Awka — PEACE in Ihembosi community in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State is being threatened, as some leaders of thought in the area have written Governor Peter Obi, notifying him of their decision to dethrone their traditional ruler, Igwe Jerry Okoli over allegation of desecrating the customs and traditions of the community.
They have also served the traditional ruler a letter of impeachment dated June 29, 2009.
In two separate letters originating from the Ihembosi Progress Assembly (IPA), by Chief Dr. I.G. Nnubia, Nze K.C. Ewuzie Prof A.U.J. Kanem, Ichie F.N.D. Nwosu and Ajie Mathias Uzokwe, President General, Secretary General, Traditional Prime Minister, Secretary of Traditional Council and Deputy Traditional Prime Minster respectively, they accused the traditional ruler of desecrating the customs and traditions of the community.
"It is with hearts wounded and bleeding that Ihembosi Progress Assembly and the entire people of Ihembosi in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State notify you of the regrettable but unavoidable dethronement of Jerry Okoli, as the traditional ruler of Ihembosi with immedaite effect," they said.
They alleged that in the past ten years of the traditional ruler's reign, the community has not known peace, adding that what they had experienced discord and lack of agreement, which they claimed was caused by him.
"The climax of his woes is his conspiracy with one Nsioma Kindred and the Ekwusigo Police Command to destroy the ancestral home of Ihembosi called Olulo. The traditional and ancient trees that used to be a tourist attraction in Ihembosi were cut down and carried away, while 14 principal deities were completely destroyed, including Ogunzu Ulasi", their letter stated.
But the embattled traditional ruler dismissed the petitioners, saying that they refused to account for the money given to the community by the state government for developmental purposes.
He said on June 13, 2009 during the IPA general meeting, he asked the President General and his executive, whose tenure had allegedly expired, to give account of N800,000 given to the community in 2007 and N1.5 million in 2009 by Anambra state government and to defend the expenditure of the 2008 New Yam Festival of the community, which they could not, adding that instead, they resorted to threatening him with dethronement and impeachment.
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Igwe Jerry Udechukwu Okoli was recognised in 1986 as the Igwe of Ihembosi by the then Anambra State Government. That was 23 years ago.He has succeeded in uniting the town which resulted in unprecedented progress in the town; As the Igwe joined forces with Chief Ezementus Mbonu, the former President General Of Ihembosi Progress Assembly to attract so many developments to the town. The last development seen by the town was about ten years ago and that was when Chief Eze Mentus Mbonu stepped down as the president general having completed two terms. During the Eze Mentus era, nobody complained about the Igwe or lack of peace and progress in the town. Every honest Ihembosi man or woman knows exactly where things started to fall apart. The truth is that whatever that happens, the Igwe is not the cause. The cause are some of the people with fat bank account who feel that they can dictate to the Igwe and even push the Igwe to act against his conscience. I am happy that His Excellency Peter Obi is an icon of the respect for the rule of law and due process. Mr Obi has tasted injustice of the highest order and even unjustified impeachment, so I am confident that he will never allow his highly revered integrity and honour to be dragged into this mess. What Mr Obi should do as a matter of urgency,is to caution these agents of distabilisation who are only trying to drag the town into darkness.
It is utter rubbish and an attempt to deceive the public by those who take peace for granted. My advice is that these conspirators who appear to have short memories should visit Awka-etiti and learn from their experience. Every thing should be done in the interest of peace but this definitely is not one of them. The chieftancy constitution for the town clearly states what the dethronment offences are and the laid down procedures for the dethronment of the Igwe. I wonder what is happening. It is curious That Chief Ig Nnubia is one of the people purported to have signed this unfortunate and ill-advised letter of impeachment against the Igwe. This to me looks suspicious and I believe that Ig at the moment has no hand in it. The traditional institution is different from the military institution and therefore coups have no place. If there is lack of peace in Ihembosi, the Igwe is not the architect. The architects are those well to dos who look down on the Igwe simply because the Igwe is not a money bag. PLEASE LET'S GIVE PEACE A CHANCE. If Ihembosi is not in peace when we have a symbol of unity in the Igwe, who knows how peaceful it is going to be when we are fragmented and polarised?
It is utter rubbish and an attempt to deceive the public by those who take peace for granted. My advice is that these conspirators who appear to have short memories should visit Awka-etiti and learn from their experience. Every thing should be done in the interest of peace but this definitely is not one of them. The chieftancy constitution for the town clearly states what the dethronment offences are and the laid down procedures for the dethronment of the Igwe. I wonder what is happening. It is curious That Chief Ig Nnubia is one of the people purported to have signed this unfortunate and ill-advised letter of impeachment against the Igwe. This to me looks suspicious and I believe that Ig at the moment has no hand in it. The traditional institution is different from the military institution and therefore coups have no place. If there is lack of peace in Ihembosi, the Igwe is not the architect. The architects are those well to dos who look down on the Igwe simply because the Igwe is not a money bag. PLEASE LET'S GIVE PEACE A CHANCE. If Ihembosi is not in peace when we have a symbol of unity in the Igwe, who knows how peaceful it is going to be when we are fragmented and polarised?
It is madness for these self styled leaders of thought to think that they could wake up one morning, gather round a bottle of locally made gin, pass a vote of no confidence in the Igwe, concoct a letter of impeachment, push it through under the door of Igwe's palace, march straight to Eke market square, started releasing canon shots to annouce that the Igwe has been dethroned, to the constanation of every sensible and educated Ihembosi man. The thing is, that Ihembosi Chieftancy model is democratic based and as such rotates among the eight villages in order of seniority. The implication is that if this faceless cabal is allowed to get away with this sacrilege, there won't be any end to it because if it goes to the next village tomorrow, nothing stops another cabal from waking up next tomorrow to do like the first cabal did and the circle will continue with an unimaginable consequences for the town. The truth is that the present Igwe has contributed more to the peace and progress of the town than these group of local politicians accusing him. What Governor Obi will do actually is to get these people arrested and charge them for threatening the peace of the town.