A DUBLIN solicitor who was appointed ‘king’ of a Nigerian tribe in Ireland has hit out at suggestions that his role is ‘monstrous’.
Emeka Ezeani, who was inaugurated in December as ‘eze’ or king of the Igbos by an outgoing leader of a major tribal organisation in Nigeria, was reacting to comments made by a visiting eze, Cletus Ikechukwu Ilomuanya – chairman of the South East Council of Traditional Rulers, and a strident critic of installing Igbo kings among diaspora communities.
Ilomuanya, speaking at an Igbo Union event in Dublin, referred to the “monster” of Igbo kings in the diaspora.
“This presupposes the setting up of a parallel traditional institutions outside Igboland by some selfish and power-seeking Igbos,” he said, at an event also attended by Nigerian Ambassador Kema Chikwe.
However, Emeka Ezeani – one of Ireland’s first Nigerian solicitors – told Metro Éireann he was chosen as eze by the most prominent organisation representing Igbos, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo.
“In Nigeria, Ohaneze speaks for Igbos,” he commented. “If that organisation set up this position that I occupy, and if they haven’t banned it or withdrawn it, then who is Ilomuanya to say anything?” Ezeani added that he doesn’t receive remuneration for his role, which includes helping settle marital and legal disputes among Igbos in Ireland.
Speaking from Nigeria, the man who appointed Ezeani, Ohaneze’s former secretary general Colonel Joe Achuzie, told Metro Éireann that Ilomuanya had “no authority” outside his own kingdom of around 5,000 people, and dismissed his criticisms.
He added that Ohaneze was appointing Igbo kings overseas to instil their culture in “our sons and daughters in diaspora” especially so that children of Igbo background will “be able to interact with their kith and kin when they come [to Nigeria]”.
Achuzie, who said he is a statutory member of Ime Obi, the highest echelon of Ohaneze, said Ezeani was chosen for his “unimpeachable” character. “The other people [who wanted to be king], when we looked at their credentials they did not qualify.”
In Ireland, a rival to the Ohaneze branch called the Igbo Union has stated its opposition to Ezeani’s appointment as king.
