Calabar is the capital of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and creeks of the Cross River. Calabar is often described as the tourism capital of Nigeria, especially due to several initiatives implemented during the Duke Administration, which made the city the cleanest and environmentally friendliest city in Nigeria. Administratively, the city is divided into Calabar Municipal and Calabar SouthLocal Government Areas. It has an area of and a population of 371,022 as at 2006 census.
History
On 10 September 1884, Queen Victoria signed a Treaty of Protection with the King and Chiefs of Akwa Akpa, known to Europeans as Old Calabar. This enabled the United Kingdom to exercise control over the entire territory around Calabar, including Bakassi. Today, Calabar is a large metropolis with several towns like Akim, Ikot Ansa, Ikot Ishie, Kasuk, Duke Town, Henshaw Town, Cobham Town, Ikot Omin, Obutong.
Seaport City
Since the 16th century, Calabar had been a recognized international seaport, shipping out goods such as palm oil. During the era of the Atlantic slave trade, it became a major port in the transportation of African slaves and was named Calabar by the Spanish. By the 18th century, most slave ships that transported slaves from Calabar were English, with around 85% of these ships being owned by Bristol and Liverpool merchants. Old Calabar and Creek Town, northeast, were crucial towns in the trade of slaves in that era. The first British warship to sail as far as Duke Town, where she captured seven Spanish and Portuguese slavers, may have been in 1815. The main ethnic group taken out of Calabar as slaves were the Igbos, from the neighboring Igbo land. African-American writer and slave John Jea was from the area. A small mulatto community of merchants was located there that had links to missionary and other merchant colonies in Igboland, Lagos, and across the Atlantic.
Landmarks
The city was the home the first social club in Nigeria, The Africa Club. It hosted the first competitive football, cricket and field hockey games in Nigeria. Among the city's firsts were the first Roman Catholic Mass and the oldest secondary school in eastern Nigeria. The school later graduated Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was elected as the first President of Nigeria. The city has an international museum, a botanical garden, a Free Trade Zone/Port, an international airport and seaport, an integrated sports stadium complex, a cultural centre, one of the most prominent universities in the country – the University of Calabar, a slave history park and several historical and cultural landmarks. It also has several standard hotels, resorts and amusement parks. The former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor lived in the old colonial palace in the city, under an agreement that led to the end of his country's civil war, before fleeing extradition to Liberia in March 2006. The Tinapa Resort, a development by the Cross River State government, lies to the north of the city beside the Calabar Free Trade Zone. The Cross River State Annual ChristmasFestival held every year attracts thousands from within and beyond Nigeria. The festival, includes music performance from both local and international artists. Other annual events include the Calabar Carnival, a boat regatta, fashion shows, a Christmas Village, traditional dances and the annual Ekpe Festival.
Climate
Under Köppen's climate classification, Calabar features a tropical monsoon climate with a lengthy wet season spanning ten months and a short dry season covering the remaining two months. The harmattan, which significantly influences weather in West Africa, is noticeably less pronounced in the city. Temperatures are relatively constant throughout the year, with average high temperatures usually ranging from 25 to 28 degrees Celsius. There is also little variance between daytime and nighttime temperature, as temperatures at night are typically only a few degrees lower than the daytime high temperature. Calabar averages just over of precipitation annually.
Political authority
Calabar has three principal landlord kingdoms, namely the Qua Kingdom of Ejagham /Bantu origin, the Efut and the Efik Kingdoms. The Qua Kingdom has the Ndidem of the Qua nation as the Grand Patriarch, the Efut have the Muri munene as the Grand Patriarch, and the Efik Kingdom patriarch is known as the Obong. The Efik political authority as it concerns the Obong is hinged on a political tripod: Creek Town, made up of Ambo, Cobham and Eyo; Old Town, made up of Obutong; and Duke Town, or Atakpa, made up of Duke/Archibong, Eyamba, Ntiero, Henshaw and Cobham. Each leg of this tripod at one time or the other was ruled by a separate Obong. Within the last 100 years, a gentleman's agreement to merge these three zones into one, with a single titular head as the Obong, and the distribution or opening up of the title to all Efik wards, was reached. Each of the aspirants to the throne is eminently qualified, none no more so than the other. The title of the Obong of Calabar had been held by Nsa Effiom and Ekpo Nsa in the 17th century; these two gentlemen were from the Henshaw ward. Attempts by the Henshaw to have an Obong resulted in a war in 1870. The Henshaws did not attain this title again until within the last 50 years, when David Henshaw became Obong. Cobham Town, from which Bassey Ekpo Bassey hails, had its first and only Obong recently. All this was made possible because of "the contract".
Calabar Kingdom
Before the colonial period, Calabar, originally known as Akwa Akpa, was a kingdom with the City of Calabar as the site of government,Calabar has 3 different Monarch, the Obong of Calabar as the ruler of the Efiks and the Ekpe secret society as the stool on which the Obong of Calabar sat.The is the ruler of the Quas and paramount ruler of Calabar Municipality which is the seat of government. The muri munene of the Efuts who is the ruler of the Efuts and paramount ruler of Calabar South.
Calabar people
Calabar people are mainly people from the Greater Calabar district – Calabar South, Calabar Municipality, Akpabuyo, Bakassi, Biase, Odukpani and Akamkpa, but as commonly used in Nigeria, the term "Calabar people" could also refer to the indigenes of Greater Calabar as well as the people of the original South Eastern State of Nigeria who are at present the people of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State.
Nigerian Navy
Calabar is the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command. The city has a new model school, Nigerian Navy Secondary School, situated in Akpabuyo, about 10 minutes' drive from the airport. This new school complements the existing Nigerian Navy Primary School and Naval Officers Wives Association Primary School, both situated at Ikot Ansa Calabar.
