THE IHIAGWA MONARCHY

THE IHIAGWA MONARCHY

OUR KINGSHIP

^{THE
ORIGIN OF THE MONARCHY IN IHIAGWA}

^{During the

olden days, that is the pre-colonial times, There were no Ezes' or kings

in Ihiagwa. The ruler of the entire community then was the

Ezeario Otamiri who is also the traditional Chief priest of Otamiri and

hails from Iriamogu in the Ihiagwa autonomous community.}

^{THE

NAMES OF THE EZES' FROM THE INCEPTION OF THE MONARCHY TILL DATE}

^{Eze

John Anozie Ngoka (The Nnaochie 1 of Ihiagwa, recognized by the Imo state

government)}

^{THE

NNAOCHIES' CABINET: This is made up of eight elected village heads

which are known as the Ikoroha's, the kingmakers', eight Ishinmas' (i.e. the

titled daughters of the land and usually selected from the eight villages

in the community) and finally the advisers to the Nnaochie
.}

^{QUALIFICATIONS

TO BE}^POSSESSED^{BY A CANDIDATE FOR CHIEFTAINCY IN IHIAGWA}

^{Any

candidate vying for the chieftaincy title in the Ihiagwa autonomous

community shall posses the following}

^{1.

A fairly good literacy standard i.e. must be able to speak, read and write
coherent English.}

^{2.

Must be a stably married man.}

^{3.

Must be economically viable.}

^{4.

Must be socially acceptable to the majority of the Ihiagwa people.}

^{5.

Must be above 35 years of age to ensure maturity and stability.}

^{6.

Must be free to belong to any religious group of his choice.}

^{CODE

OF CONDUCT FOR THE NNAOCHIE IN IHIAGWA}

^{For

the Nnaochie to continue to remain office, and maintain his stool, he must

desist from the following:}

^{1.

Shall not be a drunk}

^{2.

Shall not be a bankrupt.}

^{3.

Shall not be a source of ridicule to the Ihiagwa people.}

^{4.

Shall not go against the overall interest of the Ihiagwa people}

^{5.

Shall not demand or receive bribe or any form of inducement from anybody,
institution , or even the authority.}

^{VACANCY

OF THE EZESHIP STOOL}

^{The

Nnaochie's stool shall be deemed vacant in the event of :}

^{1.

The death of the reigning Nnaochie}

^{2.

The De - stoolment of the reigning Nnaochie}

^{3.

The abdication of reigning Nnaochie.}

^{4.

The In-capitation of the reigning Nnaochie either due to disease, age or

infirmity or even insanity.}

^REGENCY

^{During

the period of vacancy of the Nnaochie's stool, his functions to the

community can be performed by either of the following}

^{1.

The Onye ishiala or in default}

^{2

The Ofor Oha or in default}

^{3.

The EzeArio or in default}

^{4.

The Oji Ogu's or in default}

^{5.

The Aguzieafor or in default}

^{6.

The Ogambombo}

^{The

maximum duration on a vacancy on the Nnaochie's stool shall be a period of

ninety days (90 days)}

^{THE

FUNERAL RITES OF A LATE NNAOCHIE}

^{Upon

the death of the king in Ihiagwa autonomous community, his funeral shall

be formulated by his cabinet.}

^{RITE

OR THE DUTIES OF THE KING (EZE )TO THE COMMUNITY}

^{1.

Ensures that there is peace in the community}

^{2.
Liaises with the government to ensure the provision of infrastructures to

the community.}

^{3.

Agitates on cases of appeal since he

is the final arbiter on cases that are on appeal}^{PROCESS OF SELECTION OF THE KING OR

MONARCH

The

process of selection of a king in the traditional Igbo society of which

the Ihiagwa autonomous community is a part, is unique amongst the

different autonomous communities.

In Ihiagwa, as soon as the need to select a new king

arises, the Ihiagwa autonomous community sets up a panel on chieftaincy.
This panel performs the function of making inquiries into the methods of

chieftaincy succession in the autonomous community.

After this inquiry, the panel then provides certain

guidelines for the selection and installation of the new king for the

community. The provided guidelines are submitted and are to be adopted by

the Ihiagwa central executive council on a certain meeting date of the

executive council.

These guidelines are then ratified by a general

conference of the Ihiagwa people, also on a certain meeting date of the

Ihiagwa people.

The conference of Ihiagwa people in the next meeting

unanimously ratifies the selected candidate and approves him and then the

central executive council gives directives to prepare him for the

installation ceremony.

^{THE EZESHIP INSTALLATION

CEREMONY

The

Eze is installed in the "Okpu-kpuru" shrine. This shrine is a

sacred shrine or rather a holy ground of the Ihiagwa people located

between Iriamogu and Ibuzo villages. It is on this ground that the Ihiagwa

people made a covenant with their

^{Chukwu. Where in strict compliance with

the Ihiagwa custom the Eze should be crowned.}

^{During the installation ceremony of the Eze the

following groups of people are usually present and they include:}

^{The Traditional priests
(Ohas)}

^{The Traditional Priests (Ndi Ishi
agbara)}

^{The Titled Daughters of the land

(Ndi Ishi Nma)}

^{The Ihiagwa council of elders}

^{The Ihiagwa Youths}

^{The community Leaders}

^{The Members of the previous Eze’s cabinet}

^{The Ihiagwa Daughters i.e. the daughters of the land
(Ndi Mgboto)}

^{The members of the Ihiagwa welfare association (Home

and Abroad)}

^{The Oldest man in the Ihiagwa Autonomous community.}

^{While the Kingmakers
are :}

^{The oldest man in the Ihiagwa autonomous community}

^{The Onyeishiala}

^{The Ofoha}

^{The Ezeario and his Oha Otamiri}

^{The Oji Ogu}

^{The Aguzieafor’s}

^{The Ogambombo}

^{N.B. The kingmakers are those that crown the

Eze while

the others are those that will be present during the Eze’s oath taking.}

^{The Eze as earlier said is crowned at the "Okpu-kpuru"

shrine and usually the Oha Otamiri festival precedes this installation.

Then the Eze takes his oath of office on the holy ground and the in

the presence of the God of the land.}

^{The chief priest of the
Oha Otamiri his priests and the

oldest man in Ihiagwa blesses the Eze’s throne, footstool, staff of

office, and his other regalia.}

^{The Eze of Ihiagwa is selected based on some personal

merits. It doesn’t matter to which family or kindred of the Premier

village he comes from.}

^{The right to select an Eze in Ihiagwa is vested on the

Ihiagwa central executive.}

^{TITLE OF THE EZE.}

^{The title of the king should be "The

Nnaochie"

and in the case of the first king to be selected, he should be styled the

Nnaochie 1 of Ihiagwa and his successors should be numbered after him in

that order.}

^{THE NNAOCHIE’S PARAPHERNALIA OF OFFICE:} ^{The

Nnaochie should wear a specially designed "Okpu Nwagoro" under

his crown. He should also wear a big embroider gown, a very superior

georgette linen cloth, court shoes, a specially designed staff of office,

A specially designed stool, and all these paraphernalia provided by the

members of the community.}

^{PROCESS OF DE-STOOLMENT OF THE
EZE (KING)} ^{The

king can be de-stooled if he infringes on any or on all of the codes

conduct of office. Or if the people he is leading has lost confidence in

him.}

^{Based on this, any Ihiagwa person or group of persons

can petition the Ihiagwa central executive council.}

^{On receipt of this petition against the King or any

member of his cabinet, The Ihiagwa central executive council investigates

the matter on hand and if it is convinced that the Petition made against

the King Or any of cabinet holds water, it shall summon a constituted

conference of the Ihiagwa people where either the Eze (King) or his

cabinet member shall be tried.}

^{If after trial, and a two-third majority of the vote

cast by the conference decides that the king or his cabinet member has

lost confidence of the people, he shall thus be asked to step down or his

stool declared vacant by the Ihiagwa central executive body.}

^{Thus it is only a Two-third majority of the entire

Ihiagwa people that can de-stool the Eze.}

^{TENURE OF THE KING:}
^{The Eze (king) shall remain

in office as long as he keeps the codes conduct and enjoys the confidence

of the Ihiagwa people. But if he fails, he shall be asked to leave the

stool.}

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