Crisis Looms In Anambra Community Over Choice Of Traditional Prime Minister

There is a looming crisis between Amakor village of Nanka in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, and the leadership of Nanka Patriotic Union (NPU) over the rightful village to produce the traditional prime minister (Onowu) of the community.

Amakor, which lays claims to produce Onowu Nanka, Thursday, announced the withdrawal of its loyalty to their monarch, Igwe Godwin Ezeilo, and the NPU leadership pending when some alleged injustices meted to it were addressed.

Speaking during a press briefing in Awka, the chairman of Amakor Njikoka Development Union, Obinna Ilo, and the secretary, Walter Muoneme, alleged that someone else from a junior village to theirs had been installed as the Onowu Nanka by their alleged oppressors. The duo further dismissed the press conference held recently at the palace of the monarch where the monarch, Igwe Ezeilo, and the president-general, Chief Paul Chinedu, reportedly said that peace had returned to the community.

According to them, peace would only return to the community when the tenets of their constitution, which gave them the right to produce the Onowu, were met. The chairman said, “On our part, Amakor village has done everything humanly possible to prevail on NPU and Igwe Ezeilo to follow the constitution, culture and tradition of Nanka in handling the Amakor issue, but the efforts were ignored by the same power bloc that holds Nanka hostage. It is obvious that in Nanka, some individuals have hijacked the peaceful community and introduced a divide-and-rule kind of disorder that is rocking the boat of the town for years now.

“They suppress accountability and stifle opposition to suite their misadventure. They instate oppression and suppression, then turn around to paint a picture of peace when there is none.”

He said Amakor village had borne the brunt of the evil machinations of the community leadership, adding that they were supposed to produce the traditional prime minister (Onowu) of the community by order of seniority, and regretted that few cabal bypassed her to select a prime minister from a junior village.

The chairman however stated that the village believes in Igwe Godwin Ezeilo as the monarch of the community, but disagreed with his use of what they called ‘an alien constitution in administering the community’.