KINGSLEY EBERE
Renowned Igbo community leader, Eze Dr. Christian Uchechukwu Nwachukwu, has distanced the Igbo Community in Lagos State from the recent decision of the apex Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide to ban the Ezendigbo title.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that Eze Nwachukwu made the clarification following the pronouncement by the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Mbata, which proscribed the conferment and use of the Ezendigbo title outside Igbo land.
Eze Nwachukwu, who also holds the traditional title of Ochi Agha in Obodoukwu town, Imo State, explained that the ban applies only to the Council of Ndieze crowned by Ohanaeze Ndigbo, not to those crowned by the Igbo Community.
He stressed that the Igbo Community has existed for several years before Ohanaeze Ndigbo was founded in the 1990s, and therefore, operates as a separate entity with its own structure and authority.
According to him, the clarification became necessary to clear public doubt and to inform residents that Ndieze crowned by the Igbo Community in Lagos State are not affected by Ohanaeze’s directive.
Recalling the history, Nwachukwu stated that Ohanaeze Ndigbo only came to Lagos State in 1998. By then, the Igbo Community had already been functioning for many years with established operations across various communities in Lagos.
He emphasized that the Igbo Community is a different organization from Ohanaeze Ndigbo. It has its own constitution, which it has used for several years. This was long before Professor Ben Nwabueze, then General Secretary of Ohanaeze, gave a letter authorizing the formation of Ohanaeze in Lagos State.
Eze Nwachukwu said he does not condemn Ohanaeze for banning its own Ezendigbo titles. Since Ohanaeze created those titles, it has the right to proscribe them if it chooses. But that decision, he insisted, should not cause alarm for Ndieze crowned by the Igbo Community in Lagos.
He explained that Ndieze crowned by the Igbo Community are answerable only to their host communities and the Yoruba Obas. He cited his own case, noting that he was duly crowned Asiwaju Ndigbo (Ezendigbo) by the Oba of Lagos, which confers recognition on Ndieze crowned by the Igbo Community in the state.
The traditional ruler argued that legitimacy in Lagos flows from the host monarchs who accommodate Ndigbo, not from socio-cultural groups based in the Southeast. The Igbo Community’s structure reflects that reality and long-standing relationship.
Eze Nwachukwu advised the South East Council of Traditional Rulers and Ohaneze Ndigbo to maintain their jurisdiction and refrain from interfering in the affairs of other Igbo organizations over which they have no control.
He concluded that the Igbo Community in Lagos will continue to operate under its constitution and in partnership with its host communities, and that its Ndieze remain valid cultural leaders for Igbos in diaspora, independent of Ohanaeze’s recent ban.