Sapele, Delta


Sapele is a town in Delta State, Nigeria. The origin of the name is believed to be an anglicized derivation of the Okpe word Uriapele, named after a local deity, the shrine of which can still be found in the centre of the city. It is believed the British colonial authorities changed the name of the then hamlet to Sapele as it was easier to pronounce.
By the mid-19th century, Sapele was established as a trading center, occasionally visited by Europeans. In 1891, the British government established a vice-consulate at Sapele. The population grew to 33,638 by 1952, because of the cosmopolitan nature of the city, people from many Nigerian ethnic groups have settled there, alongside the many Okpe people, these also include the Itsekiris and ijaws, as well as the Urhobo people from surrounding towns and villages.
Today, the town has one of Nigeria's major ports and also non-salty. Its industries include the processing of timber, rubber, and palm oil, as well as furniture, tamarind balm and footwear manufacturing. Sapele also, is hub to oil and gas exploration, with flow stations situated in Shell Road and Oton. It has various oil wells in neighboring towns and villages like Ugborhen, Ugbukurusu, Amukpe, Okirigwe and Oton under Sapele's local Government. Its population was 135,800 as of 1995, growing to 242,652 as of 2005/06.
The surrounding forest is predominantly made up of Entandrophragma cylindricum or Sapele, which is the kind of tree the city lends its name from. Sapele was one of Africa's largest timber producers. The African Timber and Plywood, a factory from a division of the United Africa Company, once reputed to be the largest timber manufacturing complex in the world, in its prime, it was the city's largest employer with an estimated 6000 employees
The Ogorode district of the city houses two of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria power generation plants, one of six majors in the country and the nation's second-largest with an installed capacity of 1000 MW as well as an NIPP power plant.

Establishment of British Government

In August 1891, the British Government established a Consular Administration over the Oil Rivers Protectorate, later, the Niger Coast Protectorate. The administration, consisting of six consular river districts, was under Major Claude M. Macdonald. He was the Commissioner and Consul-General and his headquarters was at Calabar. Tow of the sic river districts were located at Benin River and Forcados River. Shortly after its establishment, the Forcados River District was removed to Warri trading station which is now the Warri Township. It is with the Benin River District that we are concerned in this paper. The first Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul in charge of the Benin River District was Captain H. L. Gallwey. The District Office was at the mouth of Benin River, from the sea coast. The jurisdiction of the Vice-Consul covered the whole of the Benin country and included the south-western part of the Itsekiri country and the north-western part of the Urhobo country particularly along the Ethiope River.
About two months after the establishment of the Protectorate Government, Gallwey was given an important duty to carry out. One of the first assignments to Gallwey was the survey in October, 1891, of the Urhobo Oil markets along the Ethiope River.
On 27 October 1891 accompanied by Mr. S. Munro of the African Association, Gallwey proceeded on the voyage for the survey in a launch hired from Messrs. Bey and Zimmer, a German trading firm at Benin River. The following part of his report is pertinent:
Major Claude Maxwell Macdonald, the Commissioner and Consul-General visited Sapele on 14 November 1891, and approved the site as being eminently suitable. In his Despatch No. 30 the Foreign Office, dated 12 December 1891, the Major said "I consider the Sapoli would be a very good situation for the establishment of a constabulary station; the ground is high, and though covered with forest, could be easily cleared. The people of Sapoli informed me that if I would come and build there, they would clear as much ground as I wished." That was the historic decision that made Sapele Village the modern Township it came to be in later years.
The Government did not however wait for the work on the site of the proposed Sapele constabulary station to be completed before establishing there. The matter was urgent and a temporary device had to be made. A ship named the "Hindustan" bought at Bristol was sailed to Benin River. There it was dismantled, fitted up as a hulk, and towed to the Sapele anchorage. The hulk was said to have provided excellent accommodation for four Europeans, a Customs Office, a Consular Court, a Treasury, a Prison and Barracks for civil police.
While the machinery of Government began in the hulk, the excellent site opposite the anchorage was being cleared for the construction of barracks to accommodate sixty men and a detachment of Protectorate troops under an English Officer. That was in 1892. To live and work in a hulk might be an innovation at Sapele, but the idea was certainly not a new one to Europeans, especially European traders in the Oil Rivers. By its strategic location, Sapele, like Degema was considered to be an important military and administrative station for the projection of power and authority.
Details about the settlement of the Government at Sapele for the next two years are yet unknown and must await further research. It is known however that by July, 1894, a Medical Department had been established. It is also known that by 1895, the Sapele Vice-Consulate had already been sufficiently established as to warrant the closing down of the Vice-Consulate at Benin River. Thereafter, the Benin River Office was used as a Customs post until 27 October 1905, when the post was removed to Koko Town.

Notable people