Igweship Tussle: War Looms In Enugu Community Over Alleged Forgeries

The planned Igweship election of Nru Nsukka Autonomous Community in Enugu State has been engulfed in crises following allegations that the signatures of some of the signatories to the constitution of the community were forged.

The constitution, which came into being on 9th March, 2021, and whose oath was taken on 29/3/21 with the number 086581, was signed by fourteen persons out of seventeen listed to sign it. The signatories hold sensitive positions, such as being the village heads, traditional ruler, oldest woman and youth leader. While some of them have died, some who are living claim that they were not aware of the constitution let alone signing it.

The Bone Of Contention

The community’s constitution stipulates that the position of the traditional ruler rotates between the two quarters of Ezema and Evonashi in that order, based on seniority.

However, the same constitution throws the contest open for the villages within the quarters producing the traditional ruler, a position rejected by the elders and some stakeholders who want it to be according to village seniority within the quarter whose turn it is to produce the traditional ruler. They accused the constitutional drafting committee of desecrating their culture of seniority, and called on Gov Peter Mbah of Enugu State to intervene before any breakdown of law and order.

“It is not acceptable,” says one of the village heads who does not want to be mentioned. “Our culture recognises seniority in doing everything. When it comes to traditional ruler, we expect that the eldest village in our quarter should be made to produce the contestants. When the village couldn’t produce or when those contesting are not found worthy, the screening committee can do the needful by approaching the general assembly of the community seeking an approval for the next village in seniority to submit contestants. But the constitution destroys the culture of seniority. They want the rich or the most influential to take all. We have rejected it. We don’t know how they produced that constitution. They didn’t consult the elders. Some of us simply saw our forged signatures in the constitution. Some of us are not lettered; still they signed instead of thump printing as we normally do. Who signed them?”

The above opinion reflects the generality of the positions of all the elders our correspondent encountered.

Words of the Constitution

THE WHISTLER obtained a copy of the disputed constitution. Its Section 10, entitled ‘Election of the Igwe or Traditional Ruler’, states that, “The office of the Igwe shall rotate between the two quarters of the community, namely Ezema and Evonashi, in that order. The emergence of the Igwe shall not be based on village seniority, but rather on merit irrespective of the village of origin.”

They Forged My Father’s Signature, Son Of Village Head

Harrison Ezema is the son of Elder Michael Ezema, the village head of Umashi. Harrison said his father never signed the constitution. “He didn’t sign anything. Our father can’t sign that kind of signature. He can only thump print. We went to the village square during a meeting to inquire about who signed for him. We carried our father there. He asked them. They told him that no signature was signed. We went to Nru Town Union. I personally asked them who signed my father’s signature. Nobody answered me. It’s forgery.”
Man Signed For Head Of Women
Omerubo Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi is the oldest woman in the community. Her column in the constitution was signed by one Obi Ishiwu, a man. Mrs Ugwuanyi said she was not aware of the constitution when our correspondent encountered her in her house.

Call For Peace, Onowu Okoro

The traditional prime minister of the community, Onowu Sylvanus Okoro, enjoined all parties to come to a roundtable. “This revelation is coming up since we started planning for our Igweship polls,” says he. “That constitution has been there for about five years. That is not to say that what is wrong is right. I advise everybody to come to our General Assembly so that we discuss it. It will provide the platform for people who claim they didn’t sign to show up. Unfortunately those that produced that constitution are no longer around. When they were, nobody came out to complain. I wasn’t around then. But we shall have a way of thrashing out these things peacefully. Who signed it won’t be the trouble. Another one can be written. It is the same constitution used to produce out town union executives. The agitation is not bad. If it is true that it was not signed properly, we shall rectify it. What we want is peace. If we destroy ourselves for Igwe, who will the traditional ruler rule?”

Those Who Allege Should Prove, Member, CDC
A member of the constitution drafting committee, Barr Patrick Omeje, said the constitution was duly produced and approved by all the stakeholders before it was submitted to the Enugu State Ministry of Rural Development as the constitution of the community.
Quoting him, “I was a member of the constitution drafting committee. It has no discrepancy. That constitution is authentic. It is already domiciled with the state Ministry of Rural Development, Enugu. We used the same constitution to elect our town union executives recently. No one has come out to allege that his signature was forged until recently when we began the process of electing of our new Igwe.”

He said those that claimed that their signatures were forged should go to court to prove their allegations. “These people are just looking for unnecessary controversies because they are not in support of the person emerging as Igwe. Did the Onyishi (elder) say he didn’t authorise the signing of his signature? He can allege it; let him go and prove forgery.”

On the contentious aspects of the constitution where elections into Igwe are open within the quarters in the rotation, he said, “Even Section 4 of Traditional Rulers’ Law of Enugu State says the person becoming the Igwe must be elected. It is in line with the customs and traditions of the people. It is not by seniority. It states that it should rotate between the two quarters in Iheagu: Ezema and Evonashi. The late Igwe is from Ezema. That is why it is going to Evonashi. There is nothing like seniority there. Any person from the village is eligible to contest.”
He advised the people of Nru community to abide by the constitution to conduct the Igweship election. “After the election, if there is need for us to amend the constitution, we amend it. Everybody should calm down so we can do the election of our Igwe. Some are stoking problems for nothing. He who alleges should prove.”

Michael Onyishi is the legal adviser to the constitution drafting committee. After introducing the subject of the interview to him by our correspondent via telephone, Onyishi’s network end became bad, and the conversation discontinued. He didn’t answer the subsequent call put across to him.

The Authors Of The Constitution
It was gathered that Nru-Nsukka Autonomous Community was created by the government of former Gov Chimaroke Nnamani from Nsukka Town comprising Iheagu, Ezemanedem and Umuoyo quarters. While Ezemanedem and Umuoyo maintained their names, Iheagu chose to answer Nru-Nsukka Autonomous Community, spearheaded by the then town union of the community.

A native of the community, who gave his name as Moses Okeke, said, “We wanted to remain Iheagu, but the town union executives then refused. Even the larger Nsukka Town told us not to answer Nru. In fact, our autocratic town union pulled out of the Federated Nru-Nsukka Town, and stuck to that name. The controversial constitution was scripted by that town union executive unilaterally, with the goal of determining who becomes what in our community.
“When our son, Rev Fr Malachy Ezeah, warned our town union executive against deviating from our custom on seniority, a member of the town union threatened to excommunicate him if he spoke about it again. He was warned to remain in his Catholic priesthood and avoid delving into community matters. You can imagine! We should learn from Umuoyo Community that had a similar experience. A committee recommended emergence of their Igwe by seniority in 2017. They adopted it, and today they are peaceful. Let us learn lessons rather than repeating mistakes that won’t lead us anywhere.”

A lawyer, Mr John Asogwa called for the adherence to the rules to avoid chaos. He told our reporter that, “In Amechi Awkunanaw, Enugu South LGA, in 2021, the Enugu State government suspended the recognition of the Igwe, citing actions inconsistent with the Traditional Rulers’ Law, which frequently follows improper selection processes that skip the traditional seniority, leading to a breakdown of law and order. Also, in Egwu Achi Autonomous Community in Oji River LGA of Enugu State in 2019, Justice Afam Nwobodo of the Enugu State High Court nullified the election of Mr Victor Meniru because his selection process violated established traditions and procedures. So Nru-Nsukka Autonomous Community should know better.”