# Obudu
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Obudu
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Obudu.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obudu
> Source revision: 1355897475
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Use Nigerian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name =Obudu
|other_name =
|native_name =
|nickname =
|settlement_type = Local Government Area and Town
|motto =
|image_Fortnite =
|imagesize =
|image_skyline = Obudu-Mountain-resort-lodges.jpg
|image_caption = Obudu Mountain Resort Lodges
|image_flag =
|flag_size =
|image_seal =
|seal_size =
|image_map =
|mapsize =
|map_caption =
|pushpin_map = Nigeria
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_mapsize=
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Nigeria
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name ={{flag|Nigeria}}
|subdivision_type1 = [State](/source/States_of_Nigeria)
|subdivision_name1 =[Cross River State](/source/Cross_River_State)
|subdivision_type2 =
|subdivision_name2 =
|subdivision_type3 =
|subdivision_name3 =
|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title =Local Government Chairman
|leader_name =Boniface Ewhe Eraye
|established_title =
|established_date =
|area_magnitude =
|unit_pref =Metric
|area_footnotes =
|area_total_km2 =
|area_land_km2 =
|population_as_of =2006
|population_footnotes =
|population_note =
|population_total =
|population_density_km2 =
|timezone =[WAT](/source/West_Africa_Time)
|utc_offset = +1
|timezone_DST =
|utc_offset_DST =
|coordinates = {{coord|6|40|0|N|9|10|0|E|region:NG|display=inline,title}}
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 8
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| mapframe-marker = village
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m =
|elevation_ft =
|postal_code_type =
|postal_code =
|area_code =
|blank_name =
|blank_info =
|website ={{URL|www.crossriverhub.com.ng/obudu}}
|footnotes =
}}
'''Obudu''' ({{Audio|LL-Q3915395 (mfn)-GideonEkam-Obudu.wav|pronunciation}}) is a [local government area](/source/Local_government_areas_of_Nigeria) and town in [Cross River State](/source/Cross_River_State), [Nigeria](/source/Nigeria). The area features a tourist resort, [Obudu Mountain Resort](/source/Obudu_Mountain_Resort), which hosts an annual mountain running competition called the [Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race](/source/Obudu_Ranch_International_Mountain_Race). The town of Obudu is downstream from the [Obudu Dam](/source/Obudu_Dam), which has caused acute scarcity of drinking water in the dry season.[{{citation
|url=http://www.cen-rce.org/fre/projects/ace/agnes_presentation.pdf
|url-status=dead
|title=Who Should Govern Our Watersheds: A Case Study from Northern Cross River State, Nigeria
|author=Agnes Ingwu
|publisher=Canadian Environmental Network
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302125158/http://www.cen-rce.org/fre/projects/ace/agnes_presentation.pdf
|archive-date=2012-03-02
|access-date=2017-11-05 }}][{{cite web
|url=http://www.credcentre.org/Publications/Dams_are_unrenewable.pdf
|title=DAMS ARE UNRENEWABLE A Discussion Paper
|author=Etiosa Uyigue
|date=March 2006
|publisher=Community Research and Development Centre
|access-date=2010-05-21}}] The town is approximately {{convert|17|km|link=on|abbr=off}} away from [Bebi Airport](/source/Bebi_Airport)[[https://skyvector.com/?ll=6.626,9.299&chart=301&zoom=1 SkyVector - BEB NDB]] and is a 6-hour drive from Calabar, the capital of Cross River.[{{cite web|title=THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT OBUDU CATTLE RANCH|url=http://www.informationng.com/2017/03/things-didnt-know-obudu-cattle-ranch.html|website=Information NG|publisher=Information NG|access-date=18 May 2018}}]
== Geography ==
The Obudu Local Government Area is bordered to the north by [Vandeikya](/source/Vandeikya) of [Benue State](/source/Benue_State), to the east by the [community](/source/Communes_of_Cameroon) of [Akwaya](/source/Akwaya) in the [Republic of Cameroon (prior to the time when Obanlikwu was still together)](/source/Cameroon), and to the south and west by the [Local Government Areas](/source/Local_government_areas_of_Nigeria) of [Boki](/source/Boki%2C_Nigeria) and [Bekwarra](/source/Bekwarra). The local government headquarters is located in ''Bette'' clan, with the ''[Bette-Bendi](/source/Bete-Bendi_language)'' occupying the central position, and the ''Ukpe-Alege'' occupying the southern reach of the geo-cultural spread. The ''Obanlikwu'', ''Utanga-Becheve,'' and ''Utugwang'' now form an independent [Obanlikwu](/source/Obanliku) Local Government Area.
==Climate==
In Obudu, the dry season is typically hot, humid, and partly cloudy, whereas the wet season is generally warm, muggy, and mostly overcast. Throughout the year, temperatures usually range from {{cvt|65|°F|order=flip}} to {{cvt|89|°F|order=flip}}, seldom dropping below {{cvt|60|°F|order=flip}} or exceeding {{cvt|93|°F|order=flip}}.[{{Cite web |title=Obudu Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Nigeria) - Weather Spark |url=https://weatherspark.com/y/61828/Average-Weather-in-Obudu-Nigeria-Year-Round |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=weatherspark.com |language=en}}]
Obudu has a tropical savanna climate (Aw). Throughout the year, temperatures generally fall between 25 °C (77 °F) and 29 °C (85 °F), though they can occasionally drop to around 16 °C (62 °F) or climb to about 39 °C (103 °F). The area receives roughly 1,385 mm (54.5 inches) of rainfall annually, spread across about 186 days with at least 1 mm (0.04 inches) of rain. Obudu also enjoys around 3,435 hours of sunshine each year, with daily daylight lasting between 11 hours 43 minutes (December) and 12 hours 29 minutes (June).[{{Cite web |title=Monthly climate in Obudu, Nigeria |url=https://nomadseason.com/climate/nigeria/cross-river/obudu.html |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=nomadseason.com}}]
== History ==
=== Early history in Africa ===
The Obudu geo-cultural area is home to six clans: ''[Bette](/source/Bette_people)'', ''Obanlikwu'', ''Bendi'', ''Utuwang'', ''Ukpe-Alege'', and ''Utanga-Becheve'', all of which thrived as independent villages with a strong culture of kinship. The origins of the Obudu people are unknown, although it is likely they migrated from somewhere to the east and reached the location they inhabited by the 18th century. The most popular tradition of migration, the ''Ulanga Legend'', points to ''Ulanga'', a mountain peak in the present-day village of ''Amandakureke'', in ''Utanga-Becheve'' clan as a secondary, or perhaps, tertiary dispersal center. There is a relative consensus in traditions across families that they were displaced at ''Ulanga'' by the invasion of a group referred to as ''Igenyi.'' This was described as light-skinned people with soft bunching hair, clad in long-flowing gowns, armed with spears, mounted on horses, and with a large following of black servants.[AFR Stoddart, “Intelligence Report on Bette-Bendi Clan” (Obudu District, Ogo Prof CSE 1/85/4674. File No. Ed 8850A NAE) 7.] Extant literature suggests that these could have been ''[Fulani](/source/Fulani_herdsmen)'', the ''[Chamba](/source/Chamba_people)'', or Portuguese slave raiders, all three of whose imperialist expeditions in sub-Sahara are recorded to have peaked in the 18th and early 19th century.[Anthony Ikpe Ugbe, “Obudu Resistance to Colonial Rule – 1930” (BA thesis, University of Calabar, 1986).]
Another narrative suggests that progenitors of Obudu arrived at a place remembered as ''Onikal'' in the Cameroon country, before proceeding to ''Ulanga,'' from where the Igenyi dispersed them. Traditional accounts of the ''Bendi'' clan report they stayed briefly at ''Ukwel Unokel'' (translated as Mountain ''Unokel''), before proceeding to ''Ulanga'', the point of dispersal. It is likely that both ''Onikal'' and ''Ukwel Unokel'' allude to the same location. Other recollections suggest a shared origin between them, and their [Bekwarra](/source/Bekwarra) neighbors, whom they regard as historical "brothers". This possibility is reinforced by several cultural commonalities, including mutually intelligible dialects.[UJ Ugi, "Warfare in Pre-Colonial Betteland" (Academic Seminar, Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna, 2017).] In the light of the foregoing, if as believed, the [Bekwarra](/source/Bekwarra) had a powerful connection with the ancient [Kwararaffa](/source/Kwararafa) Empire, it is probable that the displacement referred to in Obudu traditions of migration correlates with the disintegration of [Kwararaffa](/source/Kwararafa) in the 18th century and spreading of its population.[P.A. Talbot, ''The Peoples of Southern Nigeria: A Study of their History, Ethnology and Language with an Abstract of the 1921 Census'' Vol.IV, (London: Cas, 1969) 88-89.]
=== Modern history ===
With the advent of [British](/source/British_Empire) [colonialism](/source/colonialism), the six Obudu clans were formally integrated into the then Ogoja province of the [Eastern Region](/source/Eastern_Region%2C_Nigeria) of Nigeria. After [Nigeria](/source/Nigeria)'s independence in 1960 and the local government review commission in 1976, Obudu became an autonomous local government council. It has since remained one of the eighteen local government areas of [Cross River State](/source/Cross_River_State). Cross River recruited foreign qualified teachers for Model School, in Obudu Local Government Area.[{{Cite news|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/cross-river-to-employ-foreign-teachers-for-obudu-model-school/|location=Lagos, Nigeria|title='Cross River to employ foreign teachers for Obudu Model School' - The Nation Nigeria|date=2017-11-02|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en-US|newspaper=[The Nation](/source/The_Nation_(Nigeria))}}]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{LGAs and communities of Cross River State}}
Category:Local government areas in Cross River State
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Obudu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obudu) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obudu?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.