…Recognise Ndigwe, faction tells Obiano

By Vincent Ujumadu and Olalekan Bilesanmi

AWKA Kingdom, hosting the capital city of Anambra State, is one of the communities in the state with rich culture. The community’s Ozo title-taking process is adjudged to be one of the richest in Igbo land and those who belong to the elite Ozo group are revered.

rotesting supporters of the contenders for the Awka throne

The same goes for its Ezeship such that the previous and the present traditional rulers were carefully selected in such a manner that whoever emerged after the usually democratic election process  was supported by the entire community.

The incumbent traditional ruler, Eze Uzu II, Obi Gibson Nwosu, who has been on the throne for the past 21 years, was seen as a good choice. Nwosu, a retired  air force officer and pilot, has had a smooth stay on the throne until recently when a group of Ozo titled men in the town began to fault his position on issues concerning the town.

The issues include the controversial dust- to- dust ceremony performed by widows at the burial of their deceased spouses  and the election of the President General of Awka Development Union Nigeria, ADUN. On  the dust-to-dust ceremony, Obi Nwosu, who is an ardent catholic and a Knight of the Church, after consultations with various segments in Awka Kingdom, decided that the ceremony should be a matter of choice for those concerned.

This decision did not go down well with some people in the community, especially non-Catholics, who never wanted any widow to put dust into the grave of her late husband, as doing so, they argued, meant that she is still bonded with her deceased spouse.

Obi Gibson Nwosu, Eze Uzu 1 of Awka

In fact, at many burial ceremonies, priests were beaten up for insisting that widows perform the dust –to –dust ceremony until the traditional ruler decided that it should be the decision of the widows concerned. For being on the side of the church, so to speak, a section of Awka felt that he was undermining their culture and, therefore, started campaigning for his dethronement.

In the case of the leadership of ADUN, a section of the community also felt that the Eze Uzu II was supporting the continued stay in office of the incumbent President General whose tenure, they argued, had expired.

Because of the tension the issue generated, Anambra State government decided that the incumbent PG should remain in office until there was a conducive atmosphere for election to hold, a decision the traditional ruler also supported. It was, therefore, not surprising that those  opposed to the stand of the monarch on these issues ganged up to nominate another person as traditional ruler, while the reigning one is still alive.

The issue took a new dimension when those opposed to Obi Nwosu  crowned one Austin Ndigwe as Awka traditional ruler, even when the state government had insisted that the status quo should  remain.

Ndigwe was in fact one-time traditional prime minister to the Awka royal father until they fell out and he became part of the group wanting to dethrone the Ezeuzu 11.His alleged enthronement came as the chief priest of Awka, Chief Chukwurah Ikegbune, who allegedly gave the spiritual approval for the dethronement of Obi Nwosu, reportedly died under mysterious circumstances.

Hundreds of youths from both camps staged protests in the state capital on Thursday. Their action paralyzed vehicular movement in the town for several hours as they marched through major streets.

While some chanted songs saying Obi  Nwosu remained the traditional ruler of Awka, the other group said he was no longer their monarch and that Ndigwe was the new traditional ruler.

Placards carried by Nwosu’s supporters read: “Awka people are tired of Austin Ndigwe’s antics”, “Austin Ndigwe will never be king in Awka”, “We stand with Governor Obiano to stop this impunity”, “Awka is in safe hands” and “Obi Gibson Nwosu remains the king of Awka”.

A member  of the Awka ruling cabinet and a high chief, Chief Benjamin Muorah, in an interview, warned against the spiritual consequences of illegally crowning a traditional ruler in the town. He said: “What happened in our town is a taboo and an abomination. You cannot crown a new king, while the old one is on the throne and the incumbent king has not done anything wrong for that to happen. The consequences are grave and highly spiritual and due to  this abominable act, the chief priest of Imo-Awka deity died mysteriously.”

Another executive member of the Ozo title holders from Ifite clan of Awka, Ozo Emmanuel Muodozie, alleged that some people tried to bring him into the crisis, saying  he resisted. “There is nothing they did not tell me in order to make me join the gang of conspirators against our traditional institution, but I cannot be part of this abomination. As far as I am concerned, people are trying to attract a deadly plague to this town and God will not allow that to happen”, Muodozie said.

“Obi Gibson Nwosu is the Eze Uzu II of Awka and anybody pretending or claiming to be the king would certainly face the wrath of the land.”

Commenting on the issue, the Anambra Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Greg Obi, said there was no going back on the position of the state government, which was that Obi Nwosu remained the traditional ruler of Awka.

He said: “There cannot be two monarchs in a town. Eze Uzu II, Obi Gibson Nwosu is the king of Awka town. He has our staff of office and certificate of recognition since twenty one years.  We do not know who Austin Ndigwe is and government wishes to warn that it would not take kindly to any act of illegality and impersonation by anyone.”

The commissioner later issued a statement which read: “The state government notes that for some time , Awka community has been restive on account of the antics of some citizens of the town masquerading as members of this group in concert with few misguided elements within the Ozo Awka Society, giving rise to a situation in which government had to intervene in the management of the Awka Development Union Nigeria on the side of the rule of law.

“The state government therefore affirms the status of H.R.M. Obi Gibson Nwosu as the traditional ruler of Awka community.  In view of the foregoing, the state government hereby advises all security agencies in the state to be on the alert to forestall any attempts to cause a breach of public peace.”

Meanwhile, Obiano has been asked to recognise Ndigwe as the Eze Uzu III of Awka.

A delegation from the town, led by the spiritual head and Otochalu-Awka, Ichie Ozo Nwibe Nwosu, stated this in a letter to the governor.  The letter, titled, ‘Appeal for Government Recognition of Obi Eze Uzu 3rd of Awka Kingdom’, was delivered during a visit to the governor. The letter, dated December 7, 2017, noted that the emergence and crowning of Ndigwe on November 15,2017 was sequel to a long drawn constitutional process of selection, screening and confirmation of the new traditional ruler in the last one year.

Nwosu therefore urged the governor to certify Ndigwe having duly passed all the rigorous process of security screening that culminated in being provided the community’s staff of office.