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The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? - Culture - Nairaland

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The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 4:37am On Mar 01, 2015
The Kingdom of Nri (Igbo: 'Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì') (948–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri-Igbo. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters.

Nnewi people are core Nri people and Eze Aro created Nnewi Monarch using his daughter,Princess Aro. Nnewi monarch pre-existed even Onitsha and Obosi. Nnewi area was called Agbaja. The first Obi Agbaja was Digbo. His mother was the daughter of Eze Aro. His first son was Otolo. The genealogy is pictured below.


The current Igwe Orizu the third, was coronated in 1963. He is the 17th Obi of Otolo and Igwe of Nnewi in an unbroken successioni. Nnewi area was called Agbaja. The first Obi Agbaja was Digbo. His mother was the daughter of Eze Aro. His first son was Otolo. As at the time Obi Iweka was Obi Obosi, Obi Nnewi was Eze Ugbonyamba Orizu. He presided over Agbaja Dictrict Court, the only district court in the Old Onitsha province. Others had native courts and the District Court was superior.

Nnewi had a King as far as 1600, that of Eze Aro existed before 1507, I read about the Obi Okoli of Nnewi who lost his stool in 1780 or thereabout. The Eze Nri predated the 16th century.

Some say that Israel Iweka is the first king of Obosi below...
Anybody have much to add to this discussion?

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 4:38am On Mar 01, 2015
Here is a news clipping from the 40's proving Nnewi had a monarchy before the war

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 4:40am On Mar 01, 2015
Here is another article from the archives

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 5:01am On Mar 01, 2015
Article from 1945


Ikweke Abyssinia Nwafor Orizu, of Manhattan, is a tall, black, sober young man of 24 who calls himself "Prince Orizu." He uses the title only to impress whites with the fact that Africa has traditional governments of its own. His hearers are usually sufficiently impressed to ask what he is prince of. His answer: Nnewi.

Nnewi is a progressive monarchy in the British Protectorate of Nigeria. A. A. Nwafor Orizu was offered its throne in 1938, on the death of his father, Ezeng-bonyamba I. Last week in his Manhattan office he explained why he...

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791871,00.html
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by BeeBeeOoh(m): 5:07am On Mar 01, 2015
Coming baq to do d needful. But for now,





GEJ till 2019..
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 5:19am On Mar 01, 2015
BeeBeeOoh:
Coming baq to do d needful. But for now,





GEJ till 2019..
I go gree with GEJ
Bring back some info lets educate ourselves!
The whiteman can't be the one to tell our stories....
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 5:21am On Mar 01, 2015
The current Igwe Kenneth Onyeneke Orizu III is the Traditional supreme ruler of Nnewi metropolitan city, in Igboland He is the 17th monarch in the Nnofo Royal lineage and the successor to his father Igwe Kenneth Orizu II. In Anambra State, Igwe Kenneth Orizu III is the first class chief as well as the vice Chairman of the Anambra State House of Chiefs

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by Nobody: 5:49am On Mar 01, 2015
I have a number of things to say:

Israel Iweka (the guy in your second picture) was not the first king of Obosi. Obosi had had kings for quite some time before Israel Iweka was crowned.

The Eze Nri and the Eze Aro links with Nnewi in your first post sound strange to me. The accounts of Nnewi history that I know tell the story very differently, but getting into that might derail this thread, so I'd better not get into it.

I don't think one can easily say which, between Onitsha and Nnewi, has the older kingship system. For one, we do not know when either of the kingdoms were founded. Dates for the founding of Onitsha range from about 1550 to about 1745. I havent seen any suggested dates for the founding of Nnewi. But if Otolo was founded by an Aro princess, as your post says (and I doubt it), then Nnewi too is not that old. Arochukwu was not founded before the 17th century.

In any case, Onitsha has a longer king list than Nnewi, with over 20 kings, against Nnewi's 17. This is not conclusive sha. Nri is almost certainly older than Nnewi and Onitsha and its king list is only 16 kings long.

(In my opinion, Aguleri could have the longest extant kingship in Igboland. By the time the Idigo dynasty was established late in the 19th century, the town had already had at least two dynasties and almost 30 kings.)

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Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by Nobody: 5:52am On Mar 01, 2015
Oh. You edited your first post. That kinda renders some of my observations pointless. grin

1 Like

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 5:53am On Mar 01, 2015
Radoillo:
I have a number of things to say:

Israel Iweka (the guy in your second picture) was not the first king of Obosi. Obosi had had kings for quite some time before Israel Iweka was crowned.

The Eze Nri and the Eze Aro links with Nnewi in your first post sound strange to me. The accounts of Nnewi history that I know tell the story very differently, but getting into that might derail this thread, so I'd better not get into it.

I don't think one can easily say which, between Onitsha and Nnewi, has the older kingship system. For one, we do not know when either of the kingdoms were founded. Dates for the founding of Onitsha range from about 1550 to about 1745. I havent seen any suggested dates for the founding of Nnewi. But if Otolo was founded by an Aro princess, as your post says (and I doubt it), then Nnewi too is not that old. Arochukwu was not founded before the 17th century.

In any case, Onitsha has a longer king list than Nnewi, with over 20 kings, against Nnewi's 17. This is not conclusive sha. Nri is almost certainly older than Nnewi and Onitsha and its king list is only 16 kings long.

(In my opinion, Aguleri could have the longest extant kingship in Igboland. By the time the Idigo dynasty was established late in the 19th century, the town had already had at least two dynasties and almost 30 kings.)
No please I changed the thread I want us to contribute as much as we can about this history I keep changing the the title because I want to discuss the whole issue. Please share your part and give me a suggestion for the thread title that would be good for google search engine. I don't want it to look like a fight. Just trying to get clarification.
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 5:55am On Mar 01, 2015
Ezeugbonyamba died long before the picture of Igwe Iweka that I posted taken in 1932.

In any case, Onitsha has a longer king list than Nnewi, with over 20 kings, against Nnewi's 17. This is not conclusive sha. Nri is almost certainly older than Nnewi and Onitsha and its king list is only 16 kings long.

Nnewi Kings just lived longer is all don't you think?
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 6:08am On Mar 01, 2015
Radoillo:
Oh. You edited your first post. That kinda renders some of my observations pointless. grin
Hahaha I just did not want it to be an us vs them thread to keep ego's down. I want you to talk about what you posted so please tell us more
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 6:20am On Mar 01, 2015
[quote author=Radoillo post=31187838][/quote]

Even on your map in your thread (which is beautiful by the way) Nri is where Nnewi is so how can you doubt the Nri and Nnewi are linked?

https://www.nairaland.com/1487747/ancient-town-awka-fragments-history

1 Like

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by Nobody: 6:42am On Mar 01, 2015
biafranqueen:


Even on your map in your thread (which is beautiful by the way) Nri is where Nnewi is so how can you doubt the Nri and Nnewi are linked?

https://www.nairaland.com/1487747/ancient-town-awka-fragments-history

No oh. I'm not doubting any links. Nnewi was within Oraeri's (the second town with an Eze Nri) hegemony. And there were lots of connections. The problem is that the accounts of Nnewi history that I'm familiar with (esp. the one written by John Alutu) did not trace Nnewi ancestry to Nri, which is what you implied when you said 'Nnewi people are core Nri people'. Nnewi was under Oraeri's ritual sway, no questions about that but that ritual influence doesn't necessarily equal to common ancestry.

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Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by Nobody: 6:45am On Mar 01, 2015
I'll dig around my study when I get home. I think I have one or two interesting things I could contribute.

It's a pity I no longer have access to John Alutu's book. It's quite a magisterial study of Nnewi. Unrivalled.

1 Like

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by dhardline(m): 7:17am On Mar 01, 2015
This is what is written on the picture
Transcript:

ENUGU,Thursday,May 23,1963

Obi Of Nnewi Is Dead

The death has occured at his palace,of chief Josiah A.N. Orizu,obi of nnewi and member of the

eastern house of chiefs.

Born in 1901,the late chief Orizu was educated at the C.M.S. CENTRAL SCHOOL Nnewi and the

Hope Waddell Training institute,Calabar.He became Obi of Nnewi in 1924 following the death of his

father.

He has also served as president of the Nnewi district (Agbaja) customary court for a number of

years and was until his death a traditional member of the onitsha southern county council.

He was the first president General of the East(continued from page 8 ) ern Chiefs conference

which was founded in his palace at Nnewi in 1952. In 1960 he became a foundation member of the

Eastern house of chiefs.

During his rule,Nnewi witnessed an unprecedented number of development projects,including the

establishment of 20 primary schools,two teacher-training colleges,three secondary schools,a

post office and a Government general hospital.

FUNERAL

Chief Orizu's funeral will take place at Nnewi palace on saturday,May 25 beginning from 8a.m

The funeral rites will last for six months and there will be no markets except in the palace during

the period.

He leaves behind to mourn him 15wives,61 sons,72daughters and 107 grandchildren.

1 Like

Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by biafranqueen: 6:49pm On Mar 01, 2015
dhardline:
This is what is written on the picture
Transcript:

ENUGU,Thursday,May 23,1963

Obi Of Nnewi Is Dead

The death has occured at his palace,of chief Josiah A.N. Orizu,obi of nnewi and member of the

eastern house of chiefs.

Born in 1901,the late chief Orizu was educated at the C.M.S. CENTRAL SCHOOL Nnewi and the

Hope Waddell Training institute,Calabar.He became Obi of Nnewi in 1924 following the death of his

father.

He has also served as president of the Nnewi district (Agbaja) customary court for a number of

years and was until his death a traditional member of the onitsha southern county council.

He was the first president General of the East(continued from page 8 ) ern Chiefs conference

which was founded in his palace at Nnewi in 1952. In 1960 he became a foundation member of the

Eastern house of chiefs.

During his rule,Nnewi witnessed an unprecedented number of development projects,including the

establishment of 20 primary schools,two teacher-training colleges,three secondary schools,a

post office and a Government general hospital.

FUNERAL

Chief Orizu's funeral will take place at Nnewi palace on saturday,May 25 beginning from 8a.m

The funeral rites will last for six months and there will be no markets except in the palace during

the period.

He leaves behind to mourn him 15wives,61 sons,72daughters and 107 grandchildren.
Thanks can you do the other one for us too?
Re: The Oldest Monarch Between Nnewi/ Anaedo and Onitsha/Obosi is ? by giles14(m): 11:11am On Nov 18, 2016
biafranqueen:
The Kingdom of Nri (Igbo: 'Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì') (948–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri-Igbo. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters.

Nnewi people are core Nri people and Eze Aro created Nnewi Monarch using his daughter,Princess Aro. Nnewi monarch pre-existed even Onitsha and Obosi. Nnewi area was called Agbaja. The first Obi Agbaja was Digbo. His mother was the daughter of Eze Aro. His first son was Otolo. The genealogy is pictured below.


The current Igwe Orizu the third, was coronated in 1963. He is the 17th Obi of Otolo and Igwe of Nnewi in an unbroken successioni. Nnewi area was called Agbaja. The first Obi Agbaja was Digbo. His mother was the daughter of Eze Aro. His first son was Otolo. As at the time Obi Iweka was Obi Obosi, Obi Nnewi was Eze Ugbonyamba Orizu. He presided over Agbaja Dictrict Court, the only district court in the Old Onitsha province. Others had native courts and the District Court was superior.

Nnewi had a King as far as 1600, that of Eze Aro existed before 1507, I read about the Obi Okoli of Nnewi who lost his stool in 1780 or thereabout. The Eze Nri predated the 16th century.

Some say that Israel Iweka is the first king of Obosi below...
Anybody have much to add to this discussion?
lolo Biafra pls were can I get books on nnewi history,NRI history, aro history. and also book on kingship(Eze,OBI, igwe) in igboland

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