Bille kingdom in Rivers State is an Ijaw clan located west of Bonny island and South of Port Harcourt. It is made up of 30 settlements. Bille Town and 29 others. It has a population of about 77,000 people, of which 41,000 are in the Headquarters, Bille Town.
The Bille people are a distinct and independent people in the Eastern Niger Delta of Rivers State. They moved from Akpata-Bille to the present site in the 9th century and became one of the five distinct Eastern Niger Delta Ijo Clans (namely Bille, Kalabari, Bonny, Nembe and Okrika).
Until the advent of Oil, the economic activity of Bille was centered around fishing activities. Communal economic developments were achieved through self-help contributions from individuals, who were mainly fishermen and traders. Schools, Health Center, Town Hall, etc were built through this self-help effort. In fact reclamation of land in Bille Kingdom started as self-help effort. This culture of self help was abandoned with the emergence of the oil economy and dependence on oil companies.
The exploration of Oil in Bille Kingdom began with the discovery of crude in commercial quantity in 1958, Crude oil was discovered in Bille territory in 1958. Bille Kingdom is a host to two oil fields – Bille-1 (Krakama) and Bille-2 (Awoba) oil fields – comprising of 23 oil wells with a total annual production capacity of 6,886,984 bbls of crude oil and 6,880,757 mscf of gas. (NNPC Annual Statistical Bulletin of 2010),
However the kingdom has been deprived of basic infrastructure, politically marginalized and instead labeled as a security threat to the national economy.
Bille Chieftaincy Stools predate all the Chieftaincy Stools in the Old Degema Local Government Area (now Delga, Asalga and Akulga). In the 1980s, the only recognized stools in the Old Degema LGA were the Amanyanabo of Kalabari and the Amanyanabo (sic: Amadabo) of Bille. This is captured in the Nigeria Year book of 1985.
Bille is just 45minutes away from Port Harcourt, 10munites from the Atlantic Ocean shoreline and 20munites from Bonny and Abonnema. It has a Nigeria police Post and the headquarters of the 29 Battalion of the Nigerian Army and is therefore safe.
It is a choice place for tourism because of its rich unadulterated culture of the Ijaw people. The people are friendly and fun loving. Bille is one of the places on earth were the dignity of womanhood is upheld and culture is revered. Democracy is enshrined in its culture and therefore there is a practice of equal rights. We look forward to welcoming you in Bille!
PORT HARCOURT: Bille House, #6 Niger Street, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
ABUJA LIASON OFFICE: Suite C8, AlphaCell Plaza, 12 Ebitu Ukiwe Street, Jabi, Abuja
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
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