INTRODUCTION

Okrika location government is a port town located in Rivers state, Nigeria. It

has the capital of the Local Government Area of the same name. This town is
situated on an island south of the Rivers state capital, Port Harcourt . Making it a
residential district on the outskirt of the city (Port Harcourt).

Figure 1; Position of Okrika on the map of Nigeria

LOCATION OF OKRIKA

Okrika lies on the north of the great Bonny river and on Okrika Island,
35miles (56km) upstream from the bight of Bonny. The town can be reached by
vessels of a draft of 9m or less, and also by land which is connected to the capital
city of Rivers state (Port Harcourt). It is located on 4.74 latitude and 7.08
longitude and has an average elevation of 452 meters above sea level.

SUMMARY OF COORDINATES;

Decimal Coordinates (Latitude and

Longitude) 4.742 and 7.084

DMS Coordinates N 4o 44’ 31’’ and E 7o 5’ 1’’

GEOHASH Coordinates Sov4cnvS
UTM Coordinates 32N 287371. 18772731 524218.
42301512

BRIEF HISTORY OF OKRIKA

Okrika, formerly a small fishing settlement of the Ijo (Ijaw) people in the
mangrove swamps of the eastern Niger river delta, Okrika became the capital of
the okrika kingdom in the early 17 th century and actively dealt ,in the slave trade.
It served as a Port for the export action of palm oil after the abolition of the slave
trade in the 18th century, but it was a less significant port facility than either the
Grand Bonny Kingdom (18miles [46km] south) or Opobo town ( 32miles [81km]
South-east). By the early 19th century, Okrika had been completely eclipsed by
Port Harcourt, and it was not revived as a commercial Port until the 1960s, when
the near by Alesa-Eleme oil refinery was completed and pipelines were built to a
jetty on Okrika Island (Okari-Ama). It also has the major gas plant facility ( Alakiri
gas plant ) that supplies to the refinery and the others.
 LIST OF MAJOR TOWNS IN OKRIKA

 Okrika Town ( Krike )

 Ogoloma ( Ogoloma Town )
 Abuloma ( Obulum/ Abulome )
 Ogu Town
 Bolo Town
 Ibaka Town
 Ogbogbo Town
 Ele Town
 Isaka Town
 Amadi – Ama
 Tere – Ama ( Ukukalama, Somiari – ama, Fime Ama )
 Okuru – Ama
 Koniju Town ( Koni – ama ).
Figure 2; Map of Okrika

LAND MASS AND TOPOGRAPHY

Okrika has a land mass area of 8,436 sqr miles ( 21,850 sqr km ). The
average elevation of okrika is 452meter above sea level.

CLIMATE OF OKRIKA

Okrika being an Island has a tropical climate and has signifigant rainfall in
most mouths, with a short dry season. The Koppen-Geiger climate classification is
AM. The average annual temperature is 26.5oc in Okrika. Precipitation here
averages 2874mm.
Figure 3; Climate graph of Okrika

Temperature

The temperature in Okrika varies so little throughout the year that it is not
entirely meaningful to discuss hot and cold seasons.
Figure 4; The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th
and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average
perceived temperatures.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the
rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the
year. Okrika experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

Rain falls throughout the year in okrika. The most rain falls during the
31days centered around September 3, with an average total accumulation of 14.5
inches. The least rainfalls around January 9th, with an average total accumulation
of 0.7 inches.

Figure 5; The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day
period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.
The thin dotted line is the corresponding average liquid-equivalent snowfall.

SOIL TYPE OF OKRIKA

Okrika has a top soil underlain by firm clay of moderate compressibility

with Cu: 56-64kN/m2 (about 10m thick), underneath this layer, is loose sandy
layer with Phi: 28-29 (about 8m thick), overlying a poorly sorted medium dense
sand layer with Phi between 300-350. The drainage characteristics of the sub-soils
are low. The allowable bearing capacity profile of the sub surface shows
moderate bearing capacity characteristics (15m: 120kN/m 2) settlement
predictions base on a loading of 300KN/m 2 indicates a settlement of less than
100mm pile foundation is therefore recommended for construction of structions.

MINERAL RESOURCES FOUND IN OKRIKA

Very few mineral resources can be found in the Okrika they are;

 Oil and Gas: This can be found in reasonable quantity hence the presence
of oil and gas plant in Alakiri. It can be used in the generation of electricity,
and also the production of many other industries materials.
 Sea salt: Okrika has a chuck of its land mass surrounded by water (salt
water). These salt with the combination of other chemicals forms useful
substances that can be used in labs and industries.
 Clay: Clay gotten from the banks of rivers can be used in making ceramics,
Sculptures, Props etc.
 Fine Aggregates: Fine aggregates (sand) can be used in the mortar and
concrete which is then used in the construction of structures such as house,
bridges, roads etc.
 Coarse Aggregates: Coarse aggregate (Pebbles) are also used in making
concrete used in civil engineering constructions.

NATURAL RESOURCES IN OKRIKA

Okrika has various natural resources. This is due to its soil type and
the surrounding habitat. Some of its natural resource are;
 Water bodies: Most of okrika’s land mass is covered by salt water
which serves as an habitat to aquatic organisms.
 Mangrove Forest: The mangrove forest is a very important factor to
okrika’s ecosystem, it also houses many aquatic lives such as
periwinkles and crustaceans ( crabs, Prawns etc), and serve as a
natural wind breaker.
 Fishes: Fishes can be found in water bodies surrounding okrika. They
serve as food and a source of income and can also be used by the
pharmaceutical industries to make medicine etc.
 Shrubs: Medicinal shrubs and herbs can also be found in okrika.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Okrika is faced with a serious threat of air pollution that is
caused by the flaring of gas in the oil and gas refinery which could
caused large quantity in green house gases that could lead to acidic
rain and ozone layer depletion, furthermore men production
capabilities are weakened by this activities. Also the Okrika aquatic
life suffers greater threat of species extinction due to the continuous
spill of oil mostly caused by bunker and pipeline vandalism in the
region and these results to poor economic sustainability as a large
number of residents and indigenes are fishermen. The aquatic life
suffers firstly from the emanation of oil waste products that comes
from the refinery. It has been on a continuous spill that goes straight
into the river and it has been spilling long before there were any
bunker or oil vandalism. As of march 2007, residents have
complained of soot in the air.
 REFERENCES
Diebel, Norda J., and Kretchmer Orna (2016, December 31). Average
weather in Okrika. Retrieved from
https://weatherspark.com/y/54963/Average-weather-in-okrika-
Nigeria-year-Round.
Okrika. (2021, July 5). In wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/okrika.
Dr. Alfred S. Abam (Ado ix), 2012. The customs and Tradition of The
Okrika People.
Dr. Alfred S. Abam (Ado ix), 2006. The Tradition of Succession And its
Implication For Peace.