Posted by By Anayo Okoli, Awka on
THERE is security alert in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State as evident tension has continued to mount following Monday's installation of Chief Godwin Odukwe as the parallel Obi of Onitsha.
THERE is security alert in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State as evident tension has continued to mount following Monday's installation of Chief Godwin Odukwe as the parallel Obi of Onitsha. Odukwe was installed by a group opposed to the reign of Obi Alfred Achebe, who ascended the throne in May 2002, but has been having a running battle with the group led by the erstwhile traditional prime minister of Onitsha, (Onowu), Chief Olisa Mortune.
At the palatial palace of Obi of Onitsha on Awka Road, Inland Town Onitsha from where Igwe Achebe operates, the police have mounted a 24-hour surveillance to forestall any breakdown of law and order. Visitors come under total scrutiny before being allowed access into the palace, just as the stern-looking policemen turn back many people with missions they consider not too important.
Also at the ancestral home of Odukwe in Inland Town, the homeland of indigenes of Onitsha, there is also a huge presence of security personnel stationed within the vicinity of the expansive compound to stop any outbreak of violence from supporters of the two camps.
But beyond the homes of the two men in the contest for the Obi stool, the security alert extends to other busy and strategic places as battle-ready policemen embark on surveillance patrols to the Main Market, Upper Iweka and government-owned structures.
Besides, the police authorities in the state have not minced words that they would deal decisively on persons or anybody or group found fomenting trouble in the city. The Police Area Commander in charge of the area, Mr. Dennis Anyagafu has been mobilising his men to comb all nooks and crannies of Inland Town and beyond for people who may want to cash on the Obiship tussle to wreak havoc. He has warned all "aggrieved persons to channel their grievances to the court of law."
Though the Anambra State government has publicly been silent, Saturday Vanguard learnt that the government, through the office of the Commissioner of Chieftancy Matters, has been "monitoring" the crisis with a view to amicably resolving the feud and checking any outbreak of bloody confrontation between the two groups.
"What we (government) are doing is to monitor the developments," said one of the aides of Governor Chris Ngige. "It is unwise to rush into making public statements now. We prefer that we can achieve a lot if we work from behind the scene."
As the search for peace and resolution of the crisis continues, residents of Onitsha especially the non-indigenes have been jittery over the possibility of violent clashes between loyalists of the two contestants to the throne and what such event portends for their businesses.
Thus, businessmen, artisans, professionals and other residents have been discussing the renewed tussle for the Obi of Onitsha stool with deep apprehension and concern.
"We are really worried because Onitsha traditional politics has always been free of violence," Chief Mike Nwankwo, a reputed Onitsha-based importer told this paper. "The people had resorted to legal settlements in past crises. So, we're surprised that rather than resort to that option, they now have two Obis.
"It is also true that the crisis may be confined to Inland Town which is the homeland of indigenes of Onitsha for now, but the fear is that it may spread to other parts if not nipped in the bud immediately."
But the greatest safety assurance the non-indigenous residents have is anchored on the level of civility usually employed by Onitsha people in handling such crises. Senator Joy Emordi, an Onitsha traditional chief, sends the same message to both natives and non-natives.
According to her, "I am not in support of any faction. I am only in support of peace in Onitsha where the Obi reigns. I am in support of urgent and amicable resolution of whatever differences between Igwe Alfred Achebe and the challengers of his position... Anything that affects Onitsha as a prime trade centre in this country will affect every other part of Nigeria."
Ever since the rift broke out Monday, there have been bitter reactions and utter condemnation from both highly-placed Onistha sons and daughters as well as other Igbo leaders. However, the matter took a different turn, Thursday, when Chief Arthur Mbanefo, a former Nigerian permanent representative to the United Nations and prominent son of the soil dragged Igwe Achebe to court to protest the stripping by the latter of Mbanefo's traditional title of Odu of Onitsha, an action he argues is contrary to the town's custom and tradition.
He is asking the court to refrain Achebe, his servants or Okolonji whom the embattled Obi conferred the title on, from preventing him from exercising his rights and privileges, as well as an order of the court to maintain peace in the town pending the determination of the case. The case comes up for hearing on May 12, 2005.
In similar vein, three persons were, same day, charged to court in Onitsha for the installation of Amalunweze Odukwe as a parallel Obi of Onitsha. The trio- Fred Ejo Odukwe, 54; Osita Ikebudu, 48 and Udoji Chukwuemeka, 37- were arraigned before Magistrate Court 4 in Onitsha on a three-count charge of breaching Section 18 of Anambra State Traditional Rulers Law of 1981, as well as being involved in conducts likely to cause a breach of public order. The accused persons were remanded in police custody.
It will be recalled that the Mortune group has, from day one, rejected the selection of Achebe as the Obi of Onitsha. Three members of the group, including Odukwe, had gone to court to challenge the seletion and subsequent installation of Achebe as the 21st Obi of Onitsha in 2002. The group had often threatened to install their own Obi of Onitsha.
Though Achebe was recognised by the Anambra State government under Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju after his installation, the opposing group still refused to accord him recognition and insisted on having their own king. They carried out this threat on Monday, April 25, 2005, when they finally installed Amalanweze Goddie Odukwe, a 72-year-old chartered accountant, and retired Deputy General Manager of Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited (ANAMCO), Enugu.
Before the installation which came three years into Achebe's reign, the Mortune group had also selected and installed some high chiefs in the town to fill the vacuum created by the death of their former occupants. For example Mortune crowned Chief Obiekwe Aniweta, a lawyer to fill the vacant position of Onya and retired Colonel Gabriel Emodi, a medical doctor to fill the position of Ajie, the seat left vacant by the death last year of Dr Ukpabi Asika, the former administrator of the definct East Central State.
But in all these appointments, the Achebe camp had always laughed it off as acts perpetrated by disgruntled elements desirous of some relevance, but who should be summarily ignored. But as one insider told this paper, "their (Achebe's camp) greatest undoing was not to have moved against the other group until it had installed a parallel Obi. But Onitsha won't have two Obis of Onitsha. One will have to give way."
Then came this day, April 25, 2005, when the group made good their threat by installing Odukwe, whom they claimed had since been undergoing all the necessary ablution, as the new Obi of Onitsha.
Said Mortune on that occasion: "...In my capacity as the Onowu Iyasele, the traditional prime minister, having looked at the various ablution processes he (Odukwe) went through with his "Diokpa" (oldest male member of his quarter) and Ogbe Oza people after being selected, I have no choice than to put the cap on his head. So, I have put the cap on his head. He is the 21st Obi of Onitsha."
However, Mortune had since been reportedly replaced by Achebe with Chief Chike Ofodile (SAN) as the Onowu. Yet, the former insists that his group had not violated any law in crowning a parallel Obi. He contended that it was not the turn of Achebe's quarter to produce the Obi, and alleged that his group used "other influences" to enthrone its favoured candidate.
"We're not going to join issues with people on the pages of newspapers, but I want to let you know that our crowning a new Obi, the 21st in our kingship history was in consonance with the right processes of selecting a new Obi for Onitsha people. This process is very unambiguous and it is rotational among our ancestral communities called quarters."
Achebe, though, seems to be enjoying the support of the Onitsha elite, popularly referred to as the Lagos Group and made up of mainly the professionals. During the selection stage, they were said to have backed Igwe Achebe. Besides, he enjoys the support of both the Federal and the Anambra State Governments.
Among other allegations, the Mortune camp accuses Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe of not having gone through all the traditional rites before being picked to replace late Igwe Ofala Okagbue, the immediate past Obi of Onitsha. One allegation his opponents have consistently charged against him was that he did not give his late father befitting traditional burial rites. He was said to have given his father a church burial instead of a traditional one.
But the Achebe loyalists would dismiss such charge as "a claim by desperate people looking for relevance and accommodation."
If anything, the current crisis has pitched prominent sons of Onitsha against one another. On the side of Igwe Achebe are personalities like Chief Chike Ofodile (SAN), ex-Attorney General of Nigeria. Ofodile and the Onowu of his own faction, Wednesday, addressed the press in which he accused the other group of having violated stipulated laws concerning the choice of royal fathers in the state.
On the side of Achebe are also Chief Mike Areh, a notable figure and Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), the secretary of the selection committee which picked Achebe.
For the Mortune faction, there is Chief Mbanefo, Nigeria's former permanent representative to the UN who, Thursday, took Igwe Achebe to court for having replaced him as the Odu of Onitsha. Then, there is Goddie Odukwe, the parallel Obi-elect, a retired Deputy General Manager of ANAMCO.
In all this, when and how will this crisis be resolved? That is the question that millions wait fervently for its answer.