As far as I'm concern, we have only 2 of them in Nigeria. Sultan is 1 and Ooni is another. No governor or politician here in the west will underestimate the influence of Ooni. Alafin is equally big...in fact his throne should have been d biggest but something happen (it's a long story-na 2 unit GNS course for vasity) and he lost this position to Oonirisa.
Talking about north, the same way they reference sultan. Many of our so called leaders go pay homage to these two pple in their closet. SE? I doubt even if the pple there even value traditional rulers as such there. Check history...Igbos do not really practice this or giv in too much to all these traditionl ruling era thing.

ODUA_NEGRO: Thanks.

So I thought previously that the Obi is the highest ranking monarch of the land, now I know better. In any society you can ultimately converge overall leadership and authority in one person on top. If there are three subgroups under the Igbo nation then who is the topmost authority, would it be Eze Aro or Eze Nri?

I understand that Eze Aro is political and authority over sovereingty of Alaigbo. Eze Nri is priest and has authority over spiritual rites and customs of Alaigbo. What role does the third one, Eze Agbo, hold?

I think you might've misinterpreted what I wrote or that I wasn't clear enough in my explanation. The Igbo peoples do not have a single king; there's no one man who leads all of Igboland. However, it is true that, traditionally, the two most influential kings of Igboland are the Eze Aro and the Eze Nri.

The Eze Nri, although a clear religious leader, is not the religious leader of all of Igboland. The Nri people expanded from Anambra and spread "Nri culture" to most of the Igbo parts of Delta, parts of Imo, and most of Anambra. I could go even deeper as to what "Nri" culture means but I don't think it would be necessary since you, not being an Igbo, would probably not comprehend.

The Aro Confederacy was responsible for the cultural mixture of Igboland, and to a larger extent, eastern Nigeria. When people begin to list the monarchs of Igboland, they start off with the Eze Aro. Just to help emphasize my point: During his tenure, Obasanjo paid homage to the Eze Aro and was granted Aro citizenship.

The Obi Agbo is the king of Agbor (a town in Delta State). Unlike that of the Eze Nri and the Eze Aro, the Obi of Agbo's influence does not extend to vast parts of Igboland. However, he is the premier traditional ruler of the Ika. In the old days, the Obi of Agbo repeatedly fought with the armies of Benin as he led the Ika in an attempt to hold back Benin's eastward expansion.

Negro_Ntns: I dont know much about the igbo monarchy and their roles...I know the titles but dont have a clue how the titles rank in terms of roles .

For example, using the ones I know.

Ooni of Ife is a Priest-King title and the overall first tier ruler of Yoruba race.

Alaafin of Oyo is the political King of the Yoruba sovereingty (not the race, only the sovereingty) and tributes from all Kings in the commonwealth must go to him.

Omo N'Oba will pay tribute to Ife but not to Oyo. Oba of Lagos must pay tribute to both Bini and Oyo.

In North, Sultan is the Priest-King of all Emirates (not the fulani race and not the hausa race....just the conquered thrones or seat of political power). Therefore, even though the Kanuris are muslims, they do not pay tribute to Sultan. All the Emirates, including Ilorin pay tribute to Sultan but the Yorubas do not.....this is why they have the Balogun.

Each Emirate is autonomous and sovereign and the Emir draws tribute from Sarki (King) of sub domains.

So to rank the monarchs as the op requests will be difficult without first understanding their roles, tiers and functions. You cannot lump a Sarki of Gumel for instance with Emir of Katsina.

Negro please remove The Mighty and Powerful Egba Kingdom from the list of kingdoms that must pay tribute to the Alaafin of Oyo.
If you check your facts right, Egba kingdom was the only Kingdom that actually Won its independence from Oyo through Rebellion, we defeated them in a war led by Lisabi Agbongbo Akala.
My forefather, Sarunmi Olowe Aseru bote, Sarunmi di kuku di kaka loju Ogun, fought alongside Lisabi in that war.
Others have it because Oyo collapse when The British came in finally. So speak for Lagos and others but not Egbaland.

NRI PRIEST:

What tha f....uck is this Odumchi Who is Eze Aro?? His influence begins and stops with Arochukwu.....not Arondizuogu nor Ajali sef...Abeg get off your high horse...stop trying to spread false impression...this thing you wrote is complete rubbish...Eze Aro my a..ss!

I seriously doubt you know the gravity of this statement. I'm not trying to spread anything; I'm just saying things as they are. Anyway, I'm not surprised that, as an Idemili guy, this is your reaction.

Aro voro ivo si guma onye amaa ya juo ka e vooro ya maka Okonko anaa anu "asi m ma kwa".

Abbey2sam: They are all powerful in their domains,before a monarch can be well influential and powerful,it has to be in a contry where they practice that system....EliZabeth is an example....

gej

It can't be the Oba of Benin. If the Sultan of Sokoto orders (really orders) Boko Haram to disband then they will disband not today, but yesterday. Anyway, there's only one true king on this earth, and that is King Elizabeth II.

Tolexander: FYI, am not derailing the thread! Odudua gave birth to okanbi, okanbi gave birth to 7 children. When all the 7 children went away, who ruled ife?

There was Obamakin and there was Obalufon. Ife had been in existence before the arrival of Emperor Oduduwa. When Oduduwa arrived ancient Ife, he and his group are believed to have conquered the
component communities and to have evolved the
palace structure with its effective centralized
power.

This means Ife had kings before the arrival of Oduduwa. Oranyan/oranmiyan who founded Oyo and was Oduduwa's grandson who came back to ife to ascend his father's throne as the fourth Ooni of Ife.

Oduduwa also never gave authority to Oranmiyan over his older brothers. Oyo derived supremacy through military might.

The Alaafin will tell you of his ancestor - Oduduwa. It follows therefore that his successor in title, whether his direct son or not, holds forth as the Spiritual head of the Yoruba.

Some questions for you... If Ife had existed with kings before Oyo was created, how come Oyo's Alaafin is now greater than Ooni's Ile ife?

Tell us, what was the name of the King at Oyo before Oranmiyan? You can't because there was no king at Oyo. On what basis should Oyo hold sway over Ife when Ife existed before Oyo?

Even if you argue that Ooni was not a blood son of Oduduwa. The establishment of Yoruba kingdoms started from Ife and not Oyo. If Oyo
wants the Yoruba to think otherwise, it should re-
conquer the rest of Yorubaland again, if it can.
What political power does Oyo have? None
What military power does Oyo have? Nada
What spiritual power does Oyo have? Zilch

Should we continue to respect Oyo because its military
reigned supreme before the 19th century? Why not
Owu then since Owu was was the first kingdom to
defeat Oyo? Did the Olowu not capture Alaafin Ajaka
(first Alaafin after Oranmiyan)?

Alaafin's hold over the rest of the Yoruba started diminishing in 1780 when the Egba won independence from Oyo through Lisabi, Sorunke, Sarunmi and other warriors and was completed when Ibadan established itself as the most advanced state with the defeat of Ilorin and the Fulani at Osogbo in 1840. Oyo was powerless all through the Ibadan expansionist wars and the final war in Yoruba land, the Kiriji wars in 1886. Where was Oyo when all the powerful Yoruba states were warring in the Kiriji wars? They were at home.
because they weren't relevant. Where was Oyo when
all the Yoruba states were signing the peace treaty in
Lagos in 1886?

What makes the ancient Alaafin different from the Onipoopo, Orangun and Sabe (his senior brothers)?....The answer is Military might. Now that Oyo's military might is no longer relevant, what makes it different from the earliest Yoruba kingdoms? Neffo!

The current Alaafin is just a trouble maker that likes distorting facts and wants to create disorder among the Yoruba kingdoms. I am glad that he is no longer the permanent chairman of the Oyo council of traditional rulers, It is now being rotated. That was One of the major reasons why Osun was carved out of Oyo state, When Alaafin took up fight with the Ooni over the Ooni's authority as the chairman of the Old Oyo state council of traditional rulers.

Like the Ooni would say, Lamidi is ruling over a dead kingdom and living in Oyo's military past glory.

Note for your records, Obalufon was a very popular king who gave beaded crowns to many Yoruba kingdom. The popular Ife bronze head(the one with the beaded crown) made using the lost wax method sitting in a museum in London is called the head of Obalufon, 3rd ooni of ife. There is also an ancient Yoruba town located in Osun state still existing till date. The name of the town is called Ifon-Osun-Orolu.

The Olufon’s(king of Ifon) rights to wear
beaded crowns were reconfirmed by Obalufon during
the latter’s reign as Ooni of Ife in succession to
Oduduwa. It is a fact, universally acknowledged in Yorubaland, It is also vividly recalled that
initially the Alaafin of Oyo originally had no crown.
This should not be surprising as one is aware of the
account recorded by the Reverend Samuel Johnson in
his book The History of the Yorubas (C.M.S. Lagos,
1922) to the effect that the first Alaafin was badly
treated and that his heritage from Oduduwa’s estate
was very pitiable. When Oyo was established,
therefore, even though the Alaafin had legal rights,
being a DIRECT descendant of Oduduwa, he had no
crown of his own. It was in fact one of the crowns of
the Olufon-Orolu that was given to the Alaafin. In
fact in the evolution of the Oyo monarchical system,
the Alaafin benefited immensely from the concept of
divine kingship already established in Ifon-Orolu. The
common saying in the Oyo area which recalls this
incident graphically, is worth repeating here:
Lade Lade Lade
Alaafin o lade
Ninu Ade Olufon Orolu
L’agba fun Alaafin
(On the issue of having a crown
The Alaafin had no crown
It was from the crowns of Olufon Orolu
That we took (one) for the Alaafin...

I have to accept that the Emir
of Kano
Sultan of Sokoto
Oba of Benin
Ooni of Ife
In no particular order hold substantial influence over Nigeria. The role of these seats of power have changed as successors are installed, for instance the power and respect Oba Adesoji Tadeniawo Titus Martins Aderemi held can't be compared to what Sijuwade can claim.

Some people are listing the Obi of Onitsha. #I laugh

vincent_09: Oba of Benin is the most influencial both in pre-colonial and post-colonial times. This was seen in IBB and Abacha's regime. Even till date he does not interfair in politics like other monarch but still honoured.

i am not nogerian,but i think the oba of Bini is the most influential one coz he has a full country(republic of benin!) named after his kingdom!As it said,you know a great man by his children!

odumchi:

I think you might've misinterpreted what I wrote or that I wasn't clear enough in my explanation. The Igbo peoples do not have a single king; there's no one man who leads all of Igboland. However, it is true that, traditionally, the two most influential kings of Igboland are the Eze Aro and the Eze Nri.

The Eze Nri, although a clear religious leader, is not the religious leader of all of Igboland. The Nri people expanded from Anambra and spread "Nri culture" to most of the Igbo parts of Delta, parts of Imo, and most of Anambra. I could go even deeper as to what "Nri" culture means but I don't think it would be necessary since you, not being an Igbo, would probably not comprehend.

The Aro Confederacy was responsible for the cultural mixture of Igboland, and to a larger extent, eastern Nigeria. When people begin to list the monarchs of Igboland, they start off with the Eze Aro. Just to help emphasize my point: During his tenure, Obasanjo paid homage to the Eze Aro and was granted Aro citizenship.

The Obi Agbo is the king of Agbor (a town in Delta State). Unlike that of the Eze Nri and the Eze Aro, the Obi of Agbo's influence does not extend to vast parts of Igboland. However, he is the premier traditional ruler of the Ika. In the old days, the Obi of Agbo repeatedly fought with the armies of Benin as he led the Ika in an attempt to hold back Benin's eastward expansion.

Your write up is still a little not clear so let me explain a bit more.
While the rest of Nigeria climb head and tail over their Kings, Igbos perfected democracy long before the white man came, till today some warrant chiefs cannot exert reasonable control over their communities.

Now the Eze-Nri, The connotation of Eze Nri having political influence over the whole of Igboland is purely false, this is because the Nri culture is the very thing that enthroned a culture, where individual title-ship was recognised above any kingship. The NRI priest is even better recognised by Igbo communities than Eze Nri. My grandmother in the village knows the nearest priest of the NRI order, but has absolutely no clue who Eze Nri is. The influence of NRI is in its theologians or priests, so no mistake please, this monarchy thing is not good for Igbos, and is the very first thing we should do away with once we leave Nigeria behind.

The Eze Aro is only a king in Aro(one of the very rare true monarchies in Igboland), the fact that communities beyond Aro had no value for any king, makes his influence beyond Aro more of a literary mirage. But these are all historical stuff, its as good as some Yoruba guy arguing about the powers of Something of Ife, based on Oduduwa having done his magic in ife, thats so lame.

If we are talking of welding power in modern day Nigeria,I will say none is the most powerful monarch.
In the north, one could have said the Emir of Kano or the Sultan, but their popularity was when the northern boys where in power, the last Northern Bad boy "Abacha" made a very dirty work of the then Emir of Kano. In today's Nigeria, their voices are hardly heard.

In Igboland, I could have said the "Obi of Onitsha" but I know that the less popular Igwe of my town "Igwe Peter Anugu" has more influence in the local Anambra state politics than the Obi Nnaemeka.

For Yoruba, am not even sure of what they call their rulers, talk less of their being influential.

These monarchs are always called "Something" of "Somewhere" because they are all relative and are limited to the "Somewhere". They go in and out of season, so none of them is most powerful. In fact, I tell you that the most powerful monarch now is the ruler of Otuoke somewhere in Bayelsa State.

The oba of benin
Alafin of oyo
oni of ife
nana of itsekiri
sultan of sokoto, more so for him Obasanjo had a hand in his emergence as the sultan.
Others

In no particular order, these monarchs stands out in Nigeria
Sultan of Sokoto
Alaafin of Oyo
Ooni Of Ife
Emir of Kano
Oba of Benin
Olubadan of Ibadan
Emir of Zauzau
Obi of Onithsa
Oba of Lagos
Lamido Adamawa
Alake of Egba

Liken of Ibefun ........king of my town

summing peoples opinion on the thread so far, I can conclude that the below Kings stands out.
Sultan of Sokoto
Ooni of Ife
Alaafin of Oyo
Oba of Benin
Emir of Kano
Oba of Lagos

seanet02: Negro please remove The Mighty and Powerful Egba Kingdom from the list of kingdoms that must pay tribute to the Alaafin of Oyo.
If you check your facts right, Egba kingdom was the only Kingdom that actually Won its independence from Oyo through Rebellion, we defeated them in a war led by Lisabi Agbongbo Akala.
My forefather, Sarunmi Olowe Aseru bote, Sarunmi di kuku di kaka loju Ogun, fought alongside Lisabi in that war.
Others have it because Oyo collapse when The British came in finally. So speak for Lagos and others but not Egbaland.

thank you sir for the feedback.

what is Alake's insignia of office? There are certain instruments of office which the Alake must carry when in official capacity as the throne occupier. Name three of them.

Here is salutation to Oba Gbadebo, Alake if Egbaland:

Ade a pe l’ori, Bata a pe l’ese, Ase a pe l’enu, irukere a d’abere, K A B I Y E S I.         

All Obas that carry iru kere (horse whisk) are tributaries or origin of Oyo. All Obas that wear beaded, veiled crown and carry abere (sword) are Ife origin. Some Obas have multiple insignias to denote their multiple roots. Example is Lagos which carry both the iru kere and abere to indicate both its Ijesha and Bini roots.

see...

NRI PRIEST:

What tha f....uck is this Odumchi Who is Eze Aro?? His influence begins and stops with Arochukwu.....not Arondizuogu nor Ajali sef...Abeg get off your high horse...stop trying to spread false impression...this thing you wrote is complete rubbish...Eze Aro my a..ss!

Odenigbo, ogini maka? me chionu! Im trying to learn something important and you come with your stupid kidnapper attitude to disrupt. this na be ya village? yeye monkey....you see any baboon for here?

Oba of Benin of cos. Everyone knows that

No matter who you are if you disrepect me I will disrespect you, everyone is a mornach in his own palace

odumchi:

I think you might've misinterpreted what I wrote or that I wasn't clear enough in my explanation. The Igbo peoples do not have a single king; there's no one man who leads all of Igboland. However, it is true that, traditionally, the two most influential kings of Igboland are the Eze Aro and the Eze Nri.

The Eze Nri, although a clear religious leader, is not the religious leader of all of Igboland. The Nri people expanded from Anambra and spread "Nri culture" to most of the Igbo parts of Delta, parts of Imo, and most of Anambra. I could go even deeper as to what "Nri" culture means but I don't think it would be necessary since you, not being an Igbo, would probably not comprehend.

The Aro Confederacy was responsible for the cultural mixture of Igboland, and to a larger extent, eastern Nigeria. When people begin to list the monarchs of Igboland, they start off with the Eze Aro. Just to help emphasize my point: During his tenure, Obasanjo paid homage to the Eze Aro and was granted Aro citizenship.

The Obi Agbo is the king of Agbor (a town in Delta State). Unlike that of the Eze Nri and the Eze Aro, the Obi of Agbo's influence does not extend to vast parts of Igboland. However, he is the premier traditional ruler of the Ika. In the old days, the Obi of Agbo repeatedly fought with the armies of Benin as he led the Ika in an attempt to hold back Benin's eastward expansion.

odumchi,

thank you! i get a clearer picture now but it will take a while to concretely understand the structure and heirarchy.

Yoruba Obas are like gods, in fact they were! I explained the significance and meaning of the kabiyesi and prostration to salute the Oba. It used to be you take off shoe and hat in presence of an Oba, or you will get dealt with badly by one of the guards. k' ade pe lori, ki bata pe lese! You are not wishing Oba well when you show up to him adorned with your beautiful hat and ornamented shoes. ...they must already be shorn off before he sets eyes on you, but in case you forgot, his guards are lined up to remind you.

Fulani Emirs were regarded as archetypes of Prophet Muhammed. When they approach you must crouch lower so you are not towering above them and not look directly in his eyes. The Emir's spit must not touch ground....his guards spread their gown to receive the glob. When he rises the guards praise him loud...zaki...zaki...zaki. lion...lion...lion.

then one of the chiefs, I think the madaki or waziri, steps forward in the procession and announces.

Hadari sa gaban ka inda ka ke so, ba ma tare ma ka hanya!
windstorm face whither direction pleases thee, no one is alive to stop you.

may God help the soul that remains upright at this point! everyone drop low for zaki to flaunt his power as his procession go past.

Igbo amaghi eze - Igbo doesn't know kingship. No Igbo king deserves to be called influential, the Obi of Onitsha, Asagba of Asaba, Eze Gbakagbaka of Ikwerre et al are not as influentual as their western and northern counterparts. The history and age of the throne can't be over three hundred years old in comparison with their western and northern counterparts. The size of their kingdom is not as large as that of their western and northern counterparts.

The influence of a monarch depends on three basic factors.
1. The age of the throne
2. The size of the kingdom
3. The power of the kingdom

going by these factors, my list of influential monarchs will be
1. The Ooni
2. Emir of Kano
3. The Sultan
4. The Oba of Benin
5. The Shehu of Borno
6. The Aalafin

can't remember the others

bin gbagbo: nwanko kanu

Smh...

afam4eva: Their influence is only valid in their respective communities. You can't for instance compare the Obi of Onitsha to the ooni of Ife because of obvious reasons. The Yorubas respect their Obas very much but in Igboland, an Igwe is just like everyone else. The day an Igwe over steps his boundary he will be dealt with severely.

[color=#000099][/color]

Negro_Ntns: I dont know much about the igbo monarchy and their roles...I know the titles but dont have a clue how the titles rank in terms of roles .

For example, using the ones I know.

Ooni of Ife is a Priest-King title and the overall first tier ruler of Yoruba race.

Alaafin of Oyo is the political King of the Yoruba sovereingty (not the race, only the sovereingty) and tributes from all Kings in the commonwealth must go to him.

Omo N'Oba will pay tribute to Ife but not to Oyo. Oba of Lagos must pay tribute to both Bini and Oyo.

In North, Sultan is the Priest-King of all Emirates (not the fulani race and not the hausa race....just the conquered thrones or seat of political power). Therefore, even though the Kanuris are muslims, they do not pay tribute to Sultan. All the Emirates, including Ilorin pay tribute to Sultan but the Yorubas do not.....this is why they have the Balogun.

Each Emirate is autonomous and sovereign and the Emir draws tribute from Sarki (King) of sub domains.

So to rank the monarchs as the op requests will be difficult without first understanding their roles, tiers and functions. You cannot lump a Sarki of Gumel for instance with Emir of Katsina.

Guy you have made some sense unlike other contributors who just comment because they happen to have a lap-top and a modem

seanet02: Negro please remove The Mighty and Powerful Egba Kingdom from the list of kingdoms that must pay tribute to the Alaafin of Oyo.
If you check your facts right, Egba kingdom was the only Kingdom that actually Won its independence from Oyo through Rebellion, we defeated them in a war led by Lisabi Agbongbo Akala.
My forefather, Sarunmi Olowe Aseru bote, Sarunmi di kuku di kaka loju Ogun, fought alongside Lisabi in that war.
Others have it because Oyo collapse when The British came in finally. So speak for Lagos and others but not Egbaland.

I'm surprised we don't know much about our past. If you read history books, you would see our the Ekitis fought and defeated the Oyo empire. Ekiti people and their Ijesa brothers defeated the Oyo empire in the Kiriji war. The War was lead by General Fabunmi of Okemesi Ekiti and Ogedengbe of Ilesa.

401kk: Igbo amaghi eze - Igbo doesn't know kingship. No Igbo king deserves to be called influential, the Obi of Onitsha, Asagba of Asaba, Eze Gbakagbaka of Ikwerre et al are not as influentual as their western and northern counterparts. The history and age of the throne can't be over three hundred years old in comparison with their western and northern counterparts. The size of their kingdom is not as large as that of their western and northern counterparts.

I know a lot of posters here will like to get angry, but the Eze Nri is actually quite influential since he was the one that gave Col. Ojukwu a title. Around 2/5 of Igboland is influenced by him and the kingdom is the oldest in Nigeria, and most of eastern Nigeria has felt dome impact in the past by the kingdom.

I like this thread and have to say above all else, it is still the Sultan of Sokoto. His authority extends all over the large number of Hausa-Fulani people (and Muslims by extension). Like so many posters have said, the traditional stool isn't so powerful in the East (Obi of Onitsha is mentioned due to the prime location of Onitsha and not any particular authority he exerts) and given the diversity of the Niger Delta, no monarch dare go beyond his own locale. For instance; Oba of Benin has no authority over the Otaru of Auchi, the Azagba of Asaba has no authority in Ika or Ukwuani land, Olu of Itsekiri (Olu of Warri title is a misnomer) dare not command an Urhobo or Ijaw man. In the West, the Ooni of Ife is no longer that powerful (Awujale of Ijebuland pays him no homage for instance and distances Ijebu people from Ife ditto for others like the Alaafin of Oyo, Alake of Egbaland e.t.c).

ezeagu:

I know a lot of posters here will like to get angry, but the Eze Nri is actually quite influential since he was the one that gave Col. Ojukwu a title. Around 2/5 of Igboland is influenced by him and the kingdom is the oldest in Nigeria, and most of eastern Nigeria has felt dome impact in the past by the kingdom.

His influence ends in Anambra and perhaps, some part of enugu. He has no influence over Ndi Imo, Abia na Ebonyi. His kingdom being the oldest in Igbo land doesn't give him influence over other Igbo .

401kk:
His influence ends in Anambra and perhaps, some part of enugu. He has no influence over Ndi Imo, Abia na Ebonyi. His kingdom being the oldest in Igbo land doesn't give him influence over other Igbo .

Imo has ozo and nze title, Northern Delta has ozo and nze title. Some cultural practices were influenced or came from Nri a long time ago, most especially religion.

KenGali:

Your write up is still a little not clear so let me explain a bit more.
While the rest of Nigeria climb head and tail over their Kings, Igbos perfected democracy long before the white man came, till today some warrant chiefs cannot exert reasonable control over their communities.

The Eze Aro is only a king in Aro(one of the very rare true monarchies in Igboland), the fact that communities beyond Aro had no value for any king, makes his influence beyond Aro more of a literary mirage. But these are all historical stuff, its as good as some Yoruba guy arguing about the powers of Something of Ife, based on Oduduwa having done his magic in ife, thats so lame.

In Igboland, I could have said the "Obi of Onitsha" but I know that the less popular Igwe of my town "Igwe Peter Anugu" has more influence in the local Anambra state politics than the Obi Nnaemeka.

Nwonyeke, I don't want it to seem as if I'm making a big deal out of this, but be informed:

Source:http://aronewsonline.com/files/Aro_Monarchy.doc

"Since the British invasion of Arochukwu (otherwise known as the Arochukwu Expedition) in 1901-1902, the British Colonial Government recognized the influence and prestige of the Aro King (the Eze-Aro) whose influence and prestige transcend the whole of Igbo land and beyond. It will be recalled that Aro settle and constitute autonomous communities in various parts of Abia, Imo, Anambra, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Enugu and beyond with their recognized traditional rulers, but then these Aros and their traditional rulers pay true allegiance and annual homage to the Eze-Aro whom they recognize as their King. Because of his influence and prestige, the Eze-Aro was the first and only President of the then Arochukwu Native Court. Both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II awarded previous Eze-Aro’s certificate and medals of Honor in recognition of their immense popularity, influence and prestige throughout the former Eastern Region of Nigeria, more particularly for their role in quelling the Aba Women Riot of 1929. In the colonial days and after, the Eze-Aro was and still remains an embodiment of peace and exercised sobering influence over the other chiefs and Traditional Rulers in the area. The Eze-Aro is one of the eight ( Traditional Paramount Rulers in the former Eastern Region of Nigeria, and the only one in Abia State of Nigeria, whose positions as First Class Paramount Traditional Rulers were entrenched in the 1960 Constitution of Eastern Region of Nigeria as well as in the 1963 Constitution of Eastern Nigeria when Nigeria became a Republic. The other seven (7) First Class Paramount Traditional Rulers are the Amayanabo of Opobo, the Amayanabo of Bonny, the Amayanabo of Nembe, the Amayanabo of Kalabari, the Obi of Onitsha, the Obi of Oguta and the Obong of Calabar. Consequently the Eze-Aro of Arochukwu and the other seven (7) First Class Paramount Traditional Rulers named above were automatic and ex-officio members of the eastern Nigeria House of chiefs until the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War and subsequent creation of twelve (12) States in 1967. Thus the Colonial government and all subsequent Nigerian Governments, especially in the former Eastern Nigeria, have continued to recognize the influence, prestige and exalted position of the Eze-Aro as one of the few Traditional Rulers in the former Eastern Nigeria occupying a traditional stool with history. He is in fact, the only Traditional Ruler in Abia State occupying such a stool (i.e. a traditional stool with history."