Onitsha

Onitsha is a city of 1.5 million people (2021) in Anambra State in Southeast Nigeria. Onitsha can claim two distinctions. First, it is said to have the largest market in Africa in terms of volume of goods and geographical size. And, secondly, in a more sordid sense, it was ranked number one most polluted city in the world by WHO in 2016.

Understand
The city has had a somewhat tumultuous past. From the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, it was developed as a centre of trade and dissemination of Christian mission work by the British. Following Nigerian independence though, Onitsha fared front and centre and lay decimated by collateral damage during the Nigerian-Biafran war of 1967-1971. Since then, oil ventures have brought in a stream of revenue but along with it swaths of people seeking a piece of that prize, resulting in overcrowding, lawlessness, and zoning unsightliness. Onitsha is also distinguished by being a centre of Nollywood film distribution and the navigable endpoint for most shipping up the Niger River.

By plane
It is fairly directly connected to Lagos by road, some 450 km away. There is also some limited regional transit by air available through nearby.

By bus
Through the Niger Bridge, you can get to Onitsha by road. There are different transportation companies that serve Onitsha, including GUO (Mmduabuchukwu), Peace, GIGM (God is Good motors), Ever Green, EZEWATA, The Young Shall Grow and many others. Starting from ₦3000 you can get a vehicle into the city, but that depends on where you are coming from.

Get around
There are tricycles everywhere.

See
Onitsha is a little short on sights.

Go next

 * Asaba
 * Owerri
 * Aba
 * Nsukka