By Okechukwu Onuegbu
Igbo leader and Supreme Head of the Absolute Liberation Temple, Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, Prophet Dr. Ramas Okoye-Asuzu, has appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to divide Nri to two autonomous communities for peace to reign.
Nri, the acclaimed ancestral home of Igbo land, has been in crisis for about 7 years following the passage of their Traditional Ruler, Eze Obidiegwu Onyeso with people from the two blocs, Nri Ward One and Nri Ward Two disagreeing on which area to produce a successor.
Okoye-Asuzu, in an interview with journalists, lamented that many resources have been wasted in performing traditional rites, divinations and petitions as people from both sides insist on fighting should they not be allowed to produce the next traditional ruler.
“Nri is too important in Igbo history for blood to be spilled over traditional rulership. Instead of fighting, let everyone go their way. There is no magic to solving the Nri problem. Those to whom land was given cannot continue to lord it over the original settlers for over one thousand years. That is unacceptable before God and man.
"Agu-Ukwu Nri (Nri ward 2) has occupied the throne for over 1,000 years, while Nri Ward One—the aborigines and first settlers of the land—has never produced an Eze. This is unfair in the eyes of God and man. Let this be settled once and for all. Let them have their king, and we have ours. Anything short of this will continue to threaten peace in Nri,” he added.
He urged the State Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs to urgently forward a memo to the governor recommending that Nri Ward One and Nri Ward Two should each be allowed to produce an Eze, insisting that such a decision would naturally bring the crisis to an end.
“The Afa confirmed that everybody is entitled to be Eze because none of us is Osu or cursed. The government should endorse this truth and allow those who have never tested kingship to have the opportunity,” he said.