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Bonny Island

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Overview

Bonny Island (or Ibani) is an island town and a Local Government Area in Rivers State, South South Nigeria. It is also the capital of the Kingdom of Bonny.

Wikivoyage guide · 16 sections

▸Introduction155 chars

Bonny Island (or Ibani) is an island town and a Local Government Area in Rivers State, South South Nigeria. It is also the capital of the Kingdom of Bonny.

▸Understand1,197 chars

Bonny Island has an estimated population of 302,000 and occupies an area of 343.9 km². The local language spoken on Bonny Island is Ibani. Many native people also speak the Igbo language.

Bonny is located at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on the Bight of Bonny, the island of Bonny serves as the seat of a traditional state known as the Kingdom of Bonny. It was a traditional trading centre for fish, salt, palm oil, and palm kernels of the Ijo people. it was the capital of the 15th- to 19th-century kingdom of Bonny.

The region produces a type of crude oil known as Bonny Light oil. Much of the oil extracted onshore in Rivers State is piped to Bonny for export. It has the biggest LNG Gas Plant in Nigeria with six trains. Bonny was founded by a priest king known as Ndoli. He (as well as his successors Opuamakuba and Alagbariye) were the leaders of the founding group of Bonny Island. The virgin lands and territories of the island kingdom were settled about or before 1400 AD. Asimini, the fourth king (but the first one to be crowned), founded a dynasty that went on to provide most of the kingdom's monarchs. Bonny Island's local industry which exports coconuts and coir (coconut fibre).

▸By plane340 chars

Facts

Rank

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Coordinates

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Source

WBP almanac

External sources

Wikivoyage Wikipedia

Media

From Wikipedia1,221 words

Introduction

Island in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria Bonny Island is an island and local government area situated at the southern edge of Rivers State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria near Port Harcourt. Ferries are the main form of transport, though recently an airstrip has been built and it is fully functional, with flights from Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt respectively to and from the island. The local dialect spoken in Bonny Island is the Ibani dialect of the Ijaw language. The Kingdom of Grand Bonny is located forty kilometers southwest of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State of Nigeria. It lies within latitude 40° 278°, longitude of 7° 1000° and borders the shores of Southern Atlantic Ocean into which its main River, the Bonny Estuary, finally flows.[citation needed] It shares boundaries with the Billes and Kalabaris in the West, the Andonis in the East, the Okirikans and the Ogonis in the North and the Atlantic Ocean form the boundary in the South.

History

[edit] Located at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on the Bight of Biafra, the island of Bonny serves as the seat of a traditional state known as the Kingdom of Bonny. Founding[edit] Said to be founded by Alagbariya, an Ijaw hunter, who migrated to the Azumini Creek on a hunting expedition, and settled finally with his family on the virgin island. The original name given to the first settlement, which began as a small town was called Okuloma, a name christened after the Okulo (lit. Curlews) who inhabited the island in large numbers. Another version states that the founders of the island kingdom were originally Ijaw people from Ebeni in modern Bayelsa State.[citation needed] The founder, Opara Ndoli, a man from the Isedani lineage of Kolokuma in the Ebeni-toru region (in the present day Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa), ruled for the duration of his life. He founded the kingdom before or about 1000 AD. The Ibanis themselves identify as ijaw today,They had an influx of Igbo slaves from Ngwa during the Trans Atlantic Slave trade,some of these Igbo slaves were adopted into some of the Ibani ijaw families and became freeborns.

More in sights0

Visitors who intend to come into Bonny Island by air have to make use of the nearest airport, which is Port Harcourt Airport.

Port Harcourt International Airport (IATA: PHC, ICAO: DNPO), Airport Road, Rumuodomaya, Port Harcourt, ☏ +234 803 668 7250. The airport has two terminals for international and domestic flights. (updated Jun 2021)

▸By sea149 chars

Visitors and tourist that want to come into Bonny Island from Porthacourt through the sea have to board a speed boat and the drive is about one hour.

▸Get around62 chars

Ferries are the main form of transport to and from the island.

▸See2,016 chars

1 Finima Nature Park (Bonny Nature Park), behinde Ra3 lng round-about Finima Bonny Island, Bonny, 500272, Port Harcourt, ☏ +234 808 806 0350. Daily 9AM-4PM. The Finima Nature Park is a natural park in Bonny Island, Rivers State, Nigeria covering an area of approximately 1000 ha (3.9 sq mi). It was established by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited in 1999 with the aim of conserving nature and biodiversity in the region and it occupies an area of 10 km². Finima's reserve area is covered by tropical rainforest and mangrove swamps and some parts contain sand with freshwater ponds and tall timber between the swamps and the beach. it harbors numerous creatures, including the pygmy hippo and reptiles such as crocodiles, monkeys as well as different bird species. (updated Jun 2021)

2 Bonny Love Garden, Orosikiri, ☏ +234 908 037 2747. Daily 8AM-10:30PM. Bonny Love Garden is a Mini Beach Resort Located in Bonny Island. It has one of the best beach views on the Island and its environment gives a calm and serene feeling to all its visitors and tourist. This garden has become a household name because both the old and young have grown fond of the mini-resort. Once you enter the garden, you will be greeted by the inviting aroma of popcorn, barbecue, shawarma, and all kinds of munchies. (updated Jun 2021)

3 Finima Beach, Finima street. Finima Beach is for conservation, recreation, and research. This beach houses various oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Agip, and Elf among others. It has a large space for social events or wedding ceremonies. The best time to visit is on sunny days and festive periods. There are regular periods in which the beach is usually crowded. (updated Jun 2021)

St. Stephen's Anglican Church. A historic Anglican church in Bonny Island. The church grounds also contain a torch monument commemorating Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, providing a visible reminder of his role in the history of Christianity and education in the region. (updated Aug 2026)

▸Do1,693 chars

Opobo Regatta Festival: is a festival that occurs annually and it is one of the famous festivals in Bonny Island. The festival is held on New Year’s Eve. The festival consist of ritual sacrifices before the boat racing competition starts. Enthusiastic men rowing hard competiting for the first position, crowd cheering, masquerades display to spectators, indigenes and visitors filled with aesthetics, colors, sea breeze and it attracts visitors and tourists year after year.

The Nwaotam Masquerade: Nwaotam Masquerade is being celebrated annually 25 of December in Bonny Island. it's a very spiritual Masquerade and every year the NWAOTAM chooses who to wear the Nwaotam Masquerade head and regalia from their cult group. Whoever it chooses to wear the head and regalia gets paid heavily for that. seven days to the day of celebration, the one who is to wear the head and regalia to dance sleeps in a cemetery for seven days performing some rituals to remain fortified and to be able to wear the head of the Nwaotam successfully and dance through the town without anyone trying to fall it off his head with spiritual means. The Nwaotam Masquerade starts dancing from the King's place which is locally referred to as the Amayanabor of Bonny Island from 6AM and dance through many locations in the town and finally return to its abode where he comes out on his house roof and dance on it, rolling and doing all manner of stunts on that roof.

Swimming

Fishing

Boat Racing

1 CGE Gaming Lounge, 1IT William Street, Akiama Road, ☏ +234 913 923 3068, creativegamingent@gmail.com. 10AM-9PM. CGE Lounge is a gaming lounge with PS5, PS4 and Virtual Reality headsets. ₦1000 per hour. (updated Dec 2022)

▸Buy112 chars

Shopping is not huge on Bonny Island but visitors have options of supermarkets, stores, and even an open market.

▸Markets117 chars

1 Finima Central Market. M-Sa 7AM-6PM. Finima Central Market is a small and well organised market. (updated Jun 2021)

▸Supermarkets533 chars

Best Way Supermarket offers all kinds of provisions, cosmetics, beauty products, household items among many others.

Dammy Supermarket sells a wide range of products including cocktail drinks, wines and beer.

For frozen food and packed food, try one of the stores on Pepple Road. Most of the impressive clothing stores are found inside the NLNG camp.

2 Chichi Foodstuff, NLNG, Minna Close, RA, ☏ +234 803 563 2552. Nigerian food ingredients such as: rice, yam, garri among others. It also offers door step delivery. (updated Jun 2021)

▸Eat1,002 chars

Sea food is well consumed on as it is close to the ocean, and there are a number of dining options both on the mainland and the hinterland. Visitors get the best taste from Local food joints and restaurants. There are however classy eateries for high-class business travellers, tourists or expats who come to the island for oil business or for sight seeing.

1 Bonny Delight Fast Food, No. 51 Hospital Road. M-Sa 5AM-9PM. Local and inter-continental cuisines and sea foods. (updated Jun 2021)

2 The Promise Fast Food, No. 17 King Perekule Rd, ☏ +234 812 912 5100. Daily 7AM -9:30PM. Shawarma, pastries, shawama, drinks, Burger, charcolit chicken & fish, rice,side dishes, bread, cake and others. They also offer in-door and out door catering services. ₦1,500. (updated Jun 2021)

Classic Buka (Restaurant & Office Delivery), New Road, opposite living faith Church head quarter Bonny local government, ☏ +234 803 578 2840. Daily 8AM-8PM. Deals on local and inter-continental cuisines. (updated Jun 2021)

▸Drink392 chars

1 Azontio bar, Abalamabie Road. Daily 8AM-8PM. (updated Jun 2021)

2 Violet Gardens, New Layout, Ward IV, ☏ +234 803 952 6550. Monday to Friday 24 hours. (updated Jun 2021)

3 De Jen White's Bar (GRA Road, Bonny Finima, GRA Road,), ☏ +234 806 976 0459. Daily 7AM-7PM. De Jen White's Bar sers its customers with varieties of bears, wine,hot drinks, pepper soup among others. (updated Jun 2021)

▸Sleep869 chars

1 Elizabeth Suites, 20 Abalamabie Road. A 1-star hotel. It is an affordable hotel in Bonny Island, Rivers. It has restaurant, bar, free WiFi and adequate parking space. ₦6,000-8,000 per night. (updated Jun 2021)

2 Progress Lovers Guest House, Plot 431A Zone 6 (G.R.A) Finima, ☏ +234 803 087 2877. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. Restaurant, bar, air conditioned rooms, dry cleaning, 24 hours electricity supply and lots more. ₦6,000-10,000. (updated Jun 2021)

Atlantic Royal Suite, Simidia Road, off Abalamabie Road. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. Atlantic Royal Suite has nice swimming pool, an on-site restaurant, bar, outdoor lounge, gym, air conditioned rooms, free WiFi, rooftop terrace. (updated Jun 2021)

3 Hotel De Televee (Bende Road). It has such facilities like restaurant, bar, swimming pool, free WiFi, free parking space among others. (updated Jun 2021)

▸Stay safe241 chars

Bonny Island is the centre of oil business in Nigeria. It is relatively a developed place and conducive for both expatriates and Nigerians that come for business. Some bars and clubs, nevertheless, seem relatively safe even during the night.

▸Connect228 chars

2G/3G/4G/5G

The networks in certain parts of Bonny Island can be very erratic at times. Please check with the local service providers - 9mobile, MTN, Glo and Airtel prior to your arrival for current coverage and accessibility.

▸Go Next199 chars

Finima Nature Park – A protected forest and wetland area offering nature walks, birdwatching, wildlife viewing and kayaking.

Port Harcourt

Yenagoa - another city with an oil-based economy

Choba

Eleme

Structure of the kingdom

[edit] The monarch, or Amanyanabo (lit. owner of the land), is provided by the Pepple dynasty and presides over a chieftaincy system composed of "Ase-Alapu" (or high chiefs of royal blood) and "Amadapu" (or district heads). All of the former serve as members of the Bonny Chiefs' Council, the amanyanabo's privy council. Bonny Island has thirty-five sub-sectional units (known as Houses). All represent the progeny of the founding generation of its kingdom. A few prominent houses are: (i) The Fubara Manilla Pepple House, (ii) The Wilcox House, (iii) The Jumbo House, (iv) The Awusa Halliday House, (v) The Captain Hart House, and (vi) The Banigo House. The different houses are known for having individual ancestral headquarters and high chiefs[citation needed].

Notable events

[edit] Bonny Island was a hotbed of economic activity right from the 15th century. The Portuguese arrived at this time, and the island kingdom subsequently established good relations with them. It sent its first ambassador, Prince Abagy, to Portugal in about 1450AD. In the 19th Century AD, Bonny Island accepted Christianity through the ministry of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Prior to this event, the totem of the kingdom had been the monitor lizard. It was also in that century that a civil war was fought between those loyal to Chief Oko Jumbo of the Manilla Pepple house and those loyal to Chief Jaja of the Anne Pepple house. This war eventually led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Opobo.[citation needed]

Bonny today

[edit] Bonny's traditional institution is headed by King Edward William Asimini Dappa Pepple III, Perekule XI, who serves as amanyanabo and natural ruler. The Chiefs' Council is led by Chief Reginald Abbey-Hart, who is the high chief and head of Captain Hart house. Each high chief independently rules his house because the chiefs' council is traditionally seen as a commonwealth of independent nations that came together for the sole purpose of protecting the kingdom as a whole. The community is subdivided into two main segments – the mainland and the hinterland. The mainland comprises Bonny Island and its segments, namely the Main Island (Township), Sandfield, Iwoama, Orosikiri, Aganya, Ayambo, Akiama, New Road, Wilbross Pipeline, Workers Camp, and some outlying fishing settlements lying along the Bonny River's coastline. The hinterland includes the village communities such as Kuruma, Ayama, Kalaibiama and Oloma. Presently, the Kingdom of Bonny has thirty-five chieftaincy houses. There are fourteen major chieftaincy houses (five among which are Duawaris); twenty minor chieftaincy houses; and then the George Pepple lineage of the Perekule royal house that has recently been producing kings of the kingdom. The ancestry of the Perekule royal house may be traced to the Duawaris themselves[citation needed]. It was the founding generation of Bonny that established the kingdom's civilisation and commonwealth. All the chieftaincy houses, and the people that belong to them, derive their authority in Bonny from their descent from its founders. The federal government of Nigeria through partnership with Nigeria LNG Limited is building a 39 km road that will connect Bonny Island to the Ogoni community of Bodo in the mainlaind of Rivers State. The road will reduce both the risk and the travel time to the island spent on travelling through air and also boost tourism and economy on the island. Babatunde Fashola, Nigeria's minister of works and housing, confirmed at a project commissioning that the road will be ready by the end of 2023. The road was flagged off by the vice-president of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osibanjo in 2017.

Economy

[edit] In the early 1990s the Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with 3 international partners, Shell Gas BV., CLEAG Limited [ELF] and AGIP International BV. started the multibillion-dollar project Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (Nigeria LNG). Due to its strategic position, Bonny Island, particularly the Finima community area along Bonny Island, is hosting various multinational oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Agip, and TotalEnergies.

Education

[edit] Public and private secondary schools in Bonny island include: Bonny National Grammar School Island STEM Education Center Spring Foundation Group of Schools Favourite International Academy St.Paul's Comprehensive College Government Girls Secondary School, Finima Community Secondary School Lucille Education Centre Kingdom Heritage King and Queen High School RA International School Logos International School Twilight Nursery and Primary School Institution: Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny

Climate

[edit] The climate of Bonny is tropical monsoon. Throughout the year, temperatures usually fall between 25 °C (78 °F) and 28 °C (82 °F), can occasionally fall as low as 22 °C (72 °F) or climb as high as 33 °C (91 °F). There are 299 wet days on the 1 mm (0.04 inches) threshold per year, and the average annual precipitation is roughly 3260 mm (128.4 inches). Throughout the year, Bonny receives 3396 hours of sunshine on average, with daily daylight ranging from 11 hours to 12 hours.

Tourist attractions

[edit] Passenger canoes at a local jetty in Bonny Island. Bonny Island is surrounded on the west and south by long stretches of beaches. On 26 and 31 December of every year, thousands of people visit the Finima beaches for beach carnivals. There is also the Finima Nature Park, which is an important tourist area located at the right-hand side of the roundabout.