By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka—THIS year’s annual Igbo festival expected to be performed at Nri, the acclaimed ancestral homeland of the Igbo, by the traditional ruler of the town, Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh, on February 18, 2017, has run into a hitch as members of the Igwe-in-Council, yesterday, announced the postponement of the festival without the approval of the Igwe, following a crisis that has rocked the community.

It was the climax of the dispute between members of the traditional council and the monarch, which made Igwe Onyesoh to announce the sacking of the entire cabinet, a move that is being resisted by the members.

What sparked the crisis in the area was the decision of the traditional ruler to confer chieftaincy titles on five people during the February 18 ceremony without consulting members of the Eze-in-Council, a development they described as an anomaly and a breach of the constitution of Nri Kingdom.

Members of the council had argued that the constitution of Nri provides that the council should be responsible for title taking in the kingdom, regretting that Igwe Onyesoh had consistently not been consulting them on such matters.

But Eze Onyesoh said there was no going back on the festival, adding that everything had been put in place to ensure its success. He said that he decided to sack members of his former council to inject new blood into the traditional institution in the area.

Meanwhile, the crisis in the town took a new twist, yesterday, with Agbadani village, one of the three villages in Nri, directing everyone in the area to boycott the festival.

Following the announcement, a nominee from the village, who was selected by the traditional ruler for a chieftaincy title, had been forced to decline the offer.

It was also gathered that another village in the town, Uruoji, would make a public announcement today  to direct the people of the area to boycott the festival.