EHIM UMUNUKO The entity now called ukpor and it’s traditional authority (the ruling class) sprang from the process of unification of it’s constituent parts, villages, divisions (clans or domain) you mentioned in your face book posting from the town which you happily referred to as more or less a kingdom. A kingdom is made up of a ruling class comprising the king (the paramount ruler) having authority and sphere of influence covering the whole town and other members of the ruling class having varying authority and sphere of influence below the king for efficient, effective and coordinated administration of the town (kingdom). The domains before the unification of Ukpor into kingdom were Alaohia, Amaka and Durumaduru under headship of Umuhu, Nzeagha and Amadim respectively. Amadim, by ukpor trdation is the oldest settler followedby umuhu and Nzeagha respectively. When Eberemonye the progenitor of Ebe village and Ohamadike his brother wandered into ukpor they served Nazagha who sheltered them and made them part of him, and later gave land to settle on, hence, they have been part of Amaka division of Ukpor. In those early times, there were wars between the domains and the neighbours engaging their attention and resources. One such war was Agbaja, Nnewi invasion. Because of the invader’s strength, the domains of ukpor entered into a defense pact (accord and satisfaction) whereby they agreed that whoever led the domains to fight and defeat Nnewi and secure Ukpor territory from further aggression shall become the king of Ukpor town among the other leaders. Ehim, who achieved this heroic feat became the king (paramount ruler) of ukpor according to the said defense pact, Ohamadike and his brother who performed next to him were placed in second and third positions in the Ukpor ruling class. That was why, in traditional disputes/ matters the king Ehim, sits at center with Obis of Ohamadike and Ebe sitting on his right and left. The foregoing accord and satisfaction arrangement, laid the foundation of Ukpor traditional ruling class, and had remained hereditary and all the positions, the kingship and the chiefdoms becoming automatic inheritance of the Obis accordingly, every king had been Ehim, the two other chiefs next to him in Ukpor had been Nwajiaku (Umuohama) and Nwabichiri (Ebe) while the said clan heads are also chiefs following the two said chiefs, and these are from Umuhu, Amadim, Uhuori, and Nzagha. They together constitute Ukpor council of traditional Obis or traditional authority who by custom and tradition of the town had the prerogative to approve the selection of whoever shall become the king of the town from the Ehim Royal family. This traditional authority is vehemently opposed to the selection of the so called Igwe, had petitioned the government in writing, demonstrated at the government house Awka to stress their disapproval and had sued the so-called igwe at the Nnewi High court seeking his restraint from parading himself as igwe Ukpor. This because; the processes of his selection, etc. breached the tradition and custom of the town. Let Onwa Ukpor C.K.C Obiekwe be informed that a house built on a sandy foundation cannot stand because of lack of a solid base to sustain it against rain, wind, and storms. So is the position of the so-called Igwe Ukpor named in his facebook posting, so called because his emergence was contrary to the well established customs and tradition of Ukpor for such exercise. Let him also know that the issue is about the traditional ruler of long established kingdom of Ukpor whose ruling class has been there ever since the Agbaja (Nnewi) war and not a warrant chief which the colonial government used to appoint at its discretion. Popular kings today are appointed by popular choice of the community and based on their tradition and backed by the appropriate authority for that purpose in the towns concerned. He should therefore not wonder why there is opposing groups to the so called Igwe for the following reasons...
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 21:04:43 +0000
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