Igbo-Ukwu Targets Cultural City Status with Renovation of 87-Year-Old Building

Grandson of late Chief John Ubabukoh, Mr Ozioma Ubabukoh, says the renovation of his grandfather’s 87-year-old storey building will help position Igbo-Ukwu as a cultural city and major heritage tourism destination in Anambra.

Ubabukoh said the building, which was completed in 1939, was one of the pre-colonial and oldest storey buildings in the South-East and the first storey building in Igbo-Ukwu, Aguata Local Government Area.

He told newsmen on Saturday that he would embarked on the renovation of the building to give it a vintage, ancestral and monumental outlook.

He said he would also reconnect the building with the Igbo-Ukwu National Museum to attract tourists and boost the state’s economy.

He said the project would also help preserve the history and cultural heritage of the community, adding that some movie producers had already expressed interest in using the building as a location for epic movies.

“Anambra has about four cities already. Onitsha is the commercial city, Nnewi is the industrial city, Awka is the capital city, while Ekwulobia is gradually becoming a city.

“The renovation of this 87-year-old building will make Igbo-Ukwu a cultural city because it will be annexed to the National Museum to become a heritage site that will promote Igbo culture.

“Every year, people travel to Antalya, Turkey’s tourism capital, with its rich Roman and Ottoman history, to celebrate the culture. We can replicate the same in Igbo-Ukwu.

“Igbo-Ukwu is an ancestral land of Igbo culture and the land of arts.

“I call on the state government, corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to key into this project to tell our story as Igbo people,” he said.

Chief John Ubabukoh died in February 1996 at the age of 92, while his first son, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Ubabukoh, inherited the building.

Ozioma said his father, before his death in February 2024, instructed him as the first son not to demolish the building but preserve it as a family and community legacy.

Also speaking, Mr Okey Ubabukoh, 73, the oldest surviving child of Chief John Ubabukoh, said it was difficult for his father to construct.

According to him, the colonial authorities had taken possession of much of the timber for export to support the war effort, at the time.

“My father had to go into the thick forest to source for wood to build the storey building, and it is still standing strong till today,” he said.

He described his father as an influential businessman who operated in Northern Nigeria and spoke Hausa fluently.

He added that he was also a contractor who constructed several schools, churche and houses and served as a customary court judge.

According to him, Chief John worked with Prof. Thurstan Shaw, a British archaeologist, during the exploration and excavation of bronze artefacts and other antiquities that led to the establishment of the Igbo-Ukwu National Museum.

“Ozioma, as the first son, has inherited that building and we will support him to keep that legacy,” he said.

Similarly, Apostle Emeka Ubabukoh, 86, a nephew of the late Chief John Ubabukoh, said the storey building contributed to the development of Igbo-Ukwu and Aguata at large.

“Chief John was my uncle and growing up, that building was unique and different.

“We played football in that compound, and it is worthy that such great work be celebrated,” he said.

Contributing, Pa Timothy Anigbogu, a close friend to the Ubabukoh family, described Igbo-Ukwu as an ‘Ancient City’, home and source of archaeological findings which constituted the pride of the nation as well.

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Anigbogu said the Federal Government established the Igbo-Ukwu National museum to appreciate and recognize the archaeological findings in the community.

He said renovating the 87-year-old building would position Igbo-Ukwu, with it’s historical and cultural background at the Apex of tourism.