₦airaland Forum

SIR DON UBANI; KSC, JP[b][/b]
(Okwubunka of Asa)
Former Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Abia State
Umuiku-Isi-Asa, Ukwa-West
E-mail: Ubanidon@yahoo.com
P.M.B. 7048, Aba
Phone: 08035523360
MARCH 5, 2016

MAKING SO MUCH FUSS ABOUT EZE NDI IGBO
SCRIPTED BY SIR DON UBANI

People of an ethnic group or even race are usually distinguished from people of other ethnicities or races by certain characteristics that are peculiar to them. In Nigeria, the Igbo are known to be republicans. This is quite different from their Hausa/Fulani or Yoruba counterparts who are encaged in either feudalism or one form of hegemony, respectively. For the Igbo, emphasis is placed in individualism. The concept of individualism has been the primary source of success in enterprise, business, creativity and professionalism. By the nature of the Igbo, tradition, culture and religion do not constitute an encumbrance in the pursuit of individual laudable attainment. Still by the same nature, the Igbo do not see the world through the eyes of others. This means the Igbo think for themselves basically as individuals and not thought for by others. An average Igbo man believes he is a king of his own and takes responsibility for the growth and development of members of his immediate family and, depending on how affluent and generous he might be, members of his extended family.
The individualism in the Igbo man does not encourage hero-worshipping and renders the idea of central kingship or rulership alien to him. From the historical perspective, the Igbo know no king. This perspective accounts for the failure of the policy of indirect rule, which the British colonial government had introduced in Nigeria in the early nineteenth century and which was a huge success in the North of Nigeria and a partial success in the western part of Nigeria, but failed completely in Igbo land.
The Igbo man is very adventurous. He is found in almost every corner of the globe. He is usually driven by a survivalist tendency. Where ever he is, he has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve and in nine out of every ten cases, his goal is to make money and liberate himself from the shackles of poverty and inequality.
One other unique feature of the Igbo man is that he takes as his home where ever he finds himself as a sojourner. By dent of hard work, the Igbo own buildings in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and even in Maiduguri that later became a theatre of Boko Haram insurgency. The Igbo are critical stakeholders where ever they sojourn and they try as much as possible to protect the interest of such place because they appreciate the simple fact that if any misfortune or disaster befalls the place, they would be the ones to be mainly affected. For instance, if the security of a town where the Igbo live and do their business, which in most cases is buying and selling, collapses the people that would be robbed and dispossessed of their items of wealth creation would be the Igbo. If there is any intra-communal clash amongst the people in whose domain they leave, the first target of attack would be shops owned and run by the Igbo. Even their houses could be looted and demolished. There is no doubt the Igbo are, indeed, critical stakeholders where ever they live and do their business.
Based on the above, wisdom demands that the Igbo should tread with maximum caution where ever they are outside their Igbo homeland. The truth is that whoever is adventurous, enterprising and prudent in managing his resources attracts, in most cases if not all, the envy of others. This is more pronounced if one is a sojourner in a distant strange land. In later part of February 2016, news started making the round that the Igbo in Akure were under threat by the Deji of Akure; Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, to be ejected out of Akure. Many people who heard this development were worried, taking into consideration the source of the threat. The Deji of Akure is one of the most revered traditional institutions in Yoruba land and by extension Nigeria. Besides, Oba Aladetoyinbo is known for his peaceful disposition. That which made the Oba to lose his fatherly ingredient of accommodation or tolerance and allegedly issue such a big threat was worth being investigated.
Inquires into the matter revealed that the bone of contention was that one Sir Gregory Iloehike had declared himself, by whatever means and platform he considered appropriate, Eze Ndi Igbo of Akure. Consequently, he started parading himself as the crown-king of the Igbo in Akure, with all the paraphernalia of kingship. This was to heat up the polity.
The Afenifere Renewal Group perceived this invasion of royalty by the alien Eze Ndi Igbo in Akure as an expansionist agenda by the Igbo. On his own, the Deji of Akure felt not only slighted and insulted but being dispossessed of his royal kingdom which he must have fought hard to reign. He saw the wearing of crown by Sir Gregory Iloehike as offensive and an open affront to diminish his royal personality and dignity. He, therefore, sent for the Eze Ndi Igbo who honoured the invitation and also showed the Oba traditional respect by prostrating and doing obeisance.
Regrettably, it was alleged that about two hundred youths of Akure or Yoruba extraction who had earlier taken positions in the palace of the Deji were so annoyed with Sir Gregory Iloehike that they pounced on him and almost physically man-handed him but for the intervention of the police men attached to the palace of the Deji. As an aftermath, shops owned by the Igbo in Akure were locked up for days and the owners banned from opening them. This led to economic deprivation of these innocent Igbo traders.
For all intents and purposes, this is a purely avoidable trajectory. The Igbo in the diaspora did not leave their native home to go and look for where they would be crowned as traditional rulers. What the Igbo are known for is the formation of Igbo Union or Town Unions where they live outside Igbo land. The invention of Eze Ndi Igbo is quite alien in the cosmogony of the Igbo. It is an unnecessary distraction and must be the creation of greedy, jobless and opportunistic individuals who want to take undue advantage of the naivety of the Igbo in the diaspora to cause unwarranted disquiet amongst the diaspora community. Objectively-speaking, the real traditional rulers in Igbo land have been finding it difficult to attract the respect of their subjects because of the republican nature of the Igbo. Those that parade themselves as Eze Ndi Igbo should answer these two fundamental questions;
1. Is there any law creating Eze Ndi Igbo in whichever state they reside?
2. If they come home to Ala Igbo, would any one accord them recognition as traditional rulers?
The truth of the matter is that Eze Ndi Igbo is a creation of illegality and the much fuss about it amounts to only a waste of time and energy.

Don Ubani.

I wonder why the much touted republican Igbo suddenly want to be kings even on foreign soil?

Whatever happened to "the Igbo have no king"?

Yet the only culture that is being propagated by the Igbos is that of royalty and kingship.

So is the touted history a lie, or there's nothing desirable about that history such that a foreign culture is now embraced as tradition?

StOla:
I wonder why the much touted republican Igbo suddenly want to be kings even on foreign soil?

Whatever happened to "the Igbo have no king"?

Yet the only culture that is being propagated by the Igbos is that of royalty and kingship.

So is the touted history a lie, or there's nothing desirable about that history such that a foreign culture is now embraced as tradition?

U misunderstand. The Republican nature of the Igbos basically means powers and laws originate from bottom up. There must be a representative whom family heads have endorsed which materialises as the Eze or Obi as the case may be.
The implication is that a leader cannot unilaterally give an order or law to be complied with. The opinions of affected persons must be sought through age grades, family heads and so on before any law is deemed binding on the people.

That is why a really functional republican system will favour the Igbo man more because he is a man in his own right and no one can just give him an order without his agreement. He will respect the consensus representative of his people but not revere him as lord and master because he is trained as an individual to stand for himself and follow the leading of his chi.

The Ezendigbo in diaspora serves as a rallying point for the Igbos within an area. This helps d Igbos replicate their culture wherever they find themselves cos u cannot expect them to lose their identities just because they are outside Igboland. It makes communication and relationships between the Igbo and their hosts easier cos all residents will not go enmasse to address an Oba or Deji or Emir for instance. So the representative is a replica of the leader back home to also command as well as pay respect to the leader or ruler of the host community.

Essentially, he is not interested in usurping another's power but carries d mandate and interests of his people in that area.

kenny987:
U misunderstand. The Republican nature of the Igbos basically means powers and laws originate from bottom up. There must be a representative whom family heads have endorsed which materialises as the Eze or Obi as the case may be.
The implication is that a leader cannot unilaterally give an order or law to be complied with. The opinions of affected persons must be sought through age grades, family heads and so on before any law is deemed binding on the people.

That is why a really functional republican system will favour the Igbo man more because he is a man in his own right and no one can just give him an order without his agreement. He will respect the consensus representative of his people but not revere him as lord and master because he is trained as an individual to stand for himself and follow the leading of his chi.

The Ezendigbo in diaspora serves as a rallying point for the Igbos within an area. This helps d Igbos replicate their culture wherever they find themselves cos u cannot expect them to lose their identities just because they are outside Igboland. It makes communication and relationships between the Igbo and their hosts easier cos all residents will not go enmasse to address an Oba or Deji or Emir for instance. So the representative is a replica of the leader back home to also command as well as pay respect to the leader or ruler of the host community.

Essentially, he is not interested in usurping another's power but carries d mandate and interests of his people in that area.

I seriously would love to know you better and personally, if you don't mind. Am sure sophia7989 won't get jealous.