Owerri
| Owerri | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 5 ° 29 ′ N , 7 ° 2 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Nigeria | ||
| Imo | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | NG-IM | ||
| Residents | 538,666 (calculation 2012) | ||
Owerri is the capital of the Nigerian state Imo and is located in the southeast of Nigeria. According to a calculation from 2012, it has almost 540,000 inhabitants.
history
After Umuahia was occupied by Nigerian troops in the Biafra War , Owerri was named the third capital of Biafra on April 22, 1969 . On January 9, 1970, six days before Biafra surrendered, Owerri was also occupied.
In 1948 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri was established as the Apostolic Vicariate . In 1950 this was elevated to a diocese and in 1997 to an archdiocese.
Economy and Infrastructure
Important agricultural or forestry products of the city are yams , cassava , taro , corn , rubber and palm oil . The Owerri airport is located about 23 km south and connects Owerri to Abuja , Lagos , Port Harcourt and Enugu .
Owerri is the seat of two universities, the Federal University of Technology , which is subordinate to the Federal Republic, and the Imo State University , the university of the state of Imo. Owerri is home to the Dan Anyiam Stadium , a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 10,000 that is home to Heartland FC in Nigeria's premier soccer league.
Town twinning
Sister city of Owerri is Gresham in the state of Oregon in the USA.
sons and daughters of the town
- Herbie Hide (born 1971), boxer
- Charity Opara (* 1972), sprinter
- Nwankwo Kanu (* 1976), football player
- Henry Nwosu (* 1980), football player
- Chinasa Gloria Okoro (* 1987), soccer player
- Bruno Ibeh (* 1995), soccer player
Individual evidence
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: population data of the city of Owerri
- ^ World statesmen: Biafra