Imo River

The Imo River (Igbo:Imo) is located in southeastern Nigeria and flows 240 kilometres (150 mi) into the Atlantic Ocean. In Akwa Ibom State, the river is known as Imoh River, that is, Inyang Imoh, which translates to River of Wealth (Ibibio: Inyang means river or ocean, and Imoh means wealth). Its estuary is around 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide,^[3] and the river has an annual discharge of 4 cubic kilometres (1.0 cu mi)^[4] with 26,000 hectares of wetland.^{[5] [6]}The Imo's tributary rivers are the Otamiri and Oramirukwa.^[7] The Imo was cleared under the British colonial administration of Nigeria in 1907–1908 and 1911; first to Aba and then to Udo near Umuahia.^[8]

Imo River Imo
Imo river from the top of road bridge that lead to Umuahia in Abia state
Etymology	Named after the Imo alusi
Location
Country	Nigeria
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Okigwe, Imo State
• coordinates	5°50′56″N 7°14′20″W / 5.84889°N 7.23889°W / 5.84889; -7.23889^[1]
Mouth	Atlantic Ocean
• location	Eastern Obolo, Akwa Ibom State
• coordinates	4°28′14″N 7°35′38″W / 4.47056°N 7.59389°W / 4.47056; -7.59389
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	150 mi (240 km)^[2]

Showing river banks with vegetation and surrounding market building called Malaysian market

The deity, or Alusi of the river is the female Imo who communities surrounding the river believe to be the owner of the river. Mmiri in Ibo or Igbo language means water or rain.

sub-section of the Malaysian for timber that's close to the imo river

A festival for the Alusi is held annually between May and July.^[9] The Imo River features an 830-metre (2,720 ft) bridge at the crossing between Rivers State and Akwa Ibom State.^[10]. The river god, or Arushi, is a female imo, and the communities surrounding the river believe her to be the river's owner.

Imo river was reported by the world Health Organization as one of the most polluted rivers in Nigeria.^[11]

References

1. Afigbo, Adiele Eberechukwu (2005). Toyin Falola (ed.). Nigerian history, politics and affairs: the collected essays of Adiele Afigbo. Africa World Press. p. 95. ISBN 1-59221-324-3.
2. McNally, Rand (1980). Encyclopedia of World Rivers. Rand McNally. p. 14.
3. Institut français d'Afrique noire (1976). Bulletin de l'Institut français d'Afrique noire. Niger Delta: IFAN. p. 29.
4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Land and Water Development Division (1997). Irrigation potential in Africa. Food & Agriculture Org. p. 92. ISBN 92-5-103966-6.
5. Russell, Nathan C. (1993). Sustainable Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa: Constraints and opportunities. IITA. p. 57. ISBN 978-131-096-0.
6. "Nigerian rivers among top 20 polluting rivers - Daily Trust". dailytrust.com. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
7. Simmers, Ian (1988). NATO (ed.). Estimation of natural groundwater recharge. Springer. p. 436. ISBN 90-277-2632-9.
8. Chuku, Gloria (2005). Igbo women and economic transformation in southeastern Nigeria, 1900-1960. Routledge. p. 152. ISBN 0-415-97210-8.
9. Uzor, Peter Chiehiụra (2004). The traditional African concept of God and the Christian concept of God. Peter Lang. p. 310. ISBN 3-631-52145-6.
10. The Report: Nigeria 2010. Oxford Business Group. p. 213. ISBN 1-907065-14-8.
11. Sesan (2017-12-16). "Nigeria's perilous pollution indices". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2023-09-13.