Allow me introduce you to one of the finest city in Nigeria, the city of Enugu state Nigeria, located in the south-Eastern part of the Country, primarily known for it's predominant mineral resources coal discovered in 1909, by British geologist Albert Kitson , this discovery led to the development of the area including the establishment of the first coal mine in 1915 and the construction of the railway to port Harcourt to export the coal.
Enugu as the name implies means ontop of the hill, "Enu" meaning top and "Ugu" or ugwu meaning Hill or hilly, the eastern state is characterize by high mountains, rough terrain, stony hard and reddish ground with rarely leveling ground, so you're either ascending up the hill road or you're decending, one time I had to bring my jewel bike over here to ease with the movement but sold it out cause riding a bike here is no easy feet, due to the uneven road and they are mostly hills which makes riding hard as compared to the former south south city of uyo, Akwa Ibom state Nigeria, were I lived and loved cycling
Enugu state with the same name as it capital is one of the best commercial cities in the east, history has it that when coal was discovered in 1909 by the British that brought about development in the region and one of the first major rail line in Nigeria linking Enugu state And port Harcourt so the coal could be exported, because of that the city began to experience all forms of business and also due to the fact that it's earth is too hard for Agriculture produce which was one of the main stay back then, they only rely on Coal mining as the main source of livelihood here and business as well.
altho one of the challenges they have here is water, due to the terrain of the state, it's really hard for them to reach the "aquifers" part of the earth where the earth is drilled to reach the under ground water, so some areas in the state can dig and get water while some areas were the topology is so high can't and if they try to dig further they are obstruct by hard Rock underneath which have posed the challenges of getting water, they majorly rely on water tankers to supply water to them either household or businesses
so what the government consciously does is to resolve this challenges by running an underground pipeline that channels water from a reservoir to the major part of the state capital this water is treated and is channeled to most household and businesses to ease with the stress of getting water.
Enugu state is best known for hospitality, it's one of the best hospitable state you would find in Nigeria, the city is clean and green, very coordinated, when I first arrived here I was marveled at certain things, how well structured and coordinated the whole city is, streets light always on standby, and also armed men on ground should any one violate the rules, it's also the first state in Nigeria that I discovered had FUNCTIONAL CCTV INSTALLED IN IT'S MAJOR ROADS AND STREETS it's something I haven't found in any other state in the country only saw them in foriegn movies, two months ago the state won 100,000 million grand prize awarded by the federal government as the cleanest and safest state in Nigeria.
Remember I said something about the state fast becoming a commercial hub in the south-Eastern region of the country that's primarily because the igbos which are the main tribe in this region are basically business inclined people like they can be so business conscious m, it's what they are known for, the people here are very hard working and I admire them a whole lot because of this, both the men and the women are so into what ever they do for a living doesn't matter how little it seems its the energy and enthusiasm they put into things, anything that is saleable any form of business , just any thing that will generate a good turn over at the end of the day an igbo man is willing to do it as far as it put food on the table, also what I discover is that most of them have integrity as their key watch word.
The state houses a lot of rich Nigerian histories and is home to the best Eastern cultures and traditions, a lot of fascinating facts about Enugu state, Nigeria. in my next post I will go deeper, thankyou for reading this far.
All images are mine except otherwise stated