1939 Igbo Ukwu Building to Become Museum Annex

The building was constructed in 1939 and, according to a historical account, was the first upstairs in the whole of the old Aguata Division. Built by the late Chief John Ubabukoh, who served as the President of the Customary Court in Aguata, the eight-bedroom house with two massive sitting rooms and adjoining balconies usually attracts the attention of passers-by because of its unique architecture. The staircase, windows, and decking are all made of wood, as are the side and center tables and other pieces of furniture.

The roof was made of asbestos and, since its construction nearly 90 years ago, it has never leaked. The wall is made of specially designed bricks that did not require painting and it still looks spectacular. Chief Okey Ubabukoh, the first surviving son of John Ubabukoh, who was a former General Manager of the Petroleum Equalization Fund and a Director of the defunct Nigerdock Ltd, the ship builders, recalled that building the house was very difficult for their father because at that time, the colonial masters barred people from cutting trees in the Eastern Region, adding that the colonial masters' interest was to export all the wood cut in Igbo land forests to their country.

"What our father did was to sneak into the thick forests and hiding in the process to be able to get the kind of wood he needed for the construction of the house. Eventually he was able to see the house through, Okey Ubabukoh, who is 73 years old," said. Apostle Emeka Ubabukor, 86 years old and the oldest member of the greater Ubabukoh dynasty, also spoke about John Ubabukoh and the history behind his building.

He said: "I was born in 1940 and Chief John Ubabukoh who built the first upstairs in Igbo Ukwu was my uncle. He was in charge of the Customary Court in the olden days at Agudo in Aguata. It was the first storey building in the entire Aguata.

The building is in a large compound and that was where we used to play football because my father's house is close to that building." He added that John was a famous and popular man with much influence in Igbo Ukwu, played important roles in the Church and community development, and married two wives. Ozioma Ubabukoh, the first grandchild of the late Chief John Ubabukoh, whose late father, Ifeanyi Ubabukoh, was a renowned journalist, is the brain behind the process of making his grandfather's house an annex of the famous Igbo Ukwu Museum. Ozioma, a media consultant who has been bequeathed the house, said his grandfather died in February 1996 at the age of 92 years.

"Naturally, my father being the first son, inherited his father's compound, which includes the building." My own father owned the building till he died also in the month of February in 2024, Ozioma said. According to him, exactly after five days of the swearing in of Governor Chukwuma Soludo in 2022, he went to see his father in Awka and reminded him that his late father's house remains his until he is buried, and that after his burial, Ozioma would be at liberty to do whatever he wanted with the house. Ozioma said his father made one particular request, which was that he would be laid in state in the house before his interment.

"My father said that as soon as he was buried, the house belongs to me and that I could do what I wanted with it." Although he said I could demolish it if I wanted, he however advised that I should keep it for the sake of the family name and Igbo Ukwu's name as a monument, Ozioma continued. "Two years after he was buried, I started thinking of what I should do with the building. One thought said demolish it and build something modern, while another thought said renovate it without destroying its original design. But then I recollected the British history where monuments like this are preserved and it is a law that such monuments should not be destroyed," he said.