IgweShip Madness in Great Ala-Igbo
One town, two kings: Trouble looms in
Anambra community as two lay claims to
Igwe ’s stool
From NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
When the traditional ruler of Nteje
community in Oyi Local Government area of
Anambra State, Igwe S.A.C. Nnaemeka
(Aborgu I of Nteje) joined his ancestors in
2007, not too many people anticipated that
the election of a new ruler would turn
controversial.
The Nteje chieftaincy constitution stipulates
that the final funeral rites for the late Igwe
would be celebrated after one year,
following which the chieftaincy stool would
be declared vacant.
The constitution also prescribes that after
the last Ofala cultural festival, the
community would observe another six
months of mandatory mourning before a
new Igwe could be elected. In the election
of the Igwe, the next most senior among
the three quarters of Ezi, Ikenga and Ifite
would produce the ruler. And since the late
Igwe Nnaemeka hailed from Ezi, his
successor should naturally come from
Ikenga quarter.
After the conclusion of all funeral rites on
December 27, 2008 and the expiration of
the six-month mourning on June 26, 2009,
Nteje kingmakers, the Akadianas,
despatched a letter to the Ojiana, the ruling
age grade, mandating Ikenga quarter to
produce a candidate for the Igwe stool
within a month and present same to the
community.
It was at this point that controversy and
intrigues set in.
Chief Rowland Odegbo, then president-
general of Nteje Development Union (NDU)
who incidentally comes from Ikenga
quarter, declared an interest in the
Igweship. He resigned his position as
president-general and handed over to his
deputy who now set up an Igwe election
committee in line with the Nteje
constitution.
The committee conducted an election on
July 11, 2009. The contestant were Odegbo,
Hon. Peter Uyanwa and Ikechukwu
Okechukwu. At the end of the exercise, the
committee declared Odegbo winner and
consequently declared him the new Igwe-
elect.
Since then, Odegbo has been parading
himself as such. The Igwe election
committee even wrote to both the Oyi Local
Government authorities and the state
government informing them of the
emergence of Odegbo as the new Igwe.
The development did not go down well with
some members of the community who
accused Odegbo of looting the treasury of
NDU when he headed the organization.
The group dragged Odegbo before the
police at Zone 9 Headquarters in Umuahia,
accusing him of embezzling N2.5 million
provided for the community by Governor
Peter Obi.
The group said Odegbo was not even
qualified to become a title holder in the
community let alone becoming the
traditional ruler. They equally refused to
recognize the election committee that
declared Odegbo Igwe-elect, arguing that he
single-handedly set up the committee that
got him elected. The matter was then
referred back to the Akadianas, the
kingmakers for further action.
The Akadianas, acting under Article 4,
Section c-j of Nteje Chieftaincy and Allied
Matters constitution which stipulates that
the responsibility of producing a new Igwe
rested on the Akadianas if a quarter that
has the turn to produce fails to do so, drew
up an election timetable which fixed the
date for the election proper for December
28, 2009. In the timetable, the Akadianas
advised all interested candidates to buy
forms on or before July 25, 2009.
Three candidates - Barrister Charles Aduaka,
a legal practitioner based in Enugu, Hon.
Peter Uyanwa and Chief Ikechukwu
Okechukwu - bought the forms. Odegbo did
not buy the form because he believed he
had earlier emerged the Igwe-elect on July
11.
On July 25, 2009, the Akadianas announced
the fixture of the election proper for
December 28, 2009.
On the day of the election, Okechukwu did
not turn up while Uyanwa stepped down
for Aduaka who subsequently emerged
victorious with 2,480 votes. Aduaka was
declared winner and consequently
presented to the community on January 2,
2010.
The presentation ceremony was performed
by the leader of Nteje Igwe-in-council, Chief
B.S.C. Mofunanya. Mofunanya thereafter led
Aduaka to pay a courtesy call on a
prominent indigene of the area, Chief Mike
Nwakalor.
Aduaka, who spoke to newsmen at
Nwakalor ’s residence, explained that the
fact that Ikenga quarter could not produce a
consensus candidate for the community
prompted the 15-member Akadianas to take
over the election that produced him as the
Igwe-elect.
He asserted that the three candidates that
collected forms for the election - Hon.
Patrick Uyanwa, Ichie Ikechukwu
Okechukwu and himself - were presented
by the ruling age grade, the Okpoke and
Okanna of Ikenga quarter, insisting that
Chief Rowland Odegbo was presented “by a
group not recognized by the constitution.”
Aduaka’s story was corroborated by Chief
Muofunanya who affirmed that Nteje has
elected an Igwe in the person of Dr. Charles
Aduaka.
Said he: “Aduaka is the person that we have
elected as the traditional ruler of Nteje.
Odegbo was President-General but he
resigned because he wanted to be Igwe,
and he lost. He did not buy the forms. He
has vacated every position, all traditional
titles. He has even been stripped of them.”
Muofunaya did not, however, name the
crimes committed by Odegbo.
Also commenting on the election of Aduaka,
the incumbent President-General of Nteje
Development Union (NDU), Chief Clement U.
Obi concurred with Muofunanya. He said:
“We had a programme of selecting a new
Igwe and we followed it accordingly.
Aduaka met all requirements. We had an
election and the man scored marvellous
votes. Every Nteje indigene supports him.”
But in a swift reaction, Odegbo described
the process with which Aduaka was elected
as a charade. He accused Nwakalor, an
influential indigene from Ezi, the quarter
that produced the last Igwe, of dictating
who should become the Igwe.
“The truth is that Nwakalor wants to be the
Igwe but because he is from Ezi quarter and
he knows that Ezi has taken its turn and it is
now the turn of Ikenga quarter to produce,
he now wants to put his stooge, create
confusion for us and probably reverse the
trend and become the Igwe. ”
Odegbo stated that, after the mourning
period, the Ikenga had set up an election
committee which conducted the election on
July 11, 2009. He affirmed that Uyanwa,
Okechukwu and himself obtained forms
and contested the election after which he
emerged victorious. He noted that Aduaka
did not even vie for the position with them.
He said the Akadianas have no business
conducting an election to fill the position of
a new Igwe. In his words, the role of the
Akadianas, as contained in the constitution,
is to intervene where there is a dispute in
the cause of a quarter not being able to
produce a candidate.
He said in such case as stipulated by article
4 (e-j), the Akadianas will arrange and
supervise the referendum and the
candidate with the majority of votes cast by
open ballot is declared the Igwe. “But there
was no dispute and Ikenga quarter never
invited the Akadianas. Ikenga elected me
through a free and fair election. There was
no rancour and people were defeated. So
how did the Akadianas come in to conduct
the election, ” Odegbo queried.
http://odili.net/news/source/2010/
jan/20/517.html
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this is simply why the first son of the last eze should always be the next eze.this election something dey funny.very soon we shall have tribunal handling ezeship elections.

Neptunz, please i dont think we need another mekusxyz. Relax man

Another loooooooooooooong essay from Neptunz
I don't think I can stand the ordeal I faced with the last one _{zoooms off!}