THE National coordinator of APGA Media Warriors Forum, Evang Chinedu Obigwe has responded to the viral press release by Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe over a chieftaincy title hunt by Ifeanyi Ubah.

This came after the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, suspended the kings involved.

The Anambra State Government, through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, suspended a traditional ruler for conferring a Chieftaincy title on a senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, and threatened others if they did not reverse the recognitions.

About three traditional rulers would later bow to pressure by apologising to the governor for conferring such titles.

But reacting on Wednesday, 17th January, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, expressed unhappiness about the controversy trailing the conferment of chieftaincy title on the senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

Achebe, who was apparently angered by the way Ezeani was suspended by the state government, in a letter to the commissioner, accused the Soludo government of not having regard for monarchs.

In the letter, which was also sent to GBETU, Achebe said: “Your reference to a second-term Right Honorable Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as “one Senator Ifeanyi Ubah” is most disrespectful, offensive, and unbecoming of one holding a political office as Commissioner.

“It is noteworthy that a person can only qualify to contest elections after scaling through the highest level of security checks at the federal level. Furthermore, Distinguished Senator Ubah holds a chieftaincy title of his hometown, Nnewi, conferred on him by his monarch and Grand Patron of the Anambra State Traditional Institution, His Majesty, lgwe Kenneth O. Orizu.

“He is also a well-known business investor in Anambra State and a generous philanthropist. Thus, assuming that lgwe Neni did not strictly comply with Code of Conduct, would the foregoing factors not be sufficiently extenuating to warrant a far less sanction on him as was meted to some other “tiny fen” that also failed to comply?

“The severity of suspension and threat of withdrawal of Certificate of Recognition suggests that there may be other issues with either lgwe Neni or Distinguished Senator Ubah which are being stealthily ventilated in this circumstance.”

He blamed the commissioner for mishandling the matter involving the conferment of chieftaincy title on Ubah, just as he accused the Soludo government of having poor regard for traditional rulers in the state.

“I would like to state very clearly that your handling of this matter of conferment of honorary chieftaincy titles is the apogee of the progressive dehumanization and dismantling of the traditional institution of Anambra State by the present administration.

“The institution comprises some of the finest sons of Anambra State who achieved sterling academic heights and professional/vocational attainments. At the behest of their communities, they took up the role of traditional rulers as shining examples for selflessly giving back to their communities in particular, and society at large.

“They are the custodians of the culture and traditions of their people and lead on peace building, security, development issues, etc. Their livelihood does not depend on selling chieftaincy titles or the N175,000 monthly stipend from the State Government, but on their own hard-earned modest personal resources.

“By their office, age, attainment and standing in society, they deserve far better respect and dignity, than being publicly bullied and unfairly shamed at every opportunity by people in the State Government,” he stated.

Achebe added that the traditional institution was mindful of “the awesomeness of executive power and authority in our democratic dispensation”, but prayed that such power and authority should be exercised with due sensitivity and humaneness over those governed.

But reacting to Igwe’s statement, Evang Chinedu Obigwe of APGA says ”There is no cause for alarm in Obi of Onitsha open letter but the only thing I will say is that he should not cover up what is wrong.”

He continued;

”In my opinion, there is no cause for alarm in Obi of Onitsha open letter but there is a need to tell him not to tactically support what is wrong.

The Obi of Onitsha we all know is respected and he earned the respect because of his way of doing things.

When you talk of selling traditional titles to the highest bidder, Obi of Onitsha cannot be associated with such.

Infact, in Onitsha, Obi of Onitsha does not give Chieftaincy titles any how and he cannot be associated with the conferment of Chieftaincy title to someone that is not an indigene of Onitsha.

This and many more are the things that earned him respect, so he should encourage other traditional rulers to follow his footsteps because it is said that someone that behaves the way you do is someone you can call a friend.

”I maintain my stand that there is nothing wrong with the suspension of the traditional ruler of Neni and will continue saying that Governor Soludo was lenient in ending at penalising him with suspension.

In Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello recently suspended 3 traditional rulers for not supporting APC in their State last governorship election. He has crowned another traditional ruler in one of the 3 communities.

When people talk about Governor Soludo penalising the traditional ruler of Neni with suspension, they should compare it with the recent action of Kogi State Governor and tell me the one that is better.

Kogi State Governor dethroned the 3 traditional rulers, banished them to Niger State and people are talking about ordinary suspension.

”If the sins of Neni traditional ruler are to be considered for appropriate punishment to be meted to him, I say it boldly that his punishment would have been outright withdrawal of his certificate of recognition as the traditional ruler of Neni.

All that Governor Soludo want is sanity and obedience to laws for the betterment of our State.

If our traditional rulers can follow the footsteps of Obi of Onitsha, they will not have any problem with government.

”For me, Obi of Onitsha cannot support things he does not do and I challenge anybody to show me where they have seen Obi of Onitsha conferring Chieftaincy title to anybody that is not an indigene of Onitsha.

Chieftaincy titles should not be for sale , it should be conferred on deserving individuals and not a unquestionable characters.

Such a character does not deserve to be bestowed with traditional title because he knows nothing about integrity.

”The suspension of Neni traditional ruler remains a good step in the right direction because what he did was wrong and it’s something the Obi of Onitsha that we all know has never done.”

In the same vein, the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders has expressed displeasure over the way the administration of Governor Charles Soludo is treating the traditional institution in the state.

Goodluck Ibem, the president-general of the group, in a statement made available to reporters on Friday in Awka, described Governor Soludo’s treatment of traditional institutions as “dictatorial and anti-democratic”.

According to him, the law banning the conferment of chieftaincy title without the state government’s approval is depriving the people of their traditional rights and privileges.

“The law banning conferment of chieftaincy titles to people outside the domain of a stool without the state government’s approval is dictatorial, anti-democratic, anti-people and barbaric.

“It is not a law but a decree because it does not represent the interest of the people,” Mr Ibem said in the statement.

“Governor Soludo should focus more on providing democracy dividends to the people,” he added.