Akure: The Eze Ndigbo's audacity

~ Nigerian Tribune. 

ETHNIC proclivities were heightened recently when a simple misunderstanding that could have been amicably resolved needlessly deteriorated into a major mess through the indiscretion and lack of restraint of the head of the Igbo community in Akure the capital of Ondo state. The Akure monarch, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi eventually had to proscribe the title Eze Ndigbo to check the unease which it had foisted on the ancient Yoruba town for quite a while and the alleged contempt with which its holder, Gregory Iloehike had treated the Deji in his domain.

Obviously taking himself more seriously than he ordinarily should, Gregory Iloehike, then as the Eze Ndigbo, had been summoned by the Deji presumably to resolve a leadership tussle at the Mojere market along Ilesa Garage where Igbo traders are known to sell vehicle spare parts and which had threatened the peace in the town.

Not only was Gregory Iloehike contemptuous of the monarch's summons, initially claiming to be too busy to honour it, when he eventually turned up, he was clad in the full regalia of royalty and with a smirk. According to media reports, palace sources spoke of his condescending attitude which he displayed to which the Deji had to summon all royal courage and decency to resist provocation. He even donned a beaded crown and was poised to trash the essence of the town's mores.

While the youths of the town had been visibly miffed by the unwarranted impudence of the Eze Ndigbo, the Deji intent on peacemaking had remained calm and unperturbed. Hitherto, Akure has provided a comfortable ambience for many Nigerian citizens to ply their trade with neither hostility nor hindrance to such an extent that the Igbo living there could be minded to install an Eze, all in the name of conviviality.

Does the Eze Ndigbo in Akure belong to the state's Traditional Council? Is the title recognised in the state's statutes? How come then that Mr Gregory Iloehike would muster the audacity to treat the Deji shabbily and in contempt? According to media reports even an Igbo trader said inter alia that "Iloehike insulted the Deji, telling him to tread softly in order not to be dethroned like a former Deji who was deposed recently. He supported his arguments with biblical stories of some 0f the kings who erred in the bible and were relegated......the Igbo cannot tolerate this in their land."

The sad and ugly development has even irked the publicity secretary of the Afenifere Renewal Group, Kunle Famoriyo enough to denounce what he called "the unrelenting desecration of Yoruba culture particularly by the Igbo communities' obsession with having a crowned king in Yoruba domains." Now, that is getting quite precarious such that it could lead to mutual resentments among the different ethnic groups that are otherwise law-abiding in their areas but who ply their trades elsewhere.

Thankfully, the state governor, Dr Mimiko has waded into the matter and we can only hope his intervention will douse the ethnic tension which the lack of circumspection on the part of Iloehike could have precipitated probably on a national scale without any just cause. Ordinarily, the title Eze Ndigbo outside the Igbo territory should not come with any authority beyond taking care of the people of that extraction in simple matters that do not involve the law.

But Gregory Iloehike had thought otherwise and had used a ceremonial position as a pedestal to confront a hospitable traditional authority and in the process enlisted the hostility of a benevolent host. The Deji has given certain conditions to mitigate his deserved wrath and it is our hope that Iloehike will wholly comply.

However, it may be instructive to the Yoruba to do something concrete about their institutional liberalism which has unfortunately been exploited to cause disaffection and instability in their respective domains. The title Eze Ndigbo is of no traditional consequence anywhere in the Yoruba towns and cities to cause any form of political or economic imbroglio and we are persuaded that for the Deji to have even required any kind of apology in major newspapers and the broadcast media may be tantamount to giving recognition to an unknown quantity.

The proper thing to do is to ignore an unfit title holder after abrogating the title of course.