BATTLE FOR TRADITIONAL DIGNITY OVER THE ODOGWU TITLE IN A MICROCOSM OF CRIMINALITY: A Case of Carrying the Elephant on the Head and the Temptation of Picking the Cricket with the Leg
His Highness Nwankwo Tony Nwaezeigwe, PhD, DD
Odogwu of Ibusa Clan, Okunagbaozala II,
Delta State of Nigeria
E-mail: odogwuibusa@gmail.com
Between the Indignity of a Person and Dignity of His Town
The popular Igbo highlife music maestro Oliver de Coque once stated sarcastically, “Obele mmanwu na-agba egwu maka na Ijele a noro nso”—the little masquerade is 0nly dancing on the stage because the big Ijele masquerade is not nearby. This is the irony of a caged lion. Suffice it to say that a lion in the zoo is prone to all forms of ridicule, including the rampaging of his once dreaded den; otherwise what is the vulture’s business with a barber. Good enough that my absence is for the collective interest of our great nation—Nigeria and not for swindling people at home and abroad.
To state the obvious, I am proud to say that my current exile is not the consequence of any act of criminality, rather the desire to liberate the Nigerian masses from the shackles of Fulani Islamic fundamentalism, which I have not for once regretted, and trials and tribulations notwithstanding. And for the avoidance of doubt bellow is the title of the suit that sent me on exile which, I had the privilege of having two distinguished legal luminaries as my counsels—Prof Ben Nwabueze, SAN and Elder Solomon Asemota, SAN:
IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
IN THE ASABA JUDICIAL DIVISION, HOLDEN AT ASABA
SUIT NO.: FHC / ASB / CS / 11 / 2016
BETWEEN
DR. NWANKWO TONY NWAEZEIGWE
Suing for himself and on behalf of members of
Nigeria Civil War & Genocide Research Network
AND
PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
THE SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
On Sunday 19 December, 2021, I was inundated with insurmountable calls and text messages by many people of the devious plans by a group of unscrupulous elements in Ibusa Clan better described as Cyber Fraudsters Club of Ibusa, to trump up one of their likes known as Charles Okonkwo to assume my exalted title of Odogwu of Ibusa Clan, while I am engaged on a battle for life in a foreign land. Ordinarily, I shouldn’t have responded but for the fact that, as our people say, “wa dika a tu udene ukpolo, o mama na o na-esi onwu”—unless you stone the vulture, it will not realize that it is smelling death.
Earlier before this time it was the Obuzor of Ibusa Obi (Prof) Louis Nwoboshi that initiated the dastard attempt, before it now became the mission of the shameless Internet criminals of the town who have now degenerated from the heinous crime of swindling victims from outside to the brazen appropriation of their ancestral lands. This was coming on the heels of their unabashed but unsuccessful attempts to assassinate me here in Kigali Rwanda using the Nigerian Directorate of State Security and local Rwandan Muslims as cover agents.
What the Cyber Fraudsters Club of Ibusa has been engaging is to utilize my conflict with the Federal Government and employ itself as unsolicited agents of the Nigerian security agencies to track and kill my person for what they see as my obstructionist stances toward their fraudulent activities and total takeover of Ibusa traditional political framework. They constitute the group, in conjunction with the Jezebel Professor Egodi Uchendu of Department of History and International Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka that contributed and provided the Directorate of State Security (DSS) the five million naira ransom placed on my head that dramatically turned my best friends and even blood brothers against me.
They employed private hired-killers using the official cover of the Nigerian Embassies and local Muslim groups in respective countries of my refuge with mouth-watering offers to trail me wherever I flee to, even up to the present Republic of Rwanda, after the initial attempt by the DSS to eliminate me in Nigeria had failed. Their weapon has been the allegation that I am an enemy of Islam in Nigeria and that a Fatwa was placed on my head for a large sum of money. Prominent among this group are Chief Fred Ajudua, Chief Sebastian Adigwe, Mr. Celestine Okafor, Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor and Mr. Charles Okonkwo. The mention of their names will not be enough without extrapolating on the reasons for their respective involvements.
Professor Egodi Uchendu, nee Ukasonwa who claims to be a fire-brand born-again Christian first blackmailed my name before the Muslim Imams of Enugu State as an agent of the State of Israel through my teaching of the course— Contemporary History of the Middle East. Through the said blackmail she obtained mouth-watering financial assistance from the Imams and some Northern Muslim financiers for the publication of a book on Islam in Igboland to counter my teaching titled: DAWN FOR ISLAM IN EASTERN NIGERIA: A History of the Arrival of Islam in Igboland published 2012 in Berlin, Germany by Klaus Schwarz Verlag. The said book turned out to be a plagiarized work criminally lifting from an undergraduate Research Project Report titled: “History of Islam in Igboland with Special Emphasis on Nsukka Zone of Enugu State” by Muhammad Muhili Oluwa, and an article by Professor M.A. Onwuejeogwu titled: “The Igbo Culture Area” in Igbo Language and Culture edited by F. C. Ogbalu and E. N. Emananjo (1975), Ibadan: Oxford University Press.
I discovered this disreputable intellectual dishonesty after undertaking a clinical review of the book, and subsequently lodged a formal report to the Vice Chancellor for a case of heinous plagiarism by a born-again Professor of History. The Vice Chancellor thereafter prompted a Faculty Investigation Committee, which later found her culpable to the offence. This review can be accessed under the title: “PARADOX OF INTELLECTUAL BOOTLEGGING IN PARADOX OF DAWN FOR ISLAM IN EASTERN NIGERIA: A Review” Archives of Political Science Research Vol. 2, No. 2, May 2021, https://www.2rsa.org/journals.
After attempting to reach me for settlement through Professor Chime Korieh who was then the Head of Department without success, she decided to employ the diabolically noted Dr. Apeh Anslem Apeh of the Department of History and International Studies and a native of Enugu-Ezike to take name and a review article I innocently wrote for him to a famous native doctor at Inyi Village, Enugu-Ezike called Nzeogwu. I later drove to the home of the native doctor when the information came to me and confronted him and he did not deny. I also confronted Dr. Apeh and he did not deny also, as well as reported the matter to his brother-in-law and colleague at the Department, Christian Chukwuma Opata.
Having failed in the Enugwu-Ezike venture, she employed an Igala indigene Dr. Egwuda Ugbabe of the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Studies, who took her to another native doctor at Ankpa in Kogi State where they paid the sum of four hundred thousand naira to have me dead. I confronted Dr. Egwuda before Professor Emeka Nwabueze at the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and all he said was that he had advised her that I am stronger than her.
Professor Uchendu has not only been an active strange bed-fellow of Ibusa Cyber Fraudsters Club but has been using the mission for my elimination as a conduit pipe for extorting her Enugu State patron-Imams and Northern Muslim jihadist financiers. Indeed Mr. Justin Djotah— the Medecine Sans Frontier Psychologist working for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) made specific mention of Professor Egodi Uchendu as the only woman among the agents of the Federal Government seeking to eliminate me, during my protective detention at Batouri District Hospital, Eastern Cameroon by UNHCR.
Chief Fred Ajudua’s interest is hinged on his inordinate ambition to become the next Obuzor of Ibusa Clan. He had approached me to solicit my support for this ambition but I had quietly reminded him that not only was it sacrilegious under our customs to speak of succeeding a living Chief, since no one knows whose turn it would to die, but that after the exit of the present reigning Obuzor of Ibusa it will be the turn of Idi na Isagba Quarters to present his successor, and not Umuodafe his Quarters. This did not go down well with him; and his next move turned out to be the propping up of his fellow professional fraudster as my replacement and subsequent acquiescence to my elimination to advance his ambition. Indeed when I fled to Togo from Senegal Fred Ajudua personally came to Lome to coordinate my elimination. When I learnt of his mission, I called him with his Nigerian number and he accidentally responded with his secret mission Togolese number +22892036551 before switching off perpetually.
Chief Fred Ajudua has criminally been appropriating and recklessly selling off Umuodafe ancestral lands which his Umukwa Village has little ancestral share and now wants to recruit another cyber crime land grabber as his Odogwu of Ibusa to solidify his waning criminal tentacles in Ibusa in the quest for becoming the next Obuzor of Ibusa. And the only way to achieve such is to have me dead.
Chief Sebastian Adigwe has never been close to me but was moved to become one of the financiers of my death in family solidarity with her sister—the wife of Chief Clement Nwanze, the former Regent Odogwu of Ibusa who swore to use the wealth of her brothers to extinguish my life. Indeed, while seeking refuge in Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon, I was unknowingly directed to her brother selling electrical appliances for assistance. Unfortunately, being the only person I disclosed my destination to at that point in time, he subsequently directed my attackers to my destination—Bamenda, where I received the first dose of attempts on my life in that country.
Celestine Okafor who idiotically parades himself as the “Ikwele of Ibusa His Eminence” whereas there is a subsisting Ikwele of Ibusa, His Royal Highness Sup. Paul Onochie,
is a man of unbending criminality, absurd illiteracy, and customary vagrancy. Not many will believe that with his age, this man who is my mother’s de facto second cousin and de jure uncle to me, even though younger in age, can neither write his name nor fill a bank teller but not only requires regular assistance to fill the teller but thumb prints his signature. This is the irony of a man who presents himself as a first-class traditional chief of Ibusa.
He belongs to what Ibusa people call “Ndi aku oshi”—a lineage of thieves. He was once a member of Ogbogu Okonji’s Anioma Brothers’ Band until he was caught on video stealing cash sprayed on the Music maestro by Chief Fred Ajudua, and thereafter booted out of the group ignominiously. He later forayed into cyber crime, then known as Advance Fee Fraud—419. With his equally criminally-minded senior brother Mr. Ukadike Okafor—alias Zik Zulu Okafor of Nollywood fame, he forayed further into the unscrupulous dispossession of their lineage of their ancestral land which traditionally falls under the customary custodianship of my mother’s direct lineage.
This same Celestine Okafor was equally responsible for the kidnap of an Isieka Village woman for which a huge ransom was paid. He later shortchanged his gang by embezzling part of the ransom, and was for that reason kidnapped for about two weeks and had his brown-coloured Toyota Camry car confiscated by the enraged gang members. He criminally usurped the Ikwele title from the rightful occupant with the threat of hired-killers and his stock ‘n trade ever since has remained the selling and reselling of their customary land in collaboration with his brother Zik Zulu Okafor.
Zik Zulu Okafor in line with their family tradition of genetic robbery has equally been culpable to the same uncultured character of theft. As a Hotel clerk with Kilo Hotel in Surulere Lagos, he was dismissed for stealing the company’s money which he claimed was used to pay for his school fees at the University of Ibadan. His criminal instincts did not stop there. As President of Nollywood Association he was again accused of embezzling their fund and consequently banned from holding any office in the association.
Their mother, Mrs. Nwanyinmma Okafor nee Nwankwo-Nza was equally addicted to to stealing. She was once caught stealing cassava roots from Chief Dikedi Nnabuife’s farm—father of Hon. Augustine Chukwudi Nnabuife, JP—Ojeaogbue and was made to pay restitution. Their father Mr. Nwolisa Okafor alias 20-30, a direct uncle of the present Obuzor of Ibusa Obi (Prof) Louis Chelunor Nwoboshi, once remarried my grandmother Madam Alice Adaozele Onyeachonam nee Enenmo shortly after the death of my grandfather Mr. Sinoje Onyeachonam but was later withdrawn by her Umuosowe family of Umuodafe Quarters when they discovered that her new husband was an unrepentant thief. She eventually lived and died among her people.
Indeed, the height of their father’s robbery was recorded at Okpanam town when he stole a fowl during a traditional dance-learning mission and was subsequently sentenced to three months imprisonment by Warrant Chief Nwosisi of Okpanam. It was for this reason that our Village refused to initially accord him the customary Okanga burial rites after his death, which is denied every known thief in the community. It took the spirited plea of Obi (Prof) Louis Nwoboshi before it was decided late in the afternoon to go ahead with the Okanga burial rites. This is face and background of someone who presents himself to the world as the mirror of Ibusa traditional chieftaincy
.
As the Odogwu of Ibusa Clan and Nwadaisiana of Ikwele Royal Family, I cannot afford the wrath of my revered ancestors by supporting the chieftaincy aspirations of such a heinous criminal defined in body, mind, and spirit. The customs and tradition of Ibusa Clan are obvious in this respect—the Ikenga-Oha—the War Cult Deity of Ibusa Clan which is customarily under the custody of Ikwele of Ibusa cannot be desecrated by being put under the custody and roof of a certified criminal. This lineage of genetic thieves therefore believed that it is only my death that will release the Ikenga-Oha to them having tries unsuccessfully even with the aid of security agencies to do so while I was in Nigeria. This is the reason why they were quick in joining the DSS in the hunt for my life.
They had attempted to unscrupulously question my paternity by paying the likes of my younger brother Chukwuji—someone I gave one of my cars to support his professional driving career, Mr. Christopher Ijeli of the discredited Oko-Anala adopted Ijeli branch of Animudu lineage, and the Nupe slave ancestry of Isieke Village extraction—Mr. Femi Okafor. But having debunked their mendacious fabrications, they now see my conflict with the present Federal Government led by Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari over the questions of Islamization and killing of defenceless Christians of the Nigerian nation as the right opportunity to attain their untenable evil venture.
Mr. Charles Okonkwo the supposed in-coming Odogwu of Ibusa Clan has dramatically been conferred three university degree in one swoop by his local junk image-makers. Hear them! “He schooled at CKC, Onitsha, and later the University of Lagos where he obtained his B. Sc (Hons). Thereafter, he had M. Sc from the USA. Chief Okonkwo is also a Law graduate from the National Open University.”
From available and most reliable records, Mr. Charles Okonkwo who is a certified Cyber fraudster has never worked or schooled anywhere since he left his Secondary School which he completed in Benin City and not CKC Onitsha. When his father Okonkwo-Nurse retired from Bendel State civil service at a point when he was yet to complete his Secondary school, it was in the house of my Uncle Sir Fidelis Nwanze—the abdicated Odogwu of Ibusa who is currently the Diokpa of Anyalaobum Sub-clan that he lived until he completed his secondary school in Benin City.
Thereafter he went into the business of 419 (Advance Fee Fraud) presently christened Cyber crime, and that has remained his vocation up till the present moment, with occasional foray into land grabbing, as in the case of the on-going law suit he filed against Patrick Okonji and five others in an an Asaba High Court which is being driven on behalf of the Respondents by the indefatigable legal warrior Tony Sawyer Esq.— Odumodu Aka Ikenga of Okpanam Clan. It should be recalled that Mr. Charles Okonkwo was recently fined the sum of one hundred thousand naira in favour of the respondents for gross legal infractions by the Judge.
However, we want to know which year he graduated from University of Lagos and his course of study. We also wish to know from which University in United States of America he obtained his Master’s degree and in what area of study. The people of Ibusa will also like to have evidence of his qualification as a law graduate of Open University of Nigeria otherwise it will form part of a criminal proceedings against him at the appropriate time. It is well easy to mention chains of degrees on pages of paper as much as it is easy to swindle unsuspecting victims of their hard-earned money online, but it is not enough to just mention without proof. Let Mr. Charles Okonkwo tell us where he had worked with his chain of university degrees and present them if truly he is a university graduate
My name is Nwankwo Anthony Okoboshi Nwaezeigwe and I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in History Major in 1988 from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a Master of Arts degree in Political History in 1993 from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a PhD in International History in 2003 from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a Doctor of Divinity Honoris Causa in Church Ministry in 2020 from Triune Biblical University, Brooklyn New York. My identity in Nigeria and the world of academic scholarship is not questionable in any form. I challenge Mr. Charles Okonkwo to explain in like manner his chain of degrees from Nigerian and American universities.
Mr. Charles Okonkwo who revels in acute subconscious illiteracy is yet to answer questions on the questionable death of his mother and sister during the heydays of his 419 criminal escapades, and the recent death of his maternal uncle Mr. Chukwu Nwokocha who abruptly fell sick after escorting him on Odogwu title mission and never recovered again. This was a member of the cyber crime ritualists who mothered our nine mothers in our farmlands and took their wombs for money rituals and have been walking unmolested from prosecution and for that reason feels grown enough to appropriate the exalted title of Odogwu of Ibusa Clan because of my absence from Nigeria. May I once again repeat the popular Igbo highlife music maestro Oliver de Coque: “Obele mmanwu na agba egwu maka na Ijele a noro nso”—the little masquerade is only dancing on the stage because the big Ijele masquerade is not nearby.
I want state as I have always stated, that Ibusa has outpaced the era when cyber fraudsters dictate the rhythm of her identity and progress; the era when reckless show of ill-gotten wealth defined the trajectory of the ambition, model and progress among the youth. This is where I stand in principle, moral judgment and fundamental roles as the Odogwu of Ibusa Clan. For those of you who are shamelessly drunken with ignorance of our time-honoured and tested customs and tradition, I want to prove to your morbid sense of judgment that I remain the Odogwu of Ibusa Clan in law, customs and tradition and that what is currently going on in the name of selecting a new Odogwu of Ibusa is not only a vile distraction to my noble ambition of becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but a macabre dance of self-annihilation subconsciously driven by men of homunculus mind-set, paranoiac political ambitions and degenerate social order.
Who and What make the Odogwu of Ibusa Clan?
The fundamental question which most Ibusa people have failed to answer is who and what make the Odogwu of Ibusa in both customary law and tradition? Professor Uwandulu, one of the most respectable and patriotic sons of Ibusa had this to say in his support for Mr. Charles Okonkwo’s candidacy for Odogwu of Ibusa:
“This is an unnecessary confrontation from the Palace. Traditional procedure has been followed in the emergence of Okonkwo as to the Odogwu of Igbuzo. First he was screened and chalked by the Diokpa of Umueze and thereafter by the Diokpa of Otu Odogwu who at that time held the two positions. What remains is chalking by Senior Diokpa of Igbuzo and formal presentation to the Obuzor. Of course he is required to undergo the Ogbuu title ceremony where the Ikwele plays a key role before presentation to Senior Diokpa. The Palace has no significant role to play in the process. It is instructive to say that mandatorily the Odogwu becomes a member of the Obuzor in Council once he is presented to the Obuzor.”
Following my confrontation with him on the above statement of ignorance from a man of his intellectual caliber, he had the following answer as his defence:
“My dear Tony. This is not your number in my contact list. Yes I posted the article because I have to take a stand in a situation where the Obuzor is, unnecessarily, creating confusion upon confusion. Your position as Odogwu Igbuzo remains in the mind of those of us that supported your emergence then. However in the circumstance where Obuzor seems determined to impose his warped system of emergence of traditional chiefs on Igbuzo, exigency management demands, something must be done. It is in this context that I align myself with the emergence of Okonkwo as the emerging Odogwu Igbuzo. I am sure or I believe that even you, the Odogwu some of us recognized until of recent will not mind aligning with forces in the field of play, to save Igbuzo from catastrophic descent to anarchy. I have shared many views with you which I have always valued for the dimensions you often introduced to widen my horizon. I also believe that you accept me as someone who does not take or change position arbitrarily. I remain the Austin you know and the same Austin that now support for reason of exigency, the emergence of Okonkwo as the Odogwu Igbuzo.”
The first fundamental question which we expect Prof Uwandulu to answer is does the unnecessary creation of confusion by Obuzor provide a veritable excuse to contravene the customary laws of our land concerning the conferment of Odogwu title? The second fundamental question is what are the customary procedures for the conferment of Odogwu title?
For the attention of Prof Uwandulu and those reveling in iniquitous ignorance of Ibusa customs, tradition and history, the Odogwu of Ibusa title like the Uwolo, Iyase and Omu are exclusive titles which the Diokpa of Ibusa and by extension Obuzo has no authority over their conferment.
For Odogwu title, its selection is provided in a Government Declaration titled: “FORM OF RULING HOUSE: Declaration Made under Section 4(2) Of The Chiefs Law, 1959, OF The Customary Law Regulating The Selection Of The Odogwu Of Ibusa” signed on 19th February, 1974. Section (V) of the Declaration clearly granted the Ikwele of Ibusa the authority to confer the title.
Thus the arising question here is was Chief Clement Nwanze— the man claimed to be the substantive Odogwu before me conferred the title of Odogwu of Ibusa in line with the provisions of this Declaration?
In his reply through his Counsel O. W. Chibuogwu Esq. in Suit No. A/133/2005 to the statement of defence filed by Diokpa F. A. Ajufo, Chief P. O. Emordi and Dr. N. Tony Nwaezeigwe dated February 24, 2010, Chief Clement Nwanze stated ipso facto in paragraph 1.(a):
“the 1st and 2nd defendants do not constitute the principal traditional authorities who confer the Odogwu title on any individual. The 2nd defendant or any person who holds the title of Ikwele of Ibusa does not have any role to play in the conferment of the Odogwu title.” Therefore, if the law says it is the Ikwele that confers the Odogwu title and the holder of the title says the Ikwele has no such authority, where lies his legitimacy? I putting up this logic of reasoning because many of those who boldly open their stinking mouths to declare my person as an illegal occupant of Odogwu of Ibusa throne are only literate in putting down the alphabets A to Z but majorly illiterate in their reasoning faculties.
In his evidence on oath in Suit No. AKU/41/2009 dated 11 May, 2010, the Uwolo of Ibusa Chief W. U. Ikolodo stated in paragraph (2): “That the Ikwele which is hereditary in Idumu-Ikwele kindred of Ezukwu Quarters is chalked by the Diokpa of Idumu-Ikwele, while the Ikwele chalks the Odogwu, Uwolo, and Iyase.”
In his most significant evidence on oath in Suit No. AKU/41/2009, dated 11 May, 2010, Sir Fidelis Chike Nwanze— the current Diokpa of Anyalaobum Sub-Clan and incidentally the substantive Odogwu of Ibusa before me who abdicated the throne in 1985 stated succinctly in paragraphs (4) and (5):
(4) “That consequent upon my selection by the customary King-maker, I was chalked by the Ikwele of Ibusa His Highness Mmakwe Esedebe;” (5) “That by my chalking (conferment) by the Ikwele of Ibusa, I became the substantive holder of the traditional chieftaincy title of Odogwu of Ibusa.”
In paragraphs (18), (19), (20) and (21), the Okpala-Ukwu Anyalaobum went further to state:
(18) “That upon my abdication, a regent in the person of Chief Clement Obi Nwanze was appointed to oversee the title pending the appointment of a substantive holder of the title.” (19) “That to the best of my Knowledge, Chief Clement Obi Nwanze was never appointed or conferred with the title of Odogwu Ibusa on substantive ground.” (20) “That to the best of my knowledge, Chief Clement Nwanze was never chalked by the Ikwele of Ibusa, who is the conferring authority.” (21) “That to the best of my knowledge Ezukwu Community never presented Chief Clement Obi Nwanze to be registered and issued with a certificate by the Bendel State Government.”
In his concluding part particularly paragraphs (23) and (24) he stated: (23)“That to the best of my knowledge the Odogwu of Ibusa on substantive ground is Dr. Tony Nwaezeigwe, hence I was one of the signatories to the application for his registration to the Delta State Government.” (24) “That Dr. Tony Nwaezeigwe to the best of my knowledge was duly selected, appointed and conferred the title of Odogwu of Ibusa in accordance with Ibusa Native law and custom.”
Although these are issues for ligation, but then how can one teach a recalcitrant deaf and dumb a bitter lesson than by showing him the weapons of your warfare against him. However, one cannot conclude this logic of reasoning without reminding those opposed to my Odogwu title that the Diokpa institution in Ibusa Clan is the most revered traditional institution and to insult it is to insult the customary image of the people, to desecrate it is to desecrate the sacred institution of the people, and to disobey it is to disobey the ancestral representative of the Clan among the living. Therefore I declare today in the name of the ancestors of Ibusa Clan defined by the Ndichie Otu-Odogwu, Ndichie Otu-Uwolo and Ndichie Otu-Iyase any man or woman who opens his mouth to declare my Odogwu title as illegal has committed the heinous crime of insulting, desecrating, and disobeying that sacred institution of Diokpa-Anyalaobum Ishite Nweani on whose word and authority I stand today as the Odogwu of Ibusa under Ibusa Native laws and customs. I declare that such persons will not test the title of Diokpa at any level nor have anyone among his direct lineage test it. Isee!!!
Beyond the foregoing is fact that even under Ibusa Native laws and customs Mr. Charles Okonkwo is not qualified to hold the Odogwu of Ibusa title because his kindred—Umuwai is ritually excluded from holding the Odogwu title on the ground that they hold the ritual title of yam medicine-men for the clan. This explains why nobody from the Village had ever held the title of Odogwu of Ibusa. In addition to Umuwai such other lineages as Umuochie, Umunwina, Umuobifugo, and Idumu-Ikwele are equally ritually excluded from taking the Odogwu title. In fact it was for this reason of ritual exclusion from Odogwu title that the present Umuonuma lineage in Umueze Quarters seceded from Idumu-Ikwele in 1904 and joined Umueze Quarters when they wanted to contest for the title but reminded that as members of Idumu-Ikwele lineage they were excluded from holding the Odogwu title.
A Legacy of Born to Serve
Nwa nnunu na-agba egwu n’etiti ozili, ife na-akula egwu no n’ikpele osha. (The little bird dancing on the centre of the road has something beating the music instrument for it in nearby bush.) So says an Ibusa adage. I have always taken the contest over my Odogwu title as a vile distraction to my noble and greater objective of ruling Nigeria. This is what concerns me mostly at my present time and space and not debating with known and shameless cyber criminals over who takes over my Odogwu throne in my absence. This is what should concern the greater throng of Ibusa patriots and not indulging in shameless disputations over the appropriation of our time-honoured tradition by known criminals. I have a reputation to protect and present to the world as a noble and proud son of my town and this explains why I make bold to challenge every unscrupulous element in the town, be he a political or financial giant defined in contemporary parlance.
I decided to present myself for the position of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not only based on the sagacious advice of some seen and unseen leaders of Nigeria, but because I have been informed that among all those putting forward their hydra-headed corrupt legacies, I am the only man capable of fixing the present ailing Nigerian nation. So I am beckoning on every son and daughter of Ibusa, Delta State, and the entire Nigerian Federation to join me in this mission of “Changing the Changer.”
I unequivocally state here that apart from their notorious and primitive accumulation of ill-gotten wealth, none of them can measure up to me in matters of sacrifice, principle, intellect, probity and ethical patriotism. I am the only man who can more effectively attract the unflinching support of the Igbo, Yoruba, Middle Belt, and South-South, including pockets of Core-North than any of the moneybag political aspirants. This is my current ambition in the midst of the fight for my life against the forces of the present Fulani-led Federal Government which is currently financed by the Club of Ibusa Internet Fraudsters who see my position of Odogwu of Ibusa Clan as anathema to their inglorious diminution of the high moral image of the historic Clan of Ibusa.
I have always lived my life with the fear of the popular biblical dictum: “Pride goeth before a fall and a naughty spirit before destruction.” Bearing this in mind, while maintain my legacy of principle, sincerity and patriotism in life, I have tried to my utmost best to always live below my actual self and allow the people around to place me on their proper and chosen position. May be I can recount a bit of such episodes in my life.
In 1979, I was popularly elected as the Senior Prefect candidate of Anglican Boys Grammar School, Akwukwu-Igbo by both the students and Staff, only to be appointed Deputy Senior Prefect later at the instance of the Senior House-Master, Mr. Udema of Ubulu-Ukwu for the reason of my refusal as a Class Prefect to identify the student who shouted his nickname—Avenger from the classroom. I was given a portion of the football field to clear for that reason as punishment, which my entire class joined to complete.
In 1982, while working as Assistant Superintendent of Aviation Signals-in-Training at Enugu Airport, Emene, I was elected in absentia as Propaganda Secretary of the Civil Service Technical Workers’ Union of Nigeria (CSTWUN). It was indeed while serving in this capacity that I was advised to jettison Aeronautical Engineering, which was then my professional ambition, for History at the University.
In 1986, I was elected President of Aniocha-Oshimili Students Union, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and thereafter stepped down as the President of Ibusa Students Union for Mr. Obi Okeisor; while at the same time opting to serve as Secretary. Utilizing my position as a Student activist, I organized Ibusa undergraduates for coaching assistance in Ibusa Girls Grammar School, then under Hon Dr. Mrs. Felicia Nweze as Principal but lacking adequate teaching staff.
In 1987, I mobilized, in conjunction with the likes of Charles Ofili, Gelu Okonji, Evangelist Augustine Odogwu, and Apostle Ndulue Nwokobia, among others, the entire Ibusa youth and women under the Omu of Ibusa—Her Highness Nwaoboshi, assisted by two other successive Omu of Ibusa—Chigbue and Esenwuzo, for a massive protest against the willful sabotage of pipe-borne water supply in the town by pick-up water vendors.
In 1988, I organized the famous Operation Zero Option (OZO) in University of Nigeria, Nsukka with Obinna Uche—Udojiagu of biochemistry from Arondizuogu, Obasi Igwe of Linguistics and Nigerian languages from Akaeze, T.O. C. Okunna of Archaeology and tourism from Ukpo and Okey Nwankwo of Pharmacy from Nibo, which curtailed cases of incessant student riots, destruction of University property, and raping of female students.
In 1989, while undergoing my Primary National Assignment—National Youth Service Corps, I was invited and overwhelmingly elected the Home Branch Secretary of Ibusa Community Development Union (ICDU). It was under our leadership that the present Obuzo institution of Ibusa was created. Ironically, the present occupant of the throne Obi (Prof) Louis Chelunor Nwoboshi was one of the vocal opponents of the plan to create the institution.
In 1994, while only an Assistant Lecturer, I was appointed Chairman of the Faculty of Arts Committee on Save/Preserve Our Buildings and Property, with my academic seniors as members—a feat uncommon with the University system. In the same 1994, I was appointed a member of University of Nigeria Petroleum Committee—another feat uncommon with my status then as Assistant Lecturer.
In 1996, I was elected the Interim Secretary of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Nigeria, Nsukka Branch. During my stint as ASUU Interim Branch Secretary, I was arrested and detained by both the Police and the State Security Service (SSS) now DSS, more than five times, charged to Court fives, and acquitted in all, before finally being dismissed on April 30, 1999 on the orders of the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. I was later recalled after nine years on August 2008.
In 2014, as a Senior Research Fellow in the midst of Professors, based on the quality of my scholarship which remains up till date, I was appointed the pioneer Director of Centre for Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
In 1999, immediately after I was dismissed from the University, I joined the pro-democracy struggles in Lagos, becoming an associate member of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), from where I founded Igbo People’s Congress (OPC) which effectively acted as a notable ombudsman between the Igbo and Yoruba in Lagos State. I can proudly state here that whatever post-civil war cordial relationship exists today between the Igbo and Yoruba as a group was pioneered by me. Many Ibusa as well as Igbo sons and daughters in Lagos State used my name as passport for protection against OPC molestation. I drafted under the guidance of Dr. Frederick Faseun the proposal for the appointment of the Igbo in Lagos into State Executive Council during the regime of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
During the period I also served the renowned Trade Unionist Chief Frank Ovie-Kokori as Adviser and Director of Research and Training to his Network Labour Development Centre (NLDC), in Surulere, Lagos.
In 2002, following the uncontrollable political brigandage introduced by Chief Fred Ajudua in Oshimili North Local Government Area, of Delta State, I was invited by the present Senator Peter Nwoboshi then Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture to help him bring the situation under control, which I diligently did.
In 2003, when both Senator Peter Nwoboshi and Fred Ajudua connived in their respective political outfits to stop the Member representing Oshimili North Constituency in Delta State House of Assembly Hon. Dr. Mrs. Felicia Nweze from contesting for a second term, I led a group of rag-tag patriotic sons and daughters of Oshimili North to defeat both acclaimed political heavy weights in Ibusa, thereby returning Mrs. Nweze for a second-term.
It was after the 2003 election that Chief Fred Ajudua and his wife invited me to work with them through his brother-in-law Chief Odigwe Onianwa, who was then a respected close associate. Following the initial rigging out of Hon. Mrs. Pat Ajudua by Senator Peter Nwoboshi during her second-term bid for the State House of Assembly, I was requested by her to draft a petition on her behalf to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); thereafter I mobilized Ibusa elders for a protest march to both INEC Office in Asaba and Delta State Police Command. All these actions laid the foundation for her eventual victory at the Tribunal.
In 2005 my mother died and after performing her traditional funeral rites I decided to formally extend my appreciation to my Village community. It was in the process that I discovered that the people were in quest of a substantive Odogwu of Ibusa. I was subsequently selected and consequently conferred the tile of Odogwu of Ibusa without lobby and at a time when I had no steady job. For this reason, I swore to serve my people with utmost diligence, sincerity, and unequalled patriotism. It is this committed principle in service that I intend to impact at the national level as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
