EVOLUTION OF OHALI ROYAL STOOL
By:
Ajukura, Fidelis O.
ajukurafidelisobi@yahoo.com
July, 2022

In my previous article titled “Knowing Ohali”, I highlighted certain facts about the Ohalis. Some of these facts reveal that; Ohali is the primogenitor of the Ohalis or Umu-Ohali people, the descendants of Ohali are today considered to have the highest spread in Ogbaland. In other words, they are found in all the clans or zones of Ogbaland i.e., Omoku, Egi, Igburu and Usomini. The reason for the spread was carefully explained. Also, I mentioned how Ohali became the first King of Ogbaland (Eze Ogba) and how the Ohalis lost the stool or crown to the Umu-Ebes.

In this write-up, my emphasis will be on the Ohali royal stool. I shall explain how they (the Umu-Ohalis) have fared with the royal stool. For easy understanding, the write-up shall be broken in bits. Enjoy!
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Umu-Ohali is a special kindred in Ogba land because of its association with the Ogba royal stool. Their forebear, Ohali was the first king of Ogba. Although, they later lost the throne to the Umu-Ebes, they have remained relevant in determining who become the King of Ogba land (Eze Ogba). Based on the outcome of the meeting between the Umu-Ohalis and the Umu-Ebes (in the residence of Igwe Obi Olowu in Elieta towards the end of the 17th Century ), it was resolved that; since the royal stool has moved to the Umu-Ebes, an Umu-Ohali son must perform the task or duty of crowning any Umu-Ebe descendant that is selected as King (Eze Ogba). With this injunction, the Umu-Ohalis becomes intrinsically tied to the Ogba royal stool.
After losing the Ogba royal stool to the Umu-Ebes, the Umu-Ohalis continued to exercise their authority from Amah.
BUT:

1. Did you know that around 1917, a certain powerful man from Amah known as Igwe Olu-Akah decided to relocate the Umu-Ohali royal throne from Amah to Omoku?

2. Did you know that when his people challenged him, he told them that he has been chosen by the gods to be the next Umu-Ohali king (Eze Ohali)?

3. Did you know that majority of Umu-Ohali people especially, those in Omoku kicked against this plan? But Igwe Olu-Akah, using his wealth and influence was able to have his way? He built a new throne (Ukpe) in Usomini quarter of Omoku where many Umu-Ohalis reside.

4. Did you know that about a year or so after Igwe Olu-Akah had built his palace, the Umu-Ebes, fearing that Igwe Olu-Akah’s presence in Omoku was going to jeopardize the Eze Ogba’s stool decided to destroy the palace? Following this development, Igwe Olu-Akah went on exile in a community in present day Anambra state. While in exile, Igwe Olu-Akah lived with his son, Moses Igwe before he (Igwe Olu-Akah) died around 1958. After the death of Igwe Olu-Akah, his son, Moses Igwe decided to relocate to Omoku.

5. Did you know that shortly after Igwe Olu-Akah’s palace was destroyed, Obi Nwachukwuma, in 1919 became Eze Ogba? With the Eze Ohali in exile, there was nobody to crown him. Without any encumbrance, he continued to discharge his duty as king.

6. Did you know that a brother of Obi Nwachukwuma from Egbnuru lineage known as Frank Akwokwu Dike, a former court clerk, in what seemed like a palace coup deposed his brother, Obi Nwachukwuma?

7. Did you know that the deposition of Obi Nwachukwuma as King has been ascribed by many Ogba people to the absence of the Ohalis in performing the coronation rite? Although, some disagree with this position and attribute Obi Nwachukwuma’s defeat in the case he instituted in the Provincial Court against Akwokwu Dike to his look – he was not a man favoured in looks. Moreover, he had skin tags all over his body which made his case even worse. They believe that the white men who handled the case may have been swayed by Akwokwu’s great and imposing look.

8. Did you know that when Frank Akwokwu Dike was to be crowned in 1928 there was nobody to crown him? Other Ohalis who could perform the task refrained from doing so because of the treatment that was meted on their brother, Igwe Olu-Akah.

9. Did you know that only one Ohali son, Nwanosike Nwajari (father of Gilbert Adiela Nwajari) of the Akpudi family from Onu-mini Uju near Ohali Usomini agreed to perform the coronation?

10. Did you know that the Umu-Ohalis, having realized their importance to the Ogba royal throne insisted that the Umu-Ebes must atone for the desecration of their royal throne and the humiliation that was brought upon them? To this end, the Umu-Ebes were left with no choice but to make restitution to the Umu-Ohalis. Before the coronation, the royal throne was rebuilt by the Umu-Ebes. In 1928 Frank Akwuokwu Dike was crowned by Nwanosike Nwajari. Nwasosike Nwajari was later installed as Eze Ohali.

11. Did you know that Nwanosike Nwajari mandated his son, Gilbert Adiela Nwajari to crown Frank Akwokwu Dike’s successor, Archibald Dike?

12. Did you know that after Nwanosike Nwajari passed on, his son, Gilbert A. Nwajari was made Eze Ohali in 1955? In 1959, he crowned Silk Wokoma Obi.

13. Did you know that after the demise of Silk Obi (after the civil war), all was set for the coronation of another King but there arose a strong contention against Gilbert Nwajari? This contention was spearheaded by Moses Igwe. Moses Igwe, like a serpent had been monitoring events from the sidelines, waiting for the opportune time to strike. When the time was ripe enough for him, he struck with every amount of energy he could muster. What was Moses Igwe’s grouse about Nwajari? a. There was no formal handing over to Gilbert Nwajari as Eze Ohali and; b. The Eze Ohali stool is not exclusively hereditary to the Umu-Akpudi family. The contention deepened such that in 1970 when Chwukwumela was to be coronated, there was nobody to crown him because, Moses Igwe insisted that he was the rightful person (Eze Ohali) and therefore, will coronate Chukwumela. Moses Igwe was emboldened in the contest because many Ohali sons supported his course – the Ohali stool was for all Umu-Ohalis and not Umu-Akpudi of Omoku alone. Some prominent Ohali sons who queued behind Moses Igwe were; Chief Esi Amadi of Obite, Chief Tom Eke of Akapta etc. When the contest failed to be resolved amicably, the entire Umu-Ohali kindred met in Obigwe to address the issue. When some influential Ogba sons perceived that the coronation of the new Oba (Eze Ogba) was likely to be marred by the battle between Moses Igwe and Gilbert Nwajari, they employed an extraordinary stratagem in order to ensure that the coronation holds as planned. Prominent among these Ogba sons include; Chief S.N.Okirie, Chief Edward Ugorji. Chief Samuel O, Masi, Chief Nwagbogwe Ajie. These men eventually came to be known as the “Big Four” of Omoku. The Big Four contrived a plan that; the police on the day of the coronation was to invite and interrogate both Chief Gilbert Nwajari and Moses Igwe in the residence of Chief Benjamin Nwaudho at Cemetery road in Omoku. The plan worked out perfectly – on the day of the coronation, the two gladiators were held in Chief Benjamin Nwaudho’s house by the police where they underwent a pseudo interrogation until the coronation was concluded.

14. Did you know that in the absence of the warring Ohali czars, the Coronation Planning Committee contacted a highly respected Ohali elder, Akwagburu Nwaerisi to crown the new Oba (Eze Ogba) Chukwumela Nnam Obi?

15. Did you know that while the battle between Chief Gilbert Nwajari and Igwe Moses raged on, F.J. Ellah whose father, John Ellah was a chief in Oba’s (Eze Ogba) palace was busy planning how to use his position as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) to elevate his father’s stool to an independent one?

16. Did you know that two major factors led to the failure of Chief Gilbert Nwajari?
a). In a meeting tagged Ohali Sovereign Conference held in Obigwe in 1971, Moses Igwe won the support of prominent Ohali sons especially, those from outside Omoku with the argument that “the Ohali royal stool was for all free-born sons of Ohali and not limited to those in Omoku?” At the end of the meeting, the Ohalis voted massively for Moses Igwe as their new King – Eze Ohali. In the meeting, it was resolved that Moses Igwe be installed at Omoku and made to rule from there (it is believed that Moses Igwe may have, in order to actualize his father’s dream of ruling from Omoku influenced the Ohalis decision that he be installed in Omoku and made to rule from there). In this manner, the Eze Ohali stool was officially moved from Amah to Omoku. Few months after this ruling, Moses Igwe was installed as Eze Ohali. In protest to the Obigwe judgement, Chief Gilbert Nwajari continued to parade himself as Eze Ohali until the reclassification of chieftaincy stool by the Rivers State Government where three major stools of Oba (Eze Ogba) Chukwumela Nnam Obi, Eze Nwadei John Ellah and Eze Ohali Moses Igwe were recognized that he, Chief Gilbert Nwajari ceased to parade himself as the Eze Ohali and picked the title “Oliha of Ogbaland”.
b). Francis J. Ellah, who at the time was the Secretary to the State Government, was highly opposed to the idea of having Gilbert Nwajari as the Eze Ohali. He used all the power he had to block Nwajari. What was the reason for this stiff opposition? Long before the reclassification of the chieftaincy stool by the Rivers state Government, Ellah had approached Nwajari to support him in elevating his father’s stool, Eze Nwadei to an independent stool but Nwajari declined, arguing that the Nwadei is not an independent stool. He further stressed that the stool has never been independent. He supported his position by pointing to the fact that his father (John Ellah) was still a serving chief in Oba’s (Eze Ogba’s) palace. This response did not go down well with Ellah that he vowed to work against Nwajari.

17. Did you know that in 1971, Moses Igwe was crowned as Eze Ohali with full government recognition as a Second Class Chief? But few years into his leadership as Eze Ohali, history repeated itself: his palace in Usomini quarter of Omoku was destroyed by members of Omoku community and he fled to Amah. What was the reason for this attack? He was recognized as an ardent antagonist of Oba (Eze Ogba) Chukwumela Nnam Obi and by extension, the people of Omoku. But F. J. Ellah in his book, Ali-Ogba says “it was alleged that he (Chukwumela Nnam Obi) instigated Omoku youths to destroy the house and properties of Eze Ohali, Eze Moses Igwe who retreated to his ancestral village, Amah”. Unlike his father before him, he returned to Omoku and continued with his reign until he passed on to the great beyond.

18. Did you know that after the demise of Moses Igwe (Eze Ohali), the Ohali stool once again slipped into another round of controversy? This time, the battle was between the first son of Moses Igwe, Chamberlin Igwe and the Ohali royal family especially that of Nwajari. The battle had been ignited by Chamberlin Igwe who insisted that the Ohali stool is hereditary and that the Umu-Ohalis have no stake in it. This position attracted a strong reaction from the Umu-Ohali royal family.

19. Did you know that Umu-Ohali royal family originated a legal battle against Chamberlin Igwe at the Rivers State High Court, Omoku? As the matter was still going on, the family of Nwajari presented one of its sons, Chima Nwajari for coronation and was stealthily crowned by certain members of the Ohali royal family? Chima later joined the suit with the same obnoxious argument that his uncle, Gilbert had made that; “the stool originally belongs to the Nwajaris”. The Justice Biambo’s court later struck out the case for what it termed “a wrong process”. In the court’s wisdom, the case ought to have originated from the Rivers State Government’s Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs. Unsatisfied with the ruling of the High Court, Chima and his supporters proceeded to appeal the case. While the process of appeal was still going on, the death of Oba (Eze Ogba) Chukwumela Nnam Obi was announced. At this point, the question became “who is the rightful person to crown the next Oba (Eze Ogba )? At this juncture, it became imperative to fall back to tradition which maintaines that “the rightful person to coronate the Oba (Eze Ogba) must come from the lineage that is known to have coronated previous Obas – to this end, Chima Nwajari was selected to ascend the throne as Eze Ohali.

20. Did you know that Chima Nwajari and the son of late Oba (Eze Ogba), Nwachukwu Nnam Obuoha Obi were installed the same day - 2nd October, 2021? After Chima Nwajari was installed as Eze Ohali (Eze Buruzochni), he went to Anama Obieti or Ahia Orie square and crowned Nwachukwu Nnam Obuoha Obi as the Oba (Eze Ogba) Chukwumela Nnam Obuoha Obi 111.

Interesting!

In depth analysis, thumbs up

Ohali and Nwajari. These sound like some names we use in Anioma. Ohai and Nwajeri or Nwajei.

Some day, all these identity crises will end and all our people will understand the importance of our nationhood.
Oba(Eze Ogba)... How did they manage to keep this going? Even the Ekpeyes (a step more distinct) use Eze Logbo straight without attaching any unsubstantiated 'Oba'.
Anyway, the wilderness experience must be completed.