CHIEFTAINCY TITLE TEARS ANAMBRA COMMUNITY APART

Chieftaincy, Communal and town union crises are contentions issues in a lot of communities today, been recurrent issues in most communities today. Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State was recently engulfed in one.

All eyes are currently on Ihiala community, Anambra State, as the traditional ruler of the town, HRM, Igwe Dr. C.I Okechukwu, unveiled the personality that would occupy the royal stool of Ezeanadike of Uzoakwa. Thus, the residents of Uzoakwa village were living in anxiety and fear caused by a tussle over the chieftaincy title that had pitched their prominent sons against one another.

Sources claimed that Umudike was made up of clans, comprising Ojinkeme, Anabi, Eleke and Akwaozo which were originally descendants of the same father who was a very powerful warrior. Each of the four clans was headed by an Ezeana out of which the oldest Ozo title holder among them became the Ezeanadike who would then represent the community in the palace of the traditional ruler of Ihiala (Oluoha in council).

As simple as the process of selecting the Ezeanadike appeared, the community lost peace and tranquility temporarily, so that if something were not done urgently to call the principal actors to order, the community might be heading to very serious crisis as some people who were allegedly not qualified for the stool braced up to occupy the Ezeanadike royal stool.

In a desperate attempt to settle the matter as soon as possible, Umudike General Meeting was summoned on April 1, and in the meeting, a prominent son of the community, Chief Uchenna Nsofor, was chosen as the Ezeanadike because he was the oldest Ozo title holder among the three aspiring for the stool.

The meeting which was held at Mbaokpara, was attended by every section of the community except two clan leaders.

The chairman of Umudike General Assembly, Chief Augustine Okafor, said that it took the community very long time to arrive at the conclusion of choosing the Ezeanadike because, the aspirants were all very influential and very useful to the community in various ways.

“The contest was fierce and tough; and, to handle it properly, we set certain criteria which include selecting the oldest Ozo title holder. We equally consider the personality and character of each aspirant and how useful each will be to the community.

“The two oldest Ozo title holders attended the meeting. The other two relatively younger Ozo title holders did not attend the meeting because they were disqualified in an earlier meeting held on March 28”, he said.

Chief Okafor, said that the two Ezeanas in attendance addressed the meeting and, at the end of the day, the Ezeanadike was selected based on general consensus. He noted that the second most.