MRS. CHRISTIANA ELADI ANAWEOKHAI (NÉE ATOGWE)
Mrs. Christiana Eladi Anaweokhai (née Atogwe) was one of the early women from Ogbona who ventured beyond the community in search of better economic opportunities with her husband. Her life represents an important chapter in the history of the pioneering women of Ogbona who contributed to the economic advancement of their families through courage, enterprise, and hard work.
She lived with her husband, Joseph Akhaniamhe Anaweokhai, in Onitsha, where she operated a canteen at SCOA and GBO by the waterside. At a time when many women from Avhianwu who travelled outside the area were known particularly for making and selling plantain chips, Christiana distinguished herself as a food entrepreneur. She was reportedly the only woman among them who cooked and sold prepared meals, including rice, beans, and boiled yam. Her enterprise demonstrated considerable initiative and provided an important service to workers and other people around the waterside.
Christiana was also remembered for her striking physical appearance. She was described as extremely beautiful and very light-complexioned. In keeping with an old Etsako cultural practice, she had undergone traditional teeth filing, known locally as “Etsako” or “teeth filers.” Her teeth had been filed to create distinctive spaces or gaps between them. Such traditional dental modification was once an important aspect of beauty and cultural identity among some Etsako communities.
Despite establishing her life and business away from Ogbona, Christiana maintained a strong connection with her family and ancestral home. She returned to Ogbona every year to visit her mother, Agbogwe, as well as other relatives in Fugar and Ekperi. These regular visits demonstrate the importance attached to maintaining family relationships even when economic circumstances took individuals far from their places of origin.
One of these visits took place in 1958, when Mrs. Julie Inu Umoru accompanied her to Ogbona. It was on this journey that Julie met her grandmother, Agbogwe, for the first time and encountered other members of the extended family, including Ogbualo, Esi, Okhumale, Itsuokor, and many others who have since passed away. The memory of that visit provides a valuable personal link to an earlier generation of the family and preserves the names and relationships of people who would otherwise risk being forgotten.
Mrs. Christiana Eladi Anaweokhai died in 1959, only a short time after that memorable 1958 visit to Ogbona. Her life, though brief, reflected the determination of an early generation of Ogbona women who ventured beyond their homeland, established businesses, supported their families, and maintained strong connections with their ancestral community.
Her story deserves a place among the pioneering women of Ogbona. It records not only her personal courage and entrepreneurial spirit but also the changing role of Ogbona and Avhianwu women in commerce, migration, family life, and the preservation of ancestral ties during the early decades of the twentieth century.