Egbuoma Ezeship Succession Battle: Many Lies And Fabrications of Ogbuehi Family
By Andy Ik Nwaokorie
It is no longer news that Egbuoma Autonomous Community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State has been enmeshed in protracted Ezeship succession tussle since the passage of the immediate past traditional ruler,His Royal Highness,Eze Anagbomba Okorie Ogbuehi.The battle line has been drawn from different fronts and has further escalated to varied dimensions.The first angle is the contest between Ogbuehi family, the relations of the immediate past Eze and the entire Egbuoma Community on the issue of whether the throne is hereditary as claimed by the family which Egbuoma people have vehemently debunked.The second angle is the raging fartridical war within Ogbuehi family amongst different claimants and contestants to the throne.While Egbuoma people are saying that the throne is not the hereditary right of the Ogbuehi family considering the fact that the throne belongs Ehi dynasty of Umuehi Village before it was given to Ogbuehi family on trust, the members of Ogbuehi family are laying hereditary right to the throne and at the same time fighting one another over the rightful person to succeed the immediate past traditional ruler,Eze Anagbomba Okorie Ogbuehi.
The people of Egbuoma Community know their history and custodians of their Ezeship stool since the inception of their Community.Every society has its tradition and this is usually entrenched or preserved as legends,oral tradition, history and poetry.This identity consciousness makes it difficult for any community to allow any person or group of individuals to rewrite their history to achieve selfish objectives.Egbuoma is no exemption to this norm amongst comity of communities.As an ancient community, the people know their tradition of origin upon which their Ezeship institution is embedded.According to Egbuoma tradition,its Ezeship or Kingship originated from divine priesthood and performance of rituals which were the birth rights of oldest Village,Umuehi.The Ehi dynasty of Umuehi Royal Village founded the Ezeship of Egbuoma Community and sustained the hereditary right to the Ezeship succession from the inception.
The Ehi dynasty of Umuehi Royal Village produce it’s first king known as Ezeigwe Ehi 1 of Egbuoma who was succeeded by his first son, Ezeigwe Nkpatomadu 2 of Egbuoma.After his demise, his son Ezeigwe Ikedinaji took over and thereafter succeeded by his son, Ezeigwe Ekwulugwo Ehi the iv.He was succeeded by Ezeigwe Madukaibeya who was succeeded by his son Ezeigwe Iwueke Onuoha, Ehi the VI.Ehi Vi died and was succeeded by Ezeigwe Ekulite Anyaenyi the Ehi VII.It was this seventh King that gave the Ezeship to their grandson Ezeanogharia from Umuchima, Ubahadara Village in Egbuoma whose mother was one of the daughters of the Ehi. The king became sick and felt that he needed a trusted person to hold stool on trust for him so that when a capable person from his family comes up in future, it should be given back to him. That was how he gave the Ezeship to his nephew,a grandson to the Ehi family,one Ezeanogharia from Ubahadara Village.Ezeanogharia had a stepson from a widow he inherited and his name was Okorie Ikokwu.Ezeanogharia’s biological son,Muoma was underage at the time of his demise and following his transition,his stepson , Okorie Ikokwu ascended the throne as his successor and immediately changed his name to Okorie Ogbuehi.Okorie Ogbuehi at his demise in 1984 was succeeded by his son ,Eze Anagbomba Okorie Ogbuehi who was immediate past traditional ruler whose succession is engrossed in the ongoing tussle.It is important to note that only two kings had reigned from Ikokwu or Ogbuehi family(the immediate past traditional ruler,Eze Anagbomba Okorie Ogbuehi and his father Okorie Ogbuehi (former Okorie Ikokwu) and one wonders the source of their claim of tenth king in Ogbuehi dynasty.
The lies being peddled by the Ogbuehi family are totally misleading and disgusting.According to their fabrication as copied from one their funny stories, their Ezeship was traced to the progenitor of Egbuoma called Chima,who as the first King was succeeded by his son,Ekerezeke,at his transition,he was succeeded by his son Iroagba.At Iroagba’s demise,his son Onyiriuka too over and thereafter was succeeded by his son Ekulite.At the demise of Ekulite,he was succeeded by his son Anyaenyi who was later succeeded at his demise by Onyemaobi and Onyemaobi was thereafter succeeded by his son Ikokwu.At Ikokwu’s demise,his son Okorie Ogbuehi took over.When Okorie Ogbuehi died,his son Anagbomba Ogbuehi took over.This story is rooted in falsehood and misinformation.There is no such record in the established Ezeship succession history of Egbuoma community.At the National Archives Enugu,no mention of any Ogbuehi or their forebearers was made as Warrant Chiefs during British Colonial Administration or before the British intervention. It is therefore baffling how they created the fanthom tenth generation Ezeship dynasty (Ogbuehi 10th) which they have been citing to mislead the government and unsuspecting public.
These lies have reached a sour point to be formally debunked so that the public should discountenace their unfounded garbage of wrong history they deliberately put together to justify their false claim of hereditary right to Egbuoma throne.Instead of stating how the throne got to them through matrilineal consideration from the original owners which was not even directly given to them but their step great-grandfather, they prefer to twist the the story and churn out lies to deceive the public.Ogbuehi Family has no hereditary right to Egbuoma throne and should support the decision of Egbuoma people to return the Ezeship throne to the Ehi dynasty of Umuehi Royal Village.No amount of lies will change the truth that is well known in Egbuoma which has been handed down in their history and oral tradition from generation to generation.