A new
twist has been added to the struggle to fill the Ezeigbo throne vacated by the
late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, as his close associate, Dr.
Michael Nwoye Ozua Okoye, yesterday declared himself the Igbo regent. Okoye
said with his position as the traditional prime minister of Igboland
(Onowu-Igbo) and deputy Igbo leader to Ojukwu, he would act as the Igbo regent,
pending the emergence of a successor as Ezeigbo, after the expiration of the
mourning period.
He said it was not only
sacrilegious for anyone to discuss Igbo leadership succession when Ojukwu’s
mourning period was not yet over, but also an insult to Igbo culture and
tradition.
Speaking with journalists in
his office in Onitsha, Anambra State, Okoye, who called himself
regent/traditional prime minister of Igboland, cautioned Ndigbo against any
attempt to abandon the Igbo leadership structure left behind by Ojukwu for any
other structure.
He was speaking against the
backdrop of the installation of the leader of the Movement for the
Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, as
Ijele Ndigbo, to replace Ojukwu as Ezeigbo Gburugburu and Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka
as Ogirishi Igbo to deputise him, as well as other Igbo sons who are laying
claim to the Igbo leader-hip.
Okoye queried the rationale
behind all these developments when he is still alive and had been holding the
title of tradi-tional prime minister of Igbo land (Onowu-Igbo) for many years
and now the regent since Ojukwu’s exit.
He said he was installed as
Onowu Igbo in 1996, the same day and time Ojukwu was installed as Ezeigbo
Gburugburu by the Adama of Nri Kingdom.
He said: “I’m now the regent of
Igbo land and I will hold on to it until a new Igbo leader emerges. I have
begun to pray fervently for Ojukwu’s real replacement to emerge.”
Okoye recalled that there were
other prominent Igbo personalities, who along with him, were actively involved
in the course of Igbo leadership with Ojukwu.
The man expressed surprise over
media reports linking some peo-ple with the positions of Igbo leader and deputy
Igbo leader, without the names of those who worked with the late Biafran
leader.
He said: “Most of us were very
close to Ojukwu before the war and we fought the war with him and re-united
again with him when he returned from exile. We formed the structure of his Igbo
lead-ership and went to places with him for the purpose of Igbo leadership. So,
how on earth could anybody assume the position of Igbo leader outside us or
without our input?”
Okoye recalled that it was
Ojukwu who chose him as the traditional prime minister to be his deputy.