Anambra : Man who brings education, Obasanjo, car for monarch, made king

 

The new monarch and Lolo

Anambra : Man who brings education, Obasanjo, car for monarch, made king

By Chinwe Nwacha, Onitsha

A man who brought education to his people, bought a car for their monarch and dragged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to commission electricity project in their Nando community, Anambra East Local Government Area, Anambra State, has been made a king to further his infrastructural development of their community 

Celebrating his maiden Ofala festival, the new king, a senior citizen who retired from Federal civil service, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Engr. Simon Edochie Obidike, Eze Ezu II, of Ikem Ivite Nando, said his election by his community as their monarch would spur him to perform more than he has done.

 Fielding questions from newsmen during his maiden Ofala festival, he vowed to bring more Nigerian Presidents to the community to assist in the development of the area like he did when he was the President General, PG, stating that he brought ex-President Obasanjo who commissioned the community electricity project 

"I brought former President Olusegun Obasanjo to my community before I became Igwe, most of the things I did, I was doing them because if God gives you torch, you put on the torch for others to make use of it than to use it alone, that was what I was doing then. 

The new monarch

"In my youth age, I was a civil servant, I was doing it because I wanted to show our people something because they don't like going to school, so i decided to use that impression to correct them for saying that those that attended school cannot do anything. So I was doing it to motivate them to attend school.

"So many  people in this community are engineers today because I read it, even my first son is electrical engineer, in our family now we have three engineers after me. So many from the community are now engineers, not that I have much but just to show them that education is very important and whatever you want to do, you must go to school before doing it.

"Now I am Igwe, what I have is Ofor, (staff), in the morning I will pray to God to continue blessing them to progress and be bigger than me in a community where there are widows and less privileged, how do you expect them to pay their dues, is better I pray for them to progress in order to get money for their dues," the monarch stated 

He pledged to assist in the employment of the unemployed youths in the community pointing out that the community would not be left out in the sharing of the  national cake.

In his own speech, Chief Christopher Nwako, the President General, Nando Development Union, hinted that the monarch has done what he was expected to do after being issued with certificate of recognition as monarch by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.

"Our town is now together that is why he fixed the Ofala if not everywhere will not be in order. We are expecting a lot of things from him now because he merited his throne, he merited it as a Federal civil servant who came out with level 17. He has wisdom and a peace maker.

" He was the first President General in our community. He bought a car for our king then with his own money, with one million naira for fuel. He renovated where our king was living then. bought transformer and he was the one that invited Obasanjo in our town which he commissioned electricity project in Nando then.

" Our king then prayed for him and told him that since he served a king that he must become a king. Today he is a king, the prayer has come to pass, therefore he has become a king through the prayer, he should continue praying for us for progress," the PG stated 

He said further that, "What we are expecting after the Ofala is development, like hospital, schools, markets, all the less privileged, Igwe will be guiding and directing people on how to help them or what to do for the betterment of our town. We are trying a lot to avoid hard drug (mkpurumili) consumption by our youths because a busy person cannot have time for the hard drug. 

"if you fix them on something they will avoid it. some have decided in their life that they will be bad children, some need a helper, so we will try hard to make sure we fix them some where to avoid stealing and drug consumption," he further added.

Contributing, Hon. Peter Ewele, Vice President General, expressed satisfaction that the community has celebrated her maiden Ofala festival adding that the monarch is a peace maker who will take the community to the next level 

"He is a man with humility, he served government for 30 years plus and he was the first President General we have, is not easy to be the leader in a town. My new year message is that I wish him and the people peace, love, oneness and progress. Our Igwe is the only person that can lead us in this town, he is so vibrant," he hinted.

Reacting, Nzekwesi Ofokasi, a traditionalist (Dibia), stated that, "All the villagers in our town are in support of our Igwe because he deserves it. I am Okpala and head of all Dagama in Ikem Ivite Nando, both home and abroad, that is why I came even all our villagers are here and our prayer is that after this first Ofala the second Ofala will be better than this one".

His Royal Majesty, Igwe F.U. Chukwuemeka, Igwe Odimma Ndi Igbo in Kogi State, added that monarchs have respect in both Igbo land and other tribes as they are the custodians and peace makers.

" As it is in Igbo land, we have seen the need and value of Igwes, unity and peace in other to make sure Igbo are not having problem and that other communities are not causing problems to our land and our people are cooperating well to maintain peace. Kogi state is calm and crime free," he affirmed.

Ezechukwu Ikeanaekwe, one of the Igwe's cabinet members, thanked God for giving them good Igwe that is educated stating that he usually calls him "our gift from God'. 

"He came to maintain peace and love in our community, God will bless him.I have been doing good in our community before I became Ichie, I shared bags of rice to the less privileged, widows, among others," he revealed.

Also Chief Chikwelu Ikemegbunam, another cabinet member said that they were happy that their monarch has been recognized and issued with certificate and prayed for the rapid development of the community by the monarch more than he did before he was enthroned as the Igwe.

Ichie Ejike Diabuo, also of the cabinet said that he never expected the Ofala would be successful, and thanked God for his mercy even as he advised the youths to go back to school and look for job as means of livelihood instead of indulging in hard drugs as there is no gain in the consumption.