By Ikeddy ISIGUZO

OGBUNIKE, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, is known for its cave, its ranks of famed intellectuals and politicians, and perhaps, more importantly for His Royal Majesty, Igwe John Ositadimma Umenyiora, Ezedioramma I, its first and only traditional ruler to date.

Igwe Umenyiora was recognised and issued Certificate of Recognition as the traditional ruler of Ogbunike on 26 December 1976. He was much-loved for the standards he set for traditional rulership of Ogbunike, and his legacy in education, development and organisation of Ogbunike in structures that that moved to a more law-abiding.

His 44-year reign was peaceful, gained Ogbunike respect and he laid the community's governance on the traditional authorities that included Ugwueze Society (for elders aged 80 years and above), Ogbunike Traditional Council (Ndi Ichie) and Ndi Nze na Ozo Ogbunike. He also initiated and co-ordinated the Association of Umu-Iguedo Traditional Rulers. All these were captured in the 1978 Igwe Ogbunike Constitution, including the procedures for succession.

Igwe Umenyiora is credited with a role in the emergence of one of his subjects, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Oyi of Oyi, as the Special Adviser to the late former President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Dr. Okadigbo was to become Nigeria's Senate President.

A very educated man, he studied at Yaba College of Technology on scholarship, was a great entrepreneur, and had enough resources to be the major contributor in most of the community's development projects.

Five years after his passing, a dispute over who succeeds Igwe Umenyiora has split Ogbunike into two main groups. Honourable Justice Raphael Okey Onunkwo would sit on the matter on Wednesday, 16 April 2025 at the State High Court, Otuocha, 26.4km from Ogbunike, and 34.6km from the State capital Awka.

Among the issues that Justice Onunkwo, a former Criminal Law and Company Law lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, would decide are:

* A motion to stop the election of a new Igwe Ogbunike on 21 April 2025

* A declaration that Ogbunike community is not yet ready for selection of an Igwe elect until peace returns to Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike and there is a united Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike with a new Executive of Ndi Ichie Ogbunike elected by a united Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike.

* A declaration that the executives of Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike led by the 2nd Defendant is not competent to sit in a joint meeting of the Central Executive of Ogbunike Town Union and Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike for the purpose of receiving, appraising, screening and selection of Igwe Ogbunike elect.

* A declaration of the Honourable Court that until there is a united Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike without a faction, a joint meeting of the Central Executive of Ogbunike Town Union and Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike cannot sit to receive, screen and/or elect an Igwe elect for Ogbunike community.

* A declaration of the Honourable Court that until a Declaration of vacancy pursuant to the 3rd Schedule to Igwe Ogbunike Constitution 1978 is properly made and signed by proper and authorised representatives of each village is executed and pronounced, the process for the selection of Igwe elect has not commenced and will not commence.

* An order of the Honourable Court voiding all processes now put in place for the selection of Igwe elect for Ogbunike community by the joint decisions of the 1st Defendant and his executives and the 2nd Defendant and his faction of Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike unless and until the Resolutions of the General Assembly made in December, 2023 is fully implemented i.e the resolution of the dispute within Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike and the unification of Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike into one body and the amendment of the 1978 Igwe Ogbunike Constitution and Ogbunike Progress Union Constitution.

The crisis had been heightened by the alleged refusal of Ogbuefi Nwafor Onyezia, who was elected Chairman of Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike in 2016 for a three-year tenure that lapsed in 2019, to vacate office or allow elections to hold. There are currently two factions of Ndi Ichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike.

The only document for resolving the Igwe Ogbunike dispute is the 1978 document.

According to the plaintiffs, the election of Igwe Ogbunike cannot hold without the issues resolved.

Ichie/Ogbuefi Tobechukwu Obiakor on behalf of the respondents averred that he is the President-General of Ogbunike Progress Union, and that the plaintiffs having participated in the last Ofala of Igwe Umenyiora in 2022, knew that election to the office was due after six months.

He asked the court to dismiss the Notice on Motion as it was made to disrupt the holding of the processes to elect the new Igwe. Ogbuefi Onyezia said that the plaintiffs had no interest in the election as they had not participate in the processes to contest the position. He concluded that the Anambra State Government had approved the election and its schedule.

Former Solicitor-General of the Federation, Tochukwu Onwugbufor, SAN, an indigene of Ogbunike in a letter of 10 December 2024 to Governor Chukwuma Soludo asked for his intervention to prevent breakdown of law and order in Ogbunike. He noted that any election held without dealing with the underlining issues would violate the 1978 Igwe Ogbunike Constitution and could throw Ogbunike into turmoil. He pleaded with the Governor to persuade Ogbuefi Onyezia to reconcile with the other group before an election.

Maduka Nwakwesi, Phd, a titled Ogbunike elder, on 24 January 2025, wrote to Ogbuefi Obiakor, President of Ogbunike Progress Union, asking for amendment of the 1978 Constitution to reflect the current standings of Ogbunike, re-organisation of the Council of Ogbuefi, reconciliations, inclusion of kindred units in an electorate of not more than 300 people. He suggested that these should be considered before an election.

Justice Onunkwo, elevated to the bench in 2017, would resolve the more immediate issue of whether the election of Igwe Ogbunike would hold on Monday, 21 April 2025. All eyes are on the judge.

Finally...

NIGERIA is on a slide. Another indication is the pilgrimages to Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna to consult him, seek his advice, and possible support as we head to 2027. The pilgrims might not have heard that Buhari was in Kaduna to put a distance between him and the insecurity in his beloved Katsina State.

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno State is shouting that Boko Haram is on a surge in the State. ?Government calls on all, especially the sub-national governments, to join hands to ensure rapid eradication of the remaining pockets of criminal elements wherever they may be,? was the retort of the Minister of Information Mohammed Idris. Zulum is speaking from the front line, Minister of Information is in Abuja and the President, Commander-in-Chief, is in France.

AT 16, Alabi Yusuf Quadri has been detained at Kirikiri Prisons since January 2025. The matter has just become public. Quadri popped to fame during the 2023 presidential campaign by stopping the entourage of the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi to express his support for Obi. "Areas Boys" reportedly accused him of fighting and making trouble, took him to the police where they made the same allegations. The charge against him, in a Magistrate Court, has changed to armed robbery. He is locked up with hardened criminals. What happened to detention centres for minors? How many minors are locked up like Quadri? Obi is working with Inibehe Effiong, a lawyer, on Quadri?s detention.

?ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues.

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