ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT, NATIVE DOCTORS AND AGUKWU-NRI ABUSE OF IGBO HISTORICAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL ORIENTATION

 

(For the Ethical and Historical Rumination of His Excellency, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Executive Governor of Anambra State)

 

 

Series 2, Part Two

 

 

By

 

Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD

Metro-Manila, Philippines, Monday February 7, 2025, Email: [email protected] website: https://icac-gen.org

 

 

The Igbo are no doubt in a crossroad that points to uncertain future for both the living and the generations yet unborn. This ominous crossroad seems to currently revolve round Anambra State with unimaginable intensity. This crossroad is enmeshed in detonable crises of insecurity of lives and property, licentious political debility founded on demented historical consciousness, and reckless abuse and corruption of historical Igbo value systems.

With high incidents of home-grown kidnapping activities, we have seen the Anambra State Government adopting some unorthodox punitive strategies to combat particularly the heinous activities of kidnappers. Among these political therapies are onslaught against traditional medicine-men popularly known as Native Doctors, and the demolition of the houses associated with proven kidnappers.

These two approaches albeit laudable on first value as propaganda instruments, are only short-term therapies. The first reason is that there are no orthodox means of defining or measuring the standards of traditional medical practice especially as not all the Native Doctors engage in business scale. The second reason is that most of the kidnappers and associated criminals have no homes or houses of their own to be demolished.

On the other hand, what is both long-term and sustainable is the redefinition of core Igbo traditional value orientation and historical consciousness constructed on the panoply of pristine patriotism. Recently, the Igbo have faced droves of their ethnic kinsmen in Delta and Rivers States denouncing their Igbo identity, and political leaders seem not to see anything wrong with such act ethnic denial.

But the point is that historical denial of one’s identity of any type often emanates from dwindling sense of historical consciousness, which may be the consequence of several factors. One of these might be the tendency to engage in historical dishonesty through forgery of historical accounts and peddling of outright falsehoods to advance some selfish interests, often related to land, chieftaincy, kingship disputes, and competing community historical pride.

The result of this evident falsification of historical accounts among the Igbo is the rising incidents of historical scams by some competing communities in Anambra State who create whirlpools of mythical fabrications of Igbo origins and cultural primacy against established canons of historical scholarship, which not only ridicule the historical foundations of the Igbo as a cultural nation, but create a whirlpool cultural absurdity that defies the logic of transcendentalism and objective historicism.

These incidents of Igbo historical scams are most fraudulently exhibited among such communities of Anambra State as Aguleri through their spurious Jewish Obu-Gad mythology, the Umueri (Umuleri) fictitious claim of primacy of Igbo origins, Enugwu-Ukwu through their spurious Ofo-Nri mythology, and Nri through Agukwu’s spurious Eze-Nri Ifikuanim mythology unproven claim to Igbo spiritual patrimony.

Beyond the monumental artifacts excavated by Prof Thurstan Shaw at Igbo Ukwu which defines the antiquity of Igbo settlement and cultural sophistication— an enigma Igbo scholars are yet to fully unravel, there are some fundamental indices of Igbo cultural values and identity that defy external influences, and much of these indices, if not all, are historically domiciled and most developed in the present Anambra State. This is the fundamental basis of the definition of Anambra State as a core Igbo State.

None of these fundamental indices of Igbo cultural values and identity can trace its origins to either Eri or his sobriquet settlements of Agukwu of Nri town, Umuezeora of Aguleri town, Umueri (Umuleri), and Enugwu-Ukwu, all of which are claiming historical and cultural primacy over the rest Igbo.

These fundamental indices of Igbo cultural identity include Ofo, Ikenga, Ozo and related social titles, Ikpu-Alu (Ritual Cleansing of abominations), Igbu-Ichi (Facial title scarifications), Igu-Aro (Annual marking of calendar), Ifejioku (cultic old yam feast, Iwaji (New Yam Festival), Oracular adjudication, and iron technology, among others. When we speak of the fundamental basis of traditional Igbo leadership, sacred judgment and religious foundation, therefore, the Ofo staff comes in. When we speak of the core ideological principle of Igbo enterprising spirit and achievement instinct, the Ikenga comes in.

These two opposing and complimentary forces of Igbo principles of traditional leadership and enterprising spirit are not only most sophisticatedly developed within the confines of the present Anambra State, but explain why the most enterprising among all Igbo groups are found in the present Anambra State.

Similarly, the Otonsi cultic staff for Ikpu-alu (cleansing of abomination) is primordially under the custodianship the Adama lineages of Nri, Adazi Nnukwu and Oraeri towns, which are not only aboriginal Igbo settlers but have no common historical origins with Agukwu people of Nri town.

This explains why the Government and people of Anambra State should take special interests in advancing their history and customary norms from objective point of view, rather than allow pseudo-intellectual hangers-on to fabricate and ridicule the fundamental basis of collective Igbo history and culture through baseless pursuit of artificial historical prides by some communities.

For example, we know, like the itinerary Nri ritual agents, Umudioka artistic carvers and, Awka blacksmiths of the pre-colonial period, today the highest exporters of traditional medicine practitioners in Igboland are the Nando and Ayamelum axis of Anambra State. We therefore expect the Anambra State Government under a renowned Professor of economics to advance the knowledge of their activities through research on these people and their activities instead of applying political bullying.

We equally expect the same sense of objective historical concern from Anambra State Government over the simmering kingship conflict in Nri town between Akamkpisi and Agukwu sections of the town. The case of Nri kingship dispute is not only historically desirable for a proper and objective reconstruction of Igbo past in the face of droves of denial of Igbo identity by some groups, but to showcase the Igbo cultural pride through the objective engagement of the customary selection and coronation of the Eze-Nri, as it is currently displayed by the Benin Kingdom, Igala, and some Western Igbo communities of Delta State.

The Igbo nation cannot continue to live recklessly on bastardized history, abuse of customary values, fabrication of non-existent historical episodes and, debasing mythologies just to satisfy the empty selfish historical pride of some people of Anambra State origin.

Historical scam is more dangerous than traditional medicine scam and even cybercrime, because historical consciousness is the transcendental turbine which drives the people’s customs and tradition to formulate their ethical values. A State constructed on faulty mythology and befuddled fabricated history will always breed people with crude sense of moral reasoning and antithetical ethical values.

This is the case with the present kingship dispute in Nri town, which, from the one-sided trajectory of the conflict tends to suggest that the Governor of Anambra State is obviously not properly informed of the truth of the conflict through the connivance of his grossly incompetent and biased Commissioner of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Matters, the Anam-born Barrister TonyCollins Nwabunwanne.

These gross incompetence and iniquitous bias were horrendously displayed by the shoddy manner he handled the dispute at the initial stage. As a Commissioner he had invited the two parties to a meeting; after which he adjourned the meeting to the next date.

Using his imposing credential as a former Chief Judge of Anambra State and APGA Presidential candidate against a legal midget, Justice Patrick Umeadi wrote the Commissioner telling him that his people would no longer honor any such meeting, and went further to threaten him that he would pressurize the Governor to sack him if he doesn’t follow his instruction. The Commissioner eventually renegaded against his official responsibility.

In spite of the above detestable abuse of influence by Justice Patrick Umeadi and the Commissioner’s dereliction of his official responsibilities, the Nri Progress Union (NPU) in their December 28, 2024 General Meeting passed a resolution to amend the 1976 disputed Nri Political Constitution which was unilaterally submitted to Brigadier-General Atom Kpera State Military Government in line with Edict No. 8 of 1976 by Agukwu people during the reign of Eze-Nri Jiof II Tabansi Udene. The General Meeting further agreed that each of the six Villages of Nri should nominate one person each to serve in the Constitution amendment committee.

Justice Patrick Umeadi, Chukwuemeka Onyesoh and Dr. Charles Tabansi who deliberately absented themselves from the meeting singularly declared the resolution of the meeting null and void, threating with sanction any Agukwu person who submits himself to the committee. Not only that, Justice Umeadi instructed the Commissioner TonyCollins Nwabunwanne to summon the President General of Nri Progress Union (NPU) Dr. Anayo Okafor who is from Akamkpisi-Nri, where he was informed that the Commissioner had declared the resolution of his town’s union on December 28, 2024 on the amendment of Nri Political Constitution illegal, null and void.

The question here is has the Commissioner the powers to annul and declare void the decision of a Town Union General Meeting simply on the directives of a non-governmental superior functionary? This is one of the paradoxes of morbid Igbo political mentality that drives any occupant of fleeting political authority to assume maximum authority.

Dr. Anayo Okafor was further forced by the Commissioner to write a legally-committing letter denouncing the resolution of his Town Union on constitution amendment without reference to the overwhelming resolution of the town’s General Meeting. Dr. Anayo Okafor was again threatened with the withdrawal of Prince Arthur Eze’s project in his Akamkpisi community if he disobeys the instructions of the Commissioner TonyCollins Nwabunwanne. He was again informed by the Commissioner’s office to compel his Akamkpisi community to withdraw their protest over the kingship since it is that the Governor Prof Charles Soludo is already on the side of Agukwu people and there is nothing his people will do about it.

It is instructive to note that the core of the dispute is the disputed spurious royal families of Agukwu which claim exclusive right to the Eze-Nri throne without proven historical evidence. Since the people of Agukwu often rest their claims on Prof Michael A. Onwuejeogwu’s book: An Igbo Civilization—Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, we are going to rely our evidence on what Prof Onwuejeogwu said concerning the origin and character of the so called royal families.

On the character of subservient relationship between Agukwu and Akamkpisi on one hand and between Eze-Nri and Adama-Nri on the other, Prof Onwuejeogwu wrote on page 24 of his book:

 

“It was arranged that the Agukwu section of the settlement must always pay tribute to Eze Nri, while the Diodo and Akamkpisi sections must never pay tribute to Eze Nri, because of the special kinship relationship existing between Nribuife and Diodo people on the one hand and Agukwu and Umu Diana on the other hand. This practice is maintained to this day. Hence the saying ‘Tribute should be given to Eze Nri and Eze Nri should give tribute to the Adama.”[1]

 

On how the spurious royal family emerged, Prof Onwuejeogwu on the same page 24 wrote:

 

“It was also decided that the kingship could circulate among the maximal lineages of Obeagu, Uruoji and Agbadana in the order Obeagu-Uruoji-Agbadana, to make sure that Diodo would never attempt to seize the throne.”[2]

So the fundamental question arising from the foregoing assertion is whose decision? Who decided that the kingship should rotate among the maximal lineages of Agukwu? Another question is why are some lineages excluded in the so-called Nri royal families clandestinely formed by Justice Patrick Umeadi? Furthermore, historical evidence proves that there was no defined method of selecting an Eze-Nri except the coronation which is majorly undertaken by the Adama lineage of Nri town supported by Adama lineage of Adazi Nnukwu town. It is also instructive to note that the same Adama kindred of Umuokpala Village, Oraeri town undertake the coronation of Eze-Nri of Oeari.

Evidence has proved that even up to the reign of Nri Jiofo II Tabansi Udene, more than one person had claimed the right to the stool until the stronger or strongest as the case might be, extinguished his rival or rivals. Nri Jiofo II Tabansi Udene of Agbadana Village reigned concurrently with Nri Okpoko Mebuge of Obeagu Village as Eze-Nri until Nri Okpoko Mebuge died in 1943.

The dispute led the newly formed Nri Co-operative Society (NCS), the precursor of the present Nri Progress Union to make reconciliatory intervention. During their end of year general meeting of December 30, 1942, the delegates mandated the Secretary:

“to write all the branches of the union asking them to say by votes whether Okpoko or Tabansi should be supported and recognized as Eze-Nri of Agukwu. It was also agreed upon that whoever loses should receive £30 as a consolation from the union.”[3]

The Union’s move was however cut short following the death Nri Okpoko Mebuge, thereby leaving Nri Jiofo II Tabansi Udene on the throne. Even before Tabansi Udene-Okpoko Mebuge dispute, Nri Enwelani had slugged it out with Nri Nwankpo, before the latter joined his ancestors. Indeed, according to the account, Nri Nwankpo had reigned for some period before Enwelani emerged to dispute the throne with him and subsequently succeeded in out-living him.

Even Prof Onwuejeogwu proved that the claim of a royal lineage is fictitious. For instance, the fourth Eze-Nri who purportedly succeeded Nri Buife and the first Eze-Nri to reign in Agukwu had neither name nor identifiable village.[4] Similarly, the Eze-Nri on the 6^th reign who succeeded Nri Jiofo had no name and village.[5] Prof Onwuejeogwu informed us that two persons reigned as Eze-Nri at the same period—Nri Alike and Nri Apia. According to him:

 

“Alike and Nri Apia were both from the maximal lineage of Uruoji. Eze Nri Alike was from major lineage of Umu Anuta, while Nri Apia was from the major lineage of Umu Nribuzo. Both aspirants claimed spiritual inspiration to be Eze Nri at the same time. They were both wealthy and had plenty of money, wives, land and followers. Nri people could not control them. Both were crowned Eze Nri. This caused great distress and disunity in the town and Nri influence was badly damaged by this split. They reigned for about twenty years and both were said to have died in the same week: one on Oye day and the other on Eke day.”[6]

 

We need not go into the list of past Eze-Nri presented by Northcote W. Thomas because there are a lot strange names which origin both Prof Onwuejeogwu and Agukwu lists could not fathom and thus abandoned. Even Nri Ifikuanim which both Agukwu and Onwuejeogwu elevated to the status of a mythical figure was placed at the miserable position of number 14 by Northcote W. Thomas.

 

There had equally been some known Agukwu lineages that produced Eze-Nri in the remote past but which are not included in the so-called Nri royal lineages fabricated by Justice Patrick Umeadi. For instance, Umumbe lineage of Obeagu Village in Agukwu that once produced the popular Eze-Nri Agu among West Niger Igbo is not included in the spurious Nri royal families. This particular exclusion of Umumbe lineage from Justice Umeadi’s Nri royal lineage not only further solidifies the fakeness of the list but led some illustrious Umumbe descendants led by Rev. Canon Charles Chizoba Chukwurah to question its authenticity.

 

Having exposed the fakeness of Nri royal lineages as advanced by the people of Agukwu, we can then proceed with proving the fakeness of Agukwu Igbo identity. The first question we should address is what did Onwuejeogwu say about Eri origin? Was Eri Igala or Igbo?

 

These two questions are fundamental in redefining the course of Nri history against the background of Agukwu claim of Isi-Igbo (Head of the Igbo).  From Prof Onwuejeogwu’s account Eri by inference migrated from Igala, even though in citation note 6 of chapter two, he later said he did not accept the claim that Eri was an Igala. This was how he narrated his account of Eri origin:

 

“The river Anambra, which is a tributary of the river Niger, flows southwards from the southern Benue watershed through a portion of Igala country and swings westward, emptying into the lower Niger a few miles north of Onitsha. The meagre evidence at our disposal is contained in the oral tradition that says that when Eri came down the Anambra he set out to unify the surrounding settlements.”[7]

 

If Onwuejeogwu agreed according to the above statement that Eri came down to Aguleri through the Anambra River, the question then is from which community did he migrate? The account also proves that the Igbo were already settled in the present town of Aguleri before Eri sailed down the Anambra River to the settlement. Thus Eri cannot be said to have founded the present Aguleri town.

Looking further at the account one will believe that Onwuejeogwu lifted the facts from M. C. M. Idigo’s book titled, The History of Aguleri, which was published in 1955; even though he failed to acknowledge the publication. M. C. M. Idigo was the son of the first traditional ruler of Aguleri. It is therefore difficult to discredit his account as falsification of Aguleri history.

What then did M. C. M. Idigo say in his book concerning the origin of Eri? According to M. C. M. Idigo:

“The Aguleri people originated from Igara (Sic) and migrated to the present abode about three or four centuries ago. The leader, Eri a warrior, took his people on a war expedition and after long travel and many fights established his camp at Eri-aka, near Odanduli stream, a place which lies between Ifite and Igbezunu Aguleri. Eri with his soldiers went out regularly from his settlement to Urada, Nnadi and other surrounding towns on war raids and captured many of the inhabitants. These were the Ibo speaking people and by mixing with them and inter-marriage the immigrants adopted the languages.”[8]

Onwuejeogwu’s response to Idigo’s account is not only weird but undeserving of a seasoned scholar of the anthropological school. Rather than provide evidence to support his rejection of Igala origin of Eri, he hid under the cover of citation note 6 of chapter 2 to state:

“1 do not hold the view that Aguleri or Nri people are Igala. There is evidence to support the view that there were Igbo-Igala contacts in the past made easy by river communication. Oral traditions were collected from Aguleri, Nnan’do, Amanuke, Igboriam, Nteji, Awkuzu, Umuleri and Nri. Variations do occur but all are agreed about these being children of Eri who came down the river Anambra.”[9]

However, Idigo’s account of Eri being of Igala origin collaborates with the accounts of such people as M. D. W. Jeffreys, Prof Onwuka N. Njoku of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof J. S. Boston and the Igbo traditional music maestro Chief Akunwata Ozoemena Nsugbe.

1. D. W. Jeffreys stated in his “Awka Divisional Intelligence Report of 1931-33” that Enugu:

“The Umundri tradition is that they came from the ruling stock of the Igala and are thus connected with the Atah of Idah.”[10]  Jeffreys again wrote: “The Umundri, though they speak only Igbo, yet like the Yoruba declared that they are not Igbo but settled amongst a people whom they call Igbo.”[11]

 

According to  Prof J. S. Boston, “The northern Umunri villages say that the clan was founded by a man called Eri who came to the Anambra area from Igala country, and settled at Aguleri…Eri’s son, Nri left his father’s home to found the town that bears his name, and other sons found the remaining towns in this group.”[12]

 

In agreement with other scholars, Prof Onwuka N. Njoku:

“Explicit evidence indicates that Eri or Eri Igala was an Idah of the Akpoto (Okpoto) dynasty. He was ousted from the throne by a Bini prince AjiAttah, sometime before C.1507… Eri’s final destination was Aguleri, a settlement located at the Anambra Adada river confluence in the Anambra valley. Idigo is thus correct in stating that Eri came from Igala to Aguleri about 400 years ago. Onwuejeogwu’s dating of Eri to C. 948 AD is simply out of the questions.” ^[13]

 

Let us conclude this matter of Igala origin of Eri and Agukwu by referring to the well-known Igbo high-life music maestro Chief Akunwata Ozoemena Nsugbe & His Oliokata Singing Party in their single-hit album titled “Igbo” released on January 20, 2013 under Lex Records Ltd label, in which Chief Ozoemena Nsugbe informed us that Eri came from Igala.[14]

.

It is therefore clear that the claim by the people of Agukwu Village, Nri that they have the exclusive right to produce Eze-Nri through questionable royal lineages cannot be factually sustained and historically proven. Furthermore, the foregoing established evidence of Igala origin of Agukwu people clearly renders their highfalutin claim to the spiritual heirloom of Igbo ethnic nation, or what they hypothetically refer to as the ancestral head of the Igbo, is not only a laughable mythical fabrication but creepy exhibition of historical dishonesty.

 

***Dr. Nwankwo Tony Nwaezeigwe was formerly Director, Centre for Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and presently Odogwu of Ibusa and President, International Coalition against Christian Genocide in Nigeria (ICAC-GEN) He currently writes from exile in Metro-Manila, Philippines.

 

[1] M. A. Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony London and Benin: Ethnographica and, Ethiope Publishing Corporation, 1981, 24

[2] Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, 24

[3] Minutes of  General Meeting of Nri Co-operative Society (NCS), December 30, 1942

[4] Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, 25

[5] Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, 25

[6] Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, 26

[7] Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, 22

[8] M.C.M. Idigo, The History of Aguleri, (Yaba: Nicholas Printing and Publishing company, 1955, 6

[9] Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony, 30

[10] M.D.W. Jeffreys, “The Divine Umundri King” Africa Vol. VIII, 1935, 350; See also N.A.E. E8766: CSE, 1/85/4596, Intelligence Report on Awka Division, 1937, by M.D.W. Jeffreys and N.A.E. EP8529: 1/85/4510, Report on the Ozo and Eze Nri titles, Awka Division, Onitsha Province, 1931-32, by M.D.W. Jeffreys

[11] Jeffreys, “The Divine Umundri King” Africa Vol. VIII, 1935, 350

[12] J. S. Boston, “Notes on Contact between the Igala and the Igbo” Journal of the Historical society of Nigeria vol. 2, Vo.1, 1960, 55

[13] O. N. Njoku, “Awka and Early Iron Technology in Igboland: Myths, probabilities and realities”, Odu No. 33, 1988, 141

[14] https://youtu.be/3rrsFNQW-zw?si=W_Sf_yFH84RkyVUK.