eaten in villages;

egusi soup, yellowish soup based on melon seeds;

okro soup, sticky, viscous ‘draw’ soup made out of sliced okro pods;

ogbono soup, another ‘draw’ soup based on ogbono pods and

vegetable soup, the most exclusive soup, because of its ingredients.

Meat or fish is a key component of the soup, mostly originating from cow, chicken, goat, turkey, dry fish or stockfish. Stockfish is air-dried codfish that is soaked and cooked in the soup. Some restaurants advertise bush meat as well, which can be from antelopes, but more valued is the grass-cutter (also called bush or cane rat), or maybe even less familiar species. Bush rat meat is worth a try, when cooked properly, as it is very tender and well spiced. Vegetarians, unfortunately, may find themselves limited to only a few non-meat dishes on the menu list.

The less hungry people may try moi-moi or suya. Moin-moin is a delicious steamed bean cake; suya is a brochette with thin slices of grilled cow or goat meat.

To make this section complete, you can find the recipes for egusi and okro soup:

Egusi Soup:

675 g of meat, chicken or fish,
½ cup of dried shrimp or crayfish,
1 ½ cup of tomato paste,
2 cups of leafy spinach, bitterleaf or other greens,
2-3 chilli peppers,
1 cup of palm oil,
½ cup of sliced onions,
1 cup of egusi seeds (or melon seeds),
salt to taste.

Cut the meat into bite-sized chunks and add 1 cup of water, ½ teaspoon of salt and half cup of onions to it and cook it for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fry the finely chopped onions, tomato paste and peppers for 5 minutes in palm oil. Grid or crush the egusi seeds and mix it with enough water to make a paste and add to above together with the shrimp or crayfish. When the meat gets brownish, add it to the above sauce to cook until tender. Add the bunches of bitterleaf (finely chopped) 10 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Okro Soup:

5 pods of okro,
Meat or fish,
1 medium onion
3 peppers
½ cup crayfish
1 dessert spoon of palm oil
1 stock cube and salt

Trim, wash and cut meat or fish into small pieces and boil until cooked. Pound together the onion, peppers and crayfish, add it to the meat and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Add the okro, stock, salt, palm oil to the soup and cook for a further 3 minutes. Note that for vegetable soup, you can use green leaf instead of okro.
Both soups are to be most typically served with pounded yam or garri.

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